Doctor's journey is truly amazing

| Saturday, November 24, 2001 10:00 PM PST ∞

Jeff Frank
North County Times

I've seen some amazing things during my time with newspapers. Moving in near the top, though, has to be the odyssey of Dr. Nick Yphantides over the past seven months.

The man lost 212 pounds while managing to visit every major league ballpark, all in one season. Either accomplishment would be something special. To combine them is incredible.

Here's a guy facing temptation every day. Ballpark hot-dogs, ice cream cones, peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don't know how he didn't go back. Yet Yphantides resisted it all. He also resisted the regional cuisine that helps make traveling across this country so great.

He smelled, but managed to avoid tasting, the Kansas City barbecue, the New Orleans gumbo, Baltimore crab cakes, Maine lobsters and so much more. A guy like me, who can't walk past a piece of chocolate without popping it into my mouth, just has to shake my head in amazement.

Yphantides lost 212 pounds. That's a whole me, plus. And he did it by setting a goal, dreaming a dream and remaining focused on it the whole baseball season.

How many of us, leaving out any weight element, wouldn't want to take off for seven months to follow our dreams? How many of us actually do it?

Yphantides did. His dream was baseball. He'd always wanted to see all the major league parks, and he found a way to do it. At the same time, he found a way to deal with a problem that he candidly admits he couldn't control in his daily life.

His feat gives all of us who have ever postponed a dream or who have said it can't be done a reason to think. Maybe it can.

Yphantides gave up his job, sank a large portion of his nest egg into buying the van he drove across the country, got himself set up with a liquid-protein diet, and took himself out to the ball games

He managed to make it to 109 games, usually in one of the best seats in the house. He met dozens of people; celebrities such as New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, then-Padres President Larry Lucchino and members of the 1991 World Series champion Minnesota Twins, along with plenty of folks who took interest in his trip and his battle to lose weight.

His journey even attracted a groupie. A woman who spotted his Web site on the Internet, checked Yphantides' schedule of games and traveled to Montreal to watch a game with him.

The list of his experiences far outweighs the ability to chronicle them in the newspaper. I'd fill this space up for at least a month. Many have suggested Yphantides write a book, but he's not sure that's the path he wants to follow.

Now that he's home, the hard part begins. Yphantides needs to find the proper balance of food, exercise and work in order to lead a healthy lifestyle.

It won't be easy, but as we've seen from this summer, he can be awfully determined.

Keep amazing us, Nick.

Contact staff columnist Jeff Frank at (760) 740-5419, fax (760) 745-3769 or jfrank@nctimes.com.

11/25/01