Breaking down the Dodgers 2024 schedule for travel value

Now some of you might be thinking it is far, far, far, too early to think about the 2024 season. What I constantly have to explain to people is that I am not made of money. While I have a career where I will not starve, I do not generally like to spend carelessly.

Careful, judicious planning is how I am able to travel and provide field coverage for select road games. If you plan things out once the schedule drops, you have the most flexibility (or optionality, if you want to talk like Andrew Friedman and company) to figure out where you want to go.

The schedule for the 2024 season dropped around the All-Star Break, which for me, felt like Christmas coming early. Then I reviewed it and I thought it was only okay as the Dodgers are going on a couple of odd trips next year — and South Korea.

Now, there are those of you who do not like to travel and would prefer to go to Dodger Stadium. I understand and I salute you. In 2018, I lived in San Francisco, literally a ten-minute walk away from Oracle Park, so I get the appeal of local baseball. Eventually, the Dodger/Giants rivalry lost its allure as it felt like work, but that topic is one for another time.

The players and the team would agree with the following argument: Dodger road fans are the best road fans in baseball. Pick an away game, any away game, and you will find a vocal contingent of the Dodger faithful. We show up.

For a home game, you will have 80 options next year. To help break down the 82 away games next year (yes, I am counting both Korea games as away games even though the Dodgers technically host one), this essay will cover each scheduled road trip, provide comments, and link to any relevant Guide entries, if applicable.

Personally, I start planning for away travel the day that the schedule drops and start finalizing things like flights, tickets, and hotels starting six months from the games, but I create price alerts to make I do not miss a good deal.

If anyone wants to break down homestands at Dodger Stadium, that article could be very interesting for someone based in Los Angeles.

2024 road schedule

By definition, the Dodgers will not visit Seattle, Arlington, Cleveland, Kansas City, Tampa, Boston, and Baltimore in 2024 as those teams will be instead visiting Dodger Stadium. If you did not go to these locations in 2023, you will have to wait until 2025.

March 20-21 — Seoul, South Korea: I have always wanted to go to South Korea and would encourage anyone who start traveling internationally but did not want to go to Europe or the Americas to start in South Korea. Had I not switched jobs and had to move, I would provide field coverage from Seoul. Alas, it was not meant to be.

April 5-10 — 3 at Cubs, 3 at Twins: Going to Chicago and Minneapolis in early April will mean either one of two things: rain and/or cold. Based on past experience, I would be mildly shocked if the weather cooperated throughout the entire trip. It is a shame too, as I like both ballparks very much.

• The Guide for Chicago (NL) is right here
• The Guide for Minneapolis is being worked on. I will tease that under the right conditions it is a better ballpark than Dodger Stadium

April 23-May 1 — 3 at Nationals, 3 at Blue Jays, 3 at Diamondbacks: This road trip is likely the worst road trip of the year and certainly the longest by distance.

Now, if someone wants to follow the Dodgers from Washington to Toronto and then to Phoenix, more power to them. Otherwise, I could understand if someone would want to go to D.C. and then Toronto or just go to Toronto.

Phoenix is fine as a ballpark. It is clearly the weakest ballpark in the division, but the Diamondbacks should be on the upswing, That fact is enticing in and of itself. But this stretch of games is likely going to be just brutal for the Dodgers and any fan that tags along for the entire road trip.

• The Guide for Washington is being worked on. I will tease that it is a solid ballpark
• The Guide for Toronto has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet
• The Guide for Phoenix is right here

May 10-15 — 3 at Padres, 3 at Giants: Both are solid ballparks and anyone following the Dodgers for this stretch of games would not go wrong following along on this road trip. Best California trip of the year right here.

• The Guide for San Francisco is here
• The Guide for San Diego is here

Michael Elizondo / True Blue LA

May 24-29 (Memorial Day weekend) — 3 at Reds, 3 at Mets: I have legitimate issues with going to a game at Great American Ballpark, but I would be remiss if I overlooked how exciting these young Reds are. New York on a holiday weekend will likely be emptier than one might originally think but the hotel and airfare costs might be prohibitive.

• The Guide for Cincinnati is here
• The Guide for New York (NL) is being worked on. I will tease that Citi Field combined with a trip to Manhattan or other things in New York is worth your time

June 4-9 — 3 at Pirates, 3 at Yankees: At first glance, this road trip looks like the premier road trip of the year for the Dodgers road fan. I have heard mixed reviews about New Yankee Stadium but if pressed, this trip would be the one I would go on without question based on the combination of going to PNC Park in Pittsburgh first.

• The Guide for Pittsburgh is here
• The Guide for New York (AL) has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet

Michael Elizondo / True Blue LA

June 17-20 — 4 at Rockies: Coors Field is an underrated ballpark, but the problem with this series is that you are spending weekdays in Denver, which is fine but not optimum. It would be the start of summer, so the weather should be cooperative.

• The Guide for Denver is here

June 24-30 — 3 at White Sox, 3 at San Francisco: This trip is an odd one. In a perfect world, the Diamondbacks series in late April would be swapped with the Southside series because then the trips would make more logistical sense. As it stands now, you have an off day, a Monday through Wednesday series in Chicago, another off day, and then back to San Francisco.

Personally, while I have not yet been to Guaranteed Rate Field yet (COVID in 2022), I would advise just skipping the Chicago portion and just doing the weekend series in San Francisco, if one was so inclined. It will be your last chance to see them in San Francisco in 2024 (the last matchup period happens in Los Angeles just after the All-Star break, which just feels bad.)

• The Guide for Chicago (AL) has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet

July 9-14 (end of the first half) — 3 at Phillies, 3 at Tigers: In a perfect world, I would do both series because I have yet to go to either Philadelphia (arthritis) or Detroit (have not had the opportunity yet). Philly requires more discussion for a later time and the locals tell me that Comerica Park has seen better days. Both locations are still worth looking into though.

• The Guide for Philadelphia has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet
• The Guide for Detroit has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet

July 26-August 4 — 3 at Astros, 2 at Padres, 3 at Athletics: The longest road trip in time as there are two off days surrounding the pair of games in San Diego. Personally, I hear okay things about Minute Maid Park, but I am not personally ready to go there yet because there are limits to my patience stemming from 2017.

This road trip is likely the last chance Dodger fans will have to experience the dive bar that is the Oakland Coliseum as I have previously written about. San Diego is still San Diego.

• The Guide for Houston has yet to be developed as I have not been there yet
• The Guide for Oakland is being worked on. I will tease that the Oakland Coliseum is a bad ballpark, but the fans in Oakland are not bad fans and the experience deserves our respect

August 12-18 — 4 at Brewers, 3 at Cardinals: This road trip is the cool midwestern trip that the road trip in April wishes that it was. Humidity is a potential factor in St. Louis but if you wanted to do Dodger games in the Midwest for a reasonable amount of money with potentially great weather in great baseball towns, this road trip is the one I would do.

• The Guide for Milwaukee is here
• The Guide for St. Louis is here

August 30-September 4 — 4 at Diamondbacks, 2 at Angels: It is personally odd that the conclusion of the Freeway Series bleeds into September but the schedule is the schedule. I have major issues with the Big A, but if you do not want to venture out of Southern California and you do not want to head to San Diego...I would still pick going to Phoenix instead.

• The Guide for Anaheim is here

Michael Elizondo / True Blue LA

September 13-19 — 4 at Braves, 3 at Marlins: Honestly, this road trip shows why the game order matters. If the sequence was the other way around, this trip would have some serious value. Miami over a weekend could be a very fun diversion to break up going to loanDeport Park.

As scheduled, Atlanta over a weekend will likely have a spike in ticket prices, and Miami during the middle of a week essentially necessitates that one better be there for baseball considering the location of the park and the headaches involved.

• The Guide for Atlanta is here
• The Guide for Miami is under development as I have not been to enough games here yet to make a final recommendation

September 27-29 — the Dodgers close out 2024 with 3 games in Denver: If I was picking a Denver series to visit, it would be this one as it falls on a weekend and it is the season finale.

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Overall, I see the possibility of where I would like to travel, but it is far too early to start booking anything. But if I were inclined to go to South Korea, I would start prepping and saving now. I would also try to square away any potential passport issues now as those issues are never resolved speedily.