Big League Tours - Big Apple 2

After seeing the Old Timers Day fans and players were ready for some great baseball and the Yankees did just that.  After losing the two games before the Los Angeles Angels the Yankees were ready to take on the Angels again today.  Our Big League Tour Guests were not disapointed with the performance of the players today.  Mussina pitching for the Yankees was in high spirits after experiencing the Old Timers Day, he even hiked up his pants to celebrate the years passed.  Mussina's performance helped the Yankees lead the Angels 8-2 breaking there losing streak in this weekend series. Giving the fans something to cheer about Alex Rodriguez, Wilson Betemit, and Bobby Abreu all hit homeruns to make the game even more exciting.  It was a fun and exciting day out at Yankee Stadium for our group tour.

Check out the game wrap-up:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20080802&content_id=3241212&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home&c_id=nyy

 Big League Tours attends Old Timers Day

Big League Tours tries to find important aspects to include in each tour to give our guests the ultimate baseball vacation experience while on our escorted tours. So, we chose for our Big Apple 2 trip a weekend that had something exciting going on at the stadium "Old Timers Day".  Since this is the last year at Yankee Stadium it was a touching day for not only Yankee fans but all baseball fans alike.  The Yankees invited back some of their former players to the stadium to thank them and congratulate them on all their success as Yankees and in their life.  They had players from all different era's come back to the stadium including Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra, Dave Winfield, and Rickey Henderson to only name a few. It was exciting and touching to see all these greats in one place to celebrate them and the ending of an era at Yankee Stadium.  After announcing all the attendees the Yanks that were able to play participated in a few innings against each other.  Allowing Big League Tour guests to see some of the best players from Yankee Stadium play.  Although, some of them were a little rusty it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we were all glad to be there.

Big Apple 2 Group Tours

This was our last group tour to New York for the season and it was a bittersweet one at that for all the Yankees Fans.  For our first game we went to Yankee Stadium on Friday, August 1 to see the Los Angeles Angels take on the New York Yankees. It was an extrmely close game until the end where the score was zero to zero unti he 9th inning.  Then in the 9th when Torii Hunter of the Angels came up to bat against the Yankees closer Mariano Rivera staring each other down Hunter put his wooden bat to the ball and sent it out into center field.  Hunter accomplished what no other player on either team was able to do the entire game hitting a nice single RBI sending one of his fellow teammates on their way home allowing the Los Angeles Angels to win the game in the last inning Angels 1, Yankees 0. 

Check out the game wrapup:  
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20080801&content_id=3236470&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home&c_id=nyy

Want Great Seats? Stadium Tours? Meet a Player? Great Hotels? Time to Explore?
I started this business a few years ago because I didn't like how other tour companies were offering their baseball trips. Many of them offer 10 - 14 day trips that require you to ride on a bus for hundreds, if not thousands, of miles. They stay in hotels that are outside of the cities so that you don't really get to explore them while you're there. And, unfortunately, the seat locations aren't great.

Here are a couple of blog entries from their customers:

"We then headed up to our seats (in Yankee Stadium) which were just a few feet from the moon. Like at Shea we were 4 rows from the top but this time we were in right field. We could not see most of the right field fence so we hoped all activity would be in left field...It sounds like our seats are pretty horrible tomorrow night too so hopefully we can scope some better seats."

"2800 miles of riding in a bus with almost no sleep and too many hot dogs but what an adventure it was." I bet. Not my kind of adventure...

"Tickets were in the upper deck and I made a vow in 1991 never to sit up there again. We left the group to suffer from fear of falling out of their seats..."

If the sound of these comments leaves you concerned about booking other group travel tours, check out our 2008 sports tours and rest assured that you'll never have an experience like they've described.

Another Great Game On One of Our MLB Road Trips
July 8, 2008 - If seeing a game at Fenway Park is perfect enough as it is, we were able to witness a fantastic game this time, too. The Red Sox trailed the Twins the whole game until the bottom of the 8th inning.

If you've been to Fenway, you know the ritual is to sing Sweet Caroline, the Neal Diamond hit from the 70's, in the middle of the 8th with 37,000 of your closest friends. In most cases, singing any Neal Diamond song would seem corny at best. However, since it's at Fenway, that somehow makes it really cool. It also gets the crowd pumped up and into the game. If you haven't witnessed this in person, it's worth a sports vacation to see it!

Something about that song must have given the Sox themselves the boost they needed because they rallied to score four runs to take the lead. The most exciting part of the rally had to be Manny's two run shot over the Monster to tie up the game, insuring that we were going to have a fun end to the game no matter what. Click here to read the details and see the box score from the game.

The Baseball Road Trip Heads to Cooperstown
July 7, 2008 - After seeing a great game at Yankee Stadium, we loaded up the bus in New York City to head upstate to Cooperstown, the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. As much as I love being in New York, I always look forward to going to Cooperstown for the submersion in baseball and the slowed down pace of this great little village.

The Hall is a great place to visit for fans of all ages. You can find exhibits in every section that are of interest; whether it's your favorite team, favorite players, or fun facts, there are things to keep you involved at every turn.

This part of the baseball trip could be expanded. There is so much to see here that you could spend a couple of days just going through the Hall and checking out the little shops up and down Main Street.

Largest of Group Travel Tours Offered Yet
July 6, 2008 - In our third season of offering tours, we have steadily seen the size of our small group tours continue to grow. While our tours average around 20 people per tour, this tour was our largest ever with 40 people from all over the United States and Canada.

The tour started in New York City at Yankee Stadium with the ultimate baseball rivalry - the Yankees hosting the Red Sox. The game was the ESPN Sunday Night game which created some extra excitement in the stadium. Many times, the actual game doesn't live up to the hype. This game delivered, however, with a tied game through nine innings and a walk off hit in the bottom of the tenth. Click here for a link to the games' box score.

So for some of the Yankees fans on our MLB road trip, they shared with me that they could go home after this game and feel like they would have gotten their money's worth! That's okay, we'll sweeten the deal with visits to Cooperstown and Boston.

Private Escorted Tour of Fenway Park
July 8, 2008 - This sports vacation left the home town of baseball to head to the oldest ballpark in the Major Leagues, Fenway Park. It's always a great way to end a baseball road trip at Fenway...

The stadium tour moved through many different sections of the park including the Right Field Roof Deck, the State Street Pavilion, the Infield Grandstand and, of courses, the Green Monster.

The highlight of the baseball stadium tour was being joined by Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Bill always has some great stories about his playing days in the Big Leagues. Here's a picture of our group with Bill inside Fenway Park.

Final Game of Our Six Game Baseball Travel Tour
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - As we headed into Fenway for the final game of our baseball road trip, I thought it was fitting that we started the tour in Baltimore with one of the finest, if not the finest, retro parks in the league and then we wrapped up the tour in Boston at the league's oldest baseball stadium.

It's interesting to see the contrast at this park with only 35,000 or so fans in the seats versus most other stadiums that seat 40,000 - 55,000+ fans. You are so close to the action here regardless of where your seat is. The only thing you have to be concerned with is an obstructed view. We've found the best way to avoid that is to sit low enough that the only thing that could possibly block your view is the batter in the on deck circle!

The other option for seating that guarantees an unobstructed view is on the Green Monster. I have to admit that before I was ever in Fenway or had ventured to the top of the Monstah, I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to sit up there for a game. However, I can honestly say that it's a fantastic place to watch a game. Since the wall is so shallow, you feel like you are the left fielder for the whole game. It's incredible. I would highly recommend getting seats up there at least once in your life.

Taking a Private Stadium Tour of Fenway Park
Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - Fenway Park has a charm to it that is unlike any other baseball stadium that I've ever visited. I'd have to say it's my favorite park. We began our visit to Boston with a private escorted tour of Fenway. (We were lucky enough to get Kim again. Great job, Kim!) The tour is a great mix of history and facts about the team, the ballpark and baseball in general.

One of the things that we like to do on our package tours is to bring in MLB players to share their experiences, sign autographs for our guests, and to have their pictures taken. This baseball trip was no different. We brought in Dick Drago, a pitcher with the Red Sox in the '70's. Dick pitched in the 1975 World Series and shared many stories about playing during that era. He's pictured with our group as we toured the ballpark.

While there are any number of sports travel packages that fans can choose from, we think that our Player Experiences are a key differentiator for Big League Tours. It's a way for us to make the baseball road trip into a truly MLB road trip!

Our Escorted Tour Heads to Shea Stadium
Monday, June 23, 2008 - Shea Stadium is one place that I don't think will be missed by many when it's gone. Aside from its unattractive appearance on the outside, many of the seats face the wrong direction (center field instead of the pitcher's mound/home plate), even the great seats sit too low so that the people in front of you are blocking some portion of the field, and every two seats you have an aisle or an obnoxious bar next to you. I suppose the bars are supposed to give you the feeling of a "box seat". Instead, it gives you the feeling that you are either watching the game from a cubicle or your own jail cell (which is more likely for many of the Mets' seasons especially last year's melt down in September).

The new Citi Field, however, is very attractive from the outside. You can see it just outside of the outfield walls from Shea Stadium. I've been told that its design was inspired by Ebbets Field. I'm excited to see the new ballpark when we head to New York City for one of our baseball travel tours in 2009.

Taking an Escorted Tour of Yankee Stadium
Monday, June 23, 2008 - One of the best ways to experience Yankee Stadium is on a stadium tour that gets you access into sections of the stadium that you would otherwise not see. Our started in the press box where I'm always reminded that, had I paid more attention in English class, I could have had one of the best seats in the ballpark...and been paid to sit in it!

We then made our way to Monument Park. I've been here several times but I always find new things to read and see when I'm there. This section of the baseball stadium really helps to solidify the position of the Yankees as the most storied franchise in all of baseball.

Because of a slight rain, we made our way through some tunnels to get to the Yankees dugout. While it's always fun to walk on the warning track, it was interesting to see parts of the stadium that I hadn't seen before. We saw the visitors clubhouse and their tunnel to their dugout. We saw pictures throughout the tunnel of Yankees through history. And we made our way through the tunnel from the Yankees clubhouse into the dugout where I shot this photo of the plaque with the famous quote from Joe DiMaggio.

If you haven't purchased a ticket for a stadium tour of the old Yankee Stadium, it might just be too late. The team has had such high demand for the tickets that it appears that they are sold out for the year.

Visiting the Most Hallowed of All Baseball Stadiums
Sunday, June 22, 2008 - It seemed only fitting that we went to Yankee Stadium on a Sunday. It's definitely a religious experience for some, especially those Yankee fans who take our baseball vacation packages. (Yes, we even take Yankee fans!)

Since this is the last year for this Yankee Stadium, everybody and their brother wants to get there for the first time or at least one more time before it's torn down. I'm convinced that the final game of the season at Yankee Stadium will be our generation's equivalent to Woodstock. 55,000 people will actually be in attendance but millions will claim to have been there...

Whether you are a Yankees fan or not, this is one MLB road trip that you should make before it's too late. It's amazing to see a facility that's 86 years old, that was built to the scale that it was, and is still in such good shape. It's also great to see where so much history has been created. It's not too late to check out package tours that are still available to see the House that Ruth Built before it's gone!

Baseball Travel Tour Heads to Philly
Saturday, June 21, 2008 - After a day of site seeing in Washington DC, we loaded up the bus to head up to Philadelphia. This time, our package tour called for us to see the game in Philly, to load back onto the bus and to head on in to New York City to spend three nights in the Big Apple.

We arrived at the ballpark in Philadelphia and were reasonably impressed with what the city has done for its sports franchises. All of their professional teams had facilities within a half mile of each other with easy parking and walking and what appeared to be reasonable security, too.

Citizens Bank Park has a few features that it shares with other parks. The concourse areas along the base lines reminded us of the New Busch Stadium. The outfield concourse felt like Coors Field. It was very party-like with vendors, restaurants and shops, and places to hang out and catch the game.

We visited the center field viewing area which is pretty unique to the Bank. It's a standing room only section that was well occupied and, contrary to what you might think, fans were really engaged in the game. It was a great view of the park with the exception of the walls blocking the view of the action in center field. It was such a gorgeous night that we decided to hang out up there for a while. The team only sells SRO tickets on the nights of sell outs but this would be a really fun place to hand out with friends or to go if you are on family tours or small group tours.

We were impressed with Citizens Bank Park. It was very well done and had a great atmosphere. At this point the baseball road trip was half way over - 3 games down, 3 to go. Next stop, New York City.

Our Group Tour Visits the New Nationals Park
Friday, June 20, 2008 - After visiting the first of the retro parks in Baltimore, we loaded our bus and headed to Washington DC to see the newest Major League ballpark. All of the ballparks that are at the top of my favorites list have great surroundings that enhance the experience - Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Camden Yards all have great atmospheres. Other parks have great views from their parks - AT&T Park looks out at the Bay and PNC looks out towards the bridges over the river and downtown Pittsburgh.

The New Nationals Park doesn't have great surroundings nor does it have a great view from the ballpark. The views won't likely change much - I suppose that new construction could impact the views over time - I'm thinking about PETCO Park. I really hope that the district continues to build around the park and doesn't cancel the projects the same way that things have happened in St. Louis around the new Busch Stadium.

The inside of the park was open and spacious but felt kind of sterile as we made our way to the seats. Our seats offered great views of the field. We were in the lower level just one section over from where this picture was taken. Notice the big landing area right behind home plate? That appears to be a gathering place for Nationals' owners and other VIP's. It also appears to be a waste of valuable real estate.

The game lasted 14 innings with the Nationals finally pulling of a 4-3 win. While we enjoyed the game and our great seats, I think the consensus from everyone on our baseball trip was that we were underwhelmed with the new ballpark.

How many stadium tours take you on the Green Monstah!?

Thursday, June 5- East Coast 1 started off in Boston, MA where some of the guests arrived a day early and some arrived on the day of the game.  We began our baseball trip by taking an escorted tour of Fenway Park. Bill “Spaceman” Lee and his wife Diana joined us on our tour as well.  Allowing guests to speak with him have pictures taken, get autographs signed, and hear some stories from when he played for the Boston Red Sox. 

It was a cold misty day in Boston, but we got to see a lot of the stadium and were given a lot of information about the park.  We got to go to many parts of the stadium, but my favorite was the Green Monster.  It was a great view of the entire stadium and a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you can ever get the opportunity to take any type of stadium tours in Fenway take the opportunity!

The Start of our Longest Baseball Road Trip Yet!
June 19, 2008 - Today we began our longest baseball trip since we began offering group tours in 2006. The tour runs through Baltimore, DC, Philadelphia, New York and Boston catching games in each of those cities.

Our group met in Baltimore at the Hyatt Regency in the Inner Harbor. What a great location. We're nestled in with views of the harbor and all of the restaurants and shops near by. We're also just a couple of blocks away from Camden Yards.

We headed out to the ballpark on a perfect night for baseball - and the perfect night to see the Orioles sweep the Astros with a 7-5 victory. But regardless of the outcome, how could one not enjoy spending time at Camden Yards? What a great facility. From the incorporation of the Warehouse Building into the stadium, to Boog's Barbeque, to the awesome seating and views throughout the stadium, fans in Baltimore are absolutely spoiled with this park. Here's photo taken from our seats early in the game.

We'll start the day off today with an escorted tour of Camden Yards and then visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum before we head out for Washington DC for game at the New Nationals Park.

Players Make Baseball Vacation Packages Unique
Bill "Spaceman" Lee and Dick Drago are joining Big League Tours when we tour Fenway Park on each of our East Coast tours this summer. We have had several players join us at the ballpark for stadium tours or other events including Vida Blue, Tom Browning, Len Barker, Al Hrabosky and Ron Kittle, to name a few, . It always makes the baseball trip special when you get to spend time with guys who have played the game. The players joining us in Boston will be no exceptions.

Here's some background on Bill Lee taken from his website, billspacemanlee.com: Bill Lee pitched in the Major Leagues for 14 years, 10 of which were with the Boston Red Sox. The California native amassed a career record of 119-90 including three consecutive 17-win seasons with the Red Sox. Ron Sheldon, the creator of Bull Durham admits to modeling Kevin Costner's unforgettable character on Lee. Bill earned the nickname 'Spaceman' early in his career for his nonconformist attitudes, his outrageous comments and for hinting more than once that he enjoyed recreational drugs. Lee was always eager to challenge his coaches and managers, most notably Don Zimmer, who he mistook for a gerbil. Because of his unconventional approach to the game and his candid views on social issues, Lee was a fan favorite for years in New England and later in Montreal. A shoulder injury sustained during an on-field fight contributed to Lee's eventual retirement.

Here are some quotes from Bill: "I'm mad at Hank (Aaron) for deciding to play one more season. I threw him his last home run and thought I'd be remembered forever. Now, I'll have to throw him another." "Do they leave it (Fenway's Green Monster) there during the game?" "My Karma ran over my Dogma." And my personal favorite, "You should enter a ballpark the way you enter a church."

Here's some background on Dick Drago taken from baseballlibrary.com: Drago made the majors when he was picked by the Royals in the expansion draft, and he became the ace of their struggling staff. Improving with the rest of the team, he had his best season in 1971 (17-11, 3.01), but his record suffered when the team declined in 1972 (12-17 despite a 2.99 ERA). Boston acquired him for 1974, and in their AL championship season in 1975 he was their bullpen ace with 15 saves. He saved Games Two and Three as the Red Sox swept the A's in the ALCS, but lost Game Two of the World Series in the ninth inning on a Ken Griffey double. His three scoreless innings of one-hit ball in Game Six kept Boston in the game, and they won on Carlton Fisk's famous homer in the 12th inning. Traded to California for 1976 and then to Baltimore in mid-1977, he returned to the Red Sox for 1978 and had his last good season in 1979, going 10-6 with 13 saves.

The players will be joining us for our escorted tours of Fenway Park. Bill Lee will be on our East Coast 1 and East Coast 3 Tours. Dick Drago will be joining us on the East Coast 2 Tour.

Despite finishing the MLB tour with a rained out game, the trip as a whole was a great time. We saw a game at Yankee Stadium, toured Yankee Stadium (and even got in the clubhouse!), received autographs from several of the players, took in the sites at Shea Stadium (although they were damp), and had our Big League Player Experience with Miracle Mets team member Art Shamsky.

Here are some things that our guests had to say about our baseball road trip:

           "Dana & I wanted to thank you so very much for the great time we had in New York.  We appreciated your thoughtful, caring attitude toward creating a truly once in a lifetime major league experience for both of us.  You have successfully fulfilled your mission of creating a first class big league tour." Dana G. and Darrel M., Grand Junction, CO

           "Christine and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful time in NYC. We really had a blast and the baseball experience was outstanding. As I stood on the warning track in center field at Yankee Stadium and heard the voice of the "Mick" , I have returned to the fold as a Yankee fan. The seats were wonderful for both games and Christine was especially pleased to get so close to the field and to the Mets. I am sure we will meet again!" John and Christine L., Athens, GA

            "We really hated leaving New York - love it there and loved the trip. You did a fantastic job putting together what fans want to do and see!"  Sonia and Patrick D., Bakersfield, CA

             "Tami and I just wanted to tell you what a great time we had in New York. It was a fantastic experience. We're already talking about taking another trip with Big League Tours!"  Joe and Tami M., Ball Ground, GA
         
            "We had a wonderful time on the baseball trip - you took great care of all of the details and it made for a wonderful vacation. We had never been to NYC before and this was such a fun way to see the city for the first time. The seats at the stadiums were great too - we would never have been able to get those ourselves. Finally, meeting Art Shamsky was a highlight. We had no idea what to expect, but we were really glad that we had the opportunity to do that. We have already talked about traveling with Big League Tours again."  Bridget and Jeff M., Rochester Hills, MI

 Rain Out At Shea
Friday, May 9th - Today the inevitable happened. When your business revolves around outdoor sporting events, you know that at some point you're going to get wet and that at some point you're going to have games canceled or postponed. That day finally arrived. After dodging rain outs all across America for a couple of years, we suffered our first one at Shea Stadium. All wasn't lost, though.

Part of the attraction of MLB road trips is to see the stadiums. While it was raining most of the time we were there, we were still able to walk around and see quite a bit of the stadium. In fact, it was quite nice. Most of the fans stayed away from Shea so we were able to check it out without fighting a large crowd. We essentially turned the time into our own baseball stadium tour. In addition, you could clearly see the new stadium, Citi Field, from inside the old ballpark. Here are some of the folks from our group. That's Citi Field in the background.

About half of the guests on our package tour were staying an extra night in New York City and were able to return to Shea to see the game (and it was a gorgeous day!). Unfortunately for me, I wasn't one of those lucky enough to see the game...

In my opinion, seeing Shea Stadium isn't worth a trip on it's own. If you are going as part of a baseball vacation package or baseball road trip of your own that includes other baseball stadiums, then it's worth making a stop. If nothing else, it will give you a greater appreciation for the new stadiums that are built with the fans in mind.