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
Crisp Gets Traded for Ramirez
November 20, 2008 - If you were looking at one of our many sports vacations in Boston for the '09 you won't be seeing Coco Crisp, but you will be able to see Ramon Ramirez of the Kansas City Royals.
Red Sox general manager, Theo Epstein
, said they didn't feel any rush to deal with Coco Crisp and would only make a deal if it would positively effect the team. They hadn't found that player until Wednesday when they had the chance to pick up Ramon Ramirez, a 27-year old righty, relief pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. Epstein says,"We think he is a young, controllable relief pitcher that could really help our bullpen.
Pictured above is from our '08 East Coast 1 trip where Coco Crisp was hit by a pitch from the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher and began this fight. This was a great experience for our group tour, because not many people get to see a fight the first day of a trip!
So, join us on one of our many baseball road trips to the East Coast to see Ramirez play for the Red Sox or join us on Midwest 1 and see Crisp play for the Royals.
Topics:
Red Sox,
baseball road trips,
Fenway Park,
big league tours,
MLB road trips
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
Group Tours Brings Families Together
September 8, 2008 - Baseball isn't just for the guys anymore. Two of the most loyal and die hard fans to travel with us were a mother
and daughter duo from Texas. Betty and Suzanne decided that they wanted to attend a game at "the house that Ruth built" before the Yankees moved into the new Yankee Stadium. Betty was researching trips and their options and came across our East Coast 1 trip including Fenway Park, Cooperstown, and Yankee Stadium. Things that drew them in were guaranteed stops at three of baseball's most sought after sites. Betty and Suzanne are pictured here with Bill "Spaceman" Lee. Lee, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, joined our guests on a private, escorted tour of Fenway Park.
"The Best part of the trip was getting to make memories with my mom!" states Suzanne. She says that getting to see live baseball in both of these historic places was unforgettable. She recalls the first game at Fenway Park and her mom's reaction. "I wish everyone could have seen her face as she sat down with her scorecard and pencil twenty rows directly behind home plate at Fenway Park. My 63 year old mom was giggling like a 15 year old, and I was doing the same!" I can agree with Suzanne with this statement because I had the opportunity to sit next to them at the Boston game. It has been a great experience working with Big League Tours, but nothing tops seeing the looks on our guests' faces when they sit in their seats and begin to experience what we work so hard to achieve.
Suzanne and Betty achieved their goal of seeing the Yankees play at Yankee
Stadium before then end of this year. They even got to see a Yankee Stadium first where Johnny Damon hit a walk-off game-winning single in the bottom or the ninth. It was the first time a Yankee had ever gone 6-for-6 at Yankee Stadium. Suzanne said, "My mom and I had a wonderful time together. We very rarely get girl time together and thoroughly enjoyed the trip! I'll always remember this time together with her. One of the guys on the tour with us took the trip with his college-age son. He said that it made his heart glad to see a mother and daughter spending time together like this at our age. It gave him hope that he and his son would continue to stay close as they get older, too."
Topics:
Red Sox,
bucket list,
baseball tours,
Fenway Park,
Yankees,
Yankee Stadium
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
Final Game of Our Six Game Baseball Travel TourJune 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.
Topics:
Red Sox,
baseball trips,
ballpark tours,
Fenway Park,
Green Monster
Taking a Private Stadium Tour of Fenway ParkJune 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!
Topics:
stadium tours,
Red Sox,
baseball trips,
baseball vacation package,
Fenway Park,
Green Monster
Baseball road trip begins with a swing and a miss!
June 5, 2008- Boston Red Sox VS Tampa Bay Rays
This was a game that every major MLB Tours group should have been at! It was probably the most exciting game that I have ever been to in my life. We knew that there had been a run in the night before with Coco Crisp’s controversial slide into second base and were expecting some type of payback.
What we weren’t expecting was for it to happen so early in the game! James Shield was the starting pitcher for the Rays and Coco came up to bat in the second inning and was hit by the pitch in the thigh. At first it appeared that Coco was just going to go to first base. However, that was not the case Coco through his gear down and charged the pitcher’s mound. Starting an uproar in the crowd and on the field he was outnumbered to begin with but soon each team was on the field including the bullpen! After the fight was broke up both Coco and Shield were ejected from the game. This was a great beginning to our MLB road trip!
Topics:
Red Sox,
baseball road trips,
Fenway Park,
group tours
