My Baseball Quest
To me baseball has been a passion ever since I saw my first game
at age 7, at Yankee Stadium (It's still hard for me to accept
that). At age 8, I saw my first game at Shea Stadium and have been a
New York Mets fan ever since. Although my loyalties are pledged to
the Mets, I am, in general, a big fan of the great game of
baseball.
My quest started out as a desire to see a game in all of the active
Major League Baseball stadiums. I first completed that chase in 2008 (at
least temporarily) in Washington at Nationals Park, seeing a game in my
39th Major League stadium. However, as old stadiums are retired and new
ones replace them, my quest will always continue.
The interesting aspect of my quest is that although it started out
with a plan to attend games at all of the Major League stadiums it has
expanded into a kind of odyssey that has started to take on somewhat
mythological proportions. My search is no longer limited to just attend
games at Major League stadiums but has expanded to include visits to
many other baseball related sites - minor league parks, amateur fields,
museums, historical sites and special events.
My travels have taken me to all corners of the continental US, Canada
and Japan. From the big cities of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to
the corn fields of Iowa. It has been a great way to see the country and
a great way to spend time with my family and friends. What started out
as a well defined plan is now a mission with no end in sight. Looking
back, the visit to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa with my wife,
Cathy and two sons, Bobby and Dan had to be the premier moment. The four
of us playing catch there was just magical. Playing catch with my sons
at the Family Catch on Doubleday Field at the 1st Annual Hall of Fame
Classic weekend in Cooperstown is a close second.
