Alex Justice aspires to watch every single Major League Baseball game played during an entire season, and she might get to do that in the MLB Fan Cave in New York City.
MLB Fan Cave is a contest where a select number of the fans attempt to watch every single baseball game. Along with that, these “cave dwellers” are welcomed to concerts, other forms of entertainment and get to meet many celebrities and baseball players.
In total, 2,430 games are played in a normal season, and last year’s average game lasted 2 hours and 54 minutes. Justice will spend hours watching the game she loves while living with fans that share her passion.
“I’m a huge fan of Major League Baseball and to watch every single game will be an incredible experience that I won’t be able to pass up,” said Justice, a fourth-year in English.
Clinton Yoos, a first-year in exploration, said he isn’t a huge baseball fan, but liked the idea of Justice trying to do what she loves.
“I think it’s awesome that she’s kind of chasing her dreams and in the long run it might open up some doors for her,” Yoos said. “If this was something offered in the NBA, I’d definitely think of doing it.”
Justice, a die-hard Cleveland Indians fan, said she knew what the MLB Fan Cave was but never thought about doing it until this year. More than 22,000 people applied in 2012 and Justice said she thinks there were more this year. Out of those thousands of applicants, Justice has made it to the top 52.
The contest doesn’t come with any monetary prize, and contestants are eliminated based on the buzz they can generate on their personal fan page about the experience.
Her sister, Olivia Justice, a third-year in communications technology, was overjoyed after hearing the news over the phone.
“She started crying because she was so happy,” said Olivia Justice. “She put so much work into making her application video and I’m really proud of her.”
To apply, Alex Justice had to make a video that can be viewed on the MLB Fan Cave voting page that explains what makes her a fan and why she deserves to win.
The next step is making it to the top 30 who will be sent off to Arizona for Spring Training. The 30 cave dwellers are selected based on fan voting and the original application.
Voting is open until 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
“I’ve probably voted a million times,” Olivia Justice said with a laugh. “I sent one of those annoying emails to everyone in all my classes to try to get them to vote for Alex. If one person takes the time to vote out of my class of 600, it’s worth it.”
Alex Justice said she hasn’t been able to vote for herself as much as her sister has.
“I’ve probably only voted 20 times. I don’t know why, I just feel like I shouldn’t. I kind of want to vote for some other people because their application videos are awesome,” she said.
Olivia Justice said her sister is getting plenty of support from friends, family, fellow OSU students and, if her dad has anything to do with it, people nationwide.
“I don’t know if it’s allowed, but when my dad travels through the country for work he’s been putting posters everywhere to vote for me,” Alex Justice said.
MLB did not immediately return requests for comment.