6. Destination: America’s Heartland for a Week-Long Midwest Loop Tour …
No ballpark tour is complete without a visit to “The Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field in Chicago and the sea of red at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. And if get a chance to catch a Cubs-Cardinals game, expect an electric atmosphere as both cities are five hours apart by car.

Both cities have great baseball-themed museums, with the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago and the shrine to the Cardinals at the International Bowling Museum in St. Louis. While in Chicago, head to the South Side to check out the White Sox and between both cities take in a game at Silver Cross Field in Joliet, a beautiful downtown independent league ballpark. With more time, visit the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, Iowa and play catch for free with your ballpark traveling partner in crime.

7. Destination: Wichita For 24-Hours of Non-Stop Baseball …
Starting Aug. 1 and lasting for more than a week, the National Baseball Congress amateur tournament invades Lawrence Dumont Stadium for the 75th year along the riverfront as college summer league teams from around the country showcase their stuff.

This ballpark, which also hosts an independent league team, is a living history museum itself and you’ll admire the plaques throughout the concourses and beyond the outfield. Tournament MVPs over the years have included the likes of Satchel Paige, Chris Chambliss, Lance Berkman and Jeff Francis. Wichita also boasts two super baseball-themed museums, the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame at the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame and the State of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. A few hours drive north is “The Fountain City,” Kansas City, and Kauffman Stadium, plus the Negro Leagues Museum.

8. Destination: The West is the Best (as in Southern California) …
Where can you enjoy great baseball, California girls in bikini’s and male hotties on Muscle Beach? Only in SoCal. Know wonder Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” blasts on the public address system following Dodger wins. In addition to the boys in blue, the Angels are bleeding red in Anaheim 30 minutes south (without traffic, of course) down the I-5 while the Padres are another 90 minutes down the freeway.

9. Destination: The Pacific Northwest …
There’s never a better time to be Sleepless in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest than in the summertime where the days are long, the scenery is breathtaking and the ballparks are magnificent, from SAFECO Field in Seattle to historic Nat Bailey Stadium across the Canadian border in Vancouver, British Columbia, a quaint Minor League ballpark.

Also within a three hours drive of Seattle is Portland, gateway to the stunning Columbia River Gorge and home to PGE Park, a cool minor league ballpark nestled downtown. Due east of Seattle is one of the few remaining throwback minor league ballparks remaining, Avista Stadium in Spokane, with some of the most underrated baseball fans in the country.

10. Destination: The Last Frontier …
… Alaska. That’s right, Alaska, where there’s more than just great fishing and plenty of daylight in the summer. There’s also the Alaska Baseball League, arguably the second best college wood bat league in the country after the Cape Cod League. Alums include Randy Johnson and J.D. Drew and with teams in Palmer, Fairbanks, Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula, you can enjoy baseball throughout the Last Frontier until your hears content. The league just celebrated its 104th “Midnight Sun Game” on the Summer Solstice where no artificial light was used.

Joe Connor is a freelance writer and author of the online MLB ballpark tour guide, “A Fan’s Guide To The Ultimate Ballpark Tour: Fully Loaded!” which is available for purchase exclusively at his Web sites: www.modernerabaseball.com and www.mrsportstravel.com

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