Last Updated on October 22, 2023 by Alex PT
MLB teams travel by charter plane, which allows them to fly directly to their destination and avoid commercial airports. Teams typically arrive in the host city a day or two before the game to give players time to rest and acclimatize. According to the MLB, teams travel an average of 45,000 miles per season.
This Is A Table To Showing What MLB Travel Assistants Have To Make The Travel Successful.
| Necessities In MLB (Major League Baseball) Travels | Description |
| A schedule | The schedule is what makes each player know what and what not to do after or before a game, the schedule is being posted in the clubhouse for players to know departure and game time. |
| Getaway day | The getaway day is just the last game of a series of games. This is when the road team leaves and the starting players rest. |
| Planes | The plane here is just a normal plane. The traveling manager takes care of their necessary documents while the team prepares for travel. |
| Secretary | This is just a peek at their jobs. The team’s secretary here renders his service by making reservations for about 60 players, coaches, media personnel, and sometimes family members to go on a road trip with the players. |
Traveling As A Team In The Major Leagues
As a high A or AA baseball player, traveling is both nice and tedious, we will tell you how. Firstly as a rookie and A baller, the road trips, and hotels are not pleasant but road trips are exciting and short. When you go higher into the major leagues, you would notice the hotels are nicer, you are taken to different high-class inns and the hotels are very close to the field. The major league teams are given the best and closest hotels so it causes no inconveniences to them. This is the bad part of these travels. As you move higher, the road trips get a lot farther than usual because the game schedules are spread out. Let me put this more easily, we all know the teams far north are Portland (Maine) and New Hemisphere, and the teams far south are Richmond and Akron (Ohio). The leagues even after knowing this would schedule matches with Portland and Richmond next to each other so you can travel down to the other side. Most MLB league teams spend one, two, or three on the road.
How Many Players Travel with an MLB Team?
- Player Roster:
In the MLB, each team is allowed to bring a 26-man active player roster for most of the regular season. This increases to a 28-man roster in September, which includes the playoffs. The roster comprises pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders.
- Expansion of Player Roster: In certain scenarios, the team can expand their player roster. For instance, during a doubleheader (two games played by the same teams on the same day), teams are allowed an extra player (known as the “27th man”) who can join for the day and participate in both games.
- Pitchers: Each team carries an assortment of pitchers. These include starting pitchers, relievers, and closers. Typically, a team will travel with a minimum of 12 pitchers, although this number may vary depending on the team’s strategies and rotations.
- Infielders and Outfielders: In addition to pitchers, a standard MLB team will also travel with various infielders and outfielders. These players are responsible for a vast majority of the team’s offensive and defensive play.
- Coaching Staff:
An MLB team also travels with its coaching staff. The number of coaches can vary but typically includes a manager, bench coach, pitching coach, hitting coach, and various assistant coaches.
- Support Staff: Apart from the players and coaches, teams also travel with a vast support staff. This includes medical staff, physical therapists, strength and conditioning coaches, equipment managers, and administrative personnel.
- Taxi Squad: As of the 2022 season, teams have been allowed to carry a three-player taxi squad on road trips. The purpose of this squad is to have replacements readily available should a player on the active roster become unavailable due to injury, illness, or other reasons.
| Team Members | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Player Roster | 26-28 |
| Extra Player (during a doubleheader) | 1 |
| Pitchers | At least 12 |
| Infielders and Outfielders | Varies |
| Coaching Staff | Varies |
| Support Staff | Varies |
| Taxi Squad | 3 |
In conclusion, the number of people who travel with an MLB team can be quite large when considering all of the players, coaches, and support staff involved. The actual number might even exceed 50 individuals when the team is at full strength and carrying its maximum allowable roster.
Necessities In MLB Travels
These four major necessities can’t be overlooked while taking MLB teams to travel.
• The schedule
• Getaway days
• Planes
• Secretary
The Schedule
Most MLB games start with three to four games with opponents to reduce travel. They usually play six to ten games in their homes before moving on to another six to ten games. After these rounds, they start moving with planes, according to a historian by the name of Alex Reisner, teams once used trains to get to their destination. In modern baseball, teams rarely use buses to travel.
Getaway Day
The name here comes from the train days as we said before. Every team used trains to travel and spend an entire day on the road to their opponent. The game before the teams took off would be scheduled for the afternoon, so the teams had enough time to travel. Nowadays, with planes teams can start a new series in another city the next day even when traveling to opposite sides of the country. Traditionally baseball games are mostly scheduled for the afternoon.
Planes
MLB teams are known for traveling with chartered planes with major airlines. Like the Los Angeles Angels, charter their flight and make the flight attendants dress up in Angel colors. Some other teams charter planes to cut delays at airports.
Secretary
Every MLB team has traveling secretaries who take care of accommodation, payments, food, and movement from the airport to the hotel and hotel to the facility. The Secretary collects the hotel keys and hands them over to the players. He or she takes care of the per-day basis of meals and other necessities.
Do Batboys Travel With The Team?
Batboys only on rare circumstances travel with the team. Normally, the batboys don’t travel with the team. What happens is, the home and visiting batboys are employed by the home team. For the uniform situation, it’s pretty simple, the home base boys wear the visiting team uniform all season, and the same for the visitor’s batboys, they wear the home uniform all season.
How Did Baseball Players Travel Before Planes?
The Dodgers were the first to own a plane. Before that, baseball teams traveled by train, a train traveling for baseball teams reduced with moving to the West Coast. Most teams stopped moving with trains and started using planes from 1957-1960. The Reds were the first team to move by plane for a game in 1934. Teams flew occasionally with planes before the 1950s. Before then it was mostly trained because most teams were closer to each other back then.
Does Every Major League In Baseball Have Their Planes?
Most professional sports teams use charter, they use the same plane, team, and crew throughout the year. Most sports are not like baseball, even when teams have their private jets, they still need to land at an airport and take off from an airport.
How Are MLB Team’s Travels?
As soon as the MLB seasons begin, traveling gets a lot better for the teams. This is so because most of the travel is by plane and sometimes bus when the distance between the two cities is 200 miles or less. This is where it gets better when the players travel with their coach, on any flight, they get three seats per pair of players and first-class meals.
Can Wives Travel With MLB Players?
Yes, wives and families of MLB players are generally allowed to travel with the players during the season. MLB teams often arrange for a designated number of family seats on team charter flights, and they may also provide accommodation for players’ families on road trips. Travel arrangements may vary by team and depend on team policies, but many franchises prioritize player comfort and well-being by allowing their families to join them on the road.
While players typically have the option to bring their wives and families along for games on the road, it’s important to note that the exact policies and logistics may vary among teams. Players often have designated periods during the season when family travel is encouraged, such as during extended road trips or special events like the All-Star Game or postseason play.
Additionally, some players may choose to have their families with them for emotional support and to maintain a sense of normalcy during the long and grueling MLB season. Traveling with families can help players maintain a healthy work-life balance, and it’s seen as a way to support their overall well-being.
Closing Thoughts
Most of these travels are seen as good times when players spend time with their team and chill before any big tournament. We’ve reached the end of this informative article. We hope that this article helped you find resources in your quest to know how baseball teams travel. Do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments. Thanks!
References:
https://www.quora.com/How-do-Major-League-Baseball-teams-travel
https://legionreport.com/how-do-baseball-teams-travel/
Hi! I’m Alex PT. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Indiana University and have over seven years of valuable experience working in a Sports Event Management Company. I founded SportBlurb with the passion for bringing you the latest, most insightful, and engaging content in the world of sports. So, whether you’re a die-hard fan or want to stay informed, I’ve got you covered!
