56 Consecutive Games

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

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

Baseball Tour Keeps Rocking – Major League Madness

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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

EXTREME Rides

Adventurer, American Voyageur, California & The Canyons, Californian Extravaganza, Eastcoast Encounter, Major League Madness, Ultimate California No Responses »

Jan 212011

Have you ever seen the special on the Travel Channel Extreme Terror Rides? If not, the show has compiled the list of the most gut wrenching thrill rides. We have bragging rights to say we bring trips to some of the most amazing places on the planet to experience some truly killer rides.

THE STRATOSPHERE – LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

At the world’s highest amusement park, dare to try one of three rides on our western Active Teen Tours.

RIDE THE BIG SHOT – At 921 feet in the air, get psyched to be shot up to 1,081 feet at a mere 45 miles per hour. Your stomach will endure 4G’s on the launch and negative 4G’s way down.

BRAVE INSANITY – Swing 64 feet over the edge of the building at a height of 900 feet. Endure 3G’s as your seat tilts back to a 70 degrees (yes, that’s pretty close to looking straight down!).

SCREAM ON X-SCREAM - Imagine a giant teeter-totter hanging 27 feet over the edge of the stratosphere at a height of 866 feet. Definitely not something to be missed!

CEDAR POINT - SANDUSKY, OHIO

75 rides including 17 roller coasters – more than any other park on the planet and a place visited by our Eastcoast Encounter, Major League Madness and U.S. Explorer programs.

TOP THRILL DRAGSTER – The first coaster to exceed 400 feet (it tops out at 420!). The first coaster to break the 100 mph limit (it hits 120!). A 17-second adrenalin rush.

AND

MILLENNIUM FORCE – Voted the best steel coaster in the world multiple times. A 310 foot tall hill with an 80 degree drop reaching a top speed of 93 miles per hour. Add in inverted turns, tunnels, drops, more turns, and hill and you’ve got a ride where you definitely need to hold onto your hat!

Ride on!

The Westcoast Blogger

Did Someone Say Racing Sausages?

Major League Madness No Responses »

Mar 222010

Have you heard of the game running bases? Have you ever heard of five sausages running bases?

At a Brewer’s game in Milwaukee’s Miller Park, you can see five sausages running around the bases in between innings.

The Klement’s Racing Sausages first appeared in the early 90′s as an animated race shown on the scoreboard. It was one of the best and most famous scoreboard races in baseball history. The Brewers decided to make it even better by the costumed real-life sausages!

There are five Klement’s Racing Sausages:

Brett Wurst – a bratwurst, wears a green Austro-Bavarian lederhosen
Stosh – a Polish sausage, wears dark sunglasses and a blue and red rugby shirt
Guido – an Italian sausage, wears a chef’s outfit
Frankie Furter – a hot dog, wears a baseball uniform
Cinco – a chorizo, wears a sombrero.

You see see the full bios here.

The actual Klement’s Racing Sausages emerge from the left field corner and sprint toward home plate aided by the applause of an enthusiastic crowd. The costumes make the sausages look like they’re wobbling down the field, but they’re actually sprinting as fast as possible!

The success of the Klement’s Racing Sausages has been unexpected. Tpoday, you can find sausage bubbleheads, t-shirts, dolls and pins. And for those wanting to be closer to the action, the 5K Sausage Race was developed.

What is it about these sausage mascots that we find so fascinating? Is it the funny costume? Maybe it’s their tiny legs?

All we know is that they are a hit with the crowd, and a huge baseball ritual.

Want to experience them running for yourself? Join us on our Major League Madness – East & Midwest or Major League Madness – Combination program.

The Westcoast Blogger

P.S. – Want to race them yourself? You can do it here!

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