Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game

Sammy and I had a great time at the game! Sammy's friend Brandon tagged along with us! They had a great time goofing around, don't even think they were really watching the game! Sammy was very excited that i caught a foul ball, thanks to the guy missing it behind me!!

Fun day at the ballpark

Had a great day spending time with all the kids today! We watched an instructional league game played in the main stadium and the kids had a blast! Sammy met a couple of boys his age and they walked around the stadium getting their baseballs autographed. A nice surprise, Hanser Alberto hung out with us for a few inning and hung out with the kids. Janet and Ava kept busy running up and down the stairs chasing each other. After the game Sammy and Janet got a few autographs then we headed to the park to play! Great day with the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011 All Star Game

I thought it would be nice to take my beautiful wife Michelle to the All Star games since Sammy and I were gone all weekend! We had a great time at the game. We decided to take the light rail to the game and that was pretty cool. We had a great dinner at a local soul food restaurant close to the ballpark then headed to the game. It was a great game and had a great time hanging out with my best friend!!!!!

ALL STAR WEEKEND

Sammy and I had a great time as the All Star game was here in Phoenix! We started off on Sunday going to the Future's Game. We got to the game about an hour before it started to see if Sammy could get some autographs. He had a great time, two players that play for the Rangers were in the game (Jurickson Profar and Martin Perez) and he was lucky enough to get an autograph and a picture with both of them. It was a great game! Monday was the Home Run Derby and that was awesome! We watched the first two round from our seats than Sammy wanted to hit some balls himself so we headed up to the wiffle ball field. He had a lot of fun, this was the 1st time Sammy hit the ball without the tee, he did a great job! Tuesday we hit the Fan Fest and that was really cool. Sammy and I were able to see a lot of history of the game. Sammy had a blast testing out his baseball skills and getting a bunch of free stuff to take home. Asking Sammy what was his favorite thing about this weekend and he said "Dad buying me my All Star teddy bear", a kid at heart!!!!!!!!

3rd Annual Boy's Trip

Our 3rd and final stop was on our way home to Surprise, Az. We stopped in Boise, home of the Hawks. We had a great time! Janet joined us for this one and she had a lot of fun. The ballpark is pretty old but that is whats great about Minor League Baseball, small and usually have been around for awhile! Sammy and Janet got to sing "Take me out to the ball game" in the field during the game and did great! Sammy had his picture taken with the Mascot. He loves the mascots and usually the first thing he looks for at the ballpark! By the end of the game the kids were pretty tired and ready for the long trip home.

3rd Annual Boy's Trip

Our 2nd game of our trip was to our favorite stadium, Avista Stadium! Home of the Spokane Indians! Ben Henry now playing for the Hickory Crawdads was kind enough to get us free tickets to the game. We met our new friends Todd and Shannon and were able to sit next to them right behind home plate, great seats! The boys didnt last long sitting with us, they spent most of the game hanging around the bullpen and having fun behind right field in the Kids Zone! After the game the boys waited for the players behind the locker room to get their programs signed! All the players were very friendly and happy to sign!

3rd Annual Boy's Trip

Sammy and I along with his cousins Ashton and Alden had a great trip this summer! We did a mini tour of the Northwest League. Our 1st stop was to Pasco, Washington, home of the Tri-City Dustdevils. The staff was kind to give us a tour of the stadium and let use in early to watch BP! The boys had a lot of fun getting autographs and talking to the guys in the bullpen. We met a player (Hanser Alberto) who is living with a new friend of ours in Spokane and he gave Sammy his bat, Great kid! The game was very exciting! It went into extra innings, manager ejected and a walk off homerun!!!!!!!

Last T-ball Game 2011

Before the big game!!

Sammy and Janet

Sammy and Janet had their last t-ball game this week! They got to play in Surprise Stadium the spring training home of the Royals and Rangers! They both did a great job and had a lot of fun with their teammates. Janet was so excited to get her trophy she was jumping up and down! Sammy will make the jump to coach pitch next fall and Janet starts her cooking class later this month! Job well done!!!!!!!!!!!!

Road Trip to Tucson

Had a great time with my boy taking a quick road trip to Tucson to catch a ball game. I got him out of school early and headed down to watch the Round Rock Express vs Tucson Padres. We stopped at McDonald's in Eloy for a quick bite then headed to the ballpark. We got there a little early and the gates didn't open for another hour so I asked if it would be cool if they would let us in to watch batting practice. While watching BP Sammy had fun running around and taking pictures of the ball players and everything else. We had great seats, two rows behind the dugout on the 1st base side. As we were getting autographs before the game Sammy was picked out of the crowd to throw out the 1st pitch before the game! He was so excited! The funny thing is we were not there to see the Padres, we took the trip to watch the Express, the Rangers AAA team. A guy we were talking to yelled out "pick this kid they drove all the way from Surprise!" They told us they were looking for Padres fans but if we would buy a Padres t-shirt they would let Sammy do it! Of course we bought a t-shirt, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity! Sammy did great and he was very excited to be out on the mound.

After the 1st pitch we went to our seats and watched a little bit of the game, then it was time for hotdogs. It was $1 hotdog night so we pigged out. We had a baseball card of Michael Kirkman and he happened to be sitting in the stands so Sammy was excited to meet him and get his autograph. In the middle of the 5th inning Sammy jumped on top of the dugout and started dancing to the YMCA and was shaking his butt like crazy and the crowd went wild! That's my boy! For the rest of the game we sat out in the grass and Sammy had fun rolling in the grass and playing with the rest of the kids.

The game ended up going into extra innings and the Express won! We had a great time and cannot wait to do it again!

1st Pitch Express vs. Padres

Sammy throwing the 1st pitch before the game!!!

Round Rock Express Batting Practice

Here's Sammy in the outfield waiting for homerun balls during batting practice!

Pictures from our Tucson Trip

Sammy had a great time having his picture taken with a few players! We met Neil Ramirez who started the season in A Ball and is off to a strong start in AAA. Alex Cintron of the Padres used to play for the DBacks. Sammy loves mascots and had to stop and say hello to Kino the Bambino! The surprise of the night was seeing Trevor Hoffman. He was great with Sammy taking a pic and autographing our ticket stubs!!!