As baseball's regular season comes to a close this weekend, it seemed an appropriate time to talk to someone who knows a thing or two about visiting ballparks.

Erik Mertens aka "The Peanut Guy," has been a member of the Tri-City Dust Devils' staff since their introduction 25 years ago. Somewhere along the way, however, Erik decided to take his love of baseball on the road and began visiting ballparks.

Earlier this summer, he completed his longstanding goal of visiting ALL the ballparks. Well, at least all of the current affiliated Minor League parks (237 total). He's also been to 39 MLB parks, 14 college wood-bat summer league parks, nine Independent League stadiums, and five historic Negro League fields. That's over 300 ballparks total!

Erik shares reflections from his journey with his. From those early years attending Seattle Mariners' games as a family in the Kingdome to late July, when a visit to the Ontario Tower Buzzers ONT Field completed his quest.

As Erik said in his Instagram post commemorating his accomplishment: "There is no better way to see our country (and continent) than visiting Minor League ballparks!"

We could not agree more:-)

If you'd like to track Erik's future travels, follow him on Instagram @erikthepeanutguy.

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In this episode, we're joined by a professional world traveler (seriously, he's a commercial pilot!) and fan of major events, James Rowlands, who shares how a resident of Leeds, England, just recently watched a game in his 30th MLB ballpark. (He was even featured by ⁠MLB.com⁠!)

Oh yeah, he also shares stories of a Super Bowl, FIFA World Cup final, Rugby World Cup finals, Cricket World Cup finals, becoming a member of the ⁠92 Club⁠, attending eight F1 circuits, and witnessing all four of golf's major championships.

Plus more!

James is truly a remarkable individual with a knack for either being in the right place at the right time or putting himself in the right place at the right time. And he's a terrific storyteller to boot.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.

We're joined in this episode by Dr. Aaron Mansfield, associate professor of sports management at Merrimack College.

A native of the Buffalo, NY, area, Aaron is unsurprisingly a big fan of the Bills and Sabres. We spend a fair amount of time learning about his early years of fandom and how the Music City Miracle brought his younger self to tears of anguish.

Today, Aaron lists his areas of expertise on Merrimack's website as "healthy fandom, sports consumer behavior, health and well-being, and sports marketing." He focuses much of his research on the relationship between sports fandom and well-being.

That, too, is a major component of our Conversation, discussing that relationship and how Aaron hopes fans can begin engaging in healthier spectating habits: from ensuring they get movement in during their viewing to making better food and beverage choices.

To keep tabs on Aaron's work and connect with him, he encourages listeners to find him here on LinkedIn.

A reminder to Conversations listeners: we are giving away an author-signed copy of last week's guest Danny Funt's debut book, Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling. To enter, email hilldouglast@gmail.com stating your interest by 11:59 p.m. ET, September 13.

If you’re enjoying Conversations with Sports Fans, please consider supporting our work ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. For as little as 99 cents a month, generous supporters such as you can keep these episodes commercial-free.