I know you arrived here to read about what’s on tap for 2025, but if you’d please allow, let’s finish 2024 with our…
Annual Dominican Republic tour in November
Bookings are now open for our fifth annual Dominican Republic tour from November 9-20.
I’ve continued to optimize the schedule, this year adding an extra day at our beautiful, boutique beach hotel in Juan Dolio, making transportation routes more efficient, and doubling up at Estadio Cibao in Santiago, home of the Aguilas Cibaeñas. Estadio Cibao is a super-nostalgic place to me because it’s the first ballpark where I saw international baseball, when I was studying abroad in the DR in 2008.
Join for the full tour and see all six Dominican Winter League teams play at home, or choose one of our two shorter segments. I look forward to seeing first-time manager Albert Pujols at the helm of his Leones del Escogido on the road in Santiago and again at home at Estadio Quisqueya Juan Marichal, the country’s primary ballpark in the capital of Santo Domingo.
2025: Going Big in Japan
Japanese baseball has never been more popular. The rest of the baseball community is finally catching on to what JapanBallers have known for years: nothing beats the Japanese baseball experience. That’s why we are offering a bounty of Japanese tour options in 2025:
- February: NPB (and KBO!) Spring Training. Our first NPB spring training tour earlier this year was a rousing success, so we are going even bigger this year, extending our Okinawa spring training trip to Japan’s mainland in Miyazaki. We also will be sure to take advantage of KBO teams training alongside NPB teams and see them too.
- March: Dodgers vs. Cubs MLB Opening Series in Tokyo. JapanBall hasn’t missed an MLB Opening Day in Japan yet, and I intend to keep that streak going. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shota Imanaga coming home to open the MLB season (and half-Japanese manager Dave Roberts) will make this a must-see event. That said, this will be perhaps the hottest MLB regular-season ticket ever, and I do not yet have tickets secured. I am working every angle possible to make it work, so stay tuned for a more formal announcement.
- August: Non-NPB Tour. Highlighted by attending the legendary Koshien National High School Baseball Championship, this new tour offering will focus on alternative Japanese baseball and athletic offerings. Potential tour activities include: Koshien National High School Baseball Championship, minor and independent leagues, college baseball, professional women’s softball and/or baseball, sumo wrestling, other Japanese pro sports, cultural sightseeing, and, OK fine – probably at least one NPB game!
Ichiro Hall-of-Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown
For years now, JapanBallers have inquired whether we would offer a trip to Cooperstown to see Ichiro’s inevitable formal introduction into baseball immortality. I can finally say that the answer is a resounding “YES!”
We are partnering with Sports Travel and Tours, the official tour provider of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, to offer an exclusive Ichiro induction weekend experience in July 2025. You are welcome to book any of STAT’s tour offerings through us, but we encourage you to opt for the official JapanBall package. Some of the reasons why you might want to join us:
- Travel with fellow JapanBallers, including me! I can’t wait to finally attend induction weekend.
- STAT has better access than any other tour provider. Our package will include VIP reserved seats at the induction ceremony, and access to various other events throughout the weekend.
- I am working to organize special meetings with baseball figures in Cooperstown.
- Potential for unique baseball cultural exchange, as we are going to market this package to Japanese baseball fans too. Bringing people together through baseball is what we’re all about, and experiencing this weekend alongside Japanese fans making the pilgrimage will be a fantastic experience.
Stay tuned for more details!
Alaska Midnight Sun Game
Our biennial Pacific Northwest Tour, highlighted by the Midnight Sun game in Alaska, is back in 2025. With the summer solstice landing on a weekend next year, the Midnight Sun Game perfectly aligns with the Fairbanks Summer Solstice Festival (and 10k run, for anyone interested in that), meaning that the festive vibes at this gem of a game will be at their highest level. For anyone who’s been, you know, the Midnight Sun Game is a truly unique, joyous, and unforgettable baseball experience.
With the Red Sox in Seattle the week before the Midnight Sun game, we will have a pre-tour in Seattle to see at least the Sox, and hopefully – once the MiLB schedule is released – we can see the Tacoma Rainiers and/or Everett AquaSox as well. We’ll then hop on a flight up to Fairbanks together for the midnight summer bonanza. Also new this year – you can extend your trip by a day to take a scenic summer train ride to Denali National Park.
South Korea
This year’s South Korea tour ventured outside of Seoul for the first time – we saw seven games in in four cities, and it went great! I now have the confidence to expand our South Korea tour in 2025 to all nine KBO ballparks – that’s right you can do the “See It All,” Korea-style!
The only thing I would change about our tour is that it was super hot and humid in August, so next year, our plan is to move the South Korea tour along with the Japan tour to April/May, when the weather is wonderful on the Korean Peninsula.
Dominican Republic Winter League Tour and Fantasy Camp
Yes, we will continue to offer our deep dive into the Dominican Baseball Machine next November, allowing you to be immersed in the vibrant Dominican culture on and off the field. The DR tour is our most exclusive, with behind-the-scenes, insider access, and it’s our most inclusive too, with most of your food and drink included in the tour price. If you haven’t been yet, or haven’t completed the six LIDOM ballparks yet, then let 2025 be your year!
But we aren’t just offering our annual DR tour in 2025 – we are also offering Dominican Fantasy Camp next winter! Our fantasy camp will follow the model of MLB team fantasy camps, in which adults get to live out their childhood dreams of playing on big-league fields and yakking it up with former big league stars. But this fantasy camp differs from your typical camp due to its location on a beautiful Caribbean island where baseball reigns and ex-pros are shockingly accessible.
Shoutout to JapanBaller Doug Miller for inspiring me to make this endeavor happen. Doug and I are working with Pachi, our go-to-guy in the DR to finalize the details. Stay tuned!
Custom and Group Travel
Even with our biggest year yet of offerings, we’d love to work with you on custom or group travel. This year we have already arranged tours for a student group from the University of South Carolina and a father in Colorado who wanted to have a special, baseball-centric trip with his teenage son. We are in talks with universities, youth travel ball teams, and high school teams to offer customized tours that meet their group’s needs.
Whether you’re interested in traveling as an individual or with a team, school, or other group, I’d love to have the opportunity to put together an incredible trip for you.
