On Wednesday, July 25, 2012, my mom and I went into my dad’s office in our house and went online to start a blog for me to write about baseball. That was exactly 2 years ago!

From the time I wrote my first post about Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate leaving the Marlins for LA, I have had a lot of great experiences.  In August 2013, MLB Advanced Media asked me to write for MLBlogs as a “Pro.”  In all that time, I have had some great experiences, like interviewing Nationals players, visiting ballparks and learning how a baseball game is broadcasted, interviewing Justin Verlander at the Bob Feller Act of Valor Awards, meeting Nats fans, and raising over $11,000 for cancer charity last year.   I have had a lot of fun and success and when I have grandkids, I’ll tell them the stories and show them pictures of what I did when I was a  child back in “the good old days.”

This Friday, MattsBats.com will turn two years old. For me, these two years have flown by.  It has been just amazing how many posts I have written. A lot of people keep telling me that my posts keep getting better and better.

I would like to share some of the posts that are my favorites.  It is hard to pick just a few, but these are some of the ones I remember most from the past 2 years.  (Also click on the links in the paragraph on top, because those are also some of my favorite posts and experiences).

July 24, 2012– posted 7/25/12

This was my first post ever. I wrote it about the then-recent trade of Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate from the newly named Marlins to the Dodgers in exchange for now-Fish starter Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. I also posted some “Nats News”where I just listed that Ronny Cedeno singled in a run and that Tyler Clippard K’d former Met Ike Davis looking to end a 5-2 2012 Nats win. It wasn’t, well, a masterpiece  but it would do. That was the beginning of Matt’s Bats.

Thanks New Twitter Friends!– posted 1/18/13

I had started tweeting out links to my posts on Twitter on November 20, 2012.  On the morning of January 18, 2013, and I had only 37 followers when we checked before we left to go to school. After getting off the school bus, I learned that my Twitter had tripled to 120 followers because @FakeFP #FF’d me. That was before @NatsArchive existed and @JWerthsBeard didn’t even follow and #FF me yet to its 13,000 followers!  I’ll never forget the yell of excitement I made when I learned that I had over 100 followers.  That scream may have made the other neighbors and the other students and parents think I was a freak. But it was all just awesomeness. It was so exciting in the offseason where there’s not a lot going on.  Now, I have almost 1,000 more people following me on Twitter than I did on the night of January 18, 2013.

Behind The Scenes Of My First Ever Live TV Appearance– posted 2/28/13

On the morning of the crisp winter of 2013, I was practicing my butt off  in preparation for my first ever live TV interview with Dave Ross on Fox 5 News. It was very exciting because I was going to be on TV live!  Everyone watching Fox in the DC metro area and online could see my interview. I didn’t know what questions Dave would ask me.  And I was also only eight!  That was a big moment in my life, and Dave would ask me to come on his Nats pre-game or post-game show a lot in 2013 before he moved to 120Sports.

A Matt’s  Bats Chat With Heather Zimmerman- posted 3/4/13

This is still my most popular post ever! For my first ever Matt’s Bats Chat interview, I talked with Nats star Ryan Zimmerman’s wife about what it is like to be the wife of a baseball player. It is very interesting, and even I go back and read it over and over.  I love this post, and I’ll never forget it.  Heather has been really nice to me.

Matt’s Bats Turns Pro- posted 8/26/13

This was my final post on the day I debuted as a Pro Blogger on the MLBlogs.com website.  I became MLB’s youngest Pro blogger.  A couple months later, I was named one of MLB.com’s top 100 blogs, a huge accomplishment for me.

My Amazing Experience At Marlins Park- posted 4/24/14

I went down to Miami to see the Nats take on the Fish, and I went on the field, and I also saw Jose Fernandez, got Giancarlo Stanton’s  autograph, interviewed Zach Walters, and took home a bunch of baseballs. I also saw a great game and a Nats road win.

Those were just some of my amazing things I did in the past two years.

But here are some things I’d like to accomplish in a year before Matt’s Bats turns 3:

Matt’s Bats Meets Matt The Bat

I would love to interview Matt Williams. He is a great manager and is leading the Nationals to a run at the NL East title.  Who can help me score a Matt’s Bats Chat with Matt The Bat?

Get Up To 1,500 Twitter Followers

Currently I have over 1,000 Twitter followers, including some great fans, players and broadcasters.  But wouldn’t it be great to get up to like 1,500?  It would be amazing if I did, and I think that is possible if you keep RT’ing and telling people about my site.

Visit More Ballparks

I’ve been to games at Nationals Park, Camden Yards, Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, AT&T Park, Marlins Park, and Wrigley Field.  Soon I’m going to add Petco Park and probably Citizens Bank Park too.  I would love to be able to go to more games (especially Nats games) on the road.

Not only have I gotten so many great experiences, met so many people, and learned so much, I believe the most important part of my blog and the reason I made it to two years is because you guys keep reading and tweeting and encouraging me. Thank you so much for your support and I hope to write more and more posts throughout the year.  Now, Nats Fans:

#ShredTheReds

 and

#IGNITE YOUR

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