March 1, 2009 - 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.
Topics:
group travel,
Boston,
baseball travel,
big league tours,
Yankee Stadium,
Cooperstown
February 18, 2009 - 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.
Topics:
stadium tours,
Red Sox,
Boston,
New York,
baseball stadiums,
big league tours,
Mets
January 16, 2009 - 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.
Join us if you can!
Topics:
Red Sox,
Boston,
sports travel and tours,
New York,
Fenway Park,
Yankee Stadium,
hall of fame,
Cooperstown
Pedroia is Named AL Most Valuable Player
November 18, 2008 - Are you considering one of our baseball tours to the East Coast next 2009 
season? Well, if not you might now...Dustin Pedroia was named the AL MVP. The second baseman for the Red Sox joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years.
Pedroia is the first second baseman to win the AL MVP since Nellie Fox of the White Sox in 1959. Also, for Pedoia's great performance in 2008, he received a Gold Glove Award, a spot on the American League's Silver Slugger team and now MVP.
Pedroia has an infections enthusiasm that has earned him the rare ability to be considered a team leader at the age of 25. But as much as he said in the clubhouse and the dugout, his bat could have done all the talking. His 54 doubles led the Majors. He led the AL in runs and multi-hit games.
So, whether you choose East Coast 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or the Big Apple trip you'll be sure to see Pedroia in action!
Click here for the full story.
Topics:
Red Sox,
Boston,
baseball road trips,
Fenway Park,
big league tours,
MLB tours
Vintage or retro, call it what you will. I love it! I’m talking about the change in the Orioles and Blue Jays logos that were recently announced. Have you seen the changes? They are as I remember them as a kid, and in my opinion how they should’ve remained all along. I’m thrilled to see the return of both birds, cartoon-style.
It’s been fun in recent years to watch teams utilize “throw back” uniforms, but it’s nice to see that some things simply stay the same. While I’m not a fan of the Yankees, I love their traditional blocked letter “NY” and timeless pinstripes. The Red Sox “B” stirs emotion of either love or dread. Then there is Detroit’s Old English “D” and the Chicago Cubs red “C” that have remained constant throughout time. While the Indians and the Braves have gotten a bit more politically correct over the years, logos will always define their teams.
I’m an old-time traditionalist who loves the game of baseball. I love the relaxing atmosphere at baseball games. I love baseball pants (high ones). I love seeing socks, but don’t prefer skater-boy hat bills. I love that baseball is still just baseball after all this time.
This traditionalist can hardly wait to begin cheering on her Cincinnati Red Stockings again!
Topics:
Red Sox,
Boston,
baseball games,
Wrigley Field,
Reds,
Great American Ball Park,
Cubs,
Cincinnati
The Unexpected Parts of Sports Travel PackagesJuly 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!
Topics:
Boston,
baseball tours,
Fenway Park,
MLB tours
Another Great Game On One of Our MLB Road TripsJuly 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.
Topics:
Red Sox,
Boston,
baseball tours,
Fenway Park,
Green Monster,
MLB road trips
Private Stadium Tour of Fenway ParkJuly 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.
Topics:
stadium tours,
Red Sox,
Boston,
ballpark tours,
Fenway Park,
sports vacation,
Green Monster
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.
Topics:
Boston,
New York,
Fenway Park,
Yankee Stadium,
MLB road trips,
hall of fame,
Cooperstown
