WADESBORO — A mutually-shared passion for baseball has spurred a 26-year-long journey that finally reached its conclusion at the beginning of July.
Anson boys’ basketball coach and athletic director Randy Jordan and his wife Ellen Jordan recently completed their goal of visiting all 30 major league ballparks together.
The journey began at Cleveland’s Progressive Field, then known as Jacobs Field, in 1995, and culminated at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on July 7.
“It has been a real journey from start to finish,” Randy said. “Some years we were able to go to two or three stadiums, some only one and of course, with the pandemic, we were not able to go last year, so it was really exciting for us when we got to go to Seattle this year to complete the 30 stadiums.”
Growing up in upstate New York, Randy said he’s always been a diehard Yankees fan, while Ellen grew up going to Indians games at the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
At first, Randy said the goal was to take Ellen to a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium. At the time, they were living in northwest Ohio together, so they would frequently go to games in Cleveland, Detroit and Cincinnati, since each of the ballparks were within two-hours drive.
“(We) said to ourselves, ‘why not try to go to every major league stadium?’” Randy said. “Once we got started, we decided to get a baseball from every stadium with the team logo on it and display them in our home.”
And now they’ve made that dream a reality, with each of the 30 baseballs under one roof, representing not just their shared love of baseball, but charting the timeline of their relationship.
“This has been Ellen and I — no one else,” Randy said. “We both really love baseball. We watch it on TV, as we get the MLB Extra Innings package. It has been something we both really enjoy doing together and a way to spend quality time.”
During the course of their journey, certain stadiums stood out more than others to both of them. For Ellen, it was Oracle Park in San Francisco and Wrigley Field in Chicago, while for Randy it was PNC Park in Pittsburgh, along with his beloved Yankee Stadium.
“I have been to the original stadium, the renovated one and now the new stadium,” Randy said. “Each stadium has something really unique and special about it. Every one was great to go to.”
But, despite accomplishing their goal, Randy said they aren’t done yet.
“There are a couple new stadiums open in Atlanta and Texas, so it looks like we will start there and go see those and who knows from there,” Randy said. “We are planning a trip to Cooperstown, NY and the Baseball Hall of Fame for next summer. We went once 20 years ago and it is time to go again. It has been an awesome experience to share with each other.”