Lyndon Suvanto and Dusan Krstic are on a road trip to watch every single Major League Baseball (MLB) team play in their home stadium.
It’s a trip every baseball fan has dreamed about.
“It was my Number 1 bucket list item that I always wanted to do,” said Suvanto. “So I decided, why not do it now?”
Suvanto, an Onoway native, has been living in France for three years. He messaged his friend Krstic, a recent University of Alberta graduate, and the pair decided to make the trip a reality.
They began their journey from Edmonton on July 2, and their first game was two days later in Seattle.
The pair then made their way down the California coast catching games in each stadium, before going through the southern states stopping at games along the way.
They have slept in the car—no easy feat for two grown men in a VW Jetta—they have crashed with friends, stayed in motels, Airbnbs, couchsurfed and camped. But Suvanto says the biggest problem have encountered on their trip is scheduling.
“So we were in Houston, then we do all the east coast, and then go back to Dallas.”
The pair has driven over 25,000 kilometers in the two-month road trip so far.
“Before you’d think, ‘Oh, I drive three hours or drive to Calgary and it’s like that’s a heck of a day driving,’ and now you see under seven and you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it today, no worries.’”
The scheduling has allowed the two to stop at many small American towns along the way, including Scranton, the location of the hit TV show The Office.
“We kind of had this perception of Americans before we got here, or at least I did,” Suvanto said. “I was surprised how almost every single city, every small town, how friendly and helpful everyone’s been along the way.”
As Suvanto and Krstic made their way up the east coast, they had a chance encounter while riding scooters in Baltimore.
“We ran into Vlad Guerrero Jr. on the street,” Suvanto said. “The Jays were playing in Baltimore so we met him there, and then that day he hit two home runs.”
To keep track of the stadiums they have visited, the two made a sign, with the number increasing by one each game that passes.
“It’s not the prettiest sign, but it’s been effective,” Suvanto said. “It’s got this charm to it.”
Suvanto said the sign piques the interest of the crowd. Strangers buy them beers and ask them how long they have been going, how many stadiums they plan to visit, and wish them luck on their journey.
“Honestly, the best part has been the people we’ve met. Like for me it’s the people we’ve encountered along the way.”
They'll visit their final stadium on Sept. 1 in Denver, when Pittsburgh plays Colorado.
