FT baseball family visited all 30 Major League parks
Last stop was Nationals Park
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
Aseven-year marathon journey across the country and Canada came to a conclusion in Washington, D.C., this summer.

ERIC SUCAR staff The Shapiro family of Freehold: Jeff (from left), 10-year-old Lane, 13-year-old Hayden, and Debbie stand alongside a plethora of memorabilia and souvenir bats that they have collected from every Major League Baseball stadium over a seven-year span.

Starting in 2002, Jeff and Debbie Shapiro and sons Lane and Hayden set off on a journey of visiting all 30 Major League ballparks. After seven summers of vacations on the road, they made their final stop in Washington, D.C., at Nationals Park, the new home of the Washington Nationals.

Amazingly, throughout their trek, there were no rainouts.

It was a MasterCard commercial, Jeff noted, that got the ball rolling. The commercial was of a couple in a Volkswagen Beetle taking the summer off to visit all the baseball parks in the country. Shapiro knew that wasn't in the works, but the thought of going to every baseball stadium was an idea that intrigued him.

With support from his wife, who also likes baseball, the family set out in 2002 on their quest. It began with trips to Baltimore (whose Camden Yards Stadium began the retro look that has become the standard for all the new stadiums), Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, Pittsburgh and New York. It was two weeks on the road and a lot of time spent together in the car.

"We had good family bonding," Debbie pointed out.

The Shapiros made the sojourns a history and geography lesson. They visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; in Detroit, it was the Motown Historical Museum and the Henry Ford Museum, which included the Rosa Parks bus. They did whitewater rafting in Colorado and saw the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. While in Texas, they went to the Alamo, and in Dallas they visited Dealey Plaza (site of President John F. Kennedy's assassination). In Washington, D.C., they went to the Holocaust Museum, as well as the Capitol building while Congress was in session.

"Every city has something special to offer," said Jeff.

Where they could, the Shapiros took the stadium tours that were offered, and the kids got autographs when they could.

Debbie remarked that while in each city, the family tried to eat the local cuisine and get as good a feel as they could for each city and its rhythms.

"Over the years our children have seen more of the U.S. than anyone in their class," said Debbie. "They do well in geography class. Baseball started it all."

Each year during their quest, Jeff anxiously awaited the release of the Major League schedules. Then, it was time to pull out the U.S. map and figure out the logistics, such as who was home and when, what time to plan the trip and where to go. That was the start. Next came getting the tickets, which didn't prove to be all that difficult.

The most complicated trip was probably the West Coast. It was a two-and-a-halfweek trek that included San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles (both the Angels and Dodgers), San Diego and finally, Seattle.

Their favorite parks? Jeff and Hayden both liked San Diego's new Petco field. It had the same look as Baltimore's Camden Yards. Lane liked Washington's new field, and Debbie said Philadelphia was great for kids with all the children's activities that were available.

The best places to eat? Philadelphia rated high for its cheese steaks. Tampa Bay was cited by the Shapiros for its hot dogs, coming in ahead of St. Louis, Toronto and Boston's Fenway Park.