Ballpark Tour Summer 2005 (East)

[Kyle A]

Hi

Myself and three to five friends are planning a road trip for the summer after we graduate high school. We are going to go to Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore, Washington (if the Expos are there), Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cinncinnati, Detroit, and on the way back (we live in NH), Cooperstown, NY.

Our plan is to go to baseball games in each of the above mentioned cities. However, with the teams having off days and road trips I am wondering if it is possible to hit all of the stadiums in 20 days.


Any other comments, or tips would be appretiated.

[Robert Schaller]

Here's what I'd do -- go to each team's website and see what their schedules are for home games. You can then match the trip to each stadium and figure out if you can do it or not -- the teams' schedules and the driving times between the cities will be the ultimate test. Get a Rand McNally road atlas or use one of the online programs (or trip planning software like MS Streets and Trips) to figure your driving times and stops. Don't forget to build in a little time for sleeping -- you won't enjoy it much if you fall asleep at the games! It is a worthy quest and I wish you success! Bob

&gt; Hi<BR>
&gt; <BR>
&gt; Myself and three to five friends are <BR>
&gt; planning a road trip for the summer after we <BR>
&gt; graduate high school. We are going to go to <BR>
&gt; Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore, Washington <BR>
&gt; (if the Expos are there), Pittsburgh, Cleveland, <BR>
&gt; Cinncinnati, Detroit, and on the way back (we <BR>
&gt; live in NH), Cooperstown, NY.<BR>
&gt; <BR>
&gt; Our plan is to <BR>
&gt; go to baseball games in each of the above <BR>
&gt; mentioned cities. However, with the teams having <BR>
&gt; off days and road trips I am wondering if it is <BR>
&gt; possible to hit all of the stadiums in 20 <BR>
&gt; days.<BR>
&gt; <BR>
&gt; Any other comments, or tips would be <BR>
&gt; appretiated. <BR>
<BR>

[imported_Transplanted Midwesterner]

I just got back this morning from a very similar trip and it was a total blast. Starting from Wisconsin, we hit Wrigley, Cincinatti, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cooperstown, Boston, Philly, Baltimore, and back through Comiskey in 11 days.

The first thing you'll need to do is take a look at the teams 2005 calendars. Each team's comes out at a different time, but they start showing up on their official websites shortly after the world series. Find a couple of weeks where you can go and start lining up a possible route. You probably won't be able to do a direct route. For example our trip from Chicago to Detroit went through Cinci and Pittsburgh.

The next thing to do is to figure out which games could sell out and make sure to buy those when they go on sale in early spring. Red Sox games for example sell out very fast, and are very expensive to begin with. If you know a game isn't going to sell out, like a Detroit game on a weekday, you can save a little bit of money by waiting to buy your tickets at the stadium where there are no ticketmaster or shipping fees or if you feel adventurous you can try to buy tickets for under face value from scalpers.

I'd also recommend you keep your schedule fairly flexible and don't forget that seeing a game in Cincinatti one day and Detroit is very possible if you have all day to drive, but if one game is a night game and the next is a day game, you'll have to drive all night to get there. Also keep in mind that some cities have traffic issues which could add significant travel time to your trip.

You might not be able to hit all of the parks you listed because of the baseball schedule. But you might be able to hit Toronto for example if Cleveland is at an away game. Also keep in mind that MLB can occationally change game times. We had a Saturday night game that got moved to the afternoon because FOX wanted it to be the game of the week.

It's tough to do on a trip like this, but give yourself a couple of days off where you aren't going to a game or think in advance which games are a low priority if you decide you need a change of pace. We were going to hit a minor league game in upstate new york, but decided to hang out in Canada for an extra day instead.

[Kyle A]

thank you for the tips, i tried simultaing a similiar trip using this years schedule and it worked with the exeption of one park and i had to put the stadiums out of logicial order somewhat. i think it can be done and it will be a blast. how much money did you guys spend on your trip? our estimates are between $2000 and $2500 but some tell me these figures are too high.... what do you think?

[imported_Transplanted Midwesterner]

I think your guess of $2000-$2500 is probably pretty close, although it really depends upon how many people are going and what your plans are for sleeping, food, etc.

Between the three people who went on my trip, we spent about $400 in gas, a little over $500 on tickets, and another $400 or so for camping and groceries. We kept our trip very economical: camping almost every night, making sandwiches in the car for lunch, and grilled at our campsite for dinner most nights.

Personally, I'd guess I spent about another $300 or so on gifts, $4 ballpark hotdogs, $6 ballpark beers, and $15 Canadian Lap Dances. Obviously you can make those expenses meet your own budget, but I'd factor at least a couple hundred dollars, particularly if you're going to make this a 20 day trip.

[Kyle A]

thank you.... more tips if anyone has any would be appreciated

[donnie]

A friend and I are planning a similar west coast trip to pick up a car in California. We're hitting Denver, Seattle, San Fran and Arizona while stopping at the grand canyon for 4 days. I am using Microsoft Mappoint to plan, it is awesome, it warns you when to stop for gas, plan stops, and it tells you of road construction, and lets you know what restraunts, gas stations and hotels, etc are at each stop. Good luck and have fun.

[Kyle A]

on this trip we are planning on hitting boston, new york, philly, baltimore, cleveland, pittsburgh, cinncinati and perhaps detroit.

my mom is trying to convince me that detroit is very unsafe. i dont think its any more dangerous than the other cities listed.

what do you think?

- 20 days should be plenty. You'll even have some time to check out some minor league games along the way. Trips to minor league parks are often much more fun than a major league game. Just type in "minor league" into Google and have at it.

- You mentioned 3-5 guys. If your vessel is a 4-door sedan or less, you'd have some serious comfort issues so tell the fift guy to stay home and you'll bring him back a hat. 4 guys with all your gear and souvenirs you pick up along the way is going to be snug.

- You don't have any major driving days except heading back from Detroit to Cooperstown which is good. That should save your sanity and ensure that 4 friends don't become 4 people who can't stand the look or one another when your ship pulls back into NH.

- Take a look at the map. You can go from Detroit to Toronto and drop back down through upstate New York on the way to Cooperstown. What's one more park? I think all you guys will have to be 18. You might want to check before you do that.

- All major cities are going to have unsavory areas. The secret is just to be safe. Park in well lit lots. It might cost a couple bucks more, but it's worth it.

- 20 days should give you time to check out some stuff. In Cleveland there's the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Cedar Point in Sandusky if you and your buddies like roller coasters, that won't disappoint.

- All major cities usually put the park near downtown. As far as lodging goes, if you want to stay near the park it's going to cost you much more than if you head out towards the city limits and find the area where all the chain motels line up on the side of the road one after another. These chain store-restaurants-motels-gas station utopias are found usually around 15-30 miles outside of the center of downtown on the interstate. Every city has them and you'll be paying 40-50 bucks a night for a clean safe room rather than $100+ to stay downtown. Is a 15-60 minute drive after the game worth saving that money? That's up to you. Another tip. Find your favorite chain motel that's outside of the city, but heading in the direction you're going to drive the next day. That way in the morning, you don't have to drive through the city with the morning traffic.