MLB: Ballpark Tours: A Different View Of MLB

For the price of a movie, you can take a tour of your local MLB ballpark. Yes, most stadiums have guided tours, and many offer tours year round. I have taken tours of several MLB and NFL stadiums and have even been a tour guide at a stadium. Trust me the tours are fun and informative.

Most of the tours give the visitors plenty of ballpark history. The tour guide spews the usual facts--when the stadium was built, how much did it cost, how many seats there are, how many luxury suites there are, how much the roof weighs. Yes, even trivia about the luxury suites, the roof, the restaurants, the pressbox, and anything else that makes that stadium unique.

The tours offer the visitor views of the ballpark usually not attainable while attending a game. The tours usually walk to different locations and get close ups of the unique features. The Bank One Ballpark tour gets a view overlooking the pool and the Turner Field tour visits the museum.

The ballparks are usually empty, which is a very enchanting atmosphere. The ballparks are so quiet, that birds often land peacefully on the field and tourists feel compelled to whisper.

During the tours, there are plenty of photo opportunities--in the clubhouse, dugout, pressbox, or luxury suite/skybox. At Tiger Stadium, the tours got to walk on the field and touch the famous flagpole. At Camden Yards, the tours get to stroll through the pressbox. Most tours take the tourists into the dugout and usually into a clubhouse as well. But beware, on game days, the clubhouses and dugouts are in use and tours obviously can not go in there when the players are getting ready.

I did a little research at the official team websites and more than half of the MLB teams advertise tours of their ballparks. Most tours cost between $5 and $10. Many stadiums have tours year round, including the Ballpark at Arlington, Bank One Ballpark, Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium, Enron Field, Pacific Bell Park, Safeco Field and Turner Field.

Fenway Park, Jacobs Field, and as well as a few other ballparks only offer tours during the baseball season and it is a good bet that the new ballparks in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee will offer tours in the 2001 season. I know for a fact that Yankee Stadium and Wrigley offer tours but the websites for the Yankees and Cubs were not informative.

I advise you to call the stadium or visit the team Web site for tour schedules. Each team has different tour times, tour routes, and admission costs. Most stadiums are closed for the holidays.

Have fun!