Love for Baseball Brings Coronado Man to All 30 MLB Stadiums

Written by Emily Stanford

Coronado resident Fred M. Butler recently completed his 5-year quest of visiting all Major League Baseball parks.

Butler, chairman of Baileigh Industrial, Inc., and a friend had entertained the idea of visiting all of the parks and decided that they would not only visit each of the parks, but they would attend a game at each stadium.            

However, after about 12 games when Butler’s companion was forced to bow out of the journey due to family commitments and Butler took a hiatus. He then resumed his quest, accompanied to some of the games with his wife of 48 years, Karen, as well as his son-in-law.            

A lifelong baseball fan, Butler grew up rooting for the Giants and now cheers on the Padres.
            
“I just love baseball,” Butler said about what encouraged him to visit all of the parks.            

It was no easy undertaking and required extensive planning including game tickets, hotels and transportation—all coinciding with the 30 teams’ home schedules.  But the love of the game and the desire to finish what he started allowed Butler to continue his journey.            

Butler developed a scoring system for each stadium, including various categories such as layout, scorecard the team provides, even the quality of the hot dogs.

The stadiums that scored the highest were Marlins Park in Miami, Fla. and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Penn. His least favorites were the stadiums for the Washington Nationals and the two New York teams, although he notes that all three teams have since moved to different stadiums after he visited them.            

After completing his journey, Butler says he has no plans for any other similar undertakings.            

“This is enough for now, I don’t feel the need to start something any time soon,” Butler said.            

He does, however have souvenirs, 30 home team regulation ball caps, one for each stadium he visited.