Tony Ciccarello & West Tampa Little League World Series + Rays & AL East update

301 RaysUp & tony-ciccarello-west-tampa-little-league-world-series

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to Baseball Beds on Deck. I am Mark Corbett, your host Matt Germain is off this week and look forward to having you back next week. It's kind of an interesting one. He's taking a little vacation time, as will I, but first I wanna at least take a peek at what's happening in the a L East and the rays.

In the American League, ge, it's virtually a three-way tie. We've got the Blue Jays leading off with the 48 wins, 38 losses. We got the Yankees tied at 48 and 38 as well, and the rays at 48 wins and 39 losses. The rays are only a game, or excuse me, no, only a half a game behind the other two to be leading the division.

So. While it looks like a very strong competitive division this year, it also means we'll probably see one or two of these teams in the, uh, wild card as well for the American League. So that should be proving [00:01:00] pretty interesting. So we did wanna touch on that before we got to the, uh. The part of the show, we got it previously ran on Florida Baseball Biz.

It's with Tony Chiarello and it'd be talking about the West Tampa Little League. It's interesting too because Little League is something we're gonna be talking, uh, more about here on Baseball Biz on Deck as the, let's see, what's it gonna be at Williamsport toward the end of August will be the championship.

So we're gonna try to do a few little league stories in between. Here's a, here's a question for you before we get started, and here's someone else from the Tampa area. This person was in a uniform as a player, and when he was there playing in Major League baseball, he had over 1000 wins, 1000. This particular baseball player then became a manager, and as a manager they had 1800 wins.

So the question is, who [00:02:00] is this person and are they in the Hall of Fame? We'll get back to that after the interview with Tony Cigarillo. Today on Baseball Biz, we have a very special guest, and that's none other than Mr. Tony Chiarello. He's from West Tampa and he's played both in the little league there and also in the senior league, which won the World Series back in 1970.

It's, it's great having you here today on the show. You and I were talking before we got started here today. Living here in Tampa. You know I'm a newbie. I've been here 19 years. Yes.

The one thing after being here, I had the good fortune of, of working over the Tampa Bay race as a fan host. And to me that was the most fun thing I could do. I got to meet a lot of other fans. You know, as a fan host, you greet the people as they come in the door or you know, or you help them find their seat.

But the, the excitement in the trop, you know, with those folks [00:03:00] was just amazing. And it, it reinvigorated me with the game. So, but now. As time grew on, I took a job over here at the Tampa Baseball Museum. You know, so the love of the game just was kind of reignited with that. But you guys, when I realized what all was going on in Tampa, the game is part of the fiber of everybody around 

Tony Ciccarello: here and certainly here in West Tampa.

Well, yes, uh, growing up with West Tampa, uh, a lot of our fathers had a lot to do with it because they were big baseball fans and they played baseball. So we in turn. Followed them and played baseball. And then, uh, it, it got to the point where a lot of times baseball was your life. You really enjoyed it so much.

You could go to the park and play, you could find up pickup games and you, you, you started knowing everybody and you, and baseball was a really big deal growing up. Give me an 

Mark Corbett: instance. Gimme, was there a coach or a player in the, in the league that just really set you guys on 

Tony Ciccarello: fire? Uh, you [00:04:00] know, not really, because, you know, there were so many people playing and coaching Yeah.

That you got to know everybody. He picked a little bit of this, picked a little bit of that, and, and like I was saying, uh, my greatest influence was my father. Yeah. And he'd go to work no matter how tired he was, he'd come and, and, and, and throw with me and my brother. He coaches and, and they had a lot of guys, had a lot of fathers that did that.

Yeah, so they, they were kind of our heroes and they showed us the love of the game, and then we took it from there and we passed it along to our kids too. You and I were talking 

Mark Corbett: before the show is book entitled, baseball Was My Life Stories from West Tampa. Mm-hmm. And Mary Jo Malone and Malone and Art Kebo wrote this book.

I love it. I mean, you think about baseball. We're not talking about Florida. We're not even talking about Tampa. This is granular buddy there. Yes, it is. It's about West Tampa. Yes. What we was talking about earlier as far as being part of the fiber of this area. Geez, Manice man. I look down this list. [00:05:00] We're talking about everybody from Pop Quest.

Mm-hmm. You know, to the, to Margo. We're talking about, uh, Martinez and Gonzalez. And yes, this area is, like I said, is just so rich with it, but it starts somewhere and with you as a youngster. I mean, you saw quite a bit, like you're saying, going from park to park, I guess. Mm-hmm. From pickup games. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. But you played some organized ball even as a young man too? 

Tony Ciccarello: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I, I played, we had a little league at, uh, St. Joseph Catholic School. From there, I went to West Tampa Little League, and that was, I guess, the, the major leagues of youth baseball. And at that time that I went, it, it seemed like there was a whole group of ballplayers that it was a nucleus of everything that was gonna be great in the future.

We won championships, we went to World Series, and it was in kind of encapsulated seven, eight to nine years. So that was a good group of guys that came through there and they kept going, you know, and, and a lot of the guys, they played high school, they played college. [00:06:00] Some, some went to the pros. So it, it was almost like the perfect thing in time.

It all came together. Plus everybody loved the game so much. 

Mark Corbett: When you're surrounded by other folks that still have that kind of passion, I mean, that means a lot. Let's talk a little bit more about that because not only were y'all just enjoying the game here, it was elevated, there was some national attention.

What, what happened? Tell us a little bit more about the The Little league with West Tampa. 

Tony Ciccarello: Okay. The Little League back in 1967, we were the 11 and 12-year-old all stars, and we began playing and back in those days everything was single elimination. The all-star tournaments. You lost the game and you went home.

Yeah, so we started out here in Tampa, went to Dunedin and the, the Southeastern regional was in, in Al Lang St. Petersburg, right down the street. Right. So we won 11 straight games. My gosh. And after we won the 11th game, then. We got the trip to the World Series [00:07:00] and from, and I'm not sure, but they, they tell me History says that we might've been the first team from Florida to go to the Little League World Series.

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. Uh, we didn't win. We came in fifth, but a lot of us, we went by plane and I'll never forget it was Eastern Airlines. They're not around anymore, and most of us had never been on an airplane. So you can imagine how exciting that was. And, uh, and, and you know what, we, we weren't nervous. We really looked forward to going, went to Williamsport.

They took great care of us. And again, you know, we came in fifth, but it was a great experience. That wasn't Little league. Yeah. What, what it was, we had to win 11 straight, oh, 11 straight games. The last four were to Al Lang, which was the southern regional. They called that Southeastern Regional and that whoever wins that go goes to Williamsport and still being able to go home at night 

Mark Corbett: and have dinner.

Tony Ciccarello: That that, and, yeah, exactly. That's what it was. And we were the only team from the area. That [00:08:00] was that close. So, you know, you had teens from Virginia, Alabama, Texas. We were right down the street. It, it was very good. It was good, especially for the parents too. 'cause everybody could come out and see us.

Everybody. 

Mark Corbett: Well let me ask you a little more about that too. What was, what was the crowd like? You know, when, when you guys were playing there, what was, what was that like? 

Tony Ciccarello: It was the first time that anything like that would happen had happened. So after the games, I. The, the crowd sometimes would rush on the field and it was like the major leagues, you'd have to go to 'em, the mothers would kiss you, the fathers would shake your hands.

And we were like, you know, what's going on here? You know, and for West Tampa being a little section like that mm-hmm. This was, this is big time. And, and at that time, the newspapers sports section gave us front page coverage. Wow. So it, it was big. Eh, there's some articles that I still have that my, my mom would cut up and keep, but we were front page on the sports page.

Oh man. That is so cool. That was very cool. Yeah. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Well, well let [00:09:00] ask you more about that because I'm. You know, you're saying this may have been the first team that made it from, that's my understanding from Florida. No, it's, it's, it's funny, I mean, I was looking at Wiki competed, trying to get a feel on some of this, and I was curious to see if, if Florida would be like the number one, uh, state that had delivered.

Mm-hmm. You know, teams to the World Series. Mm-hmm. For the little league. And lo and behold, I, I wasn't surprised to see California in there because Yeah. Another, I mean, a very large population there, but Exactly. But also, you know, good weather. Just like we are lucky to experience here in Tampa most of the time.

Tony Ciccarello: Mm-hmm. Yes. 

Mark Corbett: Not so much like the 

Tony Ciccarello: hurricanes. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, not so much. But the idea of it is that there is, it's conducive to being able to play the game throughout the year. It's like if you go to Wisconsin, you don't necessarily think that somebody's gonna be playing ball all long. Yeah, yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: Maybe more hockey.

Well, well, you know, you know all the leagues here, they used to have, [00:10:00] where they called it winter ball. Yeah. You know, and you're, you play in October, November, December. And then January came, you start registering to play for spring ball, which started in February. So you're absolutely right. This was year round here.

Mark Corbett: You know, being in West Tampa, you are also looking at a lot of the folks that came up through Yor. Mm-hmm. And a lot of 'em who'd worked in the cigar factories. Mm-hmm. There was such a diversity of people there. I mean, it was, it was immigrant city there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I mean, you're talking about Spaniards Cubans, you're talking about Germans, and I know there's other, uh, 

Tony Ciccarello: Italians.

Mark Corbett: Well, yeah. How did 

Tony Ciccarello: I miss that one? Yeah, well, I'm, I'm half Spanish, half Italian. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. German, they had a German club in Ybor City. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it was a mixture and, uh, and you know. What had happened with that. It was a mixture, but everybody loved baseball. Yeah. No matter what ethnic group you were from.

Yep. They loved baseball, and that was a [00:11:00] commonality right there. 

Mark Corbett: That's so cool. Yeah. I mean, when I think about that, is it. Yeah. Commonality, finance, common ground. And you and I were talked a little bit before the show. It's sometimes it doesn't seem to be the thing a lot of folks are willing to grasp to these days.

So it would be nice if they would. Yes. They look 

Tony Ciccarello: something common. Common. That's, we got 

Mark Corbett: baseball for BA Boys and Girls School, you know, and on there you're. Either one team or the other, and you were gonna be there with your teammates and you, you better be able to gel. And those that do, you know, advance.

But the whole idea of West Tampa and Ibor having so many people from so many different cultures, but finding, like you said, a commonality with baseball. To me that's just huge. And that ha I had the strengthen as far as how even the youth got got along with one another to some degree. Of course. 

Tony Ciccarello: No, it did, definitely, definitely still kids.

Yeah. 'cause and, and you know, and not, not only did you have like, uh, Eborn West Tampa, well you had like Inner Bay Port Tampa, citrus Park, uh, Palm Macia. They had a lot of leagues at [00:12:00] that time. As you got older, you would play other leagues. You played guys in high school that, that you played when other leagues you were, they went to high school with you and you get to know a lot, know a lot of people through baseball, you know.

Well, well, let 

Mark Corbett: me 

Tony Ciccarello: go 

Mark Corbett: back for a little bit to the actual, um mm-hmm. Literal League World Series. Now you're there and you're, uh, you're there in the teams playing. I'm sure it's a little different than it was, than it's today. Mm-hmm. You know, we, we had another Florida team go there this year and they want everything.

That's right. They took the whole thing and it's Lake Mary. 

Tony Ciccarello: Lake Mary. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: And the, the thing of it is, it was, you know, it's all a big event. It's covered by MLP and everybody else. Mm-hmm. You know, for like a week. Uh, there's celebs there, there's interviews mm-hmm. And all that. Now, your experience back in 67.

Mm-hmm. What was it like? Was, was there all the. 

Tony Ciccarello: Celebrity and all 

Mark Corbett: of that around 

Tony Ciccarello: it. There wasn't like there is [00:13:00] now, but it was, it was a very big event because I remember at the time you, you remember that a, b, c wide world of sports. Oh yeah. Well the, the championship game was on there. Oh, wow. Yeah. And at and at that time in 67.

They brought him in as a celebrity. It was Ted Williams. 

Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

Tony Ciccarello: We never met him or talked to him or anything, but he was, he was a celebrity. They did it in the wire world of sports. Just for the final game. 

Yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: But every game that we played, the stands were packed. Uh, I, I know you see the hilltop there.

Yeah. The people sit that was packed for every game locally was a big deal. Yeah. You know, and they kept us all the ball. We stayed in a big camp. We each had our little cottages. We had the cafeteria. They fed you, they took care of you. And uh, they even watched what you ate. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't really, growing up they used you, you used to ask for a, a, a coke, a cold Coke.

It was called a [00:14:00] suicide. It was great. Grape Orange Co. All mixed together and up there when you would, uh, in the camp there, when you'd ask him, Hey, gimme a su suicide, no, no, no. We don't want to get you sick. You could have one of each one only. But you know, he says, we don't wanna mix it and get you sick.

So that, that was a big deal there. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, okay. Tony and I took a brief break there, ma. Basically I was checking to make sure this thing's recording properly and it's, we're lucky. Okay, let's get back to the meat and potatoes. So we were talking about Ted Williams and everybody coming to, to the, the little leagues we were talking about how Florida has had, uh, such a, a great amount of players, but also been to the Little League World Series several times, but.

With you guys, it didn't stop there. I mean, Tony, with you and your buds. There was this, you know, a senior 

Tony Ciccarello: Yes. Yes. We, uh, that team from 67, the nucleus of that team in 1970, we were playing senior [00:15:00] league baseball. 13, 14, and 15-year-old division. Right. We did the, the same thing there. There you had some places where it was double illumination.

Mm-hmm. Okay. But all, we made it through Tampa. We got, uh. Everything was in this area that we were fortunate, and the Southern regional was in Asheville, North Carolina. Now we got up there, we had our first laws. But we had already beaten that team. 

Mark Corbett: Right? 

Tony Ciccarello: So when we were in the winner's bracket, they beat us.

We came back and we beat them. And then from, uh, Asheville, that was the, the southern region, we went to Gary, Indiana Oh, wow. For the, for the Senior League World Series. Now the, the stadium wasn't big as big as the one in the little league in anything, uh, little League World Series. And, uh, they had, gee whiz, they had teams, I'll try to remember, they had the five teams.

North, south, east and west. And then what they did was the state champion from Indiana where Gary was, they let [00:16:00] them get in the, in the tournament. Then they had, uh, there was Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Oh, wow. So, yeah. And uh, we won that basically with the same group of guys. Few different ones, but mostly the same group of guys.

And most of the guys that we played there went on to play, well, most of 'em played high school, but college and some, uh, some went, uh, minor league pros. So it, it was a, it was a good team and we, we all knew each other, everybody, and, and it was. It was a group of guys that we knew that if one, one guy had a bad game, somebody else would pick it up.

We had a lot of confidence in each other. Yeah. E even if, let's say if you the eighth or ninth batter, we knew you could do it when we needed it. Done. So, and it was there. They didn't, they didn't have any celebrities. Yeah. But they had a man here named, um, he owned the Tampa Tarpons at the time, Mitchell Mick.

And he, he would broadcast the games [00:17:00] on one of the local radio shows. Oh, love it. And, uh, somebody even wrote in this book, he said, when, when the game was on and being broadcast in West Tampa, you could go from house to house and hear the radio on. Somebody mentioned it in the book. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, I love it. 

Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. And he, he did that.

It, it was another great experience and all, well we, all the flying, we didn't care. 'cause we'd already done the, the, the, the trips there. We've already flown in planes and things like that. So you would land in O'Hare Airport in Chicago, then they'd bus you to Gary, Indiana. And, uh, it, it's always a, a great thrill.

But I tell you what, the, the guys that we all play together, I think we kept each other grounded. You know, nobody got a real big head or anything like that because we were all pretty good and we kept each other grounded. It was very interesting. Good group of guys. Good group of guys. Y 

Mark Corbett: you know, Emma. Pure ignorance.

First time I heard Senior League, I thought you, I thought that'd be you and I now. [00:18:00] Yes. E exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 65 and plus. Yes. Yeah, 

Tony Ciccarello: yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. It does. So, 

Mark Corbett: you know, to me it's, it's kind of sad that there, there's not as big a spotlight or close to it as we see with the 

Tony Ciccarello: Little League.

Oh yeah. The little league is, it's amazing what they do. Now, every, almost every game is broadcast. On tv, on the radio or something in the little league. Yeah. And back in the day with us, it was, was big because I know little League baseball was huge. Even back when we were, we were growing up and playing.

Right. And as a matter of fact, the local stations, uh, uh, I, I don't know if you re a lot of people here, remember his name was Andy Hardy. Mm-hmm. He was a local sportscaster here in channel 13. They send him. To, to be with us, to talk to us and follow the games and everything like that. Yeah. So that he was a celebrity.

It was huge for us. Oh man. You know, and, um, yeah. Yeah, it was, it was quite a, a experience growing up and playing there. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: [00:19:00] That sounds, it sounds like such a blast. It 

Tony Ciccarello: was. It was. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Now you referenced a book and we were talking about earlier. Can you tell us a little bit more about that book? 

Tony Ciccarello: Oh, this, this book here.

I remember, uh, Mary Jo Malone and Art Kibble, they wanted, uh, do a, a book on, uh, west Tampa. Mm-hmm. Starting out, uh, the, the players that played in West Tampa went to the big leagues, west Tampa Little League. And, uh, what they were doing, they were trying to get in contact. With as many players that played in West Tampa.

Little League grew up in West Tampa and they, they got ahold of me. As a matter of fact, we met at my mother and father's house. They asked us to bring clippings, whatever you did. And, uh, I brought it. They talked to me, they had talked to my dad and we turned everything in, but. We didn't know what they were gonna do.

Right. What they were gonna write, what they were gonna put in the book, pictures or nothing. We just gave it to them when they came out with the book. I, I mean, we were very excited because it is a very comprehensive book about West Tampa. Uh, [00:20:00] they did a great job. 

Mark Corbett: The title of the book again is Baseball Was My Life Stories from West Tampa.

Mm-hmm. And I love it. They've got some great photos in here. I know you appear well, you appear not only a couple times. I mean, one of the times you're all the freaking go, man, 

Tony Ciccarello: that was a surprise to me. I never knew they were gonna do that. And the book showed up. I said, oh, that's me. You know? But I really did know they were gonna do that.

Mark Corbett: I love it. I mean, because now that 

Tony Ciccarello: that picture you, uh, it says La Gazeta there. 

Mark Corbett: Yes, sir. 

Tony Ciccarello: That is the group of men who built the, uh, concession stand at West Tampa. And my dad is on there. He was one of them. Oh, wow. And the mayor of Tampa at that time was Nick cio. He's in that picture too. So yeah, they had all the people who helped build it.

Mark Corbett: Like I said, that's actually a trilingual newspaper. I.

A lot of the old papers of this, but you have to know a Dave. It's, it's a great resource for a lot of folks too. [00:21:00] I love this. You're talking. As far as me coming back to what the essence of what you're saying though, tell me a little bit more about the field and the development of your father's participation with that.

Tony Ciccarello: Well, the, he, uh, along with a lot of the fathers there, they, uh, my, my dad was in construction. There's a, the other gentleman there, a lot of 'em were in construction, so one of them ran the show and the rest of the people got and helped him. Uh, it was a two story block building. They would go, they would do that on the weekends.

Mm-hmm. The fathers would get together, they'd get people to note, donate materials, and they donated their times. So it it, the only thing it cost them was their time. Right. And they, they were glad to do it. And it was at the time when they built, it was the senior league concession stand. That was state of the art right there at two story.

One they, and they upstairs was the room for the board of directors. Downstairs is where they served all the food and everything like that. So yeah, it was a big deal at that time. 

Mark Corbett: Well, now that we've seen this and talked about yourself here in West Tampa and the [00:22:00] Little League and the senior league, what was there?

You felt like that after? After going through all that, what does you carry through today as part of that history and yourself? 

Tony Ciccarello: It's a very proud history. Yes, I was very proud to be from West Tampa and uh, and the life we had, we really enjoyed. It was a, a real, really good life. We enjoyed it. We got on our bicycles, rode to the park, you know, and, uh, it was, it was, I'm not gonna say a dream, but it was, it growing up was a fantastic thing growing up in West Tampa.

Yeah. Every, it was a, uh, it's a big now, but it was a smaller community. Everybody knew each other everywhere you went in that area. Somebody you knew. And, uh, yeah, it was, it, it, it was something special. Something special. 

Mark Corbett: I get that. You know, and reflecting back on myself, 'cause that's what I do. Uh, no. As a child there was a park [00:23:00] near me and actually it had like four diamonds and it was great.

There was a summer. The little leagues there was just great, I mean, you had little concession stands and it brought a lot of people together. There were some picnics, some people would bring food and all that. It was, it was a blast. It was, it blessed. I can't speak. It was a blast. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It was a blessing blast.

But to the thing of it was, it, it this whole sense of community, I mean like you're talking about West Tampa, you know, it brings those folks together to enjoy something together. And, uh, to me that that is 

Tony Ciccarello: just. Essential. I'll, I'll, I'll tell you this too, that, uh, you know, now, uh, youth baseball and all that, they don't play any Saturday night games.

Yeah. Well, back in when I played there in West Tampa, they played Saturday night games, and that was a big, big deal. The, the, the crowds were full because Saturday night, a lot of people, that was their entertainment. Right. Go watch a game at the park on Saturday night. [00:24:00] Now, no, nobody wants to go watch a baseball game on Saturday night youth baseball.

Oh, wow. They, they want to go to the movies, they wanna go out somewhere, but, and it was a really big event on Saturday nights at the park. 

Mark Corbett: Well, you know, I, I get that. I mean, I can see that the whole idea of your being, your evening, especially if you've been working all week and then, then having that, and, uh, I say this probably too many times, I worry about.

Travel leagues, travel teams that they may not have the sense of community that a little league team or their buddies that, you know, in the neighborhood that I feel like sometimes the travel leagues and I guess in the, have somebody show the rebut me on this. I feel like they're so tied into absolute performance that I feel like the joy of the game sometimes is missed.

Tony Ciccarello: I am glad you brought that up. I, I have strong opinions about that. I had a couple of my boys, uh, [00:25:00] two of my sons, they played, they, they played youth baseball and, uh, they still, they were having travel ball teams. Mm-hmm. And, and I was hoping that they didn't want to do that. Yeah, they did not. And I was happy.

Okay. Because I, I, I think a lot of these travel ball teams, it's just my opinion that, and, and the parents love their kids and I know they're willing to spend to do anything with them. I know that, but a lot of 'em think they're, that if they go through this travel ball, they're gonna go to the big leagues.

Yeah. They're gonna be discovered and this, and they're gonna be discovered in that. This friend of mine we talk about, a lot of times we tell people if you're good enough. Does it make any difference where you play? The scouts will find you. Yep. I'll guarantee you, if you're good enough, they'll find you.

And I kind of. Miss having all the youth baseball parks because not every kid can play on a travel ball team. Yeah. You know? But at a youth baseball park, there's room for all kids. That's right. The good, not [00:26:00] so good in the middle. And the youth parks very good. I mean, they allow the kids to play a good, good brand of baseball, but now you got the travel ball cost a lot of money.

Oh yeah. To play and to travel and. They're gonna make the big lease. No, very few people do, and don't worry. If you're good, they'll find you. 

Mark Corbett: I mean, come on, boys and girls, let's, let's face it, it's, it's an ugly truth, but it's, it's there. Uh, and even if you do, it's gonna be, what, six years before you can be a free agent to maybe you be able to work with the team you wanna work with.

So. You think about, well, if Rob Manfred hadn't cut a couple levels of minor leagues mm-hmm. You know, I guess there might be a few more players there. Mm-hmm. But the minor leagues, you look at how full they already are now, and it isn't going to be just travel league folks there. And I've talked with scouts that had 'em on the show before too, and they say the same thing as you.

Mm-hmm. And that's like, guess what? You're good. [00:27:00] You're gonna get found. You're somebody's gonna come out. Exactly. You know, somebody who's sitting there in the stands at a high school and sees it, they're gonna be picking up the phone and calling somebody, or in heaven knows there's everybody. If there's not a a true scout, there's somebody who thinks they're a Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And they're gonna make sure call 'em bird dogs. They call bird dogs. 

Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. They call 'em bird dogs. They, they go look and then they send the real scout to look at you. Yeah. And when, and, uh, you've heard stories too, that the scouts go to see somebody. There's somebody else there that shows up at the game that's pretty good.

They go, whoa, where did this guy come from? And they start looking at him. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. They'll find you. Don't worry. 

Mark Corbett: Well, again, coming back to West Tampa and having played ball as a youngster and enjoying the game now, did you see, is there. Friendships, relationships that you still carry today from those times?

Tony Ciccarello: Oh, yeah. I still see a lot of the guys. Oh, yeah. Not as often as I'd like to, but when you, when you see 'em, it's like you just pick up where you left [00:28:00] off. Yeah. You know, it's like, I, I saw you yesterday. I see a lot of 'em. One of 'em, I'm, I'm particularly close to others I see on and off a couple. I see a more often, but no, you, you, some have moved outta town.

Yeah. And some you don't see, but I'm, but we're still, like I said, when you see them, you just pick up right where you left off. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: It's a, it's a good feeling. Good feeling. 

Mark Corbett: I mean, because I think about that too. Even as you're growing up day in and day out, you see the others families. I know from the, where I've.

Uh, people I've grown up, I see where they get married and they have their kids, and you have those discussions or maybe you wind up even working with them in the workplace. So those kinda relationships to me are, are really cool to be able to see that be sustained. I'm really glad to see that you guys mm-hmm.

You know, had that here in West Tampa. Okay. Tony, is there something special that you would like to make sure people know when they think of West Tampa and. The [00:29:00] little leagues here. 

Tony Ciccarello: That's, that's a good question. Very good question. I, I think the best thing that, that I could get out of it was the whole place got together and made sure that, and, and I, I'm talking back when I was there for the, the guy's sports, it was, you know, boys baseball, right?

That your children, your boys had an opportunity. To play at a nice field, had uniforms, good people, and had a good experience and that they enjoyed it. And if your, your kids are happy, you're happy as far as a parent. Yeah. And I think that's what they wanted to give us, a place to go, to play, to enjoy. And they were very successful at it.

They did it. And that, that's, that's the best thing I can think of. That probably 

Mark Corbett: should have been a closing question, because that's a great answer. No, no, that's okay. It's all right. That's all right. But I, I mean, I just wanna sit here and [00:30:00] shoot the breeze with you forever. I mean, no problem. One, one of the things too, uh, it's World Series Week folks here in 2024, and the first two games have been played in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have won the first two games, and they're heading to New York for game three. Tony, tell me bud. 

Tony Ciccarello: You, you got a favorite? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, you know, the Rays are my favorite team. Yeah. I'm a homer, but I kind of wanna see the Dodgers win. Yeah. You know, they, uh, both teams have that huge payroll and I was, I was hoping that the Mets would get in it because they had that Pete a Lonzo from Tampa.

Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. I was hoping they'd get in, you know, he's, he's a Tampa boy, but, uh, yeah, I'm two and oh. Helps you a lot. It is, I don't know what the percentages are, but they're probably pretty high that the Dodgers are gonna win it. I saw the first game was I, I saw that it was an exit game. I missed the second game and I, I can't imagine how Freedman felt.[00:31:00] 

I. When he hit that walk off Grand Slam. Oh yeah. He said that. And he even says, that's stuff you dream of when your kid's playing in the backyard with your brother, your friends. So ninth, ninth and end of the World Series and you hit a home run. You know? So I, I'm, I'm kind of thinking the Dodgers are gonna win out.

I'll be for the Dodgers. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I hear you. You know, and being from this area and loving the rays, there's, there's a couple things. Yes. One. It's not unusual to people say, 

Tony Ciccarello: I hate the Yankees, but you know, I, I, I wouldn't say that. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. Some do. Uh, the other thing I really like about the Dodgers is I can't help but see the rays out there.

You know, I'm seeing, uh, geez. I mean, who, who all's on there? Meyer Meyer's there. And I was 

Tony Ciccarello: surprised that he was there. I forgot about him. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. And then my 

Tony Ciccarello: mind's blur at the moment. 

Mark Corbett: But I mean, there's some of the pictures, Anthony, he's out there. Boy who, uh, geez, who's a, I [00:32:00] can't Pronou, LaSow 

Tony Ciccarello: the one that's hurt.

LaSow, 

Mark Corbett: geez. There we go. Uh, I have to edit this part. 

Tony Ciccarello: I, I got, I got an opinion of what the Dodgers did when one of their games, they threw a reliever in every inning. Wow. I don't, do you remember that game? Yeah. Yeah. And I was telling this friend of mine, you know, the, I think they had, don't they have the largest payroll in baseball?

Mm-hmm. Them and the Yankees. And I said, you mean with all the money that they have, they can't come up with a starter for a playoff game. And said, and they've, they're going to play in that raise. Baseball with you having a different reliever every inning. Yeah. And somebody told me, well, they have a lot of hurt, hurt pitchers in the starters.

I said, really? With all that money, you know, I, I, I didn't realize that, you know, I don't follow them like I do the rays, you know, the rays do that with the, every inning a different picture and, you know. Raised ball. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, it raised ball. Really. Um, no, they, they've gone through a lot. There's no doubt. You just think [00:33:00] about how rich their bullpen must be.

Dave Roberts must be very happy and I'm, I'm pulling for the Dodgers if I'm pulling for anybody, but I hate seeing two Goliaths in there. I was, I was kind of pulling for the guardians early on, just simply. Mm-hmm. They don't have the payroll. Yeah. And while I love the Mets, and I was thinking about Peter Lonzo, I also know Steve Co-head of the Mets.

He's putting some money in there. He's been pouring some dollars into that team with the, the Mets, 

Tony Ciccarello: the Yankees and the Dodgers were up in the top three, right? Oh yeah. Money. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, I, I thought that we may actually see. The, uh, subway series in the World Series. Yes, 

Tony Ciccarello: yes. 

Mark Corbett: New York would be so happy with the Yes.

The revenue would come in from travelers. You better believe it. Yeah. So, but I, I wish Pete was there, you know, and it's fun too. Tony, we on the show recently, uh, Matt, Jermaine and I, we do a raise up show almost every week. Mm-hmm. And one of the things we kind of kid back and forth about is, you know, when we opened 2028 with that new stadium, the new Trop.[00:34:00] 

Oh, fingers crossed. Wouldn't it be nice if we already had Pete Lonzo playing for the race for a couple of years and he could be the guy who cuts the tape, uh, on opening the new stadium. I don't know. 

Tony Ciccarello: What do you think? What he'd be, he'd be a hometown boy, that would be tremendous. Oh, yeah. And I, and I'm hoping that when they get the new stadium, they'll have the money they want the revenue they want.

Put some more money in players. Oh God. You know, they, that's what they tell. They say, once we get this done, we're gonna have the money. Well, we'll see. We'll see. I'm a wait and see kind of thing. We'll see. Exactly. Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Um, for years people have asked me about the stadium. I mean, of course I wanted, there was once upon a time they were talking about building here in West Tampa, IBOR.

Mm-hmm. And I was like a kid in a candy store. When I heard that, I dunno about you, I was like, yes, 

Tony Ciccarello: yes. They had the site here in Ybor and everything. It would've been fantastic. 

Mark Corbett: I remember a banner up on a fence somewhere talking about future home of the rays i's like, yes, yes, bor, you know, [00:35:00] but it, it's didn't come to fruition unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned.

Well, 

Tony Ciccarello: they had the developmental rights, don't they own it to that 90 acres? I. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, 

Tony Ciccarello: the Sternberg has the developmental rights. That would've been a lot to give up to move a team to Tampa. True, true. You know? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, 

Tony Ciccarello: still the money thing. 

Mark Corbett: Still the money thing, brother. I mean, there's no doubt about it.

Money does, uh, make this game run. Well, I don't want to get into a diatribe on this. This is okay. No, but it is baseball biz. Yeah, sure. On deck. I mean, one of the reasons we do have this show is to talk about the business of baseball. So I'm looking forward to game three tonight. I hope a lot of you all had the chance to watch that special last night that was running between games two and three on the MLB network.

I'm gonna find out where it's running and I'll share that with you all later too. The, uh, the show is called See Her Be Her, and it was a documentary by a lady by the name of Jean Fruit. Who is a magnificent photographer and, uh, I saw a part of [00:36:00] it last night, MLB Network 'cause my computer wasn't working well and I, I don't have spectrum.

Okay. Okay. I pulled the plug and I thought maybe with the. A sling subscription, I'd be able to watch this stuff, but, uh, evidently not. All right. Enough of my tears, man. I tell you what, I, I enjoy the game. I'm looking forward to what's going on and, uh, you know, wherever you're playing, I mean, baseball's being played somewhere, you know, as soon as the World Series is over.

Mm-hmm. We'd be looking well right now, some of the different places, whether it be, uh, looking the Arizona League, looking to the Dominican Republic and looking at Australia soon. And, but when you're looking Tony at baseball today and you're not part of looking at this World Series, what, what are you going to be doing in the next few months as far as enjoying the game?

Tony Ciccarello: I, you know, I, I'm, I'm pretty good about, once the ba the World Series is over, I pretty much turn. [00:37:00] Baseball off off. And I, I go watch, I like college football. Yeah. And of course we got our bucks. 

Mark Corbett: Yes, indeed. You 

Tony Ciccarello: know, and, uh, I had season tickets with 'em for many years. So I'll, I'll, I'll move on to that. And then you, you, you are right.

Once in a while I'll be flipping the channel and I'll see that Arizona League, or there might be something going on in the Caribbean, right. I might watch it just for a little bit, you know, see what's going on. 

Yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: But then, then again, you know, come, come January and February. Spring training starts, I'll, I'm a homer.

I'll start following the raise and see how many players they've traded. Yeah. Who they're gonna keep. Who they're gonna get rid of. Yeah. You know? Yeah. So, and, and I'm, I don't know what they're gonna do this year. I want, I'm wondering if they're gonna. Trade a lot of players, maybe. I don't know. They, they didn't, they didn't make the playoffs this year.

No. And they battled. They really battled, but they just didn't make it this year. So we, we, we'll see. 

Mark Corbett: You know, they're not afraid to make changes, that's for sure. Well, they're not you, you take a team from opening day [00:38:00] to closing for the season. And it ain't the same. But yeah, it's not necessarily a bad thing.

I mean, you know, I, there's certain guys like Harold I wish that we could see for a long time, but he's mm-hmm. He's gone and, but then you see other folks coming up like junior cam and mm-hmm. And some others from the, the minor leagues. Uh, kudos Eric Neander that in the group. I mean, there's, there's times I'm sure they don't make some fans happy.

'cause if a favorite player gets traded. 

Tony Ciccarello: I've always wondered, ever since they've been in existence, why they can't come up with a catcher through their system that's gonna be there for 10, 10 years. I've never understood that, mark. I, I don't know why, but they, I don't know. I don't know. You, you have any I idea?

No, brother. The catching position? I don't know. 

Mark Corbett: We've asked that question on this show before. Okay. I don't see that as a need and something. But it's not something that we had an answer for either. I I, I said before [00:39:00] too, I loved when we had Travis Darnell, man, I love, I loved him and Charlie Morton. I mean, they didn't come up through our system, but man, that was, that was such a great team to have.

Tony Ciccarello: Doesn't Darnell, wasn't he playing for the Braves when they won the World Series? Oh, yeah, yeah. 

Mark Corbett: Know he, yeah, he and Charlie and, uh, so. Great for them, but I, there are, the catching position has just been.

The guy's been doing a great job. Mm-hmm. But not necessarily consistently or someone you felt like, oh yeah, I'm glad that's the guy we got in that spot. Mm-hmm. And I don't have enough of that. So let's, you know what Matt, I will take a closer look at the at the raise farm system and see if there's anybody that's being nurtured out there for a catcher.

Tony Ciccarello: I, I don't know. I haven't seen it since they've been in existence. I know they get some great pitching outta the organization. Yeah. And the other thing is that, uh, I'd say [00:40:00] the rays don't have a power game. I, I, I, I don't, you know, I, that's another thing that can't, you come up with some guy. Yeah. You know, it's gonna give you 30, 30 home runs every year.

A hundred rbis somewhere. Can you come up with 'em? But maybe they're not looking for that person. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I don't, you know, but I tell you what I mean, they were five years in a row. They were in the, the playoffs. 

Mark Corbett: Oh yeah. 

Tony Ciccarello: That's very good. You know, and they lost the World Series What?

To the Dodgers in 2020. Yeah. So, yeah, they've been there. You know, I, I, cash has to be a genius. To win the way he does, he has to be, you know? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. They, there's a reason they've kept him, and there's no doubt. Yeah. And it's like any poor manager. He, he earns the I of many, some fans, of course, you know? Yeah. I mean, and, uh, four years ago.

Yeah. He certainly did with, but Oh yes, I remember. You. Hopefully that won't be a moment that's crystallized as part of that [00:41:00] man's career. But he certainly won. He went to the, he 

Tony Ciccarello: went to the computer. Yeah. Yeah, he went to the computer. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'm gonna a little sales pitch here too, guys. There was a show on baseball Biz on deck.

It's like the seven points of denial or something. But we talked about, it was a Halloween show 'cause it was right after the World Series. They have to race it and we talk about the different stages to get to the point of acceptance of what had happened. Yes, yes. Right. I, I know what you mean. Well, man, I tell you what, it's, it's great to tell you here, Tony and.

Any, any words of wisdom or something you would really like to impart on folks that we haven't talked 

Tony Ciccarello: about? I, I, I just, I'm hoping that, uh, as far as youth baseball goes, yeah. That when people go to the park, bring their kids to play, make it an enjoyable experience. Yes. Have fun with the game. Don't put so much pressure on the kids, you know, work with them, help 'em and all that, you know, and, and a and a lot of kids, hey, uh, some of them.

They, uh, you have [00:42:00] the have to have the want to as a kid to move on and go forward. Some of them, they don't have it, and there's nothing wrong with that. Others, they really wanna push forward and go for it. And you as a parent, you support 'em, but hey, if they just want to go there and have fun, enjoy the game.

Let 'em have fun and enjoy the game. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for saying this. You. You're welcome. 

Mark Corbett: Enjoy the game. I love those words from Tony. They actually spell out what we all should do when we're either watching the game, participating in the game, or have youngsters in the game. And when I think about the youngsters, I'm thinking about the little leagues.

So again, we're gonna have more about the little leagues here in the future. Let's make sure we give you an answer to that question at the top of the show here. Let's see. We said, who was a player who was in uniform playing with over 1000 wins in the game in MLB. That player would further go on as a manager and have over 1800 wins as a manager.

And is that player in the Hall of [00:43:00] Fame? No, the player's name is. Lou Pinella. That's right. Sweet Lou. And we're gonna do everything we can to see about getting him in the next group with the Aris Veterans Committee with Major League Baseball. So if you got some ideas, send 'em in here. Uh, send us some notes on your support of Lou, and we look forward to making a big push to make sure he gets there soon.

But I want to thank you all again for joining us here today on Baseball Biz On Deck, and we look forward to helping you again. 

Real soon. Just a reminder, you can find Matt at M-A-T-G-E-R-M-A-I-N dot Beast, KI social. That's at Matt Germaine dot Beast Guy Social or Market Baseball Biz on Deck dot B Guy Social.

You may also find Baseball Biz on Deck, on iHeart Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and at baseball biz on deck.com. Special thanks to x take r UX for the music rocking forward.