Biking for Baseball is a big hit for youth mentors

5 friends biking to 30 ballparks

Friday’s home opener might have been a loss for the Seattle Mariners, but it was a big win for five friends from Denver.

The five are happy to be starting their own season of bicycling to all 30 major league baseball parks and raising awareness for youth mentoring programs at baseball camps they’re holding in each city.

Calling this Biking for Baseball, Adam Kremers, Tim Sherman, Rex Roberts, Chase Higgins and Steve Lunn are taking their mentoring experiences with Big Brothers Big Sisters on the road to 30 cities.

The day after the Mariners’ opener, for instance, the five hosted a baseball event with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound at a field on Beacon Hill in Seattle. The Biking for Baseball gang arranged a series of baseball-style activities and a 5-inning game for the children and their mentors.

According to their blog, the local chapter was very receptive to the event, and the five traveling coaches discovered:

The bigs and littles here in Seattle are just like the bigs and littles in Denver. They’re fun, engaging, friendly and great mentors and mentees.

Then on Sunday, the five hit the road for Oakland, which they expect to reach in 10 days. That’s the second stop on a bicycle tour that eventually will take them 11,000 miles.

Their home on the road is a big green RV they purchased on Craigslist. They take turns driving the RV while the others ride their bikes.

Anyone interested in helping support their mentoring program can check their website for dates they arrive in the 30 MLB cities. You can follow their trip at their website, or at their Facebook page and Twitter account.

Other baseball bicyclists

This isn’t the first time that baseball fans have ridden their bicycles to all 30 Major League Baseball parks in a season.

Last year, Darren O’Donnell of Bellingham, Washington, visited all 30 baseball parks by bicycle carrying his own gear. The year before that, Romano Scaturro of Cornville, Arizona, did the same.

O’Donnell also rose awareness for food co-ops and food banks on his bike tour. His feat drew a lot of attention and was featured on ESPN and elsewhere. He received the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at the Minnesota Twins’ Target Field near the end of his trek in September.