Tom McDonald, a man from New York City, has been going across the country to honor his friend’s death. McDonald and his friend Roy Riegel grew up in Queens, not too far from Flushing Meadows, where the Mets play. Both were huge baseball fans and worked together as plumbers. After Riegels death in 2008, his remains were cremated and a portion was given to McDonald. Since then, McDonald has set out to flush a portion of Riegels’ ashes in as many of the major league ballparks as he can.
Josh Docherty, senior, said, “It’s not the way I would like to be honored or remembered, but I guess if it’s something that his friend would like and be okay with, then I hope he succeeds.”
So far, he has successfully honored his friend at 16 of the 30 fields. McDonald said he wouldn’t do it at Wrigley Field, though, because the Cubs were a rival of the Mets. His rule is that the game must be in progress when he does the honorary flush. He only has enough ashes for one more field and said he would like to do it at Durham Athletic park in North Carolina, where one of Riegels favorite baseball movies was filmed, Bull Durham.
McDonald admitted that doing this sounds weird, but he feels like it’s the perfect way to honor his friend as both a plumber and a baseball fan. Cam Peer, senior, said, “It is a weird way to honor someone, and I’m not sure how he gets into the games with the ashes. If he feels like it is the right thing to do to honor his friend, though, he should go for it.”
