Ben Rouse is no stranger to defying odds. To the average person, attending all 162 Brewers games in one season may sound like an impossible task. To a 25-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2007 and is currently in remission, the word “impossible” doesn’t exist.
“You only live once, and you might as well do something when you can,” Rouse told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel after completing his tour across North America on Wednesday.
Rouse spent more than 680 hours inside MLB ballparks this season, and he documented his journey with a blog along the way. He was formerly a 20-game partial season-ticket holder with the Brewers, but when he told the team he wanted to attend every game of the season — home and away — they were happy to help. The Brewers upgraded Rouse to a full season ticket package and got him a ticket to every road game. He says he had to spend about $6,500 while following the Brew Crew everywhere they went.
Rouse’s daily blog, Ben Rouse’s Brewers Mission 162, helped raise awareness for the Be The Match Foundation, an organization that helps find donors for those in need of bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplants. After being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in 2007, Rouse underwent various treatments including chemotherapy. He received an umbilical cord blood stem cell transplant in 2009 and has been in remission since.
“Why not do it at 25?” Rouse asked. “Who knows what my body will be like in 20 years, 30 years.”
As expected, his 162-game tour was filled with mind-boggling feats and statistics. Rouse ate 100 sausages, threw out two ceremonial first pitches, traveled 43,000 miles and saw 48,000 pitches. Perhaps even more impressive, he missed only 110 pitches. Most importantly, he showed people that doing something you put your mind to is entirely possible, no matter what the circumstances. If Ben Rouse can fight leukemia and attend all 162 games of the Brewers season, all the while raising money for a great cause, what’s our excuse?
H/T Big League Stew
