THE WRITING ON (AND OFF) THE WALL STADIUM DRIFTER ON ROAD AGAIN.

Byline: TOM HOFFARTH

ANAHEIM - The last time he got caught up in something like this 12 years ago, Bill Craib became a national media magnet.

Touring the U.S. in a road-weary minivan, he and his girlfriend Sue Easler became the first to hit all 178 major- and minor-league baseball parks in one season, spanning 201 days and about 54,000 miles. ``Bill and Sue's Excellent Adventure,'' as it was called by ESPN, started in Oakland, included a historic night in Arlington, Texas, when Nolan Ryan threw his seventh no-hitter, and ended 201 days later at Yankee Stadium, followed by an appearance on ``Good Morning America.''

``It was the experience of a lifetime,'' Craib was saying the other day at Edison Field, sipping an $8.50 beer.

Parked in a seat he bought in section 106 down the third-base line watching the Angels and Texas Rangers on a cool Wednesday afternoon, Craib was about 1,000 miles from his Bend, Ore., residence. But he must have felt like he was at home again.

This was Game 2 of his sequel safari - this time, going solo - to visit what has expanded to 190 professional stadiums.

And he's trying to savor each stop with a bit less fanfare.

``I don't need another 15 minutes of fame,'' the 39-year-old said, snapping a few pictures of the game with his Sony digital camera while keeping score in the program.

``Halfway through that first tour, when people found out what we were doing, we must have done four or five interviews a night with TV and reporters, throwing out first pitches, getting involved in promotions. We just ended up telling the story of Bill and Sue.

``I was a different person then, and the world was a different place. This time, I want to be more of a journalist. That's the biggest delineation. This time, I want to show and tell everyone what it's like to go from game to game. I want to help America see itself through these baseball parks.''

Craib, a Syracuse University communications graduate who spent two seasons covering minor-league baseball for the Bend (Ore.) Bulletin and Denver's Rocky Mountain News, realizes the so-called ``Every-Ballpark Tour'' isn't unique anymore. Maybe because so many were inspired by Craib and Easler's first journey or last year's MasterCard ``priceless'' commercial campaign that followed around two guys, the Angels and Dodgers say they receive plenty of requests for free tickets from people attempting these trips. The teams can't possibly accommodate them anymore.

That seems to be OK with Craib, although he hopes each team, from the 30 in the big leagues to the 18 in the rookie leagues, come around to understand his purpose isn't self promotion.

What is different this time is that he has his own Web site - www.extrainningstour.com - where, for a couple of hours after every game, Craib downloads text, pictures, video and audio of the experience to immediately share with everyone. When the trip is done, he plans a more extensive book project.

Back in 1991, he talked Major League Baseball into loaning him a video camera, and tapes were mailed back to use on ESPN's baseball magazine show. Craib also brought along a Tandy laptop, writing a 12-inch story for his hometown paper that took about five minutes to transmit.

This time, thanks to advancements, he's become his own traveling hi-tech sports staff. A handheld video camera, an audio mixing board, two laptops, a cell phone - he can practically bring all that he needs into the stadium in his backpack.

Having since parted with Easler, Craib's newest trek in his 5-year-old Subaru Outback with the travel container strapped to the top will run through 44 states, circling the U.S. a couple of times. He plans to pick up a friend sometime in June during a trip to Baltimore to help with the driving. By that time, he also hopes the $5,000 he's budgeted won't have run out, and by that time, he'll have picked up some sponsorships.

He'll also be able to do some work for his real job as a recruiter for an Internet training site while he's on the road. Small motel stops also will help conserve the budget, and he has plenty of camping equipment to use on those stretches between rural destinations.

The travelogue, mapped out day-by-day on his site, includes plenty of navigational nightmares - including a stop in Puerto Rico to see the Expos- Cubs game Sept. 10, only to turn around and get to Montreal for the Expos-Mets contest two nights later. But that's all part of the journey's romance - the unknown factor. There are only three cushion days off scheduled between now and Sept. 28.

According to the itinerary, his stop in Lancaster to watch the JetHawks play at The Hangar is next Saturday night, the back end of a tightly planned doubleheader that begins with a 3 p.m. day game about 50 miles east in Adelanto, home of the High Desert Mavericks. He doesn't plan to be back in these parts again until the first of September, when the Dodgers play at home against Houston.

By the time he hits the last weekend of the major-league season - three day games in a row Friday in Chicago, Saturday in Philadelphia and Sunday in the Bronx - he should have a pretty good gauge about what this latest excellent expedition all means.

It'll probably be something close to what he's already written on his Web site, after Game 1 in Oakland:

``Baseball has such a history that, like history itself, there is little that can be said about it that hasn't already been said by someone else, perhaps more eloquently. But perhaps this year, especially in a world that seems to get more complicated with every dawn of a new day, baseball is perfect in its simplicity and simply perfect.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Reminiscent of his journey 12 years ago, Bill Craib has begun a tour of major- and minor-league ballparks around the country.

Box:

Daily News/CBS 2/KCAL 9 SPORTS CENTRAL POWER RANKINGS