Slow day at work and I have some questions for those of you who have taken baseball road trips...

Can I go with you??

      Not to toot my own horn, but I did the whole thing, all 30 parks, in 2007. You’ve picked a good route with great parks, and the same route I took. I hate to pander the unfinished product, but law school interrupted me before I could finish it all. www.ballparkquest.com
The only advice I’d give you is to buy Bosox tickets early, consider China Buses for travel between NY, DC, Philly, and Baltimore, and realize you won’t find parking in the Big apple.
Cooperstown is a clutch inclusion, as well.

I like my baseball trips sure, but I only tackle 3-5 + random minor league parks a season, and I’ve only been doing it for the better part of three seasons.

The one giant variable I see in your original plan is the car-selling aspect. That does not have a set time-table, and could cause you a lot of headache, if can’t make what you’re expecting to get from it, and/or cannot sell it quickly, because everyone is out to low-ball the snot out of you. And if you run into some bad car problems along the way, that is going to tank the resale value real fast. But the concept of being able to take your time and go at your own pace is liberating and appealing to someone like me, and holds a great deal of weight in weighing the options.

I’ve never heard of Broach, but I’ve known people who have done Jay Buckley Baseball Tours. It’s comforting to know that they’re doing a lot of the legwork for you, but anyone with a calculator, resources, and the drive could easily replicate a similar tour for significant savings, provided that they don’t mind doing their own driving.

Suggestions: Plan a set amount of what you want to spend for each game. Realize you might have to spend a night in your car if things get hairy. Get your Red Sox tickets in advance, nowhere else warrants the necessity. Have a good bit of fallback funds, and perhaps set aside an allocated amount ahead of time, so you don’t just kick back and drain a bank account.

Take a look at this site, and if you can, try and read through their experiences or try to get in touch with them yourself. They did all 30 parks plus the College World Series in a 2-3 month span. The most striking thing I get from their experience is that they preach the power of generosity and actual good, unafraid people willing to accommodate out there.

I’d say I’d join you on some of your travels, but I tend to do things last minute, or with little preparation. I have flight privileges, so I can get away with it, so nothing is set in stone. I also watch the schedules and try to lump teams with their home/departure times. Like Houston/Texas, or Detroit/Milwaukee/Chicago/Chicago/Cleveland/Cincy, or Florida/Tampa Bay, etc.

Regardless, good luck to you. Take a camera, and take a bajillion pictures, because the pursuit of the great American game is a fun and memorable one.

Sounds awesome. Personally, I can’t give much advice on the specifics of your trip. I’ve never tried something that long. I tend to get crazy after about a week and a half, no matter how much I love baseball (Just another reason why players are amazing to me, these guys are on the road for the whole season).

But, I will say, you should make a go of it yourself and not on someone else’s schedule. You’re covering a huge part of the country and there might be a million things you want to do that would never be on a tour schedule. And, you have the freedom to go longer or stop whenever you want.

I’ve never done a professional tour, and I’ve never done something as ambitious as that plan…when I was a kid, my dad and I would pick one “region”, and hit up all the parks in the given area.

Past examples…
MIDWEST: Chicago x2, Cleveland, Pittsburgh
NORTHEAST: NY x2, Philly, Boston, Montreal
WEST COAST: SF, Oakland, LA x2, Arizona

Doing more than like 5 parks in a trip can get a little much, with a TON of driving. The drive from Chicago to Pittsburgh was I think 10 hours, from LA to SF was about 7 I think. Phoenix to LA was also about 4 or so, and Boston to Montreal was 5. If you like driving and think you could do it, go ahead…but I highly advise against it.

I’ve been on baseball trips the last three years. In 2005 we flew into Vegas then drove to San Diego, saw a Padres game. Next day we drove to LA and saw a Dodgers game, then on to Vegas that night. We stayed in Vegas and saw a 51s game (McDowell was the pitching coach then), we also did some gambling and visited Hoover dam. We then drove to Salt Lake City and saw a Stingers game, and visited Zion National Park. Then we went to Denver, saw a Rockies game. From there we went to Albuquerque and saw an Isotopes game. Then across to the Grand Canyon, taking in all the National Parks along the way. From the GC we went down to Phoenix and saw a D-Backs game. Then came back to LA and saw an Angels game, seeing Joshua Tree NP along the way. Then we headed back to Vegas and flew home. It was 3500 miles in 10 days, and worth it.

I’ve also done some other smaller trips including two last year. Here are some of the rules I try to follow:
- Try to make giant circles and finish in the same place you start if you’re renting a car. It’s amazingly cheaper to return a rental car to the same place you got it.
- Don’t forget about trains and Amtrak. It’s really cheap and you don’t have to do any white knuckle driving in unfamiliar areas. I’m planning a trip this year where I go from Detroit to Chicago to St. Louis to KC all via train — you’d be surprised how accessible most big cities east of the Mississippi are.
- Pretty much anywhere that the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox aren’t playing, get scalped tickets. If you know what you’re doing you can get great deals. Do your research by googling scalped tickets for each team.
- Leave time for something other than baseball. Use a baseball trip as an excuse to see the country, its cities and and its parks.
- Remember that stadium tours are some of the best things to do, but you have to get there early, so don’t try and compress your trip into too few days.
- See some minor league games and parks. They are a good contrast to the major league stadiums and often have much better food.

I’m sure I could write another 10 pages on things to do and things to avoid and possible trips to take. I’m always planning then and keeping them in my back pocket in case good airfare comes around. I’ve got about 10 more parks and I will have seen every one.

One more thing.

PLAN IT OUT. Have your itinerary ridiculously detailed and meticulously planned. You don’t want to have to spend an extra day in a city because the team is off or on the road that day.