BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — What started as one baseball fan’s dream became a 10-year family adventure filled with road trips, hot dogs, seventh-inning stretches and memories that will last far beyond the final out.

Chad and Trish Williams, along with their children, Blaine and Remy, have officially visited all 30 Major League Baseball ballparks.

The family completed the journey June 30 when they walked through the gates of T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

“It was a day we had looked forward to for years,” Trish Williams said. “We planned our entire summer vacation around it, wore matching shirts, celebrated every milestone along the way and were incredibly grateful to the Mariners’ Guest Services team for helping make the day even more special.”

The dream began in 2008, before Blaine and Remy were born.

Chad, a lifelong baseball fan, came up with the idea of visiting every MLB stadium. Because he and Trish were teachers with summers available, their vacations naturally began to revolve around baseball schedules.

Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati was the first stop.

From there, the couple traveled by car, airplane and even Greyhound bus as they slowly crossed stadiums off the list. Eventually, they had visited 28 of the league’s 30 ballparks, with only Seattle and Oakland remaining.

Then they started a family.

Rather than completing the final two stops without their children, Chad and Trish decided to begin the journey again so Blaine and Remy could experience every park and the family could reach No. 30 together.

Blaine attended his first MLB game at Great American Ball Park when he was 2 years old. Remy’s first stadium visit came at Busch Stadium in St. Louis when she was just 1.

From then on, each summer opened a new chapter in the Williams family’s baseball story.

Their vacations took them across the country as they explored new cities, sampled ballpark food and spent hours near outfield fences during batting practice hoping to catch a home run ball.

They ate countless hot dogs, stood for hundreds of seventh-inning stretches and collected first-visit certificates along the way.

“For the next 10 years, our vacations revolved around baseball,” Trish said.

Although the games gave the family a destination, the time spent together became the true purpose of the trips.

“Looking back, this journey was never really about baseball,” Trish said. “We wanted our kids to experience new places, create lifelong memories and learn that big dreams are worth chasing. More than anything, we wanted them to know that the best adventures are the ones you share with the people you love. The stadiums were simply the backdrop.”

Each member of the family came away with a favorite ballpark.

Chad and Blaine selected Fenway Park in Boston, home of the Red Sox. The history, tradition and old-school atmosphere made Major League Baseball’s oldest active ballpark stand apart from the others.

Remy chose Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The children’s activities, the iconic crown scoreboard, and the Royals mascot Sluggerrr made the visit unforgettable for her.

Trish’s favorite was Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The views of the bay, McCovey Cove filled with kayakers hoping to retrieve home run balls and the stadium’s famous garlic fries placed it at the top of her list.

The children also developed their own favorite traditions and memories.

For Remy, one tradition stood above the rest: eating ice cream from souvenir helmet cups at every stadium.

“If you know Remy, you know she never turns down ice cream,” Trish said.

Blaine’s most memorable moment began during a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros.

Between innings, Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber tossed Blaine a baseball. The ball quickly became one of Blaine’s most treasured possessions.

A few years later, Blaine carried the ball to the Little League World Series hoping Schwarber would sign it, but he did not get the opportunity.

The following year, the family learned Schwarber would appear at a sports expo in Chicago. They made the trip with the baseball in hand.

This time, Blaine received the autograph and was able to tell Schwarber the story of the day he tossed the ball to him years earlier.

“It was the perfect ending to one of his favorite baseball memories,” Trish said.

The family’s MLB challenge required years of planning, travel and expense, but Trish said every mile and every dollar was worth it.

Her advice to other families considering a similar adventure is simple.

“Go,” she said.

Trish hopes Blaine and Remy will remember more than the final scores.

“Years from now, they probably won’t remember every game we watched, but we hope they’ll remember the summers we spent together, the miles we traveled and that they were part of something special,” she said.

Chad and Trish also hope their children will one day create similar traditions with their own families.

“We hope that one day they’ll pass along the same love of travel, baseball, or some other sport, and making memories together,” Trish said.

The final MLB ballpark has been crossed off the list, but the Williams family is not finished traveling.

They have visited 65 of the 67 Power Four conference colleges, leaving two to visit. Blaine and Remy need one more state to complete visits to all 50, and the family has attended games at 15 of the NFL’s 32 stadiums.

Seventeen NFL stadiums remain.

One chase may be over, but the Williams family’s next adventure has already begun.