Sports Tours....

VISITING FIELDS OF DREAMS

This is the stuff of baseball dreams. Baseball fans, big and little, dream of seeing their favorite teams and favorite ballparks. They long after their fields of dreams.

In baseball, like in life, dreams can come true. Sports Tours is the dreamweaver for baseball fans looking for their own special diamond.

Based in Hatfield, Massachusetts, Sports Tours offers an incredible array of baseball trips throughout the season. An official licensee and operator of The Sporting News Fantrips, the company and their excellent trips have grown quickly over the past few seasons and it's easy to see why.

The Sports Tours season starts with two spring training trips. Great spring baseball and plenty of sunshine start the season right at a variety of quaint spring training sites. The Grapefruit League in Florida and the Cactus League in Arizona have grown to become an annual ritual for many baseball fans.

After Opening Day, the players, fans, and Sports Tours get serious. The lineup of trips evokes sounds of bats hitting balls, smells of hot dogs, and tastes of cold drinks. Batter up!

Among many options, the trips include: "Great Lakes" (Toronto, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh); "Bambino Trail" (Baltimore, New York, Cooperstown, and Fenway); "Windy City Plus" (Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis); "California Express" (San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco); "North of the Border" (Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal); "Cooperstown Special" (New York, Cooperstown, and Boston); and "East Coast Classic" (Boston, New York, and Baltimore). Each new season brings new offerings.

As a diehard baseball fan, I decided to join a tour of other dreamers. Because I'm an Orioles fan, it only seemed fitting that I try the "Bambino Trail."

The logistics of the trips are pretty simple. The group all starts together in one city and progresses from stadium to stadium by deluxe motorcoach. The package includes game tickets, accommodations, and transportation during the trip.

I was surprised at the number of fans on this trip. More than 200 like-minded people arrived in Baltimore for the first day of the six-day trip. There was an immediate comradeship among the group and baseball was the bond.

Camden Yards at Oriole Park was the perfect place for the first game of the trip. This beautiful new stadium is a throwback to another baseball era, with an old-time look and feel, real grass, and a great baseball atmosphere. The two-day stay in Baltimore also included a visit to the Babe Ruth Museum nearby, a mecca for any baseball fan.

Between innings, I got to know some of the other trip participants. Baseball is truly for everyone. There were fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, older couples, newlyweds, students, and many others.

Betsie and Marty Doust, from Tacoma, Washington, were celebrating a belated honeymoon. They met at a Triple-A park, where they both had season tickets. "Marty read about these trips in The Sporting News and they were a dream come true for us," said Betsie.

After the second game in Baltimore, the buses headed north for two games at Yankee Stadium. There were many Yankee-lovers and -haters in the group, but they all enjoyed a visit to this venerable old park, where so much baseball lore lured us to every corner of the stadium.

Cooperstown was the next natural stop, with a quiet anticipation from all fans who appreciated the unique history of the game. They weren't disappointed.

"This was the trip of a lifetime and a dream come true for Christopher and me," said Steven Harold from Toronto, with his beaming ten-year-old Christopher. "Cooperstown and all of the ballparks were an experience my son and I will treasure for all of our lives."

The trip ended with a trip to Fenway Park in Boston. For many, it was a first look at the famed "Green Monster" out in left field. For all, it was part of their fields of dreams.

For further information about Sports Tours baseball trips, contact P.O. Box 84, Hatfield, MA 01038, 413/274-3155 or 800/722-7701.