October 19, 2011 - Congratulations to the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals for their League Championship victories. The stage is set for a great World Series.
Since our inception in 2006, we have enjoyed multiple visits to Busch Stadium and Rangers Ballpark. But we have to admit that we have a special affinity for the Rangers organization at Big League Tours. Our group's reception when we visited Arlington in 2010 was tremendous. Rangers legend Jim Sundberg was especially gracious as he gave our group a private baseball stadium tour and a behind-the-scene look at the Rangers' offices.
And then, Jim surprised us all by arranging a meeting with Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. Nolan and Jim were kind enough to sign autographs and chat at length with our group, too. They even posed for pictures like the one above. If you're ever on a tour with Rob, Mickey, Dianne or Lillian (that's them with the big smiles in the picture), just ask them about that day. They'll enjoy telling you all about it.
Thanks again to Jim Sundberg and Nolan Ryan for making this one of the most special baseball vacation packages we've offered our Big League Tours' guests. We hope to visit the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington again very soon, maybe again in 2012.
Speaking of 2012 baseball tours, if you aren't on our email list to get updates and announcements, Click Here to sign up so that you'll be the first to know about your upcoming sports travel and tours.
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 1, 2011 - I wanted to share an email I received from Tom H. Tom and his son joined us on our Cubs at Fenway Tour a few weeks ago. His recount of this historic MLB tour really captures the Big League Tours experience. He sent along a few pictures, too, so I have included them as well. Enjoy their story from the second of our nine baseball vacation packages this season.
My 13 yr old and I just completed our first trip with Big League Tours, and it was amazing. At first blush, the package price seems a little high compared to what I could do on my own, but after experiencing this event, the cost of the trip was MORE than worth it. Not only were the seats fantastic, but the behind the park tour, and the stories told by Bill "Spaceman" Lee were incredible.
My son is a huge Red Sox fan, and I've been a lifelong Cubs fan. Neither of us had been to Fenway, but we have been to Wrigley Field and a half dozen other major league parks. Fenway is an experience every true baseball fan should enjoy at least once in their life. It was amazing (although I'm still partial to Wrigley Field and the surrounding area!)
Boston itself was a beautiful city, much different than I expected. My only regret is that we scheduled an early morning flight back on Sunday, so we did not get to see very much of the city. If I did this over again, I would plan more time for site -seeing throughout the town.
We arrived on Friday afternoon to find our hotel was one of the oldest and nicest in Boston, and we had rooms on the concierge floor with all the amenities we could ask for. Our tour guide Mike was awesome, and met us downstairs a little before the appointed time. Mike took care of us the entire trip, going above and beyond the call of duty even though it meant backtracking for him at the end of the night to go pick his car back up and head for home! You're great Mike, and if you get back "home" to Texas look me up and we'll do Ranger's Stadium!!)
We departed on the subway (an experience for those of us in car-only states) and within 3 exits were at Fenway Park. Even 3 hours before the game, the area was going wild with activity. We walked around taking in the sites outside, then went in to our seats. For the first game, our seats were behind homeplate, about 20-30 rows up. Even though these were incredible seats, I was disappointed at first with the fact that the net came the entire length of the lower deck, making it impossible to catch a foul ball (or so I thought!) Boy was I wrong. About the 5th or 6th inning, a foul ball rolled all the way up the net, and found a hole in the net! The next thing I know a ball is coming down about three stories toward us. My right hand was full of bags from the Fenway gift shops, but with the speed of light I stuck out my left hand across my body and snagged the foul ball one handed for my Fenway Jewel! The park photographer was there within seconds to capture that moment forever, and even caught my grinning son next to me to make the memory perfect!
After the game, our guide gave us the option of taking the subway back to the hotel, which would have been very crowded and very slow, or walking back to the hotel. When he gave me that choice, thinking of Chicago or New York, or even Texas, I looked puzzled and asked if the walk would be safe?? We were about a mile and a half away!! He said yes, so we took out walking. I was amazed how many groups of people were out walking around Boston at midnight, many of these groups of young college age women. I felt completely safe, and enjoyed the beautiful sites of 200 yr old apartments and churches on the way back to the hotel.
Saturday we slept in longer than I had hoped, but did have time to take a bus tour around the town. Saturday afternoon we had an incredible tour behind the scenes at Fenway Park, and got to meet one of the most colorful Boston players ever, Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Bill and his lovely wife stayed with us the entire tour, telling stories about the park and his career. Every Boston fan seemed to remember Bill, and wanted their picture taken with him. He seemed to LOVE being out with the people and making everyone happy! Thanks Big League Tours for letting us meet the Spaceman, and THANK YOU BILL for being so great. My son is still telling your stories, and has hardly put down the bat you gave us!
Saturday's game was even better than Friday ( partially because the CUBS won!!). Our seats were EVEN BETTER than Friday, about 8-10 rows from the field, right behind home plate. Amazing!!
Boston was a gorgeous city, and getting around was very easy. My son and I LOVED the entire Big League Tours experience, and look forward to going on another one very soon. The cost was worth every penny, considering the location of the seats, the 4-5 star hotel, and all of the other package perks! Big League Tours certainly lived up to their name, as this experience was BIG LEAGUE all the way!!
Tom H.
Thanks, Tom, for sending this to me and for letting me post it on the blog. We are looking forward to having you join us on one of our baseball road trips with Big League Tours again soon!
Janurary 16, 2010 - Big League Tours is a company that provides world class customer service and trips that you'll remember for the rest of your life. The trip my mom and I went one was very memorable and special. We went on the Texas Tour in July, 2010 to see two Texas Rangers games and two Houston Astro games. The staff of this company was very friendly. They do things that none of the other baseball tours ever do like do a tour each stadium you visit and do a meet & greet with a former player of one of the teams that you're going to see. We did a meet & greet in Arlington with former Ranger legend Jim Sundberg who had a very warm personality and showed us around the ballpark and his office. The biggest highlight of trip happened when Jim Sundberg introduced us to Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan who was amazing to meet. Nolan is just a class of his own. The seats at all the games are outstanding and they are lower level and you get a fantastic view of each game you go to. I don't think there will ever be a sports travel company as amazing as Big Leagues and that's what I call one Big League Experience of its own.
Name: Rob
City: Phoenix
State: AZ
Country: USA
Your Trip: Texas Tour
August 30 - The Tuesday night game of our Midwest 1 and 2 Tours was at U.S. Cellular Field between the Chicago White Sox and the Texas Rangers. After a sweltering Sunday afternoon game at Wrigley on Sunday, it was great to get a break from the heat on this night game. It's interesting to note how the fans on our MLB tours pick up on the difference between the fans at Wrigley and those at
the Cell. Even though the Sox lost the game, it was interesting and the hometown fans were stoked about their team. The
White Sox webpage has videos and the box score from the game.
Here's a photo that I took from our seats at the game. Not a bad view, huh? I can't reinforce enough how important it is for us to get you great seats for the games. Other sports travel companies won't get you this close. You'll likely be in group seats in the upper deck out by the foul pole. We've been told by our customers that they didn't dream they would sit this close on any travel package tours. We want you to be satisfied but it doesn't need to be a surprise!
July 23, 2010 - Trip in and trip out, the element that we include that always gets rave reviews are the Big League Player Experiences. We always bring in an MLB player to tell baseball stories, field questions from
our guests, and to sign autographs and take pictures with the folks on our MLB road trips.
The small group tour we had in the Midwest was no different. Here's a picture of Ron Kittle with some of our travelers before the game at US Cellular Field. This year we visited different sections of the stadium with Ron prior to the gates opening, were able to watch batting practice for the Sox and the Rangers, and were able to talk casually with him about the Sox, his career and baseball in general. And as we've come to know about every event that we have with Ron, we had a great time. Thanks, Kitty!
By the way, if you haven't checked out the baseball artwork including the bat benches that Ron makes, you are really missing out.
Click here to go to his site, buy a bat bench, and tell him that we sent ya!
So join us on one of our upcoming baseball road trips so that you can hang with an MLB player and get that much closer to the game that you love!
Janurary 2, 2010 - 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.
December 16, 2009 - Our Midwest 2 baseball vacation package begins in Chicago. Our group will meet at our hotel on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago and begin the tour by heading out to Wrigley Field for the great rivalry of the Cardinals vs. the Cubs for what will likely be a Sunday afternoon game.
On Monday, you'll have the opportunity to see the sites in Chicago - shop till you drop, take escorted tours of the architecture or skyline of the city, or take some family tours of the great museums. The next day will venture to US Cellular Field to see Josh Hamilton and the Rangers take on Ozzie's White Sox.
Wednesday we'll depart for St. Louis and Busch Stadium to see the Cardinals in their home venue. We'll stay in the heart of the city that evening and then leave for Kansas City in the morning. While in KC we'll see a game at Kaufmann Stadium and visit the Negro League Museum for a look into some of the rich history of baseball.
This premier sports travel package promises to be a great time. For more details on this baseball tour and our other sports vacations, visit
BigLeagueTours.com.
March 11, 2009 - Our East Coast 2 Tour, which runs over the first weekend in June of 2009, begins in New York City for a Friday night Yankees game at New Yankee Stadium. (I can't wait to get back to Manhattan or to get out to the new stadium.) We'll catch the new division rivals Rays taking on the Yankees.
The next day we'll travel by a luxury motorcoach to Boston for a private tour
of Fenway Park, an afternoon to hang out on Yawkey Way, and then take in the Red Sox game. Who else is in town but Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers. I can't help but wonder if some of his home run blasts in the All Star Game last year would have cleared the red seat in right field at Fenway? Maybe we'll get to see him do it in person?!
Joining us on this MLB tour is pitching ace, John Tudor, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and began his career in Boston. His most notable season was in 1985 when he started 1-7 and then went on a tear of 20-1 to finish the season. John also recorded 10 complete game shutouts that season, a record that hadn't been touched since 1975 when Jim Palmer reached the same peak.
Tudor was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988 when they won the World Series against the Oakland Athletics. He finished his career with a 117-72 record, 988 strikeouts and a 3.12 ERA.
Check out our
website for more details about this and other exciting small group tours offered by Big League Tours.
What Makes Baseball Vacation Packages Special?June 20, 2008 - Sometimes it's choosing the right tour operator who puts together sports travel packages that include some really cool features. But
sometimes, the things that happen on the package tours can't be planned.
One of those unplanned events happened on our latest MLB tour when Josh Hamilton spent time signing autographs for fans along the third base line at Nationals Park. Josh became a favorite of ours last year when he made such a tremendous come back with the Cincinnati Reds. We hated to see the Reds trade him this past winter but it has been a trade that has worked out really well for both clubs.
The Reds received Edinson Volquez, who has just pitched lights out for them and leads the majors in ERA. The Rangers received Josh Hamilton who is a legitimate contender for baseball's coveted triple crown. And, it seems that the Rangers are doing everything they can to help support Josh's clean walk. Kudos to the Rangers ownership and management.
Here he is signing my son's baseball. Thanks for helping to make this baseball road trip special, Josh!