As some of you may have seen from my twitter account @ScreechTheEagle, I had a pretty unforgettable day yesterday touring Joint Base Andrews.  The base’s public affairs officer and 1st Lt. Mark, brought us along to various divisions based at Andrews.  The highlight of my day was taking a helicopter tour around DC and over Nationals Park, as well as my encounter with an attack dog as part of their training.  Check out some of the great pictures below, and thanks again to Joint Base Andrews for having me out!

Here I am cruising in front of the Kennedy Center

Fly like an Eagle!!

Helping the maintenance crew out on one of their planes!

Learning more about the Naval Air Facility from Captain Randy Johnson!

Below is my spacial disorientation exercise.  They spun me around in this chair until I felt sick (do not try at home!!)

My new friends with the 459th Air Refueling Wing

At the dog training facility.  Luckly I had a wing protector, otherwise this bite would have hurt!!!

As you can see, I had quite the tour.  Thanks again to all the men and women in the service that helped facilitate this visit and for all that you do!!

This past weekend, George, Tom, Teddy, Abe and I joined the NatMobile down Constitution Ave in celebration of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  Green was the color of the day, so I decided to wear my new green tuxedo and hat.  I was in full St. Patrick’s Day spirit.  Although, I love St. Patrick’s Day, my favorite thing about it, is that Opening Day is right around the corner!!  Check out a few of the pictures below of our fun day in the city! 

This past weekend I was invited by Slapshot and GWiz to come reek havoc on their respective fans.  It was mascot night at the Capitals game on Sunday in which I helped toss t-shirts, got my dance on, and participated in mascot hockey during the second intermission.  While I played fairly throughout the game, abiding to ALL hockey rules, I was disapointed to find that my opponent Winger did not.  Halfway through the game, Winger decided to turn our goal around and face it against the wall.  I was robbed on my breakaway, which was bound to be a goal!!!!

Monday my “alter-eagle” Air Screech made an appearance at the Wizards game on Martin Luther King Day.  Air Screech broke out some dance moves with Air GWiz and AirSlapshot to hits from Michael Jackson, Haddaway and of course Flo-Rida! 

It’s always a fun time to cross over sports and see how other teams in town are doing.  While I’m a huge Capitals and Wizards fan and had a great time at both games, I can confirm that baseball is still the greatest sport in the world!

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This morning I woke up extra early to not only catch the worm, but to help out at FOX 5s annual Stuff-A-Truck event in North East DC.  Each year I help out at this event to help the underpriviledged people of DC who are stuggling to afford food during the holidays.  Fox 5s team along with myself, Slapshot, WPGC and various other volunteers helped collect, sort, and pack nonperishable items that the generous people of DC were kind enough to donate.  The day was complete with a band, dancing, interviews, football predictions, a fun!  Like usual, I hopped on drums to drop a few beats myself!  It’s always great to give back to the community, especially during the holidays, and I’m thankful for FOX 5 to give me the opportunity!  Below are a couple of pictures from this morning.

Check out videos from this morning on FOX 5 here

Until next time,

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Hi Everybody,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving with your families and friends. 

Looking back on the year, I am very thankful for so many things.  Thankful for all the Nationals fans that gave me love this past year, for the thousands of high fives and hugs I received, for the experiences I had in Taiwan and Arizona this year, and for winning the season series against the Phillies to name a few.  Every day I realize how lucky I am to be the mascots of the Washington Nationals, I really do!

Here’s a picture of Steve Lombardozzi, Ivan Carter and I stuffing containers full of sweet potatoes to give to the less fortunate.  Check it out!

What are all of your favorite Thanksgiving foods?  Turkey?  Sweet Potatoes?  Stuffing?  Let me know!      PS, even though Turkeys are birds, they are not eagles, making them perfectly fine to gobble up. 

 Today is the last day here in Taiwan. Immediately after our 2:00pm game against the Chinese Taipei team in which Wang will be pitching, we head to the airport to begin our journey home. My time on the road was an amazing experience.  The best part was getting to know the people in Taiwan, the culture, our players, and the overall passion for baseball here in this country. I’m very thankful to have been able to experience what I did this week. Here’s one last picture of the front of the sports section of yesterday’s Taipei Times.  Thanks again to everyone who has followed along on this blog.  Can’t wait to see everyone back home in DC!

Last night’s game was at Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan.  Once again there was a full crowd.  The fans here react to every pitch and every swing as if it was game 7 of a World Series.  They are truly excited to have the MLB players here display their talents in Taiwan.  Check out some pictures below of last night’s game.  It was fun to meet with Wang before last night’s game!

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After experiencing last night’s game, it’s very clear that people in Taiwan are very passionate about baseball.  The stadium was nearly at capacity a full hour and a half before the scheduled first pitch.  The atmosphere was electric and the people were genuinely excited to see the MLB all stars play in their home country.  Unfortunately there was a bit of a rain delay to start the game so we weren’t able to do starting lineup introductions or have me deliver the first pitch to the mayor of Taipei.  Instead, after anthems and a few speeches by VIPs including Taiwan’s president, we went directly into the game being played. 

As the game was underway, it was clear to me that not only are the people passionate about baseball, they are also just as excited to see mascots.  Wherever I went there was almost always a line of 50 or more people looking for a picture, autograph or simply a high five.  Throughout the game, I threw hats into the crowd, worked the stands and concourse and even did a magic trick turning a fan wearing a jacket into a fan wearing a Wang jersey.  The MLB all stars ended up winning the rain-shortened game by the score of 7-0 with highlights coming from a Curtis Granderson grand slam and a Michael Morse double.  It’s very clear that Michael Morse is one of the most recognized and loved player from the MLB squad.  Whenever he is introduced, there is a loud ovation.

This morning I headed to an MLB store located in the center of Taipei with Michael Morse and Ross Detwiler for an autograph signing.

 Upon arriving, there was a line of people a block long looking to have their ball, picture, or jersey signed.  When we went inside there were tens of Taiwanese reporters looking to get their questions answered.  After a short interview with Michael and Ross, the two signed autographs for about an hour.  I met all of the fans as they waited in line and even did an interview.  Check out some of the pictures below of last night’s game and this morning’s autograph signing!  Also, take a look at me in front of the Taipei 101 building, the second tallest building in the world!

The past two days have been extremely busy and I have a lot of pictures to share.  Yesterday was “work out day” here in Taipei.  I went to XinZhuang Field where the game tonight is going to be played to take in the team’s workout.  As usual Michael Morse hit a few bombs out of the park during batting practice.  The media talked to Ross Detwiler and Colin Balester and both explained how excited they were to be in the country of Taiwan.  From the workout yesterday, it’s clear to see that the Nationals have quite a following here as our representatives were one of the most sought after for an autograph or picture.

Today I was able to tag along with the team to do some sightseeing in the city.  First we went to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.  This is where the nation’s flag is raised every morning and the courtyard in fromt of the memorial serves as a place for national celebrations.  In the main building is a statue of Chiang Kai-shek.

After visiting the memorial hall we headed to Martyrs’ Shrine.  Martyr’s Shrine is where statues of brave and loyal Martyrs are inserted into the four walls of the building in testimorny of their heroic war deeds.  The city of Taipei is beautiful.