The new baseball stadium that will be on the itinerary for one of our group travel tours is Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins, that's set to open in April. We're always excited to visit new ballparks and this is no exception. Our tour is heading up there over Memorial Day weekend so we're hoping to catch some warmer air! The views of this baseball stadium tour look great. I'm really excited to head up to the Twin Cities to see the ballpark.
One thing I noticed in the footage are the signs over some of the concession stands. I know that Minnesota is known for its State Fair and fair food. Looks like it made its way into the ballpark. Walleye on a Stick? Haven't seen that anywhere else on our MLB Tours!
Enjoy the video. If you'd like to join us on one of our tour vacations, this would be a great one!
One of the things we pride ourselves on at Big League Tours is offering tour vacations that our guests enjoy. It makes us even happier when our guests become repeat customers. That's why this is such a great time of year for us when we're finding out who is going to join us on our package tours this year.
One such group of guys traveled with us in 2008. They took a Midwestern tour that year but this year they are joining us out West. Here is a testimonial that we received from them.
"I traveled with a relative and his 10-year-old grandson, who was awestruck most of the time. The Midwest 2 Tour was our first with Big League Tours and was by far the best of the four I have taken, the first three with another company.George had taken two other tours with another company.
The price of all the tours (we've taken) was comparable, but the services provided by Big League Tours was far superior, in our opinion.
"The primary things that set Big League Tours trip apart from the others, in our opinion, was two-fold: 1) location and quality of the hotels and 2) location of the game ticket seats.
"On this tour, we visited four cities and ballparks (Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati). The hotels were all located within walking distance of the ballpark (15 minutes or less), and all our tickets were in the lower level. Great seats at all parks.
"Another added touch that we liked was the idea of staying downtown in the cities visited, which made it easier to become more familiar with the cities (Detroit has a fabulous river walk).
"On this tour, we had a sit-down visit with baseball great Dave Parker, a two-time major league batting champ, who had a long and illustrious major league career. This was a great experience for us. This, to us, was the exclamation point to the whole trip.
"We would recommend traveling with Big League Tours." Bob Ward (Texas) and George Wood (California)
Thanks to Bob and George for the kind words about the group travel tours that we offer. And when booking with us again this year, George commented that, "We didn't even look any where else. We knew we were booking with you." We're glad you're coming back!
We hope that you'll join us this year so that you can experience the difference of a Big League Tour!
I was talking today to one of our customers who commented about some references that I made to food in a previous blog. She professed to be, like all of us at our house, a Food Network junkie. Admittedly, the dark side of the channel is that it's hard to watch your weight when you are watching great chefs prepare awesome meals that end up making you crave something from the kitchen. For me, it's always Guy Fieri's fault because it seems like Diners Drive In's and Dives is the show that makes me the hungriest.
But one of the best parts about the network is that it exposes us to restaurants, bakeries, and hangouts all over the U.S. that we would likely not know about any other way. It's become a passion of ours while on our package tours to seek out these establishments that usually are only known by the locals. Take, for instance, The Stand. Here's a burger joint on 12th Street just a few minutes away from our hotel, that a typically traveler would never know about. It was featured on Food Network for one of their milkshakes, a toasted marshmallow milkshake (pictured to the right). They were incredible. It was like a creamy campfire. In addition, their burgers were out of this world. And in a city that can easily be an expensive place to visit, this was one of the most reasonable meals we've had on any of our MLB Tours and one of the best!
So if you enjoy food the way that we do, I would suggest catching up on some programming from Food Network and laying out your plans to visit some great establishments - whether you are traveling on your own family tours or taking group travel tours. The other option is to join us on our baseball vacation packages and we'll lead the way!
The stars at night, are big and bright... Well, you know the rest. But have you ever experienced it yourself? No? Then it's passed time to do so. We'll take our group travel tours to four different games in the Lone Star state. These escorted tours start in Arlington, home of the Rangers, where the Angels come in town for an AL West division rivalry series. The game times aren't posted yet but we'll work in a baseball stadium tour when the schedule allows.
On Saturday, we'll load up our private motor coach and make our way down to Houston for some baseball action at Minute Maid Park. In both cities we'll be staying in the heart of the action, giving you a chance to explore Dallas and Houston and experience the cities while we visit.
Come into Dallas early or stay a few days after in Houston for family tours of sites in those great Texas cities. Head to our site to check out the details on this tour and all the 2010 Tour Vacations that we have to offer.
May 9, 2009, Boston - Today we left Cooperstown and headed on the Mass Turnpike to Boston to hang out for several hours on Yawkey Way. Of all the places we go on our group travel tours, this is one of, if not my favorite place to visit. The atmosphere around Fenway is so hard to beat. It's one of the best places for family vacation tours or vacation group tours of all sizes.
We arrived at the ballpark in time to do some shopping and take in the noon tour of Fenway. This baseball stadium tour is one of the best. Maybe because Fenway isn't a stadium at all. It's a ballpark. The oldest ballpark in the major leagues at that.
I was surprised to learn that a few sections of the ballpark had new seats installed in the off season making them a little roomier (a little, mind you...) and a little more comfortable than their wooden predecessors. You are guaranteed to be close to the action at Fenway but you'll always be closer to the fans sitting next to you!
We Went to Bat For You!!! We know that times are tough so we went to bat for you. We were able to secure lower rates from our travel partners and are passing on the savings to you. So for a limited time, take advantage of lower rates on all of our group travel tours.
We want to see you at the ballpark this summer enjoying baseball stadium tours, meeting Big League players, or just enjoying the game that we all love so much. So check out the revised prices of our 2009 Tour Packages and reserve your spot today!
Here's a quick snapshot of the tour offerings with hotlinks to the details for each of the sports packages: East Coast 1 - New York, Cooperstown and Boston from $2,000 per person* East Coast 2 - New York and Boston from $1,750 per person* Atlanta - Atlanta Braves from $975 per person* Midwest - Chicago and Milwaukee from $1,400 per person* Big Apple - New York Mets and Yankees from $1,325 per person* Seattle - Seattle Mariners package from $1,200 per person*
Our 2009 sports tours begin with our East Coast 1 Tour to New York, Cooperstown and Boston. We'll take in a game at the brand new Yankee Stadium. We will then head to Cooperstown and spend the day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as in the village. The next day we'll head to Boston for a private tour of Fenway Park, hang out on Yawkey Way, and take in a Red Sox game.
But the highlight of this tour, and all of our baseball travel tours, will be our Big League Player Experience. This time we will be joined by former Red Sox catcher, Rich Gedman.
Gedman broke into the Big Leagues in September of 1980 when he pinch hit for Carl Yastrzemski. In 1981, Rich was named as The Sporting News Rookie of the Year. He was also named an All Star in 1985 and 1986.
Gedman's career statistics include include a .252 batting average, 88 home runs and 382 RBI's. His Big League career ran until his retirement in 1994.
Check out our website for more details about this and other exciting group travel tours offered by Big League Tours.
Each year, Big League Tours offers sports packages to baseball stadiums all across the Major Leagues. While we offer top of the line accommodations, lower-level tickets to the games, baseball stadium tours, and transportation, the highlight of the tours are always when we meet with current or former Major League players.
The Big League Player Appearances are shaping up nicely for the 2009 season. Here are the players that we have confirmed for our group travel tours:
East Coast 1 - Rich Gedman, former Red Sox catcher, will be joining us in Boston
East Coast 2 - John Tudor, former Red Sox pitcher, will be joining us in Boston
Big Apple - Art Shamsky, former Mets outfielder and member of the 1969 Miracle Mets team, will be joining us in New York City
Seattle - Dave Henderson, former Mariners outfielder, will be joining us in Seattle.
I'll be posting some information about each of these players and any updates that we will have including the players who will be joining us on our family tours in Atlanta and Chicago.
Big League Tours was featured in the Indianapolis Star today. Here's an excerpt from the article:
"Similarly, baseball is a passion for me that began at an early age. I grew up playing baseball, watching the game of the week on Saturdays and going to Riverfront Stadium every chance that I could. My dad and I used to talk about visiting every Major League ballpark, and we visited a few here and there.
But when my son, who's now 11, started getting into baseball, we began talking about visiting all the parks, too. I realized that I had a window of opportunity to go to as many of the stadiums as I could with him and my dad before life passed us up and we no longer had the opportunity.
As I looked into the options of going with other tour operators or going on my own, I didn't like what I saw. Other tour operators offered seven- to 10-day package tours that had you on a bus for 3,000-plus miles, staying at cheap motels in the middle of nowhere and sitting in group seats in the upper decks. None of that appealed to me. I also thought that going alone wouldn't afford me some things that could more easily be done in a group.
I began pulling together a business plan. I surrounded myself with people with experience in group travel tours, and (who) had connections with baseball. Once the idea had jelled, the launch began in the fall of 2005 and the baseball travel tours began in 2006.
We offer really cool opportunities for baseball lovers, like bringing in current and former Major League Baseball players to meet with our guests. We take private stadium tours and get special access to stadiums.
It's been a real dream to think up and plan the tours the way that I would want to take them and to share that with other baseball fans."
Go to IndyStar.com to see the full article. You can also go to BigLeagueTours.com to learn more about the small group tours that we have available for the 2009 season.
Two of baseball's greatest players are moving to Cooperstown this year. Jim Rice, a lifelong member of the Boston Red Sox, and Ricky Henderson, a lifelong member in U-Haul's frequent mover program, were elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
If you haven't ventured to Cooperstown before, it's something that every baseball fan should do at least once in their life. It's great to take family tours through the Hall, sharing memories of players, games and baseball stadiums from the perspective of multiple generations of Major League Baseball fans.
This summer, we're offering a group travel tours package that includes a game at Fenway Park, a game at the new Yankee Stadium, and a full day to explore the Hall of Fame. You can see the details of this trip and all of our Sports Tours on our website.
I think that most of the country is blanketed with some pretty cold weather right at this moment. It certainly is at the Big League Tours headquarters in Indianapolis. We just had our coldest day in five years.
Cold weather gets me thinking about leaving...someplace warm...anywhere warm...But what really helps me get through these winter months is knowing that very soon we'll be heading out on our group travel tours to baseball stadiums across the country.
Maybe you can imagine the sound of the bat, the smell of ballpark food, and the familiar chant of the vendors making their way through the seats and use those images to sustain you until you head out for your own sports travel this summer.
I know that I will be relying on them to get me through!
Like many people in my generation, I grew up a huge Seinfeld fan. Still to this day I can't help but pause and watch an episode whenever I see it's on. One of my favorite episodes is when Jerry and Elaine spend the whole show in a New York bakery trying to pick something up for a dinner party. While waiting, Jerry eats the imfamous "black and white" cookie. Here's the clip:
Jerry believes that the black and white cookie is the symbol of racial harmony. That all things are good with the cookie. That we need to "look to the cookie."
I couldn't help think of this episode recently. As we travel from stadium to stadium on our baseball travel tours, we gather things from each team, especially when the baseball teams are passing things out at the gate. So what made me think of this was when I was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals t-shirt and drinking from a Chicago Cubs cup. Taboo? Maybe.
If you haven't seen the end of the Seinfeld show, Jerry's unifying cookie ends up causing him, shall we say, to lose his groceries. My concern, of course, was that my Cubs/Cardinals combination would have a similar effect on me. Luckily, I didn't feel any ill effects. However, I'm sure that some of you would have problems donning your rival team's gear, or drinking from their cups, or displaying their bobbleheads - even if they were something you gathered for free on a group travel tour.
Then again, this might be the very reason stadiums don't sell cookies with their team's logo on one side and their opponent's logo on the other. We may not be ready to "look to the cookie..."
August 8, 2008 - Many of our baseball trips have incorporated the Reds playing somewhere on the road which has suited me fine since I've been a lifelong fan of the Redlegs. Now keep in mind that I grew up during the Big Red Machine era - coming of age as a baseball fan when Cincinnati fielded one of the greatest teams in baseball. In fact, one could argue that most, if not all, of the position players for the '75 Reds should be in the Hall of Fame - or would be if they played on any other team. (Compare Dave Concepcion's lifetime stats to Ozzie Smith's and tell me Davey doesn't deserve to be in Cooperstown...)
So having grown up a Reds fan rooting for a player named Griffey, it has been enjoyable to watch Junior come home to Cincinnati and spend 10 years playing as a Red. Knowing that we had the Reds on our schedule for August, I expected that I would be watching Ken Griffey, Jr. adding to his home run count. But I didn't expect to see him do it in a White Sox uniform.
We were fortunate enough to get into the ballpark early to watch batting practice for the White Sox. It was amazing to watch Griffey blast one shot after another past the outfield seats and onto the outer concourse. What a beautiful swing!
I hope Junior gets a World Series ring before his career is over, whether it's in Chicago or somewhere else. I also hope he reaches 3,000 hits and distances himself from Sammy Sosa on the home run record list. We'll have to schedule times to see him on our group travel tours in 2009 and after. Unfortunately it won't be in a Reds uniform...
Gnorman and Group Travel Tours Gnorman had an amazing Midwest 1 trip he got to experience three spectacular stadiums plus all the sites Chicago has to offer. Gnorman hd a great time at all the different stadiums and was happy to see all the games. He got to hang out in the Brewers kid area and see all the sausage race men. He also got to head out to Shedd aquarium to see all the fish and marine life. After a funfilled day at the aquarium we thought the perfect ending to the day was eating at the Rainforest Cafe where Gnorman got to hang out with all the wild animals. All in all he had a fun filled weekend in the Windy City.
Group Travel Tours Make Their Way To See The Brewers
On Saturday the Big League Tours group headed out to Milwaukee for the day to see the Brewers take on the Washington Nationals. If you have never been to Miller Park you should definitely put that on your list of things to do. I'm not sure if I'm really a dome kind of person, but they make up for that in many other ways. As our group tour made its way to the parking lot our guests were amazed with how many people were in the parking lot tailgating before the game. Going to Milwaukee a couple of hours before the gates open is a great time everyone is barbecuing, playing yard games, etc. the usual tailgating lineup. Miller Park is also a great place for family tours to go they have an amazing area for kids to play and burn off some energy before the game. The Brewers had a perfect game where hey defeated the Nationals 6-0. Ben Sheets pitched a complete game on Saturday giving the Brewers a lopsided victory. To check out official scoring please click here.
Group Travel Tours by the Lake August 8, 2008 - Each year, this is one of my favorite sports packages that we offer. We get to incorporate White Sox, Brewers and Cubs games all while staying in the heart of the Windy City.
This year, our package tour began at U.S. Cellular Field with our Big League Player Experience with Ron Kittle. Ron was the American League rookie of the year in 1983 and was a noted power hitter throughout his career. This Player Experience was held inside the ballpark before the gates opened up and in the Jim Beam club section. The fans traveling with us were able to listen to Ron share some stories about his career, ask him questions about the game, and watch the White Sox take batting practice from seats with a perfect view.
The game featured Mark Buerle pitching against Jon Lester and the World Champion Boston Red Sox. We had great seats as a group on the third base line between the dugout and home plate - an awesome place to watch a game. The White Sox were pleased to walk away with a victory with a 5-3 score. We headed back to the hotel with plans to head to Miller Park on Saturday.
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.
The Unexpected Parts of Sports Travel Packages July 8, 2008 - It's always fun to head out on one of our group travel tours knowing that we're going to meet MLB players through our Big League Player Experiences. However, what you don't know is whether there will be an opportunity to meet other players while we're taking our sports travels.
One such opportunity presented itself to us in Boston. There's a sandwich shop out on Yawkey Way that bares the name of famed Red Sox pitcher, Luis Tiant. The shop is the El Tiante, which serves up a cuban sandwich amongst other spicy favorites. (Even my daughter knew about this stand since it was featured on Rachael Ray!) And occasionally, it serves up autographs from the legend himself.
So get out there on your own baseball trips and look for the really cool stuff. You never know what might be waiting for you when you get there. Of course, if you want to ensure that your sports tours are filled with the cool stuff, book your baseball vacation packages with us. We'll make sure that it you get all the good stuff!
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.
Many times, we talk with individuals in an organization or group who are put in charge with organizing a group travel tour who doesn't normally handle travel - i.e. customers are coming into town, the "team mom" is planning a trip, an incentive package is offered to employees, or a group of friends wants to meet in a new city.
If you've never planned a large or small group tour, the task can be daunting, especially if the tour is in a city with which you are unfamiliar. Sports tours, particularly sports travel packages, can be a great way to minimize your effort and stress and allow you to relax while you successfully host the group tour.
Whether it's a baseball road trip you seek or some other sports tour, consider working with a tour operator who can offer you a package tour customized to your group, many times obtaining discounts because of their travel network, and providing you a service that will save you valuable time.
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Big League Tours was far superior, in our opinion.
games in the Lone Star state. These escorted tours start in Arlington, home of the Rangers, where the Angels come in town for an AL West division rivalry series. The game times aren't posted yet but we'll work in a baseball stadium tour when the schedule allows. 
this is one of, if not my favorite place to visit. The atmosphere around Fenway is so hard to beat. It's one of the best places for family vacation tours or vacation group tours of all sizes. 
head to Boston for a private tour of Fenway Park, hang out on Yawkey Way, and take in a Red Sox game. 
could argue that most, if not all, of the position players for the '75 Reds should be in the Hall of Fame - or would be if they played on any other team. (Compare Dave Concepcion's lifetime stats to Ozzie Smith's and tell me Davey doesn't deserve to be in Cooperstown...)
We get to incorporate White Sox, Brewers and Cubs games all while staying in the heart of the Windy City. 
However, what you don't know is whether there will be an opportunity to meet other players while we're taking our sports travels. 
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