I’ve been making game videos this season. Mostly pictures, but with some video clips mixed in. Here are all of the games I’ve done so far in 2016:

Red Sox vs. Blue Jays (Stade Olympique 4/1/16)


Red Sox vs. Blue Jays (Stade Olympique 4/2/16)


Nationals vs. Phillies (Citizens Bank Park 4/16/16)


Rangers vs. White Sox (U.S. Cellular Field 4/22/16)


Phillies vs. Brewers (Miller Park 4/23/16)


Indians vs. Phillies (Citizens Bank Park 4/30/16)


Athletics vs. Orioles – Doubleheader: Game 1 (Camden Yards 5/7/16)


Athletics vs. Orioles – Doubleheader: Games 2 (Camden Yards 5/7/16)


Weird Video Complication Created by my Camera (5/7/16)


Tigers vs. Orioles (Camden Yards 5/14/16)


More games to follow soon.

On July 18, 2015, the boys and I pulled off one of our favorite baseball feats: the Two-City Doubleheader (a/k/a the Build-Your-Own Doubleheader).

This was our fourth ever Two-City Doubleheader, and our first to ever feature the Mariners (and a Mariners win!).

In other news, we were recently watching MLB Network and this commercial came on:

We had no clue that clip would be used in a commercial.
Fun times!

Tim had a ton of his own baseball games in September.  As a result, we only got to one game all month.  Therefore, we were itching for some baseball and jumped at the chance to end our 2015 MLB season with a single admission doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park on October 3, 2015.

As an added bonus, the Phillies faced the Marlins, which meant we got an opportunity to see the boys’ favorite ballplayer:  Ichiro!

I made two videos from this doubleheader.  The first includes all of our pictures and video clips from both games and is features play-by-play audio clips that Tim recorded on my phone during the first game.  The play-by-play doesn’t sync up with the videos/pictures (except during part of one of Ichiro’s at bats, during which the video ends when I take off running (unsuccessfully) after a foul ball).

The second clip is video I put together with pictures and a video that Zack Hample took of Tim and Kellan before the first game when two groundskeepers let them help chalk the right field foul line — who cool is that!???  I thought I recorded the whole thing, but I actually just took a picture (boo!).  Luckily, Zack was there and was documenting the whole thing.  Thanks, Zack!

Here is the first video:

And here is the second, titled “I Chalk The Line”:

We can’t wait for the 2016 season to get here!

Over Memorial Day weekend, my folks came out to PA and we took a little roadtrip to Niagara Falls and Toronto for a couple Mariners games. Sadly, Colleen discovered only a few days before the trip that her passport had expired. Therefore, Mommy had to stay home when we went on the trip.

Here is a video recap of the first half of the trip including the drive up to Niagara Falls on Friday and the Mariners excellent win over the Blue Jays on Saturday:

By the way, the guy who is posing with my folks and the boys on the field after Kids Run the Bases was our usher in Section 113B.  His name was Kyle.  He was awesome.  We met him right at the end of BP and chatted with him all day.  After the boys ran the bases, I was taking a picture of my folks and the boys on the field when a voice said, “You need to be in that picture!”  I turned around and it was Kyle.  He took some picts of us all and then I hopped out of the picture and had him hop in.  He was our usher the following day as well.  Great guy.

Also, this was our first time ever seeing the Rogers Centre with the roof open.  WOW — it is 3000% better with the roof open.  And the weather was great all weekend for the game.

2015 Fan Stats:

6	Games
9	Teams (Mariners, Blue Jays, Angels, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Giants, Nationals, Phillies, Mets)
5	Stadiums (Chase Field, Citizens Bank Park, Citi Field, Camden Yards, Rogers Centre)
49	Baseballs (Mariners 2, Blue Jays 5, Orioles 5, Angels 3, Diamondbacks 4, Giants 4, Phillies 6, Umpires 5, Nationals 8, Mets 4, Camera Guy 1, Unknown 1)
10	Player Pictures* (James Paxton*, Fernando Rodney*, Charlie Furbush*, Mark Lowe, Jason Phillips, Carson Smith, Tom Wilhelmsen (1, 1*), Danny Farquhar, Matt Kemp*)
12	Autographs (Fernando Rodney, Tom Wilhelmsen (2), Charlie Furbush (2), James Paxton, Dan Wilson (2), Brian Hunter (2), Matt Kemp*, Justin Upton*, )
2	Kids Run The Bases* (Peoria Sports Complex*, Rogers Centre)
	* = Including Spring Training

We went to the Marlins vs. Mets at Citi Field on Saturday, 5/30/15.  I put together a little video blog about it…which is an idea I’ve been toying with.  Here it is:

Not captured in the video:

– Giancarlo Stanton hit two homeruns!

– Marlins bullpen catcher, Jeff Urgelles, tossed a ball to Kellan.  When he approached us (after Tim yelled, “Hey, Jeff!” and pointed at two left behind BP homers in the front of the visitors bullpen), Urgelles said something along the lines of, “Hey, it’s you guys.  You guys are everywhere.”  I thought that was pretty interesting.  We have seen the Marlins a lot over the last several years, including at Philadelphia, Washington DC, Queens, Cincinnati, Miami and Pittsburgh, but this was our first time seeing them in 2015.

– The Marlins won 9-5.

So we went to Spring Training back in March and had an amazing time!  The highlight of our week in AZ was the Mariners last home game of the Spring.  It was a Friday evening contest against the Colorado Rockies.  And it was the coolest night ever at the ballpark because Tim served as one of the Mariners’ batboys.

Here is pretty comprehensive (long) video with the highlights of Tim’s Mariners debut:

Hopefully Tim can reprise his batboy role again some day in the future accompanied by his brother.

Also, in case it wasn’t clear:  The Mariners won!

I was the Mariners batboy for their Spring Training game on 4/4/1991 when the M’s beat the Cubs on the strength of Ken Griffey Jr.’s hitting and Randy Johnson’s pitching.  Therefore, the Mariners are officially 2-0 (undefeated) with one of the Cook Boys in the dugout.

Here’s a cool story that involves this blog.

In February, the Director of Production from the Mariners’ advertising agency, Copacino+Fujikado, sent me a “CONFIDENTIAL” email.  She said they were working on the Mariners 2015 commercials and were seeking my consent to use in one of the spots a picture of Tim and Felix Hernandez that they found right here on this blog — in this entry, to be exact.  Of course, I agreed.

On March 18th, the four 2015 Mariners commercials were released online and Tim’s picture made the final cut.  The picture, which Mike Zunino apparently has saved on his smart phone, was modified to make Felix look more “intense”!  Here it is:

As commercials go, the Mariners commercials are a big deal.  I am beyond thrilled that Tim is now forever recorded in the annals of Mariners history.  And I had a big huge smile across my face when I saw the *live* TV debut of the commercial the following day when the Mariners’ spring training game against the Indians was broadcast on MLB Network.

Thanks, Mariners and C+F!!