Midwest Tour 1 - Six Great Baseball Stadiums!!

Posted by Glenn Dunlap on Sun, Nov 25, 2012 @ 08:27 AM

Here's a baseball tour that promises to be great fun - see six baseball stadiums, watch tendifferent teams, stay in four different cities. Busch Stadium

Trip brochureThis baseball vacation package starts in Kansas City with a game at "The K", Kauffman Stadium, the site of the 2012 All Star Game. From there we'll make the short trip across Missouri to St. Louis for a game at Busch Stadium

We'll hop a quick flight to Chicago where we'll setup for three nights. First, we'll see the White Sox at Sox Park and meet up with Sox Slugger, Ron Kittle. The next day we'll go up to Milwaukee to see the Phillies and Brewers at Miller Park and then head back to Chicago after the game. We'll wrap up our Chicago stay with a game at historic Wrigley Field

Monday is reserved for traveling to Minneapolis. We'll fly there so that you'll be able to get settled at the hotel and then take in some local sites in the Twin Cities. Our final day will include a game at Target Field where the Twins host the Phillies for some Inter-league play.

So let's see. That means we'll be sampling barbeque, fried ravioli, Chicago-style pizza and dogs, brats and state fair food. Mmm, mmm... Can't wait!!

Here's a short video with more of the details of this tour. Download the brochure or Purchase This Tour now. We hope you'll join us!!

Topics: St. Louis, baseball tours, Wrigley Field, Busch Stadium, Midwest baseball tour

Looking Forward to an Exciting World Series

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 04:30 PM

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.Group with Nolan Ryan and Jim Sundberg

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.

Topics: St. Louis, Rangers, sports travel and tours, baseball tours, baseball stadiums, baseball vacation package, big league tours, Busch Stadium, Cardinals, Baseball

Final Stop on the Midwest 2 Tour - Kansas City

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 03:15 AM
August 30, 2010 - The final destination point for our Midwest 2 Tour was Kansas City. We drove over from St. Louis in the morning and stopped at Kauffman Stadium (or The K) for an afternoon game. The Angels were visiting the Royals on an incredibly hot afternoon ballgame that had us looking for shade, visiting the fountains, and making our way to the ice cream shop in left center.The K during batting practice

This was my first trip to The K. I certainly liked it. It was easy to get to and park, easy to get around in, had great site lines and lots of fan and family activities in the outfield sections. I have heard people describe The K as the best minor league ballpark in the Major Leagues. I can understand that now. It did have a "small" feel to it, which wasn't bad at all, but it didn't feel like any other stadium that I have visited in the bigs.

One thing that was a real disappointment to me was that, being in Kansas City, I expected there to be pit barbeque stands inside the ballpark. Why wouldn't you, right? If Baltimore can have Boog Powell's and Philly can have Bull's Barbeque, wouldn't you expect KC to incorporate something of its city's heritage?

The real treat for me, I would have to say, was to see Zach Greinke pitch for the first time. I couldn't believe with all the baseball road trips that I have been on that I hadn't seen him pitch. Funny how the schedules work out but it seems like every time I see the Yankees, Andy Pettite is on the mound. We must be on the same rotation... Anyway, back to Zach... He didn't pitch that well the day we saw him but it was still great to watch him work in person. He was also up against Jared Weaver who was pitching well in the June heat. Check out the box scores on the Royals website.

Topics: Kansas City, Royals, St. Louis, baseball road trips, Baltimore, Yankees, Angels

Quick Stop in St. Louis

Posted by Big League Tours on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 @ 03:00 AM
August 30, 2010 - The next stop on our Midwest 2 Tour was in St. Louis. We left Chicago mid-morning and made our way to The Gateway City in time to take a baseball stadium tour at Busch Stadium. The escorted tours that they give at Busch Stadium are pretty nice. You get to make the usual stops - warning track, dugouts, press box, suites, and club areas. What's unusual was that we were able to hit View from the field at Busch Stadiumthose spots so late in the day on a game day. Normally the team will shut down the field so that was an added bonus.

Here's a photo taken from the field at Busch Stadium. One of the things that you'll notice on your baseball road trips is that the newer stadiums have done a much better job of incorporating their surroundings into the ballpark. Remember the concrete bowls of the 60's and 70's? Or stadiums that were ill-fitting or designed for football? Thankfully they are being replaced with thoughtful stadium designs like Busch Stadium, PNC Park, Progressive Field and Citizens Bank Park.

We are always asked which is our favorite park so let me turn the tables on you. Which park is your favorite? What makes it your favorite? Let us know. It's always interesting to get a fan's perspective!

Topics: stadium tours, St. Louis, Progressive Field, Citizens Bank Park, baseball road trips, PNC Park, Chicago, Busch Stadium

Funny Spot on ESPN

Posted by Big League Tours on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 @ 11:30 PM
April 14, 2010 - Anybody else as big of a fan as I am of the commercials that they run on ESPN? There's Albert Pujols at the copy machine. How about LeBron James sitting in a lousy desk chair while Van Pelt sits in his royal chair? Or the classic is when the baseball players are critiquing the sportscasters on film.

Here's a new spot that's going to air on ESPN featuring Torii Hunter of the Angels and BJ Upton of the Rays. It's a pretty funny take on something you would normally only see inside a baseball stadium.

Topics: St. Louis, baseball stadiums, Cardinals

Updates to the Friendly Confines

Posted by Big League Tours on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 @ 09:15 PM

February 10, 2010 - Fans who have taken baseball travel tours to Chicago, know that Cubs fans love their Wrigley Field - and they should. It doesn't get much better than being in Wrigleyville on game day. From the minute that you step off the "L", you are in the heart of the action. Vendors line the streets selling t-shirts, to peanuts, to water, to tickets. Throngs of people mill around outside the stadium, many of whom are walking to or from the famous Wrigley Field sign that greets you on the corner of Clark and Addison, pictured here during a night game.

As you would expect with any venue built in 1914, there are constant renovations and repairs taking place. One of the coolest changes taking place this year is that we'll be able to watch players working on their swings in the batting cage under the right field bleachers through a one way glass.

Big League Tours is offering a couple of ways to get to Wrigley this year. We have travel package tours that will get you there including our Midwest 1 and  Midwest 2 tours. And for those of you located in Central Indiana, we're offering day trips for the first time this year where we'll leave Indianapolis, head to Chicago, Cincinnati or St. Louis for games and come back after the game. We have a few options to see the Cubbies so check out the tours and join us, won't you?

Topics: baseball vacations, St. Louis, Wrigley Field, big league tours, Chicago, Cubs, Cincinnati

2010 Baseball Trip Feature - Midwest 2

Posted by Big League Tours on Tue, Nov 22, 2011 @ 06:30 PM
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.

Topics: St. Louis, Rangers, Wrigley Field, big league tours, Chicago, U.S. Cellular Field, Cardinals, Cubs

Cubs vs. Cardinals - Look to the Cookie...?

Posted by Big League Tours on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 @ 06:00 AM

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..."

Topics: St. Louis, baseball tours, baseball stadiums, baseball travel, Chicago, Cardinals, Cubs

St. Louis Baseball Tour, Part II

Posted by Big League Tours on Sat, Nov 19, 2011 @ 12:30 PM
Small Group Tours at Busch Stadium
August 2, 2008 - The Cards took on the Phillies for the second time this weekend, hoping to repeat their performance from the previous night and walk away with another victory. We were relieved to have a little cooler Group travel tours offering front row seatsevening after the day had been really hot for all of our various activities.

We always try to incorporate some unique and fun things on each of our baseball travel tours. This sports package was no different. We offered front row seats to Busch Stadium as well as club seats for our guests. We think that spending sports vacations in the front row is not a bad option...In fact, here's a photo of Albert Pujols that we took from our seats.

The view at the end of the game didn't look so hot for the Cardinals, though. They ended up dropping this game to the Phillies by a close score of 2-1. Click here to see the box scores and write up on the Cardinals website.

Topics: St. Louis, Phillies, baseball tours, ballpark tours, Busch Stadium, Cardinals

Big League Tours in St. Louis

Posted by Big League Tours on Sat, Nov 19, 2011 @ 12:00 PM
Starting August with a Sports Vacation by the Arch
August 1, 2008 - No summer would be complete without baseball trip to catch some baseball in the true baseball town of St. Louis. To make it even better, St. Louis is taking on the Philadelphia Phillies and both teams are battling for Baseball road trips provide brushes with MLB playersspots at the top of their divisions. We suspected that the baseball would be hot and knew there would be a good chance that the weather would be hot in St. Louis in August. We were right about both things.

Our seats were fantastic - this game they were in the club seats behind home plate. When we arrived to our seats, the Phillies were wrapping up their batting practice. We were able to snap this photo of Ryan Howard from our section.

The Cardinals dominated the game by posting a four-run third inning and holding the Phillies to only three runs. Click here for the complete box score and to read the Cardinals' write up.

Topics: St. Louis, baseball trips, Busch Stadium, Cardinals