Tagged: evan longoria
Interleague Play and a Quick Update
I’ve been pretty quiet on my blog lately. But that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped cheering for my Rockies or watching baseball. This summer has kept me busy so far and I don’t see my schedule slowing down any time soon.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I caught a few games when the Tampa Bay Rays came to town. One night, was a guy’s night out, with Dad and our buddy Ned. Here’s some shots of David Price warming up in the bullpen. He’s on Dad’s fantasy baseball team, so I figured I’d snap a few pics for him.
On the other side of the wall, I also got to see Aaron Cook warm up.
We sat in the outfield eating hot dogs and argued over who to cheer for. My Rockies beat up on David Price and got the win.
On the next afternoon, we headed back to the stadium for another game. This time, we made sure to take Mom with us. Dad actually won a pair of tickets from work and we got to sit in the fancy club level at the stadium. It was our first time seeing a game from this part of the park.
The Rockies had Ubaldo Jimenez on the mound.
Mom was rooting for the Rockies, but she has Evan Longoria on her fantasy baseball team, so she was secretly cheering for him. Fantasy baseball can really get you mixed up on who to root for.
Don’t worry, I straightened her out and convinced her to cheer for the good guys.
And of course, they won! My guys have been doing great lately. I just hope we can keep it up and catch those pesky Dodgers.
My cousin Robert is in town for the next few days. He flew all the way out from North Carolina. I love having him stay with us. He’s funny and I like playing with him. He was lucky enough to recently visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. He even brought me back a nice, new hat.
Today, we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
We’re taking him with us to the ballpark later this week. We’ll see the Rockies take on the Braves. I can’t wait. Talk to you soon!
Grapefruit League: Rays vs. Reds
So we’re back from Florida and I’m way overdue with a post. Our trip was great! We snuck out of Denver just hours before a major snow storm blew through. Dad seemed pretty relieved to get out of town. He said he didn’t want to take a week off of work and get stuck in the airport.
We flew into Tampa, got our ride and headed down to see Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich down in Port Charlotte. I did a whole lot while we were down there, so I decided to split my trip into two posts. The first one is going to be from the game we went too. The second will be about the rest of my trip. Sound OK?
Here we go. Dad managed to pick up four tickets to see the Rays vs. Reds. The Rays Renegade gave us some advice and told us to get there early so we wouldn’t get stuck in traffic. Here’s a shot of the stadium as we pulled in.
When we got inside, we were greeted by this guy. He wanted me to try his “buffalo wings”. I explained to him that buffalo’s don’t fly and don’t even have wings. I think he was just confused. It was probably from the humidity.
Dad and I headed down the right field line to watch batting practice.
The place was already packed, but we still managed to get a decent spot along the wall.
I talked one of the Reds players into tossing up a ball for me. After batting practice was over, we headed down the fence to get a better spot for autographs. Andy Sonnanstine came over to us and signed my baseball. He was super nice and signed for everybody that wanted an autograph.
We called out to Dusty Baker as he was walking by and he also stopped to sign an autograph for us. Dad was pretty excited to meet him.
Evan Longoria signed for about 10 people next to us, but we couldn’t get his attention. Dad wanted to get Scott Kazmir to sign his jersey, but he must have had the day off. We didn’t see him anywhere.
Eventually, we made our way up to our seats and got ready for the game. Here’s a shot of the first pitch.
That’s Willy Taveras leading off. I still don’t know how I feel about seeing him in a Reds uniform. He evenutally got on base, but got picked off.
Here’s Evan Longoria facing Edinson Volquez.
Just me. Livin’ the good life.
Dad and I wandered off to do a little exploring. We came across the popular tiki hut out in centerfield.
Not a bad seat in the house. This is the view from the tiki hut.
We worked our way around the boardwalk and watched the players warm up in the bullpen.
Akinori Iwamura taking a strike.
Joey Votto looked sharp and hit a home run during the game.
Look out Brandon Phillips!
I hung out with Mom and Grandma during the 7th inning snooze.
The Rays lost, but we all had a great time. The Rays have a beautiful ballpark in Port Charlotte. The weather was perfect and I managed to get another baseball and a few autographs. Just a great day!
So stay tuned. I’ll go through the rest of Mom’s pictures and make a post about the rest of our week in Florida.
Opening Day is only a few days away! On TV tonight, we watched the Cubs vs. Yankees in the new Yankee Stadium. Right now, I’m fighting off sleep, trying to stay awake for the Rockies vs. Mariners exhibition game. I think sleep will win.
Hope you enjoyed our pictures. Until next time, good night!
The Birds Take On The Fish In My First Doubleheader
I talked Mom and Dad into taking me on a short trip to Maryland to visit some friends and catch an Orioles game. I just can’t get enough baseball and I had to sneak in an extra game before the end of the regular season. Dad had been to Camden Yards many times when he lived in Maryland, but this was my first time catching the birds in action. Mom took a few pictures as we made our way inside.
Here’s a shot looking down Eutaw street.
This area is closed off during games and has places to eat and shop in the warehouse. I looked, but I couldn’t find any milk on tap here either.
I guess we’re in the right place.
It was time to get serious and I told Dad to head in so we could watch batting practice.
We watched the O’s (that’s what you call the Orioles if you’re “in the know”) wrap up batting practice and then walked around to see the Rays play catch.
I had my glove ready and got Matt Garza to throw me his ball. Thanks Matt!!!
It was nice and dirty, which is just how I like my baseballs.
Scott Kazmir came over and gave me an autograph.
I know Dad is an Orioles fan, but right about this time, I started to lean a little more towards the Rays. They were all really nice to me and looked spiffy in their new haircuts. More on that later.
After batting practice, we wandered through the inside of the stadium. The Orioles had a bunch of those fancy banners hanging up.
I think you have to be pretty good or something to call yourself a World Champion. Good for them. I think they got all of these fancy flags a long time ago, because I don’t remember hearing about it. I hope my Rockies get some shiny flags to hang in their stadium one day.
Mom and Dad kept talking about this seafood stuff, so we walked around to see what kind of food they had for sale. I’m not impressed unless there’s milk or cheerios involved. Although, I did discover cheese and meat this week. That yellow cheese stuff is something to yell about.
As we walked around, I spotted The Bird. He came over, gave me a high five and took a picture with us.
I liked listening to him. He talks in chirps, which I’ve found is a great way to talk to people. We were on the same page and I invited him to stay with us if he ever makes it out to Colorado.
It was a perfect night for baseball.
We had a great view from our seats.
Let me introduce you to our friends, Floyd, Patty and Chris.
Floyd and Patty are moving to Colorado later this year. I can’t wait to see more of them. They’re funny and like to play. Dad and Chris have been friends for a long time. He brought me a fancy hat from NASA, which is where he works. I just happen to overhear them talking about Chris’s wedding next May. Sounds like Dad is going to be doing something important in the wedding and for me, that means a trip back to Maryland next year. Let me just say that I have no idea what a wedding is, but I do know that May falls in baseball season. I’m going to have to get my schedules out and catch some games while we’re in town.
Anyway, the O’s lost 5-2, but guess what… It was a DOUBLEHEADER!!! Yeah, my first one! Why can’t all games be doubleheaders? Let’s see, I pay for one ticket and get two games! Pappy was a math teacher for a long time, but I didn’t need his help with this one. Even I know that’s a great deal.
We walked over to the bullpen between games so I could stretch my legs.
The weather was perfect for me and with the light crowd, we could have had just about any seat in the house.
Here’s the starting lineups for both teams.
There were a few players on the Rays that I wanted to check out. One was Evan Longoria.
I think he’s a good ball player and he’s got a great haircut. If I ever get enough hair, I’ve got my first look all picked out. Check it out.
I also wanted to catch a glimpse of David Price. He had started his first MLB game the night before, so I guess we had just missed him.
Everyone in Baltimore was super nice to me. They kept asking me if this was my first game. Come on guys, I’m baby Paul. Are you sure you haven’t heard of me? I told Dad I’m going to get him a shirt with my web address on the back, so he can advertise my blog while we’re at games. I did manage to hand out some business cards that Pappy made for me. I’m networking and making connections everywhere I go.
Anyway, while it clearly wasn’t my first MLB game, it WAS my first game at Camden Yards and that was enough to earn me this great certificate.
They gave me schedules, pictures, an autograph of The Bird and some baseball cards. Who says people on the east coast are rude? They were awfully nice to me.
Dad, do we have to go home???
The Orioles also lost game #2. We had a great time, but it was all over way too soon.
It’s pretty late and I need to catch up on my zzz’s. The race for the postseason is red hot. More on that next time!
-PBR
Baby Paul's Baseball Blog 