2014 East Coast Baseball Trip

I went to 9 stadiums in 2013, but only 7 of those are on here. So I’m not going to include them and say I still have 23 to go. I may revise that if I get close and it’s a stadium I’ve been to before.

I’m going to lay several possible 2014 trips that’ll include 20 of the 23 stadiums. I doubt I’ll go on all these trips and some of them overlap. I’m throwing them out there. If people want to join me, that might push one trip over another. Hey, maybe you’ll take a trip I lay out that I don’t end up doing. There are three stadiums which won’t be included, Fenway Park in Boston, Chase Field in Phoenix, and Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Fenway and Chase were excluded because the Red Sox and Diamondbacks aren’t home around any of the trips I’m planning and the Angels are a drive for me. I’ll go to a game at some point next year.

My goal is to hit at least half of the 23 next year, leaving the rest for 2015.

One of the big problems with planning a trip now is that most teams haven’t scheduled game times. That makes it difficult to plan flights.

Game 1: Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Coors Field, Giants at Rockies
This is optional for me, as Denver is a great hub that’ll fit in well with another trip. What makes Denver a great hub is that there are a lot of non-stop flights into and out of the airport and it’s far enough from LA to provide some good mileage but not so far that I’d have to worry about making the game on time.

Game 2: Wednesday, April 23, 2014
PNC Park, Reds at Pirates
I think this is where I want to start my trip. The problem with doing that is that Pittsburgh is a long flight from LA and it’s likely that I’ll have to make a connection. It should be a night game, but even then flying in the day of the game could be tight.

Game 3: Thursday, April 24, 2014
Nationals Park, Padres at Nationals
This should be a short flight. I’ve been at Nationals Park a couple of times in the last five years but that was before the Nationals got good. Maybe they’ll show some life now.

Game 4: Friday, April 25, 2014
Camden Yards, Royals at Orioles
I haven’t been to Camden Yards in at least 15 years. I wonder if it’ll seem as nice as it did then compared to all the new stadiums. The nice thing here is that this is just a short train ride.

Game 5 and 6: Saturday and Sunday, April 26 and 27, 2014
Yankee Stadium, Angels at Yankees
Citi Field, Marlins at Mets
There are only 7 days when the Yankees and Mets play at home the same day. This is he only weekend. My goal is to both stadiums in one day if one is playing during the day and the other at night on either of these days. If that’s the case, then I may shorten my trip by one day and move things around.

Game 7: Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Citizens Bank Park, Mets at Phillies
Unfortunately, the Phillies don’t play at home on April 28, but going to this game would give me a chance to visit my family for a couple of days.

So that’s a possible trip that has 7 games in 6 cities in 8 days. There are two in trip flights, but only to the first two cities. Five of the games are connected by train or car.

I do have another possible extension on the trip that right now I don’t plan on taking, because the trip will be long enough.

Game 7: Monday, April 28, 2014
Busch Stadium, Brewers at Cardinals
Rather than take the day off I could fly to St. Louis.

Game 8: Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Kauffman Stadium, Blue Jays at Royals
A short flight.

Game 9: Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Target Field, Dodgers at Twins
Just in case I’m not baseballed out at this point.

In this scenario, I go to 9 games in 8 cities in 9 days, but I do leave Philadelphia off the east coast trip.

How To Take A Baseball Trip

When planning these trips I want to squeeze the maximum number of stadium visits in the minimum amount of time and do it for a reasonable price. So far I’ve documented visits to seven stadiums on this blog, while taking only three flights and spending only three nights in a hotel. Granted, two of the stadiums were within driving distance and I did stay with friends for two nights.

Watch for fare sales
There’s no point in even thinking about airline tickets until a sale comes up. Usually Southwest is the one doing the sale and that can be great for short range flights. The other airlines will match the sale. But be warned, the sale will only be on routes that the first carrier has on sale. Virgin had a sale earlier this year. Prices on flights to Houston, where they fly, dropped dramatically but flights to Dallas, where they don’t fly, didn’t.

Where to start
The legacy airlines (United, American, Delta) fly most of their flights into and out of hubs. The newer airlines (Southwest, Jet Blue) tend to fly shorter routes. Starting your trip in a hub has three benefits. 1) It’s usually cheaper 2) You fly non-stop 3) Flying non-stop means you’ll arrive earlier.

A long flight that changes planes might mean you won’t arrive in time to see a game your first day. Thus, you waste a day and pay for an extra night hotel. If you’re flying from the west coast, as I do, you’ll likely arrive in the afternoon. So the first game should be one at night. I flew into Chicago, arriving about an hour or so before a day game at Wrigley Field. I might’ve made that, but instead chose to drive to Milwaukee and see a game there. I had plenty of time to spare.

This means it might be a good idea to start with a game closer to you, in between you and the next game you want to go to. I’m looking at an East coast trip next season. I’d like to start in Pittsburgh, but that might be difficult. There are limited non-stops to Pittsburgh, meaning that flying there from LA could mean arriving close to game time, if not during a game.

It may make more sense to start with a game in Denver. Since that’s a hub, I should be able to get a non-stop there from LA and then to Pittsburgh. That’d also be a shorter flight, making it easier to find one that’ll get me there with plenty of time to spare.

Where to go next
It’s possible to do several trips with a minimum number of flights. I was able to fly to drive several of the games in the Midwest and I plan to do the same thing with the train on the east coast next year. This saves money for flights and time spent at the airport and on airplanes. In many cases you have to rent a car any way. So why not use it to get the next city if you can? And who really wants to spend all their time on planes anyway?

Where to stay
In some cities it makes sense to stay close to the airport. I did that in Chicago, as I was coming and going from the airport and they had strong public transportation. I didn't need a car here. I was planning that for Dallas, since the stadium is close to the airport. I was set to arrive two hours before the game. My hotel was between the airport and stadium. So they had a shuttle to the airport and one to the stadium. Since I was planning on leaving early the next morning, I didn't need to worry about staying close to the city of Dallas.

I stayed in suburban Cleveland. I suppose that meant that we didn't experience the nightlife in Cleveland, but we certainly could've done that because we had a car. We were so tired after driving for nearly 3 hours that dinner and a Jacuzzi were the most attractive choices.

When to end your trip
End it on Sunday or with a day game. That way you can fly home after the game. Any night game is going end so late that there will be no flights for you to take. Ending with a night games means staying overnight and paying for a hotel room when you could be sleeping at home. My friend Brendan did this by ending his part of the trip with a Cleveland day game on Labor Day.

Mariano Rivera Stuck It To Me

Mariano Rivera announced that he wouldn't pitch in Houston yesterday. That must've made the interest in going to Rivera's last game drop dramatically. So I dropped my ticket price down to $120. That was still more than double what I paid for it. So I suppose I shouldn't complain. The ticket sold a few minutes ago. After Stubhub takes their fees out I'll see $87.97 of that. Overall, I sold my tickets for $95.02, a $14.02 profit. That doesn't make up for the United fees I'll incur, but coming out ahead on anything feels pretty good.

Rangers-Angels Game Going On Now

I'm listening to the Rangers-Angels game on my MLB At Bat app. That's the Rangers-Angels game I had a ticket for. If I went through with my plans I'd be preparing to leave for the airport. I did sell my Rangers ticket for $11.80 and got $7.05 for it. So I lost $18. I currently have my Astros ticket listed for $145. If I get that, I'll probably keep around $115 and make a nice profit overall.

It's raining in Arlington. They're still playing. I'm glad I missed that.

Texas Trip Cancelled

I got a message this morning from "texasrangers.com".

The starting time for Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels has been moved from 7:05 p.m. to 11:05 a.m. CT due to the threat of inclement weather later in the day.

Argh! Why "argh?" My flight was scheduled to arrive in Dallas at 5:22. In the absence of a time machine, I'd arrive after the game ended. I looked at United's flight schedule and the only way I was going to get to the game before it started was to fly tonight. I don't think anyone had a Saturday flight that'd get me in before the game started. So I'd have to cancel my Friday night plans, find a hotel for an extra night and leave for the airport in about six hours. That wasn't a good choice. So I decided to cancel my trip.

All I can say is thank heaven for the Internet. In the span of the last hour I cancelled my flights, hotel, rental car, LA airport parking, and relisted the game tickets on Stubhub. I might only have cancellation fees on the United tickets as change fees when I rebook. The baseball tickets are another story. You can't cancel those.

I relisted my $25 Ranger ticket for $17, of which I'd get $11. If it sells, and it might not, I'll lose $14. The Rangers are still in the playoff hunt. So I'd guess someone will want to go. The Astro game is a different story. My ticket cost me $58 because it'll be the Yankees first trip to Houston in three years. There are a lot of Yankee fans in South Texas who likely have been chomping at the bit to see their team. What makes the game special is that Sunday will be Mariano Rivera's final game. The Astros will honor him. Demand for this game is huge. I listed my ticket for $118, of which I'd keep $88. That seems like a lot, but it includes the fee I pay and the fee the buyer pays. Regardless, if I sell this ticket and the Ranger ticket goes unsold I still would come out ahead. That's not a big profit considering all the time and effort I've put in, but considering that before the Internet I would've likely taken a bath by canceling so late.

Games 8 and 9: Dallas and Houston

This project would be easy if I could do travel every day and I had the money to do so. But would it really be as interesting? I didn't think so. So far I've managed to attend 7 games in 7 cities while taking only 3 flights and spending 3 nights in hotels. I asked myself whether I could go to any more stadiums before the season ended on September 29. I noticed that both the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were home the final weekend. I looked up flights and saw that that Virgin was having a fare sale between Los Angeles and Dallas. They don't fly to Houston, so there was no fare sale there. Yet going to Houston and Dallas on one trip was way too enticing.

I had some miles in my United account and saw that I could do the trip with miles.

United could provide me a flight into Dallas that'd get me there 1 hour 40 minutes before the game and then fly out to Houston the next morning, go to the game, and then catch a flight home. I'd see two games, spend one night away, not miss any work days, and even have to hire a dog walker for the minimum number of walks. Sure, the timing is a little tight, but wouldn't that make it more of a challenge?

So now I needed to find a hotel for the one night in Dallas. The best hotel would be one that'd pick me up at the airport and then, a few minutes later, take me to the game. All complimentary, of course, so I could save some bucks. I found it, the Hilton Arlington. They told me they'd do both, although they indicated that I might not get a reservation on the trolley to the game because I arrived so late. I'll work on that one. The Rangers, currently in free fall, are in the playoff hunt and probably will be then. They'll play the Angels. I was able to find a ticket in Section 322 Row 5 for $25. Reasonable.

My flight the next morning would be easy. I made 6 AM and 7 AM flights during my last trip. 9:23 AM? Got it. I'd get into Houston at 10:30, well before the game. But this one wouldn't be as easy. I don't know anyone in Houston, so I'd get no help there. Unlike Dallas, where I could use a hotel between the airport and hotel, there's be no hotel to help me. And the distance to the stadium is 20 miles, greater than in Dallas. I decided to rent a car. I found that Dollar would rent me a Midsize SUV for $24. That'd be much cheaper than a cab. TaxiFareFinder.com indicated a one way trip would be $52.60. Even with parking, this would be cheaper than a one way trip to the game.

I looked for tickets and they were very expensive. What? To the last game of the season for the horrible Houston Astros? It turns out they're playing the Yankees. This will be their only trip into Houston this year and, in fact, will be the first trip since June, 2008. Those ex-New Yorkers are likely chomping at the bit to go to see the Yankees play. I'm guessing half the crowd will be Yankee fans. At least. So my seat is in Section 216 Row 9 and will cost me $68. That's a lot pricier than the Rangers and that game will count. Still, I got to two games and pay of hotel, car, game tickets, parking at LAX, and dog walkers for around $300. I have to like that.

2014 MLB Schedule Out Today

The 2014 MLB Schedule is out today. Since I have a long winter where I'll rarely post, I'll save my analysis of it and the games I might go to for October. You are, of course, welcome to give suggestions.