Overwhelmed!

I'm new to this website and am a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information. My husband and I are planning a 30-MLB Park trip this spring/summer. Some of the things I'd like to know but don't know how to find:

We both love to keep score and a scorebook seems like a great souvenir. Where is the best place to get one and WHICH one?

We'll be driving our RV, what's the best way to find an RV park sort of near the parks? We will have a car to drive as well. So in NY for example, we like to park the RV in a central location and then drive to NY and Boston and Philadelphia and Baltimore, staying in motels. Maybe that's not the best plan? Anyway, don't know where to find that information.

Best place and time to buy tickets? Ticketmaster? Wait until the day and buy at the park (I'm pretty sure we could even do that at Fenway. Couldn't we?)

Lots of questions! Can anybody point me in the right direction for answers?

Pam

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Permalink Reply by John (20 current MLB/11 old MLB) on January 29, 2015 at 6:49am

I hope to do this too someday. Congrats on planning what would be the trip of a lifetime for me!

If you are looking for a legit scorebook to record all thirty games take a look at this one.

I don't have much info on RV parking but perhaps you can get better info in an RV forum like the one at www.rvparkreviews.com/forum/

Also, my grandma used to go on RV caravans with a group and they had a network of churches where they could park overnight for a small donation (although they did not have hookups). So maybe this is something to think about?

I would not want to be driving an RV anywhere near Wrigley Field or U.S. Cellular so having a car at the ready will be nice here in Chicago.

As for tickets, you can start checking Stubhub now to see if there are tickets available from season ticket holders that are less than face value. We have been able to save some cash this way over the years, including last year at Dodgers Stadium for a Friday night game.

If you don't find any reasonably priced tickets on Stubhub now, I would wait until single game tickets go on sale but keep in mind that each team handles this differently and will have differing onsale dates.

If you are hitting a ballpark that you KNOW is going to have plenty of tickets available, you can certainly wait to buy them day of game. This has backfired on us just once, finding PNC with a surprising sellout and having to pay twice face value for our tickets from a sidewalk scalper.

Good luck and have a great trip!

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Ryan on January 30, 2015 at 7:52am

Thanks, John, for the great information! Except your link to the scorebook doesn't work. What's the name? or the url?

My husband comes from NY and we lived in Chicago for a couple of years so we are well aware of not taking an RV into the city!!! Although we did drive through Queens one year with some exchange students---THAT was an experience!

I think we will wait to buy most of our tickets, mainly because we don't know NOW that we will actually be in Chicago, for instance, on June 5! Anything can happen. But we will have to do a bit of planning for Fenway and Wrigley, even though it's a long ways away! Thanks for the great ideas.

We're starting with opening day in PHX against the Giants (our favorite team) and PLAN ending with Dodgers vs Mets on July 3 in LA. Pretty sure the beginning will go off on time, but who knows about the ending. That's the nice thing about being retired---we'll go with the flow!

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Permalink Reply by John (20 current MLB/11 old MLB) on January 30, 2015 at 10:48am

Try this:

http://www.bcscorebook.com

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Ryan on January 30, 2015 at 11:40am

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Eric Kabakoff (35) on January 29, 2015 at 7:55am

In New York, I can't imagine taking an RV to Citi Field or Yankee Stadium, so the car is a much better bet. Mass transportation is great for most of the northeast and Mid-Atlantic parks.

Parks like Wrigley and Fenway you should start searching StubHub or their websites as soon as tickets go on sale. Most others, as John said, should be okay on the day of, depending on who the visiting team is.

Each team's game-day program should have a scorecard in it, giving you a collection of 30 of them when you are done...one thing that can be found in every ballpark.

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Ryan on January 30, 2015 at 7:52am

Yeah, I like the idea of a program from each field, but we both like to score, so we'll maybe get a book AND buy a program.

Thanks for the input!

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Permalink Reply by Craig (17) on January 31, 2015 at 3:45pm

My favorite scorebook is from the Eephus League. Check them out here.

For tickets, it depends on which ballpark. I usually buy from scalpers because I love to bargain but its risky if the game sells out and prices go way up. Do you know the exact dates of the games you will be attending? If so, then you can buy online through the teams website or Stubhub.

Keep your stubs and create a scrapbook or collage!

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Ryan on February 5, 2015 at 8:22am

Thanks for the input. I've looked at Eephus League and bcscorebook.com and the baseball Enthusiast blog (he has free scoresheets available). At this point we'll probably use a combination of possibly an Eephus book and the free downloadable score sheets.

Because anything can happen, so far the only tickets we have are opening day at the Diamondbacks. We'll have a printer with us so we'll use stubhub as the game day approaches and/or bargaining with scalpers on the day. And cross our fingers! Luckily we have a very flexible schedule!

Definitely going to keep a scrapbook and a blog. So far, the blog is sporadic but I'll get better as the time gets closer (http://takemeouttotheballpark.blogspot.com/)

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Permalink Reply by David Lasdon on February 5, 2015 at 7:03am

I don't like to drive in any Northeastern cities. The streets are congested and parking anywhere is expensive. Fortunately, you can get most anywhere in NY, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore via mass transit. That's the way I recommend.

I wrote two blog posts on buying tickets last year. Stub hub is the way to go with those teams.
http://all30stadiums.blogspot.com/2014/03/buying-game-tickets.html
http://all30stadiums.blogspot.com/2014/06/stubhub-lessons-learned.html

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Ryan on February 5, 2015 at 8:22am

Thanks for the blogs!

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Permalink Reply by Bill Anderson on February 21, 2015 at 10:23am

Go to MLB.com and find the "Pass-Port" - it's a leather bound ring binder stuffed with info and includes a sheet for journaling 'game day memories, a basic scorecard, a section for special events (All-Star, playoffs, HOF, etc.). Not cheap at $75 list, but look around for better pricing. I got mine at x-mas for about $50. Haven't seen this at Miller Park team store, so can't say if other parks would carry it. They also have a minor league version of this book.

For trip planning, type 'baseball road trip' as a web search. I came up with a couple of good sites that were great scheduling tools!

For tickets - I'm finding SeatGeek followed by StubHub as the best 2 resellers to use. But if you want to find some great bargains, see what the team has for PROMOS on dates you're attending. Then check locally for sponsors or 'deals'. Here in Wisconsin, the Brewers have everything from free 'military families' to $1 "Uecker Seats" sold at the park on game days. Sponsors like BP offer free games for buying gas, or piggyback the ticket with other events, like State Fair or H-D Museum.

Finally, when you're AT the stadium, stop by their 'Guest Services Desk' and ask for any 'freebies' Most, if not all teams will issue a certificate commemorating your 'first trip' to their park.

Hope this helps...