Baseball Vacations

by LoveDemAs on Jan 13, 2006 9:13 AM PST Comment 10 comments

Well, it's another slow news day during the off season, so I thought I'd propose the topic of baseball vacations.

Currently my wife and I are planning a two-week vacation this summer that revolves around seeing a game in all of the home ballparks in the Northwest League (short-season single A-- there are only 8 teams, so two weeks is manageable). We've also done other baseball-related vacations like Spring Training.

Does anybody else on the blog do these kinds of baseball-related trips? Any favorite memories? Any "dream trips" that you'd like to take but haven't gotten around to?

I'd love to do all 30 MLB ballparks, though I doubt I'd ever get enough consecutive time off to do it in one shot (I'm working my way through them slowly). I have a fantasy about taking the whole season off and trying to attend all 162 A's games, but I fear that's a pipe dream. I'm personally ambivalent about Cooperstown, but suppose I'll end up there eventually. What about you all?

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Take a gander

at my trip from last season.

Check out some awesome music ...

by devo on Jan 13, 2006 9:26 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I don't think the airlines let you ...

... take live fowl on planes.

@('.')@

by monkeyball on Jan 13, 2006 10:05 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

luggage compartment ...

it didn't appreciate it much ...

Check out some awesome music ...

by devo on Jan 13, 2006 10:24 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

that was great

really enjoyed reading about it.

Bill Stoneman is about to be offered three seasons of a right-handed version of Vladimir Guerrero - Rev Halofan

by pickinmachine on Jan 13, 2006 10:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

dream vacation

I'd like to someday go down to the Dominican to watch some winter ball. Has anyone ever done this? I know there's an AN poster who lives in the Dominican--any tips?

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Jan 13, 2006 10:28 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

when I was in Cuba a few springs ago,

I caught a night game in Havana, and for $3 I sat in the 2nd row behind home plate (the most expensive seats in an American stadium). It was awesome. I wish I could remember who the away team was (it was the local Habana team against someone else), but it was a great experience. If you can get to Cuba, I recommend it. Luckily, I was able to go legally through the US gov't but I know that more and more people have been going through Mexico or Canada. And what people don't know is that you're allowed to go to Cuba, just not allowed to spend money there (I think the limit you can spend is $100, but not totally sure about this). The place is absolutely gorgeous, the people are so friendly, and the baseball was great--much more aggressive than in the US, I found. As a local told me, "you don't walk your way off the island..."

"...and in Joe [Blanton]'s case, it's almost like he crammed the whole rookie year in a month, then became a veteran." --Billy Beane

by rungood on Jan 13, 2006 10:49 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'll second that.

Cuba is incredible. Shame the only people the US government allows to go there are government officials and torture candidates.

But if you go to Canada, you can fly directly to Cuba for not a lot of money, and when you get there, the Cubans are more than happy to not stamp your passport so you don't get in trouble when you return home.

Everything is ridiculously cheap (outside the tourist hotels, anyway), the people are great (everyone - but EVERYONE - has a medical degree or a law degree, a consequence of their free university education for all), and the baseball is a whole other world.

by Ozzz on Jan 13, 2006 11:12 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

ROAD TRIP!!!

I love road trips!!! :) :) :)

Last summer my sister and I hit Cooperstown followed by the Toronto-Chicago road trip before the all star break. The year before we went on a Detroit-Cleveland-Pittsburgh swing, though didn't get any A's games the whole time, which was tough.

This year I hope to make it down to one of the San Diego games, and perhaps to Arlington or Anaheim if I can find a weekend series with cheap airfare...

My goal is to make it to all the ballparks at some point, though I can't take off a month to do it at once, so I'm spreading it out over a number of years. I have a great map on my wall of all the ballparks (major and minor league) in the country (and in Canada), so I can check anytime I am going to be going anywhere to see if I can find a game! :)

There's no crying in baseball!

by gigglingone on Jan 13, 2006 10:59 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

When you do your NWL road trip...

...and get to Vancouver, be sure to get there a little early, find the Vancovuer Canadians booster club behind home plate, and ask for Bud Kerr. He's the team historian and was around for just about anything that has happened in Vancouver baseball over the past fifty plus years.

He'll tell you where the old stadiums were, stories about old players (like the time the pitcher was wired with a headset so the coach could call pitches from the dugout, or the time the ballpark emptied during a game because an asteroid was coming), or the time when Babe ruth came to town with a barnstorming all-star team and played in a torrential downpour, or the time Satchel Paige threw off the mound at age 50+ and brought the heat...

Really adds to the experience. Every ballpark should have a Bud Kerr.

by Ozzz on Jan 13, 2006 11:16 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Baseball Vaca

In 2004 I went to Chicago for the three game set against the Cubs with three friends, all A's fans. We spent three days in Wrigleyville doing nothing but talk baseball and get drunk on Old Style with the locals. All the time wearing our A's gear proudly. We caught some flack but nothing personal or threatening.
The highlight was game 2 watching Mulder vs Prior from the bleachers. The absolute best place to watch a ballgame, hands down. The beer shower we recieved when Bradford blew it in the ninth was epic. My Mulder jersey still reeks of brew.
I've gone on other trips including Baltimore and Seattle, and even though we dropped two out of three to the Cubbies, this was the best.

"Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges!"

by jbxchico on Jan 13, 2006 11:19 AM PST reply actions 0 recs