So I'm heading to Florida this week.  Mom, Dad and I are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich.  They got a place in Port Charlotte for the winter.  Not only will I get super spoiled, but I get to see another spring training game.  This time I grabbed some seats for the last Rays home game.  They're taking on the Reds.  

I'll be sure to take lots of pics and fill you in when I get back. 

The championship game of the WBC is tonight.  Unfortunately, Team USA was eliminated last night.  It's down to Korea and Japan.  I don't have a favorite, I'm just hoping for a good game. 

Be sure to click on the ad at the top and vote for our buddy Chris.  He wrote a piano part to go along with a Derek Trucks song.  Plus, you'll get to enjoy some good tunes while reading my blog. 

Friday is guy's night.  Mom goes to work and Dad and I hang out.  Tonight, we were sitting around watching the Royals vs. Dodgers on MLB Network.  Watching the Dodgers put me in the mood to do my Manny impersonation and I thought I'd share it with you. 

We've all seen Manny being Manny.  He clowns around, he swings for the fences, he loses his helmet running the bases...  That's Manny.  Like him or not, it's who he is. 

Well, here's "Pauly being Manny". 

I only do Manny Red Sox style.  Mainly because Dad doesn't have a Dodgers hat I can borrow.  When I first started doing Manny impersonations, I thought Dad's hat was too big.  But, the oversized hat is the key to a good Manny impersonation.  It's got to be too big so when I start to run, it falls off my head.  

Gotta go.  Don't want to miss any more of the game!

Mom, Dad and I met up with our buddy Ned on Monday and flew over to Arizona for another Cactus League game.  We landed in Phoenix and drove over to Camelback Ranch.  Camelback is a brand new stadium that was built for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.  It's a beautiful ballpark. 

I did a little homework and snagged us some great seats behind the Royals dugout.  Here was our view.

It was tough to beat.  Who needs a cupholder, when you can put your bottle of milk right on top of the dugout?  We were only a few feet from Hall of Famer George Brett!!! 

Here's Mark Buehrle on the mound.  Did you know he threw a no-hitter against the Rangers in 2007?  2007 was a good year.  That's when the Rockies went to the World Series and was also the year I was born! 

Here's Coco Crisp.  If you look hard, you might be able to spot Ozzie Guillen in the background.   

Dad and I took a walk around the park to do some exploring.  Here's us hanging out on the party deck by the foul pole.   There are 12 practice fields spread out around the ballpark.  We even saw a pond stocked with fish.  These guys did it up right. 

The gift shop was the perfect way to cool down.  It was half Dodgers stuff and half White Sox stuff.  I liked the green uniforms in stock for St. Patrick's day, but they were way too big for me.  I tried to get Dad to buy a set of Manny dreadlocks, but he wasn't going for it.  I do a good Manny impersonation.  Maybe I can get Mom to take a picture and post it up here.  I guarantee it will crack you up!

Anyway, back to our seats.  

 Here's Royals pitcher Gil Meche up on the hill.  And we were lucky enough to see Jayson Nix get a little playing time.  He was traded from the Rockies to the White Sox during the offseason. Another great day at Spring Training.  I also managed to get a ball from first baseman Ross Gload. 

We made a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger for dinner, before heading back to the airport for our flight home. 

What a game tonight.  USA took on Puerto Rico.  The winner advances to the next round, the loser gets eliminated.  It came down to the bottom of the 9th, but the US rallied for the win.  I had my special rally cap on to help the guys out. It was a nail biter.  Congrats guys! 

Mom, Dad and I headed back to Arizona yesterday for some more spring training fun.  Dad's helping me edit our pics and I'll try to write a post about it tomorrow.  We had a great time.  For now, it's time for a bottle and then I'm off to bed.  Good night.

P.S.  Here's a great article I wanted to share:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-perezteamusa031809&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

We're heading back to Arizona tomorrow to catch another Spring Training game.  This time I managed to get tickets to see the Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals.  I'm looking forward to watching two teams from the American League that son't come to Colorado very often.  Plus, the game is in a brand new, fancy stadium that just opened a few weeks ago.  I'm really excited.

Over in the WBC, Team USA is up 9-3 against the Netherlands.  Congrats to the Netherlands on a great WBC.  You stunned us all, especially the Dominicans.  Nice job Team USA.  You guys looked sharp tonight. 

Mom was working tonight, but Dad and I hung out and watched the USA take on Venezuela in the WBC.  The Venezuelans came out ready to go and shook up the US pitchers.  It wasn't all bad though.  Chris Iannetta came up big with a HUGE 2 run home run.  He hit it up towards the upper deck of the dome.  It was a doozy.  Nice job Chris, you continue to amaze us! 

Good luck to Team USA in round 2. 

Tonight, we're watching the Aussies as they take on Mexico.  Dad spent almost two months in Australia after college exploring the land (and water) down under, so we're cheering for them. 

So here's a special mail call, from a player on the Australian team.  It's from Rich Thompson.  He's an up and coming pitcher for the AL West Champion Angels.  Good luck tonight Mr. Thompson and thanks for signing my card!

Good night!

We just watched an incredible game between the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic.  The winner of this game got to move on to the 2nd round of the World Baseball Classic.  The Dominicans came with an all star lineup and were the heavy favorites.  The Netherlands were the big underdogs.  I was cheering for the Netherlands.  I'll admit, I had mixed feelings on this one. 

Ubaldo Jimenez was the starting pitcher tonight for the DR.  He plays for the Rockies and is one of our top pitchers in the rotation.  Ubaldo looked sharp and set a WBC record for strikeouts in a game.  He pitched 4 innings and struckout 10. 

Despite Ubaldo, Willy Taveras and a slew of other great players on the Dominican team, I really wanted to see the Neterlands pull an upset.  The score was 0-0 going into the 11th inning.  Jose Reyes scored in the top of the 11th to give the Dominicans a 1-0 lead.  But the Netherlands, fought back and in the bottom of the 11th, they not only tied the game at 1-1, but with two outs, got another run and won the game!       

What an exciting game!  Congrats guys.  I'll be watching again in Round Two.  Sorry to the Dominican players, but I bet your teams will be glad to have you back in Spring Training.   

Who watched Team USA in the WBC last night?  They looked sharp and came up big in a 15 - 6 win over Venezuela.  My buddy Chris Iannetta had a huge night, going 2 for 3 with 4 RBI's.  Nice job Chris! 

With their two wins, they've secured a spot in Round Two.  Great job guys!

This has nothing to do with baseball, but Dad said one of his favorite bands got back together for a series of shows over the weekend in Hampton, VA.  It's some group called Phish.  I've never heard these guys, but it looks like they put on a crazy light show.  I guess it makes up for their bad spelling.

The World Baseball Classic (WBC for those in "the know") has officially begun. 

This is my first time seeing this tournament, but I'm already hooked.  I'm pulling for Team USA.  Mom and I watched the game yesterday against Canada and it was a good one.  Dad was stuck at work and tried to catch the score every now and then on MLB.com  I filled him in when he got home.  LaTroy Hawkins got the win.  I'm sure you knew he used to be a Rockie.   

I'm also pulling for the underdogs whenever Team USA isn't playing.  The Netherlands pulling ahead of the Dominican Republic was a shocker.  

We tuned in for Italy vs. Venezuela last night.  Italy looked solid for the first 4 innings, but their bullpen couldn't hold on.  Poor Jason Grilli did not pitch well. 

We're getting ready for USA vs. Venezuela, which starts in a few minutes.  I hear Chris Iannetta will be behind home plate tonight.  Can't wait! 

Not much else to report.  It's been kind of a lazy day for us.  Mom has been sick, so she's been lounging and taking it easy.  Dad ran some errands and took me for a walk down to the park when he got home.  I saw geese, ducks, dogs and people out enjoying the nice weather.  We had fun.  It's in the 60's today.  Hard to believe we had snow flurries yesterday. 

Anyway, game starts in 2 min.  Got to get a fresh bottle and clean diaper.  Talk to you later!  

The weather lady on the TV said it might snow here tonight and tomorrow.  Quite a change from the 90+ degree heat we experienced in Arizona earlier this week.  I just got some more fresh Sping Training mail.  Time for another mail call!

Today I got a letter from Matt Macri.  He plays third base for the Minnesota Twins. 

Matt was actually drafted by the Rockies in 2004.  He worked his way up through the Rockies farm system with the Tri-City Dust Devils, Modesto Nuts, Tulsa Drillers and the Colorado Springs Sky Sox.  In 2007, he was traded to the Twins and made his MLB debut on May 24th, 2008. 

I think the Twins are going to be a solid team this year in the America League.  Keep an eye out for Matt.  Thanks for signing my card Mr. Macri.

Here's Part 2 of my Spring Training adventure.  On Sunday, we didn't have any baseball planned, so we thought we'd explore the area.  We got in the car and headed out to a place called Apache Junction.  It's a real pretty area. 

We saw the Superstition Mountains and headed towards the Lost Dutchman mine.  Here's Dad and I taking in the view.  It was windy and cool, but it felt good on my face.

Cactus, cactus everywhere. 

It was a great road trip.  I bet you can see lots of stars out there at night. 

On Monday, we made our way down to Tucson to catch the Rockies vs. Angels at Hi Corbett Field.  It was hot.  REALLY Hot!  Dad and I got a spot on the rail to see if we could add some autographs to our collection.  Here's Franklin Morales warming up. 

We did pretty well.  I got to meet Jason Hirsh, Clint Barmes, Ryan Spilborghs and Clint Hurdle.  I saw Tulo sign for a few minutes, but he didn't make it down to me.  I also managed to get a baseball from an Angels player during batting practice.

The guys got off to a rocky start (no pun intended)...  But, it was great to see them in action again.  Here's Ryan Spilborghs leading things off. He was followed by Tulo. Mom's favorite, Garrett Atkins. Jason Hirsh on the mound.

We sat behind Mike Scioscia and his coaching staff.

I already mentioned that it was hot.  It was too hot for me.  I spent alot of my day in the shade, with a big cup of ice water.  Mom and I got a picnic table with a big umbrella to keep the sun off of us.  Gran C took me to the team store to do a little shopping and cool off.  She spoiled me with me a Rockies sippy cup, a new Rockies hat and a program.  Dad and I also went off on a walk and spotted Garrett Atkins heading into the clubhouse.  He was really nice to us and signed our World Series ball!  That's our 11th autograph on that ball. 

Before the game started, I got spotted by a photographer for the Tucson Citizen newspaper.  She snapped pictures of me getting an autograph from Ryan Spilborghs and hanging out with Dad.  She talked to Dad and I for a few minutes and said we might end up in the paper.  When I got home and checked their website, I found a bunch of pics.  Here's a link to one of the articles. 

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/111310.php

Also, if you go to the slideshow section and search for "Hot Day at Hi Corbett", you'll find the whole gallery.  We're in several shots, including one where Dad and Pappy are in the background with Tulowitzki at the plate.  That's my first time ever in a newspaper.  When's the last time you saw the e*trade kid in the newspaper?   

As if that wasn't enough, we ran into D, from the Rockpile Rant!  He was next to us before the game getting autographs.  He and Dad talked for a while.  D, sorry for being cranky.  It was just too hot for me out there.  Here's a shot of us after the game hanging out in front of the MBU.  That stands for Mobile Blogging Unit. 

He and his friend Andy travel in style.  They spent over a week watching games, getting autographs and snagging baseballs in Spring Training. 

After the game, we drove back up to Phoenix, made a quick stop for one more In-N-Out Burger and caught our flight home.  It was a great trip.  Everyone had alot of fun and made some great memories.  I hope you enjoyed reading all about it.  It's time for me to catch some zzz's.

Good night.   

I'm back from my big Spring Training weekend.  Mom, Dad, Gran C, Pappy and I headed out on Saturday morning and caught the early flight into Phoenix, Arizona.  I slept through most of the flight, just to make sure I wouldn't get tired during the game. 

We got a rental car, made a quick stop at In-N-Out Burger (they make a tasty burger), and then headed over to Maryvale.  We had tickets for the Brewers vs. Angels.   The Brewers have a great spring training stadium.  We got there early enough to watch the guys warm up and sign a few autographs.  Dad got pretty sweet tickets for us.  We were on the front row, behind the Brewers dugout.  From our seats, Dad and I watched Corey Hart play catch with Ryan Braun and JJ Hardy.  Corey tossed me the ball on his way into the dugout.  That was the perfect way to start my baseball season. 

Here's Bobby Abreu at bat for the Angels. 

Here's the view from our seats.  I didn't want to let go of the ball Corey Hart gave me. 

Mom went to work on getting some good pics for my blog.  The Brewers had some heavy hitters in the lineup.  Here's JJ Hardy.

Next up was Ryan Braun.

Prince Fielder.

My new friend Corey Hart.

And fan favorite Mike Cameron.

Mom got some great shots.  I'm thinking about printing some out and sending a copy off to the players to see if they'd sign it for me.  What do you think?

I also got to see my first ever Sausage Race.  This cracked me up.  Where do they go shopping for those big hats?   

Mr. Hot Dog won by three baseball bats. 

Here's my 7th inning snooze. 

We cheered for the Brewers and they were tearing it up.  Ryan Braun went 2 for 4, while JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder both went 2 for 3.  It was a great game and the Brewers won 5-3.  I kept an eye out for Brian Fuentes, but didn't see him.  He was great with the Rockies and I was hoping to see him thrown an inning or two with the Angels.  Oh well.  He's supposed to be pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, so hopefully I'll see him on TV soon. 

In case you were wondering, it was hot.  I'm not sure I like the Arizona weather too much.  Somebody should turn the heat down.  After 9 innings, the boys were wiped out. 

The girls were wiped out too, but Mom and Gran C were too shy for a picture. 

Bye, bye Maryvale. Dad hit the gift shop in search of a Brewers hat.  They had a bunch, but he didn't get one.  I think he might be looking for an excuse to go to Milwaukee.  That's fine by me.  Miller Park looks like a beautiful place to take in a game. 

We didn't leave empty handed.  Everyone got a Barrel Man bobblehead, plus I got a ball from Corey Hart and autographs from Manny Parra and Jonathan Lucroy.

What a great time we had!  Oh, but wait, there's more.  Unfortunately, it's past my bed time.  I have all kinds of pics and stories from the other game we saw, but that'll have to wait.  Stay tuned.