For Dodger fans living in southern California, a trip to Dodger Stadium to take in a game is no big deal. After all, there are a half-dozen freeways within five miles of Chavez Ravine and barring traffic, most So Cal Dodger fans are anywhere from five minutes to an hour away from Blue Heaven on Earth.

But what if you are a Dodger fan, and I’m talking a serious Dodger fan, and you not only live in another state but in another country 1,500 miles away from Dodger Stadium? How do you cope when the Dodgers are more important to you than even your nearest NHL team?

There are only two answers to this – you either watch Dodger games over the internet or you make the a 22+ hour drive to Dodger Stadium each way – and Mike LeClair and his family do both.

LeClair, his wife Tanya and their 17-year-old son Curtis live in the small town of Cranbrook, British Columbia – a town with a population just shy of 20,000 and located a little over three hours north of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Cranbrook, British Columbia may not be anywhere near Dodger Stadium but it’s probably safe to call it the other Blue Heaven on Earth. (Photo courtesy of HancockWildlife.org)

“I’m a relatively new Dodger fan,” said LeClair. “I didn’t really start paying attention to the Dodgers until 2003-2004 when [fellow Canadian] Eric Gagné was the big hero. I went to my first game at Dodger Stadium in 2005 with my wife and son and we were fortunate enough to see Eric pitch, albeit he blew the game. That game changed everything for me. I was hooked and I’ve been a subscriber of MLB.TV ever since.”

Just how hooked is Mike LeClair? Hooked enough to have a Dodgers tattoo put on his right calf in 2009 after seeing the DVD movie Bluetopia – The L.A. Dodgers Movie.

“I went to my first spring training game in 2010 and hooked up with Landon Heying, the tattoo guy from Bluetopia,” said LeClair. “I had met Landon in 2009 when we drove to L.A. for our vacation. That’s when I got my tattoo.

“While at spring training we ran into Ron Cervenka from ThinkBlueLA. Ron was also in the movie with his son Tim, who I also met. It was great to meet all of these guys from the movie, although I felt like I already knew all of them,” added LeClair with a laugh.

Chances are pretty good that Mike LeClair is the only resident of Cranbrook, BC with a Dodger tattoo.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But the LeClairs tremendous passion for the Dodgers doesn’t end here – not by any margin. In fact, they took their passion for the Dodgers about as far as any true Dodger fan can take it.

“We purchased a condo in Phoenix in 2010 for the sole purpose of attending spring training every year,” LeClair said. “We love going to spring training and getting up close and actually talking with the players.”

Mike and Curtis LeClair at spring training 2010.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

So how did this 42-year-old community health care worker from a small town in Canada become such an avid Dodger fan?

“During the winter of 1981, my parents took my brothers and me on a vacation to California. I was only eight years old at the time,” LeClair recalls. “We did the whole nine yards – Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and all. While at Knott’s Berry Farm my brother came running up to us all excited and said ‘There are some Dodger players over there signing autographs!’ As you know, 1981 was a pretty special year for the Dodgers. My brother didn’t have anything for them to sign so he bought a Knott’s Berry Farm postcard and had them sign the back of it. It was Rick Monday, Steve Yeager, Jerry Reuss and Jay Johnstone – all heroes from the 1981 World Series.

“My brother had that postcard framed and it hung on his wall for years,” LeClair added. “He ended up losing interest in the Dodgers but I remained a casual Dodger fan. Keep in mind there was no internet back then so it was hard to follow the team. The minute I found out that you could actually watch and listen to all Dodger games over the internet I bought an iPhone for one simple reason – the MLB app. This is where I really started to lose control, I was in heaven!”

After LeClair’s brother lost interest in the Dodgers, he gave Mike the framed postcard he got signed at Knott’s Berry Farm shortly after the Dodgers won the 1981 World Series. (Photo credit – Mike LeClair)

The LeClairs eventually sold their condo in Phoenix; they simply couldn’t justify keeping it when they used it only two or three weeks out of the year. But that didn’t stop them from making their annual trek into the Valley of the Sun, which they still look forward to every spring.

But this year the LeClairs are doing something extra special. As a high school graduation present for Curtis, the trio will not only be spending a week in Glendale, Arizona to watch the Dodgers during their final week of spring training, they will also be making the six-hour drive to Los Angeles to take in the Dodgers 2015 opening series against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

Seventeen-year-old Canadian Dodger fan Curtis LeClair is getting the ultimate high school graduation gift from his parents – a week at Camelback Ranch for Dodgers spring training and then the 2015 opening series at Dodger Stadium. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

“I’ve never been to Opening Day before, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do,” said LeClair. “As a treat to Curtis we’re going to do a week of spring training, drive over to L.A and do Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm just like my parents did for my brothers and me when we were kids. We’re then going to catch the Freeway Series in Anaheim and Dodger Stadium and then attend all three games of the opening series against the Padres.”

There was one glitch in LeClair’s plans and it was a huge one – getting tickets for Opening Day which, of course, is always a sellout.

“We’ve had our spring training tickets for months but we had to wait for the Dodgers to put single-game tickets up for sale on their website,” LeClair said. “When they finally did, the few Opening Day tickets they had left sold out in two minutes and that’s not an exaggeration. I mean we had everything else planned out for this trip already and it looked like we were going to miss Opening Day, which was the main reason for our trip.

“There were Open Day tickets available on StubHub but the service charges were astronomical,” added LeClair. “Ron Cervenka suggested that I check out Barry’s Tickets and sure enough, we were able to get tickets for Opening Day and for the next day. Sure, they were expensive, but the service charge was a fraction of what StubHub wanted so we jumped on them.”

As it turned out, LeClair’s patience (and panic) were rewarded. Aside from having to pay above face value for their tickets for the first two games of the series, a couple of longtime season ticket holders were willing to give him tickets to game-3 of the series – free of charge.

“I couldn’t believe it. Ron and another friend of ours from the ThinkBlueLA forum, David Baltazar, are giving us their tickets to the third game of the series; not selling them to us but giving them to us,” LeClair said. “I’m telling you, Dodger fans are a cut above. When you are a Dodger fan, even a Dodger fan living 1,500 miles away, you are part of a very special family. Just like Tommy Lasorda always says – ‘Dodger fans are the greatest fans on earth,’ and he’s right.”