Little League 2009

Another year of baseball season has come and gone.  We get so excited for it to start and then again, so excited for it to end.  For two months we spend four nights a week down at the ball field for a ball game, on the off nights TJ usually would have practice.  But it was a fun and exciting season!  

It was TJ's first year playing Minors and he did a great job.  His team was excellent and ended the regular season tied for first place.  When the tournament came though, they had a bad game and lost, which put them out of the tournament, ending the season in third place.  We're so proud of how hard TJ worked and is really becoming a good ball player!

This was Josie's 2nd year playing T-ball. She really improved this year! She wanted to play infield rather than outfield, that way she could talk to the cute boys running the bases. We'll see how she likes baseball next year when she has to be on an all girls team!

Ries also enjoys going to the ball games! There's room to run and play and of course playing in the dirt!

And the winner is...

A few months ago, Jimmy heard that the D'Backs were having a contest. They were wanting fans to email t-shirt designs. So he designed four different shirts, but was only allowed to submit two. Needless to say he talked me into submitting the other two. I had forgotten all about this, when a month ago I get a phone call telling me that I had won! Can you believe it?

Here's the winning design.



They printed 25,000 shirts and gave them out to everyone as they came into the game on Saturday. We got 5 tickets to the game as well. We got there early and they took us out to the field. That was really incredible. We took TJ & my nephew, Riley, and Jimmy's parents. It was fun to watch the boys' eyes bug out.



We hung out in the duggout for a while and then they brought out Brandon Lyon & Augie Ojeda to meet us and sign one of the shirts.





Everyone else then went to find their seats while I was on the field with the other finalists.  Amare Stoudemire (with the Suns) was throwing out the first pitch.  So we met him and I caught this picture of him playing catch with his son.



Then they had us stand on the baseline while they announced all of us.  It was very hard to stand there and smile while this camera was four inches from my face.





Even though the D'backs lost...it was a lot of fun. I think I would have had more fun if Jimmy was on the field instead of me (I think he would have too, he's still a little green with envy), but definitely something we won't forget.

D'backs Win!!!!!!

(sorry to those that read TJ's blog, this is a repeat)
Jimmy took TJ to the Diamondbacks game.  They had a great time being together.  TJ was convinced that they were going to loose when starting the 9th inning it was 0-5.  He wanted to leave early, but Jimmy told him "it's not over until it's over".  And boy were they glad they stayed.  The D'backs came back to win 6-5 with no outs.





Aren't dads always right?!!


 

Little League

(click to enlarge)

Baseball season is officially in full force. This is Josie's first year to play T-ball. Which now has made our schedules CRAZY! Fortunately both TJ and Josie play at Poston and half their games are on the same day and time. So Jimmy and I split up to watch them.

I forgot how much fun it is to watch T-ball. Kids running the wrong way, kids running to get the ball after they hit it (Emeli Wayas), doing the splits in the outfield (Josie), sliding into every base...it goes on and on. It is quite entertaining. Josie started off not hitting off the tee very well, but she's got the hang of it now.

This is TJ's last year playing coach pitch. We actually thought he'd be playing Minors this year, but his birthday didn't make the cut off. He was a little sad but is enjoying working on his skills. He's really getting a lot better. Last night he hit his first home run. YAH!! We enjoy watching him and he really loves it - which makes dad proud!!

Cubs Win! Cubs Win!! Cubs Win!!!

You know it's going to be a good game when Alfonso Soriano leads off with a homerun. I got a nice photo of his homerun swing. Cubs beat the A's 9 to 8. The A's almost tied it in the 9th. But We got the runner out at the plate to end the game. (see photo) I've posted some of the better photos I took today. Overall, the game was great but it still came in second to spending quality time with T.J. We both had a blast!
(click on the photos for a larger view)

take me out to the ballgame....

The Cubs have arrived! Could this be the year they win it all? The kids and I went to watch them during their workout this morning. While we were there I spotted a one-time favorite player of mine, Alan Trammel. It was fun to watch and I could have stayed longer but I had to get back to work. I can't wait for the season to start!