HAVERHILL— Bob DeVries is proof of how much can change in a year.
While he was on a business trip in Arizona 11 months ago, his wife, Shawn, 35, died unexpectedly from a rare heart condition. Just one month later, their beloved dog Jeter — named after New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter — also died.
In October, DeVries was visiting with two of his cousins, when they suggested he travel to all 30 Major League Baseball parks during the 2009 season. After all, he loves baseball, and he and Shawn enjoyed going to pro games when they were dating and during their marriage.
It would be a spiritual journey of sorts, his cousins suggested — a way for him to reflect but also move forward with his life. It also is the kind of experience that devoted baseball fans talk about, but seldom do.
DeVries, 46, who lives in Haverhill but is a Chicago Cubs fan, thought the idea was crazy. But a series of events led him to take the baseball journey over the last five months. Since the start of the season, he has attended games at 27 of the nation's 30 major league parks. Tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park marks number 28.
The next stop will be Toronto in early September, when the Blue Jays play the Yankees. Number 30, the end of the road, will come Sept. 6 at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets who will host the Cubs — the same teams that played when DeVries and his wife went to their first game together.
"It's extremely special because it was the first baseball game my wife and I went to while we were still dating," DeVries said of the Met-Cubs being the final game in his journey. "It was the first of many games we went to together."
The one-year anniversary of his wife's death is Sept. 10, just a few days after that game.
"It was kind of like fate that it was the last game" in the journey, he said.
At tonight's Red Sox-Yankees game, DeVries will be accompanied by friends, some of whom have traveled with him to ballparks during the past five months. He said they helped him most after his wife died.
"They're great people," he said.
Margaret Donahue of Haverhill, who works with DeVries, said she has seen how much the baseball journey has helped him move on with his life after his wife's death.
"I has been a phenomenal experience," she said. "It's very heartwarming to see him focusing on something that he loves to do."
Donahue said she and her husband, Ted Guinee, will be with DeVries at the Mets-Cubs game.
DeVries' baseball parks journey started when his employer asked him to take on a special project that required him to travel between the coasts during the summer. His firm guides companies on the logistics and efficiency of their operations. DeVries and his wife had no children, so he had the freedom to take on the work project — and eventually the baseball journey.
It began on April 5 at Citizens Bank Park, home of the 2008 world champion Philadelphia Phillies.
"I got to see them raise the championship banner," DeVries said.
The following day he traveled to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, to see the Orioles' home opener against the Yankees. That game had strong personal importance. DeVries said he and his wife attended games there regularly when they were living in nearby West Virginia.
"We had season tickets for six years," he said.
Memories of his wife and their dog stayed with him as he traveled to other parks. On Aug. 7 at the new Yankee Stadium, he bought grass seed to plant at the graves of his wife and their dog. The seed is the same kind used to grow grass on the baseball field there, and is sold as a novelty.
The game itself had meaning as well. He and his wife used to attend Yankees games on Friday nights when they lived in New Jersey. The Aug. 7 game lasted 15 innings, with Derek Jeter scoring the winning run.
"I didn't want the game to end," he said.
DeVries said he tries to arrive at ballparks early and enjoy every moment.
"I try to get to the ballpark before the gates even open, try to take in the atmosphere," he said. "It's fun. It's like being a kid again."
Besides visiting ballparks, he has had the chance to meet many people. While watching a game in Anaheim, Calif., he met an older gentleman who was a veteran of World War II. The man had three generations of family with him.
"I sat for six innings just talking to him about life," DeVries said.
One man's baseball journey
Ballparks visited so far: 27
Miles flown: 21,940
Miles driven: 3,542
Beers he drank: 90
Total paid attendance: 930,774
Total time of the games: 81 hours
SOURCE: Bob DeVries' baseball blog (http://30ballparks-in-1season.com/3701.html)
