Since joining the Big League Tours crew in early summer, I've had the amazing opportunity to lead two tours. The first time I was the co-pilot with Martha Ellen in Chicago/Milwaukee and the second I was flying solo with the group in New York, Boston and Cooperstown.
As the 2012 MLB season wraps up, I thought this would be a great time to share some of my favorite pictures from the trips this summer (I also threw in a few from the corporate outing we hosted). My iPhone is my best friend and I love snapping shots of absolutely anything and everything! FYI- My iPhone is far from professional so ignore some of the blurry stuff and just imagine the great times everyone was having!
Join me while I recount the amazing people I've met and wonderful places I've been thanks to Big League Tours.
There will be plenty of photos to come next year so stay tuned, hopefully your face will even be featured in a few! Sign up for our 2013 Tours and be the first to recieve the schedule once it's released!
Follow us on Facebook (Big League Tours), Instagram (BigLeagueTours) and Twitter (@BigLeagueTours) to view our other photos!
Music: Sweet Caroline- Glee Cast
Here's your final chance to visit two of the most iconic stadiums in baseball this season with Big League Tours. We have put together an exciting tour that will make stops at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium over a long weekend in September.
We will start in Boston when the Orioles visit Fenway Park on September 21st. While in Boston, we'll enjoy luxury accommodations at one the finest hotels in the area. Then on the 22nd, we'll travel by train to New York's Midtown Manhattan to check into another first class hotel, and catch the A's vs. Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Our guests will depart at their leisure on the 23rd.
Not enough baseball for you? CLICK HERE to see additional game options that can extend your tour. Or, give us a call to discuss your requests.
Get all the information on this new Boston and New York tour below:
Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium - September 21-23
Don't miss out on this great, late season tour!
Later this month and again in July, we'll host a couple of groups of baseball tour travelers to one of our favorite destinations, Cooperstown, New York. Our tours will spend the day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame - looking into the past of the nation's favorite sport.
Here's a fun video about a man who's looking to change an important element of the game - the baseball glove. Looks to me like our guests will have to swing into his shop to check out what he's been developing...
Our 2012 Hall of Fame Tours include games at Citi Field, Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park as well as a full day in Cooperstown. For more information or to join us for the baseball vacation pacakge, visit the Hall of Fame 4 webpage.
June 12, 2011 - Our group arrived in Philadelphia on Friday from their respective homes to start the longest of our MLB tours for the season, our
East Coast Tour. This is the granddaddy of all trips with games in Philly, Baltimore, DC, both teams New York, and Boston. We'll also have a free day in DC to explore the nation's
capitol and we'll make a trek to the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, New York.
A few of our guests arrived early enough to take in the game on Friday night (because six games in 8 days isn't quite enough!!). So we shuffled out of our downtown Philadelphia hotel to Citizens Bank Park to see the Phillies host the Cubs.
The game seemed like the Phillies were going to runaway with it quite easily, especially after Placido Polanco hit a grand slam to make the score 7-0 and light up the liberty bell in center field.
But the Cubs made the game interesting by scoring five runs in the seventh and giving the Phillies fans reason to get even roudier. Ultimately the Phillies held on for the win.
(Box score and wrap up here.)As with all the baseball tours I host, I'll keep checking in from the road to let you know how things are going. Should be fun!
July 1, 2011 - Saturday morning the 18th, we loaded up the motorcoach and made our way to Boston. For some of the folks on our tour, this will have been the 6th game in 8 days. For others, it would be their third game in four days. But one thing they had in common, all were very excited to get to Boston to see the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
We arrived in Boston early in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. Our guests then had a few hours to go explore the sites around bean town. Our hotel was located near the start of the Freedom Trail so many folks started there and explored as much as they could in the time that we had.
My wife and I met some friends at Tasty Burger, a great little burger joint within view of Fenway Park. The food was fantastic. We had classic double
cheeseburgers and split a 50/50 (half fries, half onion rings). This will be a permanent stop on all the baseball tours I host in Boston.
Here's a photo from our seats. I kept waiting for a foul ball to roll up the screen above us, hit the face of the upper deck, and then fall into my outreached hand, but no such luck. I think only one or two foul balls were hit up there all night. Maybe it was the style of the pitchers that night? Or, could have just been the way the game was going. Here's the link to the
box score on MLB.com.
This is still my favorite ballpark in all of the Majors. It's size, character, atmosphere inside and outside the park, history, and fans all make it a great place to visit on our MLB road trips.
June 23, 2011 - This was our first baseball tour of any kind. So, we really have nothing to compare it with. But, we were very pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it. GREAT HOST! Great seats at each game. Everything was first class. Very well organized. All of our needs were efficiently met. Travel time and events, during the tour, flowed very well. We would definitely join the tour again and would highly recommend Big League Tours.
Name: Tom & Judy King
City: Muncie
State: Indiana
Country: US
Your Trip: New York, Cooperstown, Boston
June 16, 2011 - Today our group headed to Manhattan to continue our East Coast Tour and start our New York, Cooperstown and Boston Tour. And what a better way could you start a baseball tour than heading to Yankee Stadium?? 
Our guests sat in many different locations in the ballpark, all with their families or friends, but in the best seats that we could find them for the game. Here's a picture from the seats that a few of our guests were sitting in.
The game was fantastic. The Yankees won 12-4 over the Texas Rangers. And if my math was right, there were 6 home runs during the game.
June 12, 2011 - Our group arrived in Philadelphia on Friday from their respective homes to start the longest of our MLB tours for the season, our East Coast Tour. This is the granddaddy of all trips with games in Philly, Baltimore, DC, both teams New York, and Boston. We'll also have a free day in DC to explore the nation's
capitol and we'll make a trek to the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, New York.
A few of our guests arrived early enough to take in the game on Friday night (because six games in 8 days isn't quite enough!!). So we shuffled out of our downtown Philadelphia hotel to Citizens Bank Park to see the Phillies host the Cubs.
The game seemed like the Phillies were going to runaway with it quite easily, especially after Placido Polanco hit a grand slam to make the score 7-0 and light up the liberty bell in center field.
But the Cubs made the game interesting by scoring five runs in the seventh and giving the Phillies fans reason to get even roudier. Ultimately the Phillies held on for the win.
(Box score and wrap up here.)As with all the baseball tours I host, I'll keep checking in from the road to let you know how things are going. Should be fun!
May 23, 2011 - We just got back from our Big League Tour trip to Boston to see the Red Sox play the Cubs for the first time since 1918! As usual, BLT comes through again! The hotel was in a terrific location, the seats to both games were phenonemal, but we truly had a terrific time meeting Bill Lee! Our 1:1 time with him was really special - he is a very down-to-earth guy and full of really fun stories. BLT never disappoints!
Name: Theresa & Frankie
City: Branchburg
State: New Jersey
Country: USA
Your Trip: Red Sox vs. Cubs 2011
May 10, 2011 - Looking for a baseball tour to please the pickiest baseball fan you know? Look no further. This
tour is a baseball aficionado’s dream tour – six stadiums and the Hall of Fame in one trip. The longest of our 2011 MLB road trips begins in Philadelphia where we'll see the Phillies host the Cubs at Citizens Bank Park. Then it's off to Baltimore to see the Rays and Orioles at the first of the retro ballparks, Camden Yards.
We'll take a stadium tour of Orioles Park and visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum before heading to Washington D.C. There our guests will have the rest of the day and all of Monday to explore our nation's capitol. We'll then catch the Cardinals at Nationals Park with a view of the Capitol building in the distance.
We'll then part for New York City, where we'll spend three nights, catch games at Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, make a day run up to Cooperstown, and take in some sights in the Big Apple. We're staying right in the heart of Manhattan so our travelers will get to enjoy every minute of being in the city.
Our final day will consist of a trip to Boston to see the Brewers play at historic Fenway Park. This is a tour that you don’t want to miss! You can learn more about this and all of our 2011 baseball road trips by visiting us at BigLeagueTours.com.
Saturday, June 11 - Cubs @ Phillies, 4:10 PM
Sunday, June 12 - Rays @ Orioles, 1:35 PM
Monday, June 13 - Free Day in DC
Tuesday, June 14 - Cardinals @ Nationals, 7:05 PM
Wednesday, June 15 - Rangers @ Yankees, 7:05 PM
Thursday, June 16 - Cooperstown, All Day
Friday, June 17 - Angels @ Mets, 7:10 PM
Saturday, June 18 - Brewers @ Red Sox, 1:10 PM