My very first World Series!  It's the 7th inning stretch and I need to post my pick to win the World Series.  I'm going with the Tampa Bay Rays.  I love the fish and would like to see them go all the way. 

Sorry for not posting sooner.  We did some traveling, celebrated some birthdays, Mom, Dad, Gran C and Pappy all got sick and I had to take care of them.  Things have been busy, busy, busy for me. 

Anyway, the song is almost over and I need to get back to the game.  I will try to post again very soon and keep my blog rolling.  Check back soon and Go Rays!

-PBR 

So it's begun.  The postseason is here.  I got so excited watching my first playoff game today that I wet my pants.  Ok, so I wet my pants all the time, but it was still pretty exciting for me. 

I've thought long and hard about who I think has what it takes to go all the way to the World Series.  I had some long talks with my bears and Cosmo.  Here we are hanging out. 

Teddy keeps pretty quiet, but Cosmo more than makes up for him.  Although, I don't agree with all of their baseball opinions, it's fun to debate with them.  Plus, I'm the one who has the blog, which means I have the final say on here.

So, here are my picks. 

American League:

   White Sox vs. Rays - The White Sox made it pretty interesting over the last few days of the season and I think it'd be fun to see a Chicago vs. Chicago World Series.  However, I just saw a Rays doubleheader in Baltimore last week and I think they have a great team.  Plus, they were all really nice to me.  It's also their first playoff appearance and I'd like to see them go all the way.  My pick for this series goes to The Rays! 

   Red Sox vs. Angels - The Red Sox did beat my Rockies last year in the World Series, but I've gotten over it.  In fact, if I play my cards right, I think I might be able to talk Mom and Dad into taking me to Fenway next year.  I think they've got a team with a lot of playoff experience and I wish them well this year.  Even though they don't have a good record against the Angels this season, my pick is still going to the Red Sox. 

National League:

   Dodgers vs. Cubs - Come on Cubs!  This was an easy one for me.  Cubs, all the way!  I've got a few reasons for my pick.  My nickname around the house is "bear" and since they still think I'm a baby, I guess that'd make me a cub.  Plus, one of my girlfriends is a Cubs fan and if you read one of my earlier posts about her, you might remember I told her I'd pull for her Cubs if my Rockies didn't make the playoffs.  I'm a baby of my word and I gotta cheer them on.  The Dodger player with the funny hair and dirty hat takes a lot of grief, but he's OK in my book.  I'm just picking the Cubs over the Dodgers.  Come on baby bears!

   Brewers vs. Phillies - At first, I was a little torn on this one.  Deep down, I think the Phillies have the better team.  But, in the end, I decided to go with the Brewers.  Mainly, this one is for Mom.  I really didn't know what a brewer was, but Mom told me they make beer.  Mom works at a brewery, where they make the stuff.  If they're anything like Mom, then that means they are awesome!  So the Brewers it is.  Let's go beer makers!

So those are my picks.  What do you think?  What are your picks?  I've learned that anything can happen in this game and I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.  As always, thanks for reading and please drop me a line or leave a comment.  An out of work baby like me needs to have something to do all day.  I'm going to grab a warm bottle and catch some more playoff baseball.  Talk to you soon.

-PBR

I think I'm all set for the playoffs to begin.  This is going to be my first postseason outside of Mom.  It was neat hearing it last year, but I couldn't see what was going on and nobody could hear me clap or cheer.  I can't wait for the playoffs to begin this afternoon.  Watching the Twins and White Sox game last night has really gotten me excited to see what's in store in the chase for the pennant. 

There are three games to watch today and I can't wait.  That's a whole lot of baseball.  I'll post my thoughts and picks to win later on this afternoon.  First, I've got to get my work done.  I have to practice my standing, my crawling, putting random things into my mouth and maybe even work on some walking. 

Anybody looking for a job?  The Oakland A's are hiring.  They're searching for someone to perform as Stomper next season.  He's the funny grey elephant with the weird, noisy nose that runs around during games.  Here's the link:

http://baseballjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/jobs/jobskey.cfm?s=Oakland+Athletics#20656

I would try to get an interview, but Dad says I don't weigh the 165 lb. minimum.  I guess I need to keep drinking my milk. 

Please apply if you're interested.  We went to an A's game earlier this season to visit him.  It would be sad if Stomper wasn't around next year.

Hi everyone,

     This is Paul's mom again.  I just wanted to share with everyone Paul's new talent.  He really got into the baseball game in Baltimore on Tuesday and he was a clapping machine.  Cute considering he is just over 9 months old.

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

Gran C and Pappy offered to take us to one last Rockies game of the season.  I couldn't say no and I was excited to catch one more game.  Here's Mom, Dad and I waiting to get in.

I knew that Aaron Cook was going to be pitching tonight.  I told Dad to take some good pictures for my blog. 

We had a great time at the game.  I did my impression of one of the seven dwarves. 

Dad said I looked like a garden gnome.  Dad, what's a gnome?  Either way, Gran C and Pappy seemed to get a kick out of it. 

Aaron pitched a good game and we had a nice view from our seats. 

Brian Fuentes didn't have a good time.  He gave up 2 runs in the 9th inning to give the snakes the lead.  I rallied around my team and yelled and clapped and yelled some more.  I even put on my funny looking rally cap. 

They put out a good effort, but couldn't come up with the win.  Next season guys, next season.  Mom snapped another picture on the way out. 

I slept like a baby the whole way home. 

Thanks for reading my blog.  I have a surpirse trip coming up.  I'm headed out tomorrow night and will be lucky enough to catch a baseball game in a new place.  Stay tuned to my blog and I'll fill you in on all of the details when I get back. 

Oh, and I watched a great game tonight on TV.  I watched the last game that's ever going to be played at Yankee Stadium.  I got a pretty good history lesson from Dad and really enjoyed all of the ceremonies.  It's hard to believe they're going to move.

I really need to get my bags packed.  Stay tuned. 

-PBR

In case you missed it, I was on the MLBlog homepage again last week.  They had my smiling face up there with some other great guys including Joe Torre, Mark DeRosa and local favorite Don (the Rock Pile Ranter).  Here's a screenshot.

We headed back to the ballpark on Tuesday to catch another round against the Padres.

We managed to get to the game early again to take in batting practice.  Dad met some of the regular ballhawks and finally met up with Don, who writes the Rock Pile Rant, which we both enjoy reading.  Check it out if you haven't already.  Dad got Jeff Francis to throw us a ball. 

It was a little dirty, but I think it just adds to the flavor.  I love chewing on my baseballs. 

 I snapped this picture when I heard the guys talking about me.  I think they were hoping to get mentioned in my blog.  Jeff Baker was asking if his hair looked OK.  He could probably see me taking pictures to post online.  It's OK Jeff, I don't even have hair yet.   

Anyway, on to the game.  It was Ubaldo Jiminez's turn on the mound and I knew he would be able to take care of things.  I know he's a Padre, but I like all-star Adrian Rodriguez.  I got Dad to snap a picture because I think he's a good player, not to mention I caught a ball from him earlier this season. It was my lucky night and I got to see another grand slam.  This time it was from Chris Iannetta.  Way to go Chris!  I learned how to clap this week so I was able to yell AND clap for Chris.  Lots of K's on the board tonight.  Way to go guys!  

 It was good to see them pull out a 10-3 win after the spanking we took last night. 

Before I wrap this up, I want to congratulate Zack, who managed to snag home run balls at back to back games this week.  He caught them at Yankee Stadium.  It's the final week for Yankee Stadium and he was spotlighted on SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight.  Both come on past my bed time, but his website had some great videos of his catches.

Also, I got my very first piece of mail this week.  Actually, I got two things in the mail.  I'll tell you about them in an upcoming post, but I'll just say one came from one of my favorite Rockies and the other came from last years World Series Champions.  Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

-PBR 

I've spent so much time trying to learn how to walk this week, that I've been slacking on updating my blog.  I'm overdue, so let's catch up.  I took Mom and Dad to see my Rockies take on the Padres for two nights this week.  These were tickets I swapped out from the rainout against the Nationals a few months ago.  Our first game was on Monday.  I had them take me early to see if we could grab a few autographs and our luck paid off. 

Clint Barmes came over as soon as he saw me waving at him.  I was the first kid he signed for.  We chatted it up for a few minutes and he was really nice to me and Mom. 

Dad got him to sign our World Series ball. Clint Hurdle and Chris Iannetta were next to come over for a visit.  I had Clint autograph a picture from the All Star Game in New York earlier this year. A great way to start my night at the game. 

I've been wanting to get a picture with Dinger all season, but usually I get so involved in the game that I forget to go over and talk to him.  The Rockies got off to a sloppy start and I figured this would be a great night to get a picture and autograph from my big purple friend.

After getting some pics, we decided to pay a visit to the bullpen.  I liked being able to watch all of my favorite pitchers up close.  Here's Livan Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino warming up.  I also saw Brian Fuentes, Manny Corpas and Jason Grilli hanging out and joking around in the bullpen.  They seemed to be having a lot of fun.  I think I'll look into getting tickets down there for a game next year.  The view isn't too bad either. Eventually, we made it back to our seats to enjoy the rest of the game. 

It wasn't a pretty one for the Rockies.  The good news was that I got to see my first grand slam, thanks to Troy Tulowitzki.  It didn't make much of a difference though since the Rockies lost 11 to 5.  

Sorry guys, but there's always next season...   -PBR

Pauls mom again.  Just wanted to post a couple more cute videos of paul at last nights Rockies game.  He is upstairs taking a nap.  Guess he needs to rest up for tonights game.

Look for his posts soon

Paul Watching the Bullpen 

Paul Rooting for the Rockies