Sports Travel and Tours offers travel packages to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for its 2019 Induction Ceremonies

HATFIELD, MASS—The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has announced four inductees for 2019, including the first to be elected by a unanimous vote of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

The four latest inductees join two that were chosen in December 2018 by the 16-member Today’s Game Era Committee. Their picks were Harold Baines and Lee Smith.

If you’re a diehard fan of any of these six players, you’re probably already thinking about how you’re going to get to the Sunday, July 21 induction ceremony. Sports Travel and Tours, a sports travel agency based in Hatfield, Massachusetts, has got you covered, offering 10 different travel packages so you can customize your weekend to fit your budget, schedule and interests.

Sports Travel and Tours’ selection of travel packages starts with the Induction Weekend – Base Hit package, and the nine other selections offer add-ons that enhance the experience of getting out to see these four 2019 inductees: Mariano Rivera, Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in saves, who was named on all 425 ballots cast in the 2019 Hall of Fame voting; pitchers Mike Mussina and the late Roy Halladay; and designated hitter / third baseman Edgar Martinez.

Rivera, 49, spent all 19 of his major-league seasons with the New York Yankees. He played a key role in earning the team five World Series championships and set career records in saves and games finished. A 13-time All-Star, Rivera was the last player to wear uniform Number 42, which was retired in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997.

Mussina, 50, played 18 combined seasons with the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles and finished with 270 wins and a .638 winning percentage. At 39, he became the oldest pitcher to record a 20-victory season for the first time.

Halladay was killed piloting an aircraft in 2017 at the age of 40. He played for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. He will be the sixth player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously. Among pitchers active since 1998, Halladay’s 67 complete games are the most in the majors, 13 more than runner-up Randy Johnson.

Martinez, 56, won batting titles in 1992 and 1995 with the Seattle Mariners, the only team he played on for over 18 seasons. He ranks as the Mariners’ all-time leader in runs, runs batted in, doubles, walks, extra-base hits and total bases.

Smith and Baines both debuted in Chicago during the 1980 season. Smith began with the Cubs and went on to record 478 saves while Baines started out with the White Sox and had 2,866 hits. Smith held the major league record for saves when he retired.

Whether you’re a fan of one of these stellar players or you simply want to experience an induction ceremony, Sports Travel and Tours has the trip for you.

With the Base Hit package, guests arrive in Albany on Friday, July 19 for an evening trip reception at the Hampton Inn & Suites Albany-Downtown, where you will stay for two nights.

Saturday’s festivities include watching the presentation of the Ford C. Frick and J.G. Taylor Spink awards at historic Doubleday Field, and seeing the Parade of Legends make its way through downtown Cooperstown. See current Hall of Famers and the 2019 class of inductees in the flesh!

This year’s award winners have already been announced, with Philadelphia native Jayson Stark earning the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for his contributions to baseball writing. Stark has covered sports for the Providence Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, ESPN, The Athletic, the MLB Network and Stadium TV. The 43rd Ford C. Frick Award is being given to Al Helfer, a mainstay in broadcast booths across the country for four decades and the play-by-play voice of Mutual’s Game of the Day.

The travel package includes admission to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on both Saturday and Sunday. Learn about baseball’s past and beginnings through the museum’s three-story timeline that features just under 40,000 three-dimensional items, three million books and documents and 500,000 photographs. The museum’s Plaque Gallery serves as the centerpiece, commemorating the sport’s finest players, managers, umpires and executives.

The induction ceremony will be held on Sunday, with sports fans gathering at the Clark Sports Center. It will be followed by a boxed lunch, and Sports Travel and Tours has daily breakfasts covered, too. As always, travel from the airport to the hotel and to all events is included, along with a Baseball Hall of Fame membership, a trip souvenir and 24-hour trip assistance.

One of the optional trip add-ons is “Ump’s Eye View: An Inside Look into Baseball,” featuring retired major league umpire Al Clark. Hear about baseball’s behind-the-scenes world and ask questions during Clark’s presentation at the Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater.

Other travel packages include:

• Induction Weekend – Extra Innings, which adds another night’s hotel stay and admission to the Legends of the Game Roundtable, where the Hall of Fame’s new inductees will reminisce with fans at Doubleday Field.
• Induction Weekend – Bases Loaded, which has all the features of Induction Weekend – Extra Winnings, but with admission to Clark’s “Ump’s Eve View” presentation factored in. Plus, guests receive upgraded seating at the induction ceremony, nestled in with the media, players’ families and major league VIPs.
• Induction Weekend – Infield, combining all the features of the Base Hit package but upgrading guests’ hotel accommodations to the Albany Marriott. This package also includes admission to “Ump’s Eye View” and upgraded induction ceremony seating.
• Induction Weekend – Home Run, which includes all the features of Infield while adding another night’s hotel stay and admission to the Legends of the Game Roundtable. Guests also receive a baseball signed by one member of the Hall of Fame’s incoming class.
• Induction Weekend – Grand Slam, which shifts the hotel once again, this time to the Courtyard by Marriott Oneonta Cooperstown Area (for a three-night stay). This package has a little bit of everything, building off the Base Hit package with admission to “Ump’s Eye View” and the Legends of the Game Roundtable, plus upgraded induction ceremony seating and a private program at the Baseball Hall of Fame called Artifact Spotlight, where guests can get an up-close look at artifacts not currently on display. As with the Home Run package, guests get a signed baseball, too.
• Induction Weekend – Base Hit Casino, which—as the name implies—is equivalent to the Base Hit package but with accommodations at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. Guests also receive a $40 free play coupon, per night, to be used at the casino.
• Induction Weekend – Extra Innings Casino, which adds another night’s stay and admission to the Legends of the Game Roundtable onto the Base Hit Casino package.
• Induction Weekend – Infield Casino, adding upgraded induction ceremony seating onto the Base Hit Casino package.
• And lastly, Induction Plus, a six-day travel package that builds on the Base Hit but offers different hotel accommodations, with admission to the Legends of the Game Roundtable and “Ump’s Eye View,” along with three days spent exploring New York City and enjoying two Yankees’ games.

To learn more about Sports Travel and Tours’ induction weekend travel packages or to book a trip, call 800-662-4424.

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HATFIELD, MASS—When Dr. Fred White and his wife, Kathy White, traveled with Sports Travel and Tours this summer to witness the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum induction weekend, they expected to see some familiar, famous faces.

Fred White also recognized someone not quite as well-known on the streets of Cooperstown, New York.

While exploring the small town of about 1,800 residents, Fred saw writer Gary Kaschak talking on the phone. The author of “My Name Was Mickey Mantle” had recently been featured in the newspaper near the Whites’ home in Temecula, California. Fred White recognized Kaschak from the photo that ran with the article.

“When he was off the phone, we started up a nice conversation,” Fred White said. “He ended up interviewing us for the local paper. I bought a copy of his book from him, and he signed it. I later emailed him my thoughts about the book and how it reminded me of my childhood. Seeing him was probably the highlight of the trip.”

The Whites were repeat travelers with Sports Travel and Tours, a sports travel firm from Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Having found Sports Travel and Tours via the Baseball Hall of Fame website four years ago, the Whites have already done the Mid-Western tour to Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and Minneapolis, and The Lakes tour that started in Toronto and included stops in Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

“On our first trip, we didn’t know anybody,” Fred White said. “But there’s always people on these trips who are very outgoing. We met Fred Soland, an electrical engineer from Houston, who was earning his Stadium Hall of Fame credentials by getting to all 30 major league stadiums. We’ve kept in touch since then and joined him on The Lakes tour, too.”

Like most Sports Travel and Tours customers, the Whites were avid baseball fans. They’ve held season tickets to the San Diego Padres for more than 30 years and have attended spring training in Arizona for more than 35. They were eager to take part in a Sports Travel and Tours induction trip and became even more interested when it was announced that Trevor Hoffman, a longtime Padres pitcher, would be inducted in 2018.

“A lot of people from San Diego went to Cooperstown for the occasion,” Fred White said. “The size of the crowd was 53,000. Gazillions of people show up, though so few people live there. Induction weekend is always special.”

The trip marked the fourth induction the Whites have seen live. In 2007, they traveled on their own to see Tony Gwynn’s induction, but Fred White said they much preferred the experience of traveling with Sports Travel and Tours.

“In my radiology practice, I’m involved in a lot of national events and meetings that require me to travel quite a bit, and I always have to worry about hotels and transportation,” he said. “When we work with Sports Travel and Tours, we pay one fee, and they take care of everything. It’s such a pleasure to have the opportunity to sit back while someone takes you to and from the hotel.”

Fred White said Sports Travel and Tours staff did a great job of keeping their travelers up-to-date and informed.

“The communication with Project Sales Coordinator Anthony Incampo is excellent,” Fred White said. “We’re always notified about what to do and when to do it, and we’re provided with whatever tickets we need. Sports Travel and Tours has a lot of class, especially because President Jay Smith leads from the top and has created a great organization.”

Over the years, the Whites have met sports stars—like former San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Jones and his wife, Marie Stassi, whom they spoke with in Cooperstown about his baseball career and battle with throat cancer—and they’ve also come to know Sports Travel and Tours’ guides.

“The thing that really catches me off guard is the knowledge of the guides,” Fred White said. “We met Mindy Strauss, a young woman from St. Louis who led the Grand Slam tour, and she was just so knowledgeable and willing to answer questions.

“The staff make us feel welcome and like a part of the organization,” said Fred White, noting that he and Kathy White will be traveling with Sports Travel and Tours every year. “That’s something you don’t find very often.”

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COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK—When Rosie Romo was a kid, she watched Ozzie Smith, a shortstop with the St. Louis Cardinals, do backflips on the field to the amazement of everyone in the stands and the people watching on television.

She was also a huge fan of the Los Angeles Angels. “We were just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Angel Stadium,” she said, noting she grew up in Newport Beach, California. “I grew up watching them back when you could get tickets for $3.25. My brother, Jesse, and I would go together, and sometimes the rest of our family, too, including our four sisters.”

The Angels’ right fielder Vladimir Guerrero became a player of particular interest for Rosie, so when she learned last January that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, she began searching for tickets to the Cooperstown, New York, induction.

“I was really, really excited for the trip,” she said. “Once they announced that he was going to be inducted, the excitement really built up. He was such a phenomenal player.”

Rosie and her wife Dina Black, of Cypress, California, opted to travel with Sports Travel and Tours to catch this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum induction ceremony in July. Searching online, Rosie determined the sports travel firm based in Hatfield, Massachusetts, offered up the best deal, with the most opportunities to see baseball legends like Smith and Guerrero—up close and personal.

Walking around in Cooperstown in July, Rosie was able to get autographs from both of her heroes.

“The autograph signing took it over the top,” she said. “I bought a Cooperstown bat that they make for every player early on in our trip, just to have Vladimir sign it. By the end of the trip, everyone knew me. ‘Here comes Rosie with her bat,’ they’d say.”

At the signing itself, Rosie said she felt like a child at Disneyland. “I thanked Vladimir for picking the Angels,” she said. “We were just thrilled, and he was super nice.”

Rosie told Smith he was one of the reasons for her love of baseball. “He grabbed my hand and thanked me, and we got to take a picture with him. It was really neat,” she said.

Rosie and Dina arrived for the July 29 Hall of Fame induction ceremony a few days early, checking into their hotel room the Friday before. Then, they let Sports Travel and Tours’ guides take it from there.

“I have to say, it was really enjoyable, not having to worry about where to go, but just hopping on a bus and being taken around,” Rosie said. “It’s also nice to be around true baseball fans, like-minded people. We were engulfed with baseball—history, knowledge, heritage—and it began from the moment we met our tour guide.”

If travelers take advantage of the knowledge the Sports Travel and Tours guides possess, including retired umpire Al Clark, Rosie said they’ll come away richer for the experience. There’s also plenty of opportunities to connect with fellow baseball fans.

“You can learn so much from the guides if you ask questions,” she said. “Go in open-minded and make friends.”

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame itself, with plenty of time being allotted into the schedule for exploration. That was a good thing, Rosie said, because she and Dina could easily spend a few hours on each of the museum’s floors.

The induction ceremony itself provided another source of intrigue, when Sports Travel and Tours guests got the best seats in the house to watch their favorite players become Hall of Famers. “I was so pleasantly surprised to see how close we were at the induction ceremony,” Rosie said. “We had the two front rows!

“The trip was like layers on an ice cream sundae,” she added. “Every time you put your spoon in for another bite, there’s another scoop of something good.”

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