Meet The Man Who Quit His Job To Attend 162 Baseball Games This MLB Season
Some days, I wish I had the guts to do what Ben Rouse just did. Rouse is a 25-year-old Milwaukee Brewers fan who just beat leukemia—for the second time—and decided to make a major life decision. After working as an analyst at a a consulting and engineering firm called Tetra Tech for the last few years, he decided to quit his day job and attend all 162 games that the Brewers have on their schedule this season. From Milwaukee and Miami to San Francisco and San Diego, Rouse will travel just like the players do and attend every single game that they play.
Rouse got the idea recently after beating leukemia again thanks to a double umbilical cord stem cell transplant. He decided that life was too short at the time and wanted to spend some time doing something that he really wanted to do. So he saved up about a year’s worth of paychecks, told his boss that he was quitting his job, got a pretty favorable response from said boss, and made the commitment to start following the Brewers all over the country. And, from the sound of things, it’s been a blast so far.
After the Brewers got wind of what he was going to do, they planned to get him a ticket and a food stipend for every game. Although Rouse didn’t expect them to give him any help, he accepted it. Then, he started planning out his itinerary. When the Brewers are at home, he obviously stays in Milwaukee, But, when they’re on the road, he has to arrange his own travel plans, find places to stay, and budget his money wisely so that he’ll be able to make it to all 162 games. He’s also blogging about his experiences for Be The Match Foundation, the foundation that helped him get his double umbilical cord stem cell transplant. He hopes that, by doing that, he’ll be able to raise both money and awareness for the foundation. And, he says that he’ll probably write a book about his experience, too.
It sounds like one of a hell of a way to spend a spring and a summer, Ben. Enjoy the ride.
