Everybody has a different approach to their ballpark travel methodology, and everyone is right in their own way. I admit there is a strong hint of OCD-ness in the tips below, which are random, and do not pretend to be comprehensive. Why? Because you are not me, and I am not you, and what I care about is not what you care about. For example, I could care less about locating and visiting the team’s hotel, while other people care about this with great fervor. I also care very little about obtaining autographs (except in rare occasions), but will obsess over the perfect vantage point from which to take photographs. That said, here are some of my best pieces of advice.

1. A-Z guides: I am a HUGE fan of these guides that are part of every team’s website. Besides being full of unintentional humor, you will find things out that you would never have any way of knowing, and could potentially be beneficial to your visit. (Or not. Like, Oakland allows you to bring in a whisk broom, up to 4″ in length, only on the days the team is going for a sweep (all other times, brooms are prohibited)? Or that at Coors Field, if you catch a foul ball without it hitting the ground or any other object, you are awarded with a “Clean Catch” pin?) There are more, and I will do a writeup of the best highlights in the future. But you should read them.
2. Promotional items & events: Even if you think you don’t care and wouldn’t want a pennant or a poster or a Jack Wilson bobblehead, I suggest that you still pay attention to the promotional items and events. We planned a visit to Arlington when we were in Texas, figuring it would be a day-of-game walk up and buy a ticket excursion – only to discover that there was a pre-game concert event that always sold out in advance. That’s the kind of thing that might make me pick a different weekend. That same weekend, Friday night in Houston was Lance Berkman bobblehead day. People got online hours in advance to make sure they got them. Showing up when gates open for a big promotion like that may mean you get shut out, or could just complicate what you thought would be a leisurely stroll around the ballpark.
3. Talking to other fans: Fans of the team you are going to visit are not always the best sources of information about the ballpark. Most fans just show up and go to the game and may not be able to tell you that it’s not worth the additional $30 to sit in Field Box MVP vs. Field Box, or where to park if you want to head north after the game, or that you can show up, get your bobblehead and take it back to your car, and then come back. Red Sox fans told us that Wally the Green Monster would come visit us at our seats if we called him, without knowing that a seat visit cost $100. I’m not saying don’t ask your friend who’s been going to Dodger games since they were 13, I’m just suggesting that you do not solely rely on him or her as an information source. For my upcoming trip to the West Coast, I got some great advice from a Angels fan, but a random Cubs fan of my acquaintance, who just happens to live on the West Coast, provided me with endless amounts of truly useful tips for every CA ballpark. This makes total sense to me, because those are not his home ballparks.
4. Have a plan for extra innings: This really only applies if you’re relying on public transportation, but make sure you have more than one option available to you if the game runs late because of weather or you get some bonus baseball.
5. Food and drink: Know what you can and can’t bring into the ballpark. I know I am obsessive about this but one, I hate to give MLB more money than I already do, and two, I hate to waste food. People assume that you cannot bring food into Yankee Stadium, which is incorrect – while Houston won’t allow a freaking Clif Bar. Other ballparks are picky about number of bottles and sizes (or get picky when you’re wearing the colors of the visiting team). My biggest tip to you on this front is: print out the page that specifies the rules and bring it with you.
6. Batting Practice: Going to BP is a big benefit of going to road games. You have less competition (unless you are a fan of the Red Sox or That Other New York Team), and in my case, you definitely have better access. While the Mets are not autograph friendly anywhere, most teams seem to be friendlier and more appreciative towards their fans at road games. Most teams have their BP schedules listed on their websites or in their A-Z guide, and others have actual Batting Practice hotlines! The scheduling matters a lot if you’re trying to get autographs or want a good vantage to take photographs. If you just want to watch, exact timing matters less.
7. Buying tickets on the secondary market: Buying tickets from a source other than the team has become a less stressful event with the advent of StubHub. Of course, you’re paying an extra 15% for that lack of stress. A good reason to buy tickets on the secondary market is because you can buy them from season ticket holders, and season ticket holders generally have extra perks like early access, early access to the field for BP, club access (nice after BP on a hot day in July even if you just use the private bathrooms and have a drink of water), separate entrances, etc. Figuring this out is a matter of putting in a little bit of research, and sometimes you find out accidentally – like I did in Pittsburgh when I just happened to notice a sign that said that season ticket holders could go down to the field 30 minutes before everyone else during BP. In Baltimore, you get similar early access, as well as $1 hot dogs and $1 sodas. I know people have trepidation from buying tickets anywhere besides the box office, but it’s just gotten so much easier these days.
8. Buying on eBay: There are four types of people selling baseball tickets on eBay: 1) professional ticket scalpers, aka brokers; 2) season ticket holders 3) random people who bought tickets to resell for $$ 4) people who bought tickets at the beginning of the year and now can’t go to the game. It’s easy to figure out by looking at people’s feedback and other sales which bucket they fall into; someone selling the same seats for every game is a season ticket holder, while someone with tons of feedback about sales of tickets is a broker. Someone who has low feedback and for things like CD’s or video games is 3 or 4. I have no fear buying from 1 or 2, but I would have a lot of qualms about buying on eBay from categories 3 and 4. Why? Because they don’t do it all the time, they’re going to sweat every penny, they don’t have a system in place to efficiently handle getting tickets in the mail to you asap. I have zero qualms about getting ripped off on eBay by a scalper, but know that buying a ticket from Bob in Reston, VA will likely result in sixteen emails because he’s never done this before.
9. Print at home tickets: Don’t buy “print at home” tickets from someone unless they are transferring them to you via the team’s ticket transfer mechanism or via StubHub. It’s just not worth the risk, no matter what they say the reason is for doing so. Sure, it could work out fine, but I don’t want to travel any distance only to find out my tickets are no good and then have to scramble to buy new ones day of game.
10. Ballpark tours: I am a big, big fan of the ballpark tour. Some people advocate taking tours close to gametime so that you have a chance to run into the players walking through the tunnel. That is the exact opposite of my strategy, because tours that are closer to game time are generally more limited than the ones earlier in the day. Most teams start to restrict access to the dugout or field the closer you get to game time, and many don’t have tours on game days or eliminate late day tours altogether for that reason. Tours can be hit and miss – we had a surprisingly great tour from a younger volunteer in St. Louis, but a terrible, rushed tour in Houston (for which we paid extra for additional access). But I still would tell you to take them. If nothing else you’ll find out what the wifi password is when you go into the press box, because it’s always posted on a piece of paper near the entrance.