I recently completed a journey to visit every operating Major League Baseball stadium.
It was quite an undertaking — one I’ve dubbed the Ballpark Odyssey. My travels took me to 37 ballparks over 18 years — including all 30 current Major League ballparks.
This odyssey allowed me to experience the timeless wonder of Boston’s Fenway Park and Chicago’s Wrigley Field. It introduced me to the modern gems that are Pittsburgh’s PNC Park and Baltimore’s Camden Yards. It took me from Seattle to Miami, San Diego to Detroit and everywhere in between. Heck, it even led me north of the border to Toronto.
I did far more than watch baseball along the way. Indeed, I got to sample regional ballpark cuisine at nearly every stop. I got to sing Roll Out the Barrel with the hometown fans in Milwaukee and clap along to Deep in the Heart of Texas between innings here at home. Most of all, I got to enjoy the American summer tradition of going to a Major League Baseball game in every venue that offers the experience.
As I reflect back on this achievement, I think of all I’ve learned along the way. I started out as a kid who loved to watch baseball and ended up as a man who loves all that America has to offer. Getting to experience all of our nation’s great cities and meet some of the people who call them home has been a tremendous blessing, one that has helped me understand our nation far better than I once did.
I also think of everyone I shared these ballpark experiences with. For while I did go to a couple of ballparks solo, I was generally accompanied by family and friends. In particular, I think of my father, who inspired me to go on this journey in the first place and frequently joined me on mini-trips to “cross some ballparks off the list.”
But most of all, I think of the memories that I made as I got ever closer to achieving my goal. Memories such as:
- The blustery Sunday afternoon I spent with my sister and a close friend in the last row of Wrigley Field. It was a bit too chilly to enjoy my Old Style beer, but that was one of the best days of my life.
- The game at Detroit’s Comerica Park where a man in our section convinced my dad to get a Coney Island and then taught him the proper way to eat it.
- The time my mother insisted on getting club level seats at Camden Yards, simply because it had an air-conditioned concourse.
- The evening when my cousin and I got upgraded from the upper deck to third row seats at San Diego’s Petco Park. (Thanks again for that, Travis!)
- The fateful night when the Yankees and Mariners got into a benches-clearing brawl at Seattle’s Safeco Field.
I don’t remember the scores of all the ballgames I went to, but I’ll never forget these experiences.
That’s what it’s all about. And it’s why my now-completed Ballpark Odyssey is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.