Heartland Baseball: Kansas City, Omaha and the College World Series, Wichita Baseball Trip - Kansas City MO Family Vacation

Preview: It may surprise non-baseball initiates to learn that the heartland is a hotbed of the game. And we do mean hot. Players (and fans) learn to tolerate double-headers in 105 temperatures. Start with the region’s popular major-league team, the Kansas City Royals, who play at the huge and distinctive Kauffman Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex. The area surrounding the stadium has several moderately priced hotels, and there are good bargains to be found at older downtown hotels, too. In terms of other baseball attractions, Kansas City is the Negro Leagues’ Cooperstown: the excellent Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is part of the 18th and Vine Historic District, which also includes the American Jazz Museum and is just down the road from the famed Arthur Bryant’s barbecue. Good eating is a Kansas City preoccupation, and there are many legendary casual dining establishments to choose from. Two hundred miles northwest is Omaha, home of baseball’s College World Series. For ten days every June, the city is filled with hundreds of the nation’s best college players and thousands of fans. They all cram into Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium on the bluffs in southeast Omaha. For the rest of the summer the stadium is home to the AAA team of the Royals. Wichita is southwest 300 miles, a park-filled river city with a fine zoo. There’s a crazy tradition of baseball-round-the-clock played by summer collegiate leagues and amateur baseball teams during a marathon weekend each summer at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium, a ballpark on the Arkansas River that’s also used by the Wichita Wranglers of the AA Texas League. If you’re interested in one of the best summer college leagues, detour 30 minutes east to El Dorado, Kansas, where the El Dorado Broncos of the Jayhawk League play in McDonald Stadium. This chapter takes your family on a trip to see the Kansas City Royals, Omaha Royals, and Wichita Wranglers baseball teams including where to stay, where to eat, and nearby sites to see.
© Copyright Bruce Adams and Margaret Engel published by Fodor's Travel Publications all rights reserved.


Best Time to Go: April - early October
This travel guide comes from:
Fodor's Baseball Vacations Guide Book