Former premier joins former broadcaster for tour of every MLB ballpark
It took six years, but lifelong friends Roger Grimes and Terry Hart have finally completed their bucket-list goal to hit every ballpark in Major League Baseball.
Grimes, a former premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, said he and Hart, a retired well-known broadcaster from the province, gravitated toward the game from a young age, growing up playing minor baseball in Grand Falls with no television and a lot of free time.
"It's always been a great interest to both us, for as long as we can remember," Grimes told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.
Though Grimes is a Yankees fan and Hart roots for the Red Sox, they still get along, he said.
They began their passion for travelling to big league games in Montreal, where the now-defunct Montreal Expos played out of Olympic Stadium.
Grimes said they would travel with a group of friends to Montreal each year.
"They had one of the most exciting teams I've ever seen in my whole life. Even better than the teams now," he said.
"When they got good, they were really good."
Stop one, the Big Apple
The pair kicked off their bucket list tour by heading to New York City to see the Yankees.
Then they went to Chicago for the Cubs, and to Boston for the Red Sox.
"After that we said maybe we should look at doing all the ballparks," said Hart.
They then headed west to California to hit up the parks on the other side of the country.
"Flew into L.A., went down to San Diego, drove up the whole coastline of California, went to L.A.and watched a few games, and went to San Francisco and Oakland," Hart said.
The charm of the ballpark
After years of sitting around watching baseball, Grimes loved visiting the ballparks for himself.
"You see them play [on television] in, say, Washington, and you wonder what that ballpark really looked like," he said.
"All these ballparks are different in very unique, quirky ways."
For Hart, walking through legendary Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, was one of his favourite moments from their tour.
"All the years you were watching the games on television, and then to get there and just see the actual field ... it is special," he said.
But for Hart, exploring new cities was the real home run.
"You get to San Francisco, you go to the Golden Gate Bridge, and take in a football game with the 49ers and the Packers," said Hart.
With files from the St. John's Morning Show
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