MLB Tag

Before we get into the heart of this month’s travel blog I feel it would be best to introduce myself to you all. My name is Jake Alleruzzo, the newest addition to the Sports Traveler staff. I myself have a very deep passion for sports travel and thought writing our latest blog entry would be a great way to share my experiences with you fellow sports travelers.

About a month ago I took a trip to Missouri to a beautiful region called Lake of the Ozarks, located just a few miles south of Kansas City. Being in the far western edge of Missouri is quite a unique experience, considering the mixed fandom between Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals fans. While we were in the western tip of Missouri I could have sworn I was in the heart of Kansas City as I drove through town and saw Royals flags hanging about. This goes to show you that you never know what kind of fans you can find as you travel through any given town.

Now going through this town you would figure there is not much to do besides

Whoa!  The sports world is going crazy right now!  So much going on and it is all too exciting to miss.  To catch up with the sports world I have harnessed all the major news/results from the recent events.  I am going to briefly hit on each sport and give a few predictions for the Masters, MLB, NBA, and NHL.  Ready?  Lets go!

NHL

Seems like the season just started but it will shortly be coming to an end.  But I guess that's what happens when you are in a shortened and compressed 46 game season.  Thanks lockout.  The story early on in the season was the winning streak by the Chicago Blackhawks and then both the Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins went on their own winning streaks.  Although no one has matched a start like the Blackhawks, it seemed for a while like the Penguins might be the best team.  Now that Crosby is out the battle for best appears to be between the Ducks and Blackhawks.

Super Bowl Sidebar

What a week folks.  As if there aren't enough headlines for the Super Bowl, we get slapped in the face with allegations from SI that Ray Lewis used a banned substance.  It seems no sport, including golf, is safe from PED's.  Vijay Singh also admitted that he was using the same product Lewis has allegedly used.  Miami New Times also released a story this week that a company down in Florida was selling PED's to several MLB players.  It is a sad state of affairs when every sports accomplishment seems tainted these days.  At some point I think we all just have to accept that PED's have been and will always be prevalent in professional and collegiate sports.  The drive to be the best is what put these athletes in the position they are in and many times an athlete will compromise integrity for success.  We can sit here and judge all day but can you honestly say you would do different?  I would like to think I would but until put in that position I'm not sure how I would respond.  We now know how athletes like Alex Rodriguez and Ray Lewis allegedly responded.

Its only May 10th and we have already had an incredible year in baseball.   Thanks to Phillip Humber we have seen the 21st perfect game in MLB history, and on Tuesday night Josh Hamilton belted 4 dingers in one game to become only the 16th player to do so.  These two incredible achievements have never been accomplished in the same season until now.

In addition, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched the 10th no-hitter in Angels franchise history on May 2nd.  This is the second no-hitter for the Angels in as many years.  Ervin Santana hurled the other no-hitter on July 27th of last year.

In other historical news, Jamie Moyer became the oldest player in MLB history to win a game at 49 years old.

The MLB season is officially now in full swing.  See what I did there?

Silly puns aside, teams around the league are beginning to hit their early stride as players start to get a feel for the 2012 season.

Every year the city of Chicago looks forward to the start of baseball.  Not only does the Windy City have 2 historic teams to help usher in the spring, but it also seems like people want to get past the cold winter as soon as possible.   The sooner baseball gets going, the sooner the warmth arrives.

In late March 30 teams started their journey towards earning a playoff spot and ultimately winning the World Series.  After a total of 4,860 games, all the stats have been recorded and the tale of the regular season comes to a end.  This season was full of milestones, wild finishes, and lots of really good pitching.  The last few weeks of the season provided fans with a great preview of what is to come this October.  At the end of the day we are left looking at 8 teams who could possibly win the fall classic.*

Tomorrow we will all flip the calendar over to September, and with it comes 40 man rosters and do or die situations for teams across MLB.  Teams that find themselves in a hunt for the playoffs will try to put everything together in the last month of the season to earn a playoff spot.  At this point in the season there are several teams with comfortable divisional leads and several others find that they are underachieving and might be looking at spending October on the couch.

For the second time this year we get to celebrate a "clean" MLB milestone.  Last night Minnesota Twins DH Jim Thome became the 8th member of the 600 home run club when he belted his second homer in as many innings.  For Thome the accomplishment is a historical baseball feat, but for baseball fans this is a monumental relief from PED tainted numbers and benchmarks.  Career home run numbers don't mean what they used to but for Thome the recognition is legitimate and well deserved.  Jim didn't need steroids.  He was just a corn-fed Midwestern boy from Peoria, IL who grew up strong physically and mentally.

Jim Thome will undoubtedly get into the Hall of Fame and when he does we will all remember him as a soft spoken slugger who played the game the right way.  He currently ranks 8th all time in home runs (600), 27th in RBI's (1662), and 8th in walks (1710).  Thome was also one of only 2 players (A-Rod) in MLB history to hit 40 homers for 3 different teams.  Furthermore, he

Sports Traveler has improved our Cubs Baseball Travel Packages! We have now included guided tours of Wrigley Field & roundtrip transfers from your hotel to the airport.

The Wrigley Field Tours include stops in the press box, bleachers, mezzanine suites, clubhouses, dugouts, and an opportunity to walk on the field*!

On July 12, baseball fans around the world will be watching the best players in the game in the annual All Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. See Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Jose Bautista, Cliff Lee, and more in this great game.

Baseball All Star Game Tickets & Packages Still Available!

Book a Baseball All Star Game Package today and see the best players in the game. All Star Game Packages include: