BRUNSWICK

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” has a whole new meaning for one local recent Brunswick High School graduate.

Lincoln Sullivan and his dad, Jeff, have taken the concept of “road trip” to the next level.

For the past eight summers they have embarked on an annual odyssey, with the goal of visiting all the baseball Major League ballparks.

These trips not only stoked Lincoln’s love for baseball, but they turned out to be the subject of his college application essay. For many, the sometimes “dreaded” essay has been the onerous aspect of an otherwise stellar resume, but for Lincoln the yearly jaunt was more than just a baseball trip. It was a bonding experience with his father, and his words obviously struck a positive chord among his acceptances.

He will enter St. Lawrence in the fall.

Lincoln’s love of baseball, like many other youngsters, started with the local Cal Ripken League. He has retained this passion, even though by the time he reached junior high school his interests had shifted to the racket sports. He began to excel at squash and then tennis for which his high school coach Sewall Janeway was pleased.

Sullivan was the No. 2 singles player on a 15-1 and district runner-up successful Dragon team.

“I still love baseball, but the older I got tennis just appealed to me,” said Lincoln

He has spent much of his past winters at the Maine Pines Tennis and Fitness Club, receiving lessons and honing his skills to the point where he has perfected a steady and competitive game.

The baseball trips started when he was 10.

“I found myself in a 2007 metallic gray Honda Civic. It seemed fitting that my dad inherited the car from my grandfather, who was a former major league baseball scout. I had just celebrated my 10th birthday days before, and I was not sure what was out there. One thing for certain was that I wanted to watch baseball with my dad,” remembers Lincoln. “I had goals for this trip that were somewhat contradictory. It was a time to have fun and relax but also to discover things I had not yet experienced.”

And so it began.

“I found myself in the back seat of my dad’s car on these early trips when we drove thousands of miles to watch baseball, the great American pastime,” Lincoln said. “We started relatively close at first — obviously Boston, and then New York. We later ventured a bit farther — Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington. Over the years some of these ballparks have been revisited.”

Lincoln admits that, “Sometimes the drive was boring, but later on when I got older, the trips changed, and as the views from the back seat of the car evolved I noticed changes in myself as well. As we traveled farther away — Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Cincinnati — and the miles got longer, there is one thing that stuck out above all the others. Through the roadblocks, traffic jams, forced pit stops and GPS malfunctions, I have learned to love those imperfections and hassles that are typically a source of frustration for travelers.

“I think these trips as I got older have matured me. I have adapted a new enjoyment of the road and listening to the on-going arguments on sports talk radio. I also moved up the front seat with my dad, thus in a way strengthening our relationship that has become so unique to us.”

Lincoln has obviously formed some opinions about ballparks and fans.

“Pittsburgh was my favorite ballpark after, of course, Fenway, and the fans seemed most welcoming,” Lincoln said.

And does he remember any specific games or outcomes?

“We saw a walk-off home run in Washington, but I never caught any foul balls,” he lamented as would any all-American kid who showed up at a ballpark, mitt in hand.

This summer it may be Toronto again — and Detroit. But as Lincoln wends his way through college, this road trip may have to replace wheels with wings to get into some of the other sections of the county, like the southern states and the West Coast. In a way, however, this might seem to diminish the hours of camaraderie that have been the hallmark of this annual endeavor.

Many years and many ballparks are perhaps yet to come. But as long as there is a love of baseball and a desire to continue this father/son relationship, these trips will continue to be an annual family tradition. They not only serve to fulfill a lifetime goal of ballparks, but to further fortify a bond. And who is to know whether the quest will become complete with Lincoln as head of the next generation?

“Adventures with my dad have taught me that any challenge that I face can be looked at from a positive perspective,” said Lincoln. “I have a new-found desire to attack these challenges head on, and some of the skills to do so have been learned through experiences on the road. A journey that started with traveling to places that were known has indirectly primed me for future destinations that are not.”