What to Know
- After a sports magazine Muneesh Jain launched in Michigan failed, the baseball fan landed in New York, where he felt himself “going insane"
- That's when Jain decided to take a road trip he'd dreamed of as a child and visit all 30 MLB stadiums. He says the trip changed his life
- “Baseball absolutely saved my life. Without baseball, I’m not sure I’d be here today," he said
After a sports magazine Muneesh Jain launched in Michigan failed, the baseball fan landed in New York, where he felt himself “going insane.”
“I’ve dealt with severe depression my entire life, severe anxiety, and just kind of not really feeling like I belong anywhere,” he said. "New York is a phenomenal city — I love this city with all my heart — but it can be a cripplingly lonely city.”
“It was just bad. I was literally going insane,” he recalled. “I’d completely lost the will to live.”
At his lowest point, Jain remembered a promise he’d made to his immigrant parents at age 6 — both of whom love the game of baseball.
"I specifically remember telling my parents, 'I want to go to all 30 baseball stadiums. It’s a dream of mine. I really, really want to go,'" he said.
That’s when Jain decided to hit the road and drive cross-country to fulfill his promise, starting at Citi Field.
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He ended up driving 17,000 miles in 95 days as he toured each stadium one by one.
“I was feeling alive again, and I was feeling connected again,” he said. “It was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Baseball absolutely saved my life," he added. "Without baseball, I’m not sure I’d be here today."
Now that Jain has completed his journey, he hopes to help other baseball fans who feel lost find healing, hope and a connection through America’s pastime.
"When I walk into a ball park, I’m a baseball fan. We’re all baseball fans. It connects old, young, gay, straight, black, white, red hair, blue hair, tall, skinny, fat,” he said.
“It’s not just baseball, it’s not just baseball. It is a sense of community. It changed my life in such a profound way.”
