SEATTLE -- Joe Cox is unique, he's an adventure seeker and, most of all, he's a baseball fan. And on a temperate, overcast summer day in 1999, all three of those facets of his personality amalgamated.
Cox, a West Seattle native, was the first paying customer to enter the gates at Safeco Field for the ballpark's inaugural game on July 15, 1999. He waited 26 hours outside the home-plate entrance to carry that distinction.
"I love oddities," Cox said. "Doing things that no one else would do."
The wait itself was an enchanting experience for Cox.