Touring America through America’s past-time
BUTLER TWP — It started as a way to enjoy visits with college buddies.
It’s ending as a 22-year odyssey that landed Meridian resident Ben Jamieson in a ballpark of every Major League Baseball city. That journey will end on July 31 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, when Jamieson will attend the Boston Red Sox-Mariners game.
“When we started this, I guess, deep down, I was hoping it’d end up this way,” Jamieson said of visiting every big league ballpark. “I can’t say I thought it would ever happen.”
Jamieson, 52, grew up in Evans City. He graduated from Westminster College in 1993. A few fellow Westminster graduates — Jeff Grey, John Stout, Mike Kujan and Todd Aeppli — were good friends of Jamieson and all were big baseball fans.
A number of years later, they decided a fun way to stay in touch would be to go on MLB baseball trips together. The journey had a natural beginning as each was living — at least temporarily — in or near a major league city.
“The whole thing started with John Stout living in Chicago,” Jamieson said. “Our theme was always three games in three days. The White Sox and Cubs never played at home at the same time, so we picked a time when one of them was ending a home-stand and the other was beginning one the next day.