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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Baseball Trips
The Occidental Tourist · June 25, 2000

The Tourist can't imagine buying season tickets for a sports team. These days, you need a police blotter to identify players instead of a game program. Corporate sponsorship are so intrusive, we should just as well be seeing matchups of the New York IBMs verses the Atlanta Home Depots. And luxury box suites - those high-priced, prime seats that crowd average fans out of the arenas - are big enough for owners to host a Comdex convention inside.

But as much as the games are getting away from the people, the people keep coming. Especially when it comes to baseball. Go figure.

They plan trips around spring training and regular season schedules. Yet, in many cases, the players aren't bringing them in. It's a faithful - and somewhat desperate - devotion to a game they loved as kids. And a romance with major league ballparks which, to give the sport some semblance of credit, are often open-air jewels. Retro-chic, fan-friendly stadiums in Baltimore, Cleveland, Denver and Arlington, Texas, are declared classics before their inaugural pitch. Meanwhile, the old ballparks maintain statesman-like respect.

So, casting aside his cynicism of the "pro" side of professional sports, the Tourist is happy to provide some tips and resources for planning a baseball tour vacation this summer:

Sports Travel Inc. will book for virtually any sport - including the hot, NHL homestretch for the Cup. But baseball is the big ticket for travelers. Customized trips - with most using air transportation - cost roughly $125 to $175 per day for a moderate hotel stay and decent seats, and more for prime tickets and five-star lodging. Sports Travel projects bookings of up to 3,000 travelers this coming season, not counting groups and contest programs. Annual growth has surpassed triple-digit percentages.

When Big Apple teams are winning, baseball is very, very good to stadium tour businesses, operators say. Profession Sports Tours is the official road trip company of the Yankees and Mets. Costs generally range from $600 to $900 for a three-day trip, including round-trip air, first-class accommodations, tickets to all three games and a cocktail party hosted by Bobby Valentine of the Mets or Lee Mazzilli of the Yankees.

Search engines turn up a number of options for the more financially frugal. Jay Buckley's Baseball Tours, for example, average $100 a day for tickets/bus transportation and a stay at an AAA-rated two or three-diamond hotel. (Like a Red Roof, Holiday or Hampton). There is no night travel.

This year, Buckley expects to book up to 950 fans, up 100 from last year. Arranging for both spring training and major league tours, his clients typically will want a nine-day trip.

Next week, the Tourist clues you in on other ways to enjoy baseball - without shelling out major league prices. And send him your thoughts at tourist@ticked.com, and include your full name and city/town of residence.

The Occidental Tourist is a magazine writer in Washington, DC. He writes for Maxim, Capital Style and ABCNews.com. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail him at tourist@ticked.com.