10:19 PM PDT on Monday, August 25, 2003

By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Writer

Bill Craib apparently didn't get enough of America's Pastime when he first toured all the ballparks associated with Major League Baseball in one summer.

So he's doing it again.

Craib made headlines when he and a friend made the journey 12 years ago. Solo this time, his goal is 190 baseball stadiums in 181 days. That's 30 Major League, 30 Triple-A, 30 Double-A, 60 Single-A, 22 Short Season-A and 18 Rookie League ballparks.

Bill Craib takes some photos at Portland's PGE Park. Craib is touring all the ballparks associated with Major League Baseball. (AP Photo)

Craib has traveled more than 36,000 miles since he left home on March 31.

"I suppose it is a little crazy," he said. "On the other hand, there are a lot of baseball fans -- some bigger baseball fans than me -- that tell me I'm living their dream."

It's not the love of the game that really drives Craib, it's his fascination with people and different communities across the county. The 40-year-old Bend, Ore., resident loves talking to folks and finding out what makes the heart of rural America beat.

"I grew up in New Jersey, so we had the Mets and the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. Then in 1986, I got my first job in Macon, Georgia, and realized there were 152 other cities that also had baseball," he said. "I wanted to see what baseball was like in other places, like Macon."

This week, Craib's cell phone reception was spotty as he drove to a Tri-City Dust Devils game against the visiting Salem-Keizer Volcanoes game. The Dust Devils, a Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, played at Tri-City Stadium in Pasco, Wash., about 220 miles southeast of Seattle near the border between Washington and Oregon.

The next night, Craib was headed to Portland, Ore., for a game between the Triple-A Portland Beavers and the Edmonton Trappers at PGE Park.

One issue has recently clouded Craib's quest, however: He's running out of money. He has already gone through the funds he put aside for the trip, a modest inheritance, and his savings.

Now he's hoping for sponsorship to make it through his final month -- or else he'll have to go home on Sept. 5, when the minor league season is over. While he'll fall short of his original goal, he'll still have seen every minor league ballpark.

"It still might happen. I've still got three weeks and I've got some feelers out there," he said.

In 1991, Craib and a friend, Sue Easler, embarked on a ballpark tour that became known as "Bill and Sue's Excellent Adventure" and an ESPN feature. The couple's story appeared in countless newspapers, and they appeared on "Good Morning America."

That trip logged 54,000 miles and spanned 201 days. Among the highlights was Nolan Ryan's seventh-no hitter against Toronto on May 1, 1991.

This summer is different in that he and Easler have since parted ways. And Craib is now high-tech, having worked as an Internet consultant. His Web site chronicling the trip is updated nearly every day if he can find wireless internet access.

And in most cities, that means Starbucks. Craib was on the hunt for a Starbucks in Washington as he made his way toward Tri-City Stadium.

"I've already had enough coffee today," he says, holding up well despite the whirlwind schedule.

Craib's trip opened April 1 at Oakland Coliseum. The next day he saw Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers hit his 300th career home run in Anaheim.

Craib realizes that since his trek 12 years ago, lots of people have embarked on similar tours of the nation's ballparks. A credit card company last summer had a ballpark tour-themed commercial campaign. Travel companies have jumped into the phenomena, arranging fan tours.

Joe Connor, a San Diego-based freelance writer and author of a series of online ballpark travel guides, credits part of the interest in such trips to influx of new ballparks that have sprung up across the country over the past decade.

There's also something uniquely American about it, he said.

"We've helped spread the word," he said about people like himself and Craib. "And the thing about ballpark tours is not so much just seeing the ballparks -- it's about experiencing this great country of ours."

Craib has no intention to become the "Baseball Travel King." Instead, he has some unfinished business.

The first time around he never completed his original goal -- to write a book about the experience.

The former journalist and internet consultant now has a head start on one book project with the nearly daily reports on his Web site. A long-term goal is to write a second book titled "In League with America" about his personal experiences.

Craib said there is one element of his trip that has saddened him. In 12 short years, the simple pleasure of minor league baseball has taken on a slicker element.

"All of the sudden there's more rules about where you can and can't go in a ballpark, you're paying for parking, the lines are longer," he said. "Minor league baseball has become big business over the past 12 years."

But that hasn't soured Craib. Neither has going into debt.

"I love baseball. I love minor league baseball," he said. "But most of all I love the experience. The communities. The people along the way."