This superfan has attended every Guardians game this year

This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

It’s Aug. 6 and Peter Knab has yet to miss a game this season.

If you don’t remember Knab, let me jog your memory. We first talked about Knab at the end of last season. He was on pace to go to 123 regular season games. For anyone, that would be a difficult enough number to attend, but for Knab, who was born with cerebral palsy in 1996, it comes with a slew of challenges.

Clearly, he wasn’t deterred by any of these hurdles. He and I then chatted at the beginning of the 2023 season, when he set his lofty goal of attending all 162 games with the help of a new friend, David Coury, who’s the CEO of Specialty Networks and wanted to help Knab financially in his endeavors. Through 111 games, Knab is still on pace for 162.

“It’s been exhilarating, exhausting, chaotic,” Knab said. “I’m trying to think of all the adjectives to describe it.”

I sat down with Knab just before the Trade Deadline, as he watched Game 102 at Progressive Field, and asked him all about his journey thus far.

MLB.com: What’s been the hardest part of travelling?
Knab: I had a hotel issue in Detroit at the beginning of the year where I got to the hotel, I was told I had an accessible room and then I get to the hotel and they say, ‘It’s all steps. We don’t have an elevator.’ It said nothing about that on the website.

When we were in New York for the Mets, my SmartDrive motor, which is on the back of my wheelchair, the strap from one of my bags got caught in the smart drive and it stopped working. … I ended up going a total of three weeks without my SmartDrive, which was really tough.

(Note: SmartDrive motors are attached to the back of wheelchairs to help make pushing oneself less strenuous.)

After that game in Chicago on that Sunday night at Wrigley, as I was getting off the train, I didn’t realize how big the gap was and I ended up falling backwards and I broke my wheelchair. The [one I’m in now] is actually a backup chair that I had in my basement. I don’t plan on stopping even if my chairs break. … I had my handlebars dangling on the ground pretty much.

It’s been exhausting at times. I’m not going to pretend I have the same energy every single day because that would be unrealistic. But it is exhilarating because I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this far. I thought I’d be aiming for 155 at this point, but I’m still aiming for 162, so that’s a win in my book.

MLB.com: After going through all of that, how relieving was it to reach the All-Star break?
Knab: Once I got to the All-Star break, I slept for four consecutive days. I needed that. … In that last week before the week, people were saying, ‘Peter, you look really tired.’ No kidding!

MLB.com: What were the highlights of the first half of the season for you?
Knab: I’ll break it down to home and away. Favorite home game. I think it was June 9. The 14-inning game.

It’s probably a tie between my two favorite road games. The one in Kansas City that was 14-1. That was a lot of fun. And then my other favorite road game was probably that game at Phoenix -- the 12-3 game. That was really chaotic because I initially had a direct flight home, but then the airline changed the departure time that I couldn’t make. So I ended up going Phoenix to Charlotte to Cleveland and I ended up getting home at 8:30 a.m.

MLB.com: Has everyone at Progressive Field become like family?
Knab: Absolutely. Everybody here is just incredible. They’ve been cheerleaders, as well. That certainly keeps me going.

I’ve had so many people reach out to me and tell me that I inspire them, which is incredible. And I’m grateful for that. It’s been exhausting, but those people who continue to contact me certainly help me keep going.

MLB.com: We’re two months away from the end of the regular season. What do you think it will feel like for you to reach Game 162?
Knab: I think that will probably be my World Series. Obviously, I hope we have games beyond that. … I mean, this whole thing is a marathon, right? When you get done with a 26-mile marathon, it feels pretty damn incredible. So, I think once I’m on that bus to Detroit, then it’ll really start to hit. It’s going to be a celebration.