56 Consecutive Games

Major League Madness No Responses »
Dec 152011

Sports Illustrated Senior Editor Kostya Kennedy stopped into the WCC/360° office today to talk about our Major League Madness programs next summer. Kostya has many great stories to share about baseball! His book 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports is a New York Times Best Seller. The book is about Joe Dimagio’s incredible 56 game hitting streak. Here is what broadcasting legend Bob Costas has to say on the book: “56-the number alone still has meaning, but there is a compelling and textured story behind it, a story that pre- and postdates the summer of 1941. Kostya Kennedy tells that story beautifully.”

A great preview of his book is on the Sports Illustrated website and can be found here. The book is is available at Amazon here.

“56” is a great read for the baseball fanatic, and a great thing to throw into your backpack while on our Major League Madness programs!

Speaking of Major League Madness, our schedules have recently been finalized with the release of the MLB schedule. Our East & Midwest program will see 12 games and visit 12 ballparks including Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. In California, you will visit 5 ballparks. For the outrageous fanatic, pair the two together and see 17 parks and games on our Combination program!

Hope to see you on the road this summer.

110 days until the season begins!

The Westcoast Blogger

 

Posted by wcc360 at 4:54 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

Autographs, Homerun Balls, and California! – Major League Madness

Major League Madness No Responses »
Aug 022011

Dear Fellow Baseball Fanatics:

Major League Madness: California is having a blast and excited to share our first “letter from the road::

Our first day arriving in San Fran was filled with bonding time and meeting one another. All the boys hit it off due to the one commonality – baseball.

The tour of AT&T park was a great way to kick off the trip! Seeing all the memorabilia of Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and of course the 2010 World Series champs intrigued all these baseball admirers. We even got a special treat being allowed into the visiting team’s clubhouse. Travis was simply amazed with the ball park and all the behind the scenes action. Josh & Jordan K. loved the awesome view of the park overlooking the San Francisco bay. Jonah, so full of interesting questions even got a practice ball while in the Giants dugout. Jake got to make a call to the bullpen.

At the bowling alley things really got interesting as the foursome of Jonah, Sam, Adam and Oliver showed everyone how to knock them down. Adam won the game by 1 pin!

Day 2 was the first game we got to see at the Oakland Coliseum. Adam wearing his freshly bought Athletics hat rooted for a home victory. The A’s and Twins did battle but the real amazing stuff happened during batting practice. Jordan H. and Jonah each caught a homerun ball during BP. Meanwhile down at the field level, David, Jake, Josh and Travis all got autographs from a certain all star catcher – Joe Mauer of the Twins! Also signing autographs for the boys was 6’6″ Twins closer Joe Nathan. Oliver got an autograph from Twins 3rd base coach Jerry White, a former player.

Earlier that day we got to visit Alcatraz island. Sam was amazed by the history that was there with famous mobster Al Capone. The K. brothers loved the audio tour which turned out to be the highlight of the tour. At Pier 33, Travis talked about bread bowls for hours prior to finally getting his wish: a nice big sourdough bread bowl full of clam chowder. Nothing was left, including the bowl.

Next stop: LA! At Venice beach, we saw all the amazing shops and the famous outdoor gym where Arnold Schwarzenegger used to work out before he was the Governator. Jordan H enjoyed seeing the various “freaks” along the boardwalk. Oliver and Jonah were hoping to get into the water but it was far too cold! At Hollywood and Highlands we got to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. David added to his impressive collection of player tees.

In the afternoon we went to classic Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks. Oliver, Jake and Adam ate the famous Dodger Dogs! David was seen sporting his fresh Matt Kemp Dodger tee.

The LA speedzone was the night activity where we enjoyed 2 hours of unlimited driving and arcades. Jordan H, Jordan K, Josh, Travis, Oliver, Jake and Jonah had a big race around the grand prix track. Good thing there are bumpers! The boys had an epic time racing around. David, Adam and Sam went at it in the arcade where they played games like Terminator, Time crisis and air hockey after their races. The highlight was the drag racing where you go 0-70 mph in 3 seconds! Jordan H, Jake and Oliver couldn’t get enough of the high speeds!

Our first 4 days have been amazing so far and as we continue we have Universal Studios, surfing and Disneyland…and of course more baseball games, we can hardly wait!

We’ll update you soon!

The Westcoast Blogger

Posted by wcc360summer at 11:00 AM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Baseball Tour Keeps Rocking – Major League Madness

Major League Madness No Responses »
Jul 242011

Hey fellow fanatics, here’s the latest news from Major League Madness East & Midwest,

In Detroit, Pax and Ethan continued our fun from Chicago and heckled Ozzie Guillen about his appearance at Second City Comedy Club just a few nights before.

In Pittsburgh, we put a new rule in place. Everyone had to perform a dance move before coming off the bus. The dance move of the day went to Asher’s new and improved rendition of the fist pump. Pittsburgh also brought some competition to the group in the way of a Mini Putt tournament. Despite an early lead from staff member Chad, Justin came roaring back to win the Trip Open and the first Major championship of the young man’s career. Later at the driving range, Bobby provided an unbelievable golfing lesson, one which would end with Rob and Noah hitting consecutive straight drives. Finally, after about a 30 minute batting cage session, Asher and Tyler were the last two to be found swinging away – proving that fun and hard work go hand in hand.  After a fun day at Cool Springs Rec Center, we took in a game between the surprising first place Pirates and the visiting Reds.  We managed to get our money’s worth by taking advantage of our all you can eat seats. David, Justin, Bobby and Zach R. all managed to score some front row seats AND make an appearance on local Pittsburgh television.

After a fun couple of days in Pittsburgh – we were ready to take in our first visit to New York with a trip to Citi Field. Our Met faithful, Brandon, Noah, Zach R. and Nathan couldn’t have felt more at home than they did while sitting with the rest of Mets nation. All of them left with smiles on their faces as the hometown Mets got the W over the St. Louis Cardinals.

We then ventured south to Baltimore to catch the Orioles and Red Sox.  Being in Baltimore that afternoon didn’t stop Yankee fans Jordan and Zach B. from chanting “Boston Sucks” right from the opening pitch – the jeers didn’t work however, as the Red Sox took a convincing win over the last place Orioles. More competition came into play that night -as the rivalry between team Rob and team Chad was renewed for a night of laser tag. Despite evenly matched teams, team Rob came ready to play and swept the series 2-0. The difference makers were Matt, who played great defense at the base down the stretch and Andrew who won the award for overall point leader by the end of the night.

The next day at Six Flags couldn’t have been better. Despite the hot temperatures, no one was in the park, which meant no lines for some of the best roller coasters in North America.

Our final stop of this segment was a trip to the City of Brotherly Love for a game between the Phillies and Padres. Much to the chagrin of our resident Mets fans, Cole Hamels threw an absolute gem leading the Phillies to victory.

With our trip winding down fast, the stops don’t get any less exciting. We save some of the best for last with trips to Cooperstown, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium.

Until next time,

The Staff from Major League Madness

The Westcoast Blogger

Posted by wcc360summer at 2:31 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Baseball Tour laughs it up with White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen – Major League Madness

Major League Madness No Responses »
Jul 152011

Dear Fellow Fanatics:

The MLB players weren’t the only ones getting rest at the All-Star Break. Major League Madness got a 3 day break from baseball as well. We used the time to develop our friendships even better and take in some great attractions.

During our visit to Cedar Point Amusement park, the trip members decided to partake in some carnival games. Pax surprised us all by walking over with a monstrous gorilla stuffed animal which he won by banking a wiffle ball into a basket. Not to be outdone, Ethan and Asher brought home big prizes of their own, 2 giant stuffed dobermans. Zach B., knowing his skill set, shot the lights out in a free-throw shootout and won a basketball.

The next day brought us to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Jordan had to close his eyes when a video presentation showed Desean Jackson of the Eagles running back a punt into the Giants end zone completing what was one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. Justin and Matt were in heated debate about who the better QB was between Eli Manning and Mark Sanchez – as far as this writer is concerned, only one of them has a ring.

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the trip members got to see the origins of all their favorite types of music. Bobby and Will absolutely loved the Beatles section, where they were listening to classics such as “You Can’t Find me Love” and “8 Days a Week”.

After the 3 days break, we were looking forward to getting back to the ballparks.  Our first stop in Chicago was Second City Comedy club, where we saw a hysterical performance by some of Chicago’s best amateurs. The highlight of the night however was running into White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen at the show. The trip members were awestruck. Showing his love for kids, Coach Guillen agreed to take a picture with the group.   We also saw the city.  David absolutely loved the bike tour, especially driving by the original Playboy Mansion, which he learnt that Hugh Hefner sold for 1 dollar upon the company’s move to Los Angeles.  On our extreme boat tour – Nathan and Brandon, came off the boat soaking wet (they brought a change of clothes), but with huge smiles as well – and disappointed that there was no time in the schedule to do it again.  The final activity in the Windy City was a trip to the historic Wrigley Field. The Cubs had control of the game up until the top of the 9th when they promptly walked the first 3 guys of the inning only to allow a bases clearing double to lose the game. “I feel like we got the true Cubs experience” said Tyler. Little does he know, these fans have been dealing with losses like that for over 100 years.

Our next few days are jammed packed with baseball. With stops in Detroit, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, the boys will have plenty of opportunity to get some more autographs and take in a few ball games.

Till Next Time,

Major League Madness

The Westcoast Blogger

Posted by wcc360summer at 4:49 PM Tagged with: , , ,

America’s Favorite Pastime – Major League Madness

Major League Madness No Responses »
Jul 112011

We’ve officially made it to the All-Star break, and although we’re only 3 days into our tour, we sure have accomplished a lot! After completing a 3 game in 3 day stretch, we just arrived at our hotel in Cleveland.

The three games provided much excitement for the group. Brandon came within inches of retrieving a Minnesota Twins home run ball at U.S. Cellular Park, while Zach R. successfully predicted a home run by the slumping Adam Dunn to give him the foundation of what is now a 2 point lead in our MLB prediction pool. Earlier during batting practice, Tyler fought his way through the crowd and managed to secure himself an autograph from Twins reliever Joe Nathan – little did he know that would be the first of many autographs – the next night he added Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips to his collection.

Saturday night in Milwaukee brought a wild extra inning finish between the hometown Brewers and their division rival Cincinnati Reds. Prior to the game, Ethan and Justin managed to get a positive reaction out of former Yankee Miguel Cairo after chanting his name during the pre-game warmups. Jordan made his Montreal-born staff proud when he came back to his seat bearing a snack which Miller Park calls “The Montreal”, which is natively known as a “poutine” back in the Canadian province of Quebec. Earlier in the day, Zach B. showed some stellar defensive skill at first base in the first of what should be a few softball games amongst the trip members.

The well travelled group arrived in Cleveland and made their way to Progressive Field to take in a game between the Indians and the visiting Blue Jays. In support of their Canadian staff, the majority of trip members cheered the Jays to victory.

The highly anticipated Whirly Ball tournament was one for the ages. After finishing the round robin with a very disappointing 0-3 record the “Lovable Kittens” could have easily rolled over to die as a first round date with the undefeated “Team Swag” loomed. After some tinkering with the game plan and a motivational speech, the 4th seeded Kittens came out strong out of the gate with some early scores. Will led the charge with some great goals and outstanding decision making, and as the time winded down Asher made some outstanding key defensive stops, that would lead to a defensive rebound by Matt, otherwise known as “Matty Ice” who like a true playoff veteran dumped the ball as time expired sealing an upset that will be remembered for years to come. In the finals, it looked as if the Kittens had a chance of winning it all after Josh managed to seal a hot pass and finish it with a goal with about 10 seconds left to tie it up. The clock unfortunately would strike midnight for the Whirly Ball Cinderellas, as team “Domination”, stacked with highly touted prospects Pax, Tyler, Lou and Bobby along with scoring machine Andrew, scored at the buzzer to take home the Trip 29 Championship.

The amount of knowledge these wily baseball fans have about the American past-time is truly remarkable. Hearing the kids converse and debate about players that retired 50 years before they were even born is truly a special thing. The Miller Park tour guide was in absolute shock as David, Nathan and Ethan answered questions about the game that many adults don’t even know. With the trip only three days young, we as a group still have a lot to discover about the game that we all love and choose to bond over. In the words of Noah, “baseball is just amazing to be around, there’s nothing else in the world like it.”

And to think, we still have more than two weeks left…

Till Next Time,

Rob, Lou and Chad

The Westcoast Blogger

Posted by wcc360summer at 12:23 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Older Entries
© 2011 www.westcoastconnection.com Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha