SPOKANE, Wash. — Most sports fans dream of going to a certain stadium or ballpark, some hope to see them all.
Spokane's Chet Roshetko can say he's done just that.
"And I don't even know what this was," Chet Roshetko said while holding the baseball card he found at eight years old. "So I talked to my brother and said, 'What is this?' and he said 'Oh, it's a baseball card. People collect them.' And I said 'Well what does it mean?' So he told me and I went 'Oh, I think I'll start collecting them.' So that summer I got to go to a game. And then this whole crazy thing took off."
When Roshetko found that baseball card, it came with a passion, and with it, the love of going to the ballpark followed.
"I mean, they're fun to go to," Roshetko said. "And you know, people say the game, the stadium, what it is, it's the people. The people you go with. The friends you go with. The family you go with. Or if you go by yourself, you now make new friends just sitting around you."
Chet's a people person, which led to him pursuing a career and helping others as a nurse. When he learned he could travel by doing so in the military, he jumped at the opportunity of joining the Air Force as an RN.
"I want to go join the military to go do these different adventures," said Roshetko recollecting his decision to become a nurse in the Air Force. "And so that's how it ended up, and here we go."
He and his wife Carla would move 21 different times. With each move, a new ballpark is in reach.
"Wherever I'm stationed, I can go to a ballpark," Roshetko said. So, stationed in Alabama, we're going to Atlanta. Stationed in Missouri, we're going to Kansas City and St. Louis. Then we moved to California, Oakland and San Francisco. Moved back to St. Louis, the new St. Louis stadium's in. Moved to Colorado, okay, we're gonna do Denver."
Once retired, he realized just how close he was to seeing them all.
"I only had 19 parks to go. And I went 'Alright, let's go for it!" Roshetko said.
Between the support of his wife, who isn't the biggest baseball fan.
"I haven't drank that Kool-Aid yet," Karla Roshetko said with a laugh.
And a friend looking to accomplish the same goal. Chet was able to see all 30 Major League ballparks. The final one, Dodger Stadium in early May.
"It was a really powerful moment," said Chet Roshetko. "A very fun moment. It was an accomplishment moment. But it was also surreal that since 1968, trying to do this and to get it done."
In total, he's seen 41 Major League ballparks. 11 of those no longer in existence.
A lifetime full of memories centered around baseball.
"I'm like, 'Honey! Honey! Action in the bullpen. And he was so excited, 'Yes, yeah, she finally gets [it]!" said Karla Roshetko.
"It was a great adventure. So, I got to wear the uniform of my country, see all these baseball games and work in the profession of medicine," said Chet Roshetko. "So I've had a dream life."