I have yet another interview for you today! This one is with one of my fellow blogger brethren, Matt Eisner, also known as Matt's Bats! He is a baseball blogger as well but, unlike me, he mainly focuses on his hometown team, the Washington Nationals. In case you don't know about this blogging master, let me give you a little bio.
Matt is an eight year old kid (THAT'S RIGHT, HE MAKES ME LOOK LIKE AN OLD MAN) from the suburbs of Washington D. C. He really loves baseball and the Nationals. (You can also find him on Twitter at @MattsBats.) He is the biggest Nationals fan at his school and he's only eight! Matt has been in love with baseball since 2009 (that was when he was just five!) and has a collection of 32 baseballs that he's received at baseball games. He likes playing sports video games (just like me!) like the MLB 2K series on the Wii and NFL Madden on the PS3 (funny, I prefer Madden over the MLB 2K series). Matt also loves to travel to different places and get souvenirs there. He has been to these five ballparks: Nationals Park (Washington Nationals), Citi Field (New York Mets), Camden Yards (Baltimore Orioles), Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees), and AT&T Park (San Francisco Giants). Matt plays baseball on a little league team and with his brother all the time, which proves that he likes to play and watch the sport, a true fan. He was even on FOX 5 News, just like me (see picture)! Anyway, let's get to that interview I was talking about before.
Matt N: When did you start to get an interest in baseball?
Matt E: My dad got me tickets to a Nationals vs. Mets game in July 2009, but I never knew much about baseball because I was only five. We were sitting in the 300th level. Randomly, a man came up to us and we started talking to him and told him that it was my first baseball game. He said he was leaving soon and gave us his tickets in the front row behind first base next to the camera well in the dugout. After we got settled, a camera person told me to yell to the players and maybe they would give me a ball, and they did! I got so into the game I realized I would love baseball. The Nats won and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
Matt N: How long have you been writing your blog?
Matt E: That summer I was going to a lot of Nationals games and watching a lot of games on TV and watching the MLB Network, so I decided to write a paragraph every day to express my opinions on what was happening with the Nationals and the trades that were happening right before the trade deadline. I remember driving to summer camp in July 2012 with the idea of writing a website so that I could be like a real reporter and other people could read what I wrote. My very first Matt’s Bats post was about the Miami Marlins trading Hanley Ramirez, who was their face of the franchise, to L.A.
Matt N: What grade are you in?
Matt E: I am in 3rd grade. People think I’m older, but it’s true that I’m only eight!
Matt N: What are your hobbies besides blogging?
Matt E: Basically, it’s baseball, baseball cards, and computer/TV. I also play little league. Last year, my favorite position was third base, but they change positions every two innings. With my baseball cards, I play games, where I pretend the cards are real players and they play against my brother’s cards. I play with baseball cards very roughly, and I have to admit, after a while they get out of shape. I like to watch MLB Network on our mega-huge TV and play on Google Maps during computer time.
Matt N: I know you are a huge Nationals fan. Have you met any of the Nats?
Matt E: Of course! I’ve met players like Stephen Strasburg (in Viera for Spring training) and Bryce Harper (2 times, most recently at his baseball camp). And I met a bunch of players at NatsFest in DC in January, like Ryan Mattheus, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, Denard Span, Chad Tracy, and Ross Detwiler. I have also met other players like Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard at other times. I am also friends with a few Nats players on Twitter.
Matt N: Who is your favorite player currently and all time?
Matt E: Well, obviously, my hero of today is OF Bryce Harper, because first of all, he’s a Nat, and second, I love his hustle. He tells the world no matter what age they are, they can still be whatever they want. He was so amazing last year as NL ROY, and he wasn’t even 20. I use his stance all the time when I play in games. My favorite historical player is Brooklyn Dodgers 2B Jackie Robinson because he overcame great racial prejudice to become a phenomenal baseball player. He had speed. He famously stole home in the ’55 World Series.
Matt N: Who do you think is going to win the 2013 World Series?
Matt E: West coast magic! Dodgers vs. Halos (Angels)! Although Josh Hamilton contends for WS MVP, the Dodgers pull off their magic and get the WS trophy, but after 7 games. As much as I’d love the Nats to win, I personally think that the Nats will lose to L.A. in the NLCS.
Matt N: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Matt E: I want to be a TV commentator like the Nationals’ F.P. Santangelo. The Nationals also have excellent radio announcers named Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler. Play by play is hard to do and you really are just the narrator, even if you are really good like Charlie and Dave. But the color commentator gets to give his opinion and also tell jokes. You are also on TV a lot and get famous. You also get to travel with the team. I think I would be good at that job because I am starting to give my opinion on my blog. I also know a lot of stats because I watch the MLB Network and I have lots of baseball cards that I play with. When my Twitter got popular, F.P. Santangelo followed me. When I went on TV for my first interview, he gave me pointers to get as good as him. If I couldn’t do anything related to baseball, I would be an inventor, because I like to come up with new ideas.
Matt N: Have you been keeping up with Spring training at all or are you just looking forward to Opening Day?
Matt E: Even though I haven’t kept up with a lot of Spring training, I have kept up with the 2013 World Baseball Classic. It’s so interesting seeing players like the Nationals’ Chien-Ming Wang play for Chinese Taipei and Roger Bernadina play for team Netherlands, and Gio Gonzalez and Ross Detwiler playing for Team USA. I like seeing other familiar players like Yankee Robinson Cano (the MVP of the Classic) play for the Dominican team. And, of course, watching the USA team is like watching the All Star Game. I am going to Spring Training over spring break. We are seeing three games. We are seeing the Nationals on the road three times: once against the Mets, once against the Cardinals and once against the Marlins. I will be tweeting a lot on @MattsBats. I am looking forward to Opening Day and I’m actually going to be there at Nationals Park!
Matt N: What did your friends at school say when you were on TV on FOX News?
Matt E: They were happy for me and even wanted my autograph. They were swarming around me like gnats (not Nats!) and I had to explain to them that I was the same Matt I was before. I just happened to be on live television that morning!
What a great kid. Just a little fun fact about Matt's blog: his saying after every post is IGNITE YOUR MATTITUDE! That's a pretty cool slogan. Anyway, shout out to Matt for agreeing to be interviewed by me (if you want to see his interview of me by the way, click here). So, I hope you enjoyed this interview and thanks for reading this edition of "all the buzz on what wuzz".
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