Tony Ciccarello & West Tampa Little League World Series

Tony Ciccarello, a West Tampa native with deep baseball roots, talks about the role of baseball in the West Tampa community, where it’s woven into the local culture and heritage.

• Excitement of Baseball in Tampa with the Rays
• Growing Up with Baseball: baseball was integral to his upbringing, with influences from his father and community leaders
• "Baseball Was My Life" Book Discussion: Mark and Tony discuss the book Baseball Was My Life, by Mary Jo Melone and Art Keeble
• West Tampa’s Baseball Successes: Tony shares the story of his Little League team, which was the first from Florida to reach the Little League World Series in 1967. 
• Cultural Unity Through Baseball: Mark and Tony touch on how baseball brought together diverse cultures in West Tampa, including families of immigrants -  Cuban, Spanish, Italian, and German communities.
• Little League World Series Memories
• Senior League Triumphs: In 1970, the core of Tony’s Little League team continued their success, winning the Senior League World Series in Gary, Indiana, against international teams from Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
• West Tampa’s Legacy and Community Contributions: Tony talks about the image on the book cover, featuring men who built the West Tampa concession stand, including his father and former Tampa Mayor Nick Nuccio. 
• The Shift from Little League to Travel Ball: 
• Lifelong Friendships Formed Through Baseball: Tony expresses gratitude for the lifelong friendships he’s maintained with former teammates, highlighting the enduring bonds created through playing in West Tampa.
• Legacy of West Tampa Baseball and Community Spirit: 
• Series Commentary
• Community Roots & Family Connections 
• Saturday Night Games & Youth Baseball
• Long-Lasting Friendships (00:26:39)
• World Series 2024 & Rays 2020 Memories 
• Kevin Cash is a Genius
• The Value of Youth Sports Facilities 
• Reference Notes & Links
  • West Tampa Little League - https://www.thewesttampall.org/
  • Baseball Was My Life the Stories of West Tampa
    Melone, Mary Jo & Keeble, Art  https://hcplc.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S142C603382

Special Thanks to Williams Ross Chernoff's Nomads for the music Makie Elkino

Show Notes created in part by ChatGPT

Transcript

Tony Ciccarello – West Tampa Little League - Florida BaseballBiz

[00:00:54] Mark Corbett: Welcome to Florida BaseballBiz on deck. I am Mark Corbett, your host and with me today is Mr. Tony Ciccarello. Did I get it right, Tony? 

[00:01:11] Tony Ciccarello: Yes, sir. That's good.

[00:01:12] Mark Corbett: All right, man. Every now and then I get it right, brother. So thanks. It's, it's, it's great having you here today on the show. You know, you and I were talking before we got started here today about living here in Tampa. You know, I'm a newbie. I've been here 19 years. Yeah. You're a native. You're getting there.

[00:01:29] Mark Corbett: Am I? You're getting there. But I mean, the one thing after being here, I had the good fortune of working over the Tampa Bay Rays as a fan host. And to me, that was most fun. fun thing I could do. I got to meet a lot of other fans. It was a fan host. You greet the people as they come in the door, you know, or you help them find their seat.

[00:01:50] Mark Corbett: But the, the excitement in the trap with those folks was just amazing. And it, it reinvigorated me with the game. So, but now as the 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 I was going on Tampa, the game is part of the fiber of everybody around here.

[00:02:15] Mark Corbett: It's certainly here in West Tampa. 

[00:02:17] Tony Ciccarello: Well, yes, growing up with West Tampa. 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, , it got to the point where a lot of times baseball was your life.

[00:02:35] Tony Ciccarello: You really enjoyed it so much. You could go to the park and play. You could find a pickup games and you, you, you started knowing everybody and you, and baseball was a really big deal growing up. 

[00:02:48] Mark Corbett: Give me an instance. Give me, it was our coaches, a player in the, in the league that just really set you guys on fire.

[00:02:53] Mark Corbett: I, you know, not 

[00:02:55] Tony Ciccarello: really because, you know, there were so many. People playing and coaching that you got to know everybody. You picked a little bit of this, picked a little bit of that. And like I was saying, my greatest influence was my father and he'd go to work no matter how tired he was, he'd come in and throw me and my brother, he coaches and, and they had a lot of guys had a lot of fathers that did that.

[00:03:16] Tony Ciccarello: 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 

[00:03:25] Mark Corbett: I were talking before the show is book, , entitled baseball was my life stories from West Tampa and Mary Jo Melone and Art Keeble wrote this book.

[00:03:37] Mark Corbett: , 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. Yes, it is. That's about West Tampa. Yes. What we were talking about earlier, as far as being part of the fiber of this area, and geez, man, I look down this, , this, we're talking about everybody from Pop Cuesta, , you know, to the Tamargos.

[00:03:59] Mark Corbett: We're talking about Martinez and Gonzalez. 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, with pickup games, but you played some organized ball even as a young man too.

[00:04:18] Tony Ciccarello: Oh yeah, yeah. I, , I, I played, , we had a Little League at St. Joseph Catholic School. From there, I went to West Tampa. Little League. And that was against the major leagues of youth baseball. And at that time that I went, it seemed like there was a whole group of ball players that it was a nucleus of everything that was going to be great in the future.

[00:04:38] Tony Ciccarello: We won championships. We went to world series and it was in kind of a capsulated seven, eight to nine years. So that was a good group of guys that came through there and they kept going, you know, and a lot of the guys, they played high school, they played college. Some, some went to the pros. So it, it was almost like the perfect thing in time.

[00:05:00] Tony Ciccarello: It all came together. Plus everybody loved the game so much 

[00:05:04] 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.

[00:05:16] Mark Corbett: , what, what happened? Tell us a little bit more about the Little League with West Tampa. 

[00:05:20] 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. And the all star tournaments, you lost the game and you went home.

[00:05:36] Tony Ciccarello: So we started out here in Tampa, went to Dunedin and the, the Southeastern regional wasn't In Al Lang in St. Petersburg, right down the street. So we won 11 straight games and, , after we won the 11th game, then. We got the trip to the world series and from, and I'm not sure, but they tell me history says that we might've been the first team from Florida to go to the Little League world series.

[00:06:03] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. , we didn't win. , we came in fifth, but, a lot of us when we went by plane and I'll never forget it was Eastern airlines or they're not around anymore and most of us had never been on an airplane, so you can imagine how exciting that was. And, , And you know what? We, we weren't nervous.

[00:06:21] Tony Ciccarello: 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 was in the Little League. Yeah. 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.

[00:06:41] Tony Ciccarello: They called that Southeastern Regional and that whoever wins that goes to Williamsport. And still be able to go home at night 

[00:06:47] Mark Corbett: to have dinner. That, 

[00:06:49] Tony Ciccarello: that, and yeah, exactly. That's what it was. And we were the only team from the area that was that close. So, you know, you had teams from Virginia, Alabama, Texas.

[00:06:58] Tony Ciccarello: We were right down the street. It was very good. It was good, especially for the parents, too, because everybody could come out and see us. Everybody. 

[00:07:07] Mark Corbett: Well, let me ask you a little more about that, too. What was the crowd like, you know, when you guys were playing there? What was that like? 

[00:07:14] Tony Ciccarello: It was the first time that anything like that would happen.

[00:07:17] Tony Ciccarello: It happened. So after the games, I mean, the crowd sometimes would rush on the field and it was like the major leagues. You'd have to go to them. 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, this was, this is a big time, and at that time , the newspapers, Sports section gave us front page coverage.

[00:07:42] Tony Ciccarello: So it was, it was a big a, there's some articles that I still have that my mom would cut up and keep, but we were front page on the sports 

[00:07:51] Mark Corbett: page. 

[00:07:51] Tony Ciccarello: That was very cool. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:07:53] Mark Corbett: Well, let me ask you more about that because I'm thinking. You know, you're saying this may have been the first team that made it from, that's my understanding from Florida.

[00:08:02] Mark Corbett: It's, it's funny. I mean, I was looking at Wikipedia, trying to get a feel on some of this. And I was curious to see if Florida would be like the number one. State that had delivered, you know, teams to the world series or the little thing, and lo and behold, I wasn't surprised to see California in there because yeah, another, I mean, a very large population there, but 

[00:08:25] Tony Ciccarello: exactly, 

[00:08:26] Mark Corbett: but also, you know, good weather, just like we are lucky to experience here in Tampa, most of the 

[00:08:31] Tony Ciccarello: time.

[00:08:32] Tony Ciccarello: Yes. Not so much the hurricanes. Yeah, 

[00:08:36] Mark Corbett: not so much. The, 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 going to be playing ball.

[00:08:48] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:08:49] Tony Ciccarello: Maybe more hockey. Well, you know, you know, all the leagues here, they used to have, they called it winter ball. 

Yeah. 

[00:08:56] Tony Ciccarello: 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.

[00:09:07] Tony Ciccarello: This was year round here, 

[00:09:09] Mark Corbett: you know, being in West Tampa. You're also looking at a lot of the folks that came up through Ybor and a lot of them who had worked in the cigar factories. There was such a diversity of people there. I mean, it was, it was immigrant city there. I mean, you're talking about Spaniards, Cubans, you're talking about Germans, and I know there's other, , Italians.

[00:09:32] Tony Ciccarello: Well, 

[00:09:32] Mark Corbett: yeah, how did I miss that one? Yeah, well, 

[00:09:34] Tony Ciccarello: 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, , and you know what had happened with that? It was a mixture, but everybody loved baseball. No matter what ethnic group you were from, they loved baseball and that was a commonality right there.

[00:09:56] Mark Corbett: That's so 

[00:09:57] Tony Ciccarello: cool. Yeah. 

[00:09:58] Mark Corbett: I mean, when I think about that is it, you know, commonality finding common ground you and I were talking 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. 

[00:10:09] Tony Ciccarello: So 

[00:10:09] Mark Corbett: it would be 

[00:10:10] Tony Ciccarello: nice if they would.

[00:10:11] Tony Ciccarello: Yes. That's what we got 

[00:10:13] Mark Corbett: baseball for boys and girls. So, you know, and on there, you're We're great. Ok. Either one team or the other, and you're going to 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 Ybor having so many people from so many different cultures, but finding, like you said, a commonality with baseball, to me, that's just huge.

[00:10:35] Mark Corbett: And that had the strength in as far as how even the youth got to play. I got along with one another to some degree. Of course. 

[00:10:41] Tony Ciccarello: No, it did, definitely, definitely still kids. Yeah. 'cause a and you know, a and not, not only did you have like, , Ybor West Tampa, well you had like Inner Bay for Tampa, Citrus Park, , Palma Ceia.

[00:10:53] Tony Ciccarello: They had a lot of leagues at that time. , , as you got older, you would. Other leagues, you play guys in high school that you played when other leagues you were, they went to high school with you and you get to knew a lot, know a lot of people through baseball, you know, 

[00:11:08] Mark Corbett: well, let me go back for a little bit to the actual Litlle League world series.

[00:11:14] Mark Corbett: Now you're there. And you're there and the team's playing, and I'm sure it's a little different than it was, than it is today. You know, we, we had another Florida team go there this year and they won everything. That's right. They took the whole thing and it's Lake Mary, 

[00:11:29] Tony Ciccarello: Lake Mary. Yeah.

[00:11:30] Mark Corbett: And the, the thing of it is it was, it was all a big event. It's covered by MLB and everybody else, you know, for like a week. , there's celebs there, there's interviews and all that. Now your experience back in 67, what was it like? Was, was there all the celebrity and all of that around it?

[00:11:53] Tony Ciccarello: There wasn't like there is now, but it was, it was a very big event because I remember at the time, , you, you remember that, , ABC wide world of sports.

[00:12:04] Tony Ciccarello: Well, the, the championship game was on there. Yeah. And, and at that time in 67, They brought him in as a celebrity. It was Ted Williams. 

[00:12:15] Mark Corbett: Oh my gosh. 

[00:12:16] Tony Ciccarello: We never met him or talked to him or anything, but he was, he was a celebrity. They did in the wire world of sports just for the final game. But every game that we played, the stands were packed.

[00:12:27] Tony Ciccarello: , I know you see the hilltop there where people sit that was packed for every game locally. It was a big deal. 

Yeah. 

[00:12:34] Tony Ciccarello: 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, , they even watch what you ate.

[00:12:47] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah, because I don't really growing up. They used to, you used to ask for a, a Coke, a cold Coke. It was called a suicide. It was great. Grape, orange, cocoa mixed together and up there when you would in the camp there when you'd ask him, Hey, give me a suicide soda drink. No, no, no. We don't want to get you sick. You can have one of each one only.

[00:13:08] Tony Ciccarello: But you know, he says we don't want to mix it and get you sick. So that was a big deal there. Yeah.

[00:13:14] Mark Corbett: Oh, okay. Tony and I took a brief break there and basically I was checking to make sure this thing's recording properly. And it is, we're lucky. Okay, let's get back to meat and potatoes. So, we were talking about, Ted Williams and everybody coming to the Little Leagues.

[00:13:29] Mark Corbett: We were talking about how Florida has had such a a great amount of players, but also been to the Little League World Series several times. With you guys, it didn't stop there. I mean, Tony, with you and your buds, There was this, you know, a Senior 

[00:13:46] Tony Ciccarello: League. 

[00:13:46] Tony Ciccarello: Yes. . We, , that team from 67, the nucleus of that team, , in 1970, we were playing senior league baseball, 13, 14 and 15 year old division, right?

[00:13:58] Tony Ciccarello: We did the same thing there. , there you had some places where it was, , double elimination. Okay. But all, , we made it through Tampa. We got, , , Everything was in this area that we were fortunate and the southern region was in Asheville, North Carolina. Now we got up there, we had our first loss, but we had already beaten that team.

[00:14:20] Mark Corbett: Right. 

[00:14:21] Tony Ciccarello: So we were in the winner's bracket, they beat us, we came back and we beat them. And then from Asheville, that was the southern region. We went to Gary, Indiana for the, for the senior league world series. Now the stadium wasn't big as big as the one in the Little League and anything in the Little League world series.

[00:14:39] Tony Ciccarello: And, , 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 them get in the, in the tournament. Then they had, , there was Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico. Oh, wow. So yeah.

[00:15:03] Tony Ciccarello: And, , 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 them played high school, but college and some, , some went, , minor league pros. So it was a, it was a good team and we, we all knew each other, everybody.

[00:15:24] Tony Ciccarello: 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. Even if, let's say if you're the 8th or 9th batter, we knew you could do it when we needed it done. So, and it was There, there didn't, they didn't, have any, , celebrities, but, , they had a, , a man here named, um, he owned the Tampa Tarpons at the time, Mitchell Mick.

[00:15:51] Tony Ciccarello: And he, he would broadcast the games on one of the local radio shows. And, , somebody, you know, 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. Yeah. And , he, he did that.

[00:16:10] Tony Ciccarello: It was another great experience and all, well, we all, the flying We didn't care because we'd already done the trips there, , we 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.

[00:16:25] Tony Ciccarello: And, , it was, it's always a great thrill, but I tell you what, the guys that we all play together, I think we kept each other grounded. 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.

[00:16:46] Mark Corbett: You know, in my pure ignorance, first time I heard senior league.

[00:16:54] Mark Corbett: Yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 

[00:16:58] Tony Ciccarello: yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's what it sounds like, you 

[00:17:02] Mark Corbett: know, to me, it's kind of sad that there's not as big a spotlight or close to it as we see with Little 

[00:17:09] Tony Ciccarello: League. 

[00:17:09] Tony Ciccarello: Oh, yeah, the Little League is. It's amazing what they do now. Every almost every game is broadcast live.

[00:17:15] Tony Ciccarello: On TV, on the radio or something, the Little League and, , back in the day with us, it was, it was big because I know Little League baseball was huge, even back when we were, we were growing up and playing and, , as a matter of fact, the local stations, , I don't know if you remember a lot of people here.

[00:17:33] Tony Ciccarello: Remember his name was Andy Hardy. He was a local sportscaster here in channel 13. They would send him to be with us, to talk to us and follow the games and everything like that. So that he was a celebrity. It was huge for us, you know? And, um, yeah, yeah, it was, it was quite a experience growing up and playing there.

[00:17:53] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. 

[00:17:54] Mark Corbett: That sounds, it sounds like such a blast. It was, 

[00:17:56] Tony Ciccarello: it was. Yeah. 

[00:17:57] Mark Corbett: Now you referenced a book and we were talking about earlier. Can you tell us a little bit more about that book? 

[00:18:02] Tony Ciccarello: Oh, this, this book here, , I remember, , Mary Jo Melone and Art Keeble, they wanted to do a book on West Tampa. Starting out, , the players that played in West Tampa went to the big leagues, West Tampa Little League, and, , what they were doing, they were trying to get in contact.

[00:18:21] Tony Ciccarello: With as many players that played in West Tampa Little League or 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, , 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 going to do, what they were going to write, what they were going to put in the book, pictures or nothing.

[00:18:45] Tony Ciccarello: We just gave it to them. When they came out with the book, I mean, we were very excited. Cause it is a very comprehensive book about West Tampa. , they did a great job. 

[00:18:56] Mark Corbett: The title of the book again is baseball was my life stories from West Tampa and I love it. They've got some great photos in here.

[00:19:03] Mark Corbett: I know you appear. Well, you appeared not only a couple of times, I mean, one of the times you're on the freaking cover, man. 

[00:19:10] Tony Ciccarello: That was a surprise to me. I never knew they were going to do that. And the book showed up. I said, Oh, that's me. You know, but I really didn't know they were going to do that. 

[00:19:19] Mark Corbett: I love it.

[00:19:20] Mark Corbett: I mean, That, 

[00:19:20] Tony Ciccarello: that picture you, , it says La Gacetta there. 

[00:19:23] Mark Corbett: Yes, sir. 

[00:19:24] Tony Ciccarello: That is the group of men who built the, , Concession stand at West Tampa and my dad is on there. He was one of them and the mayor of Tampa at that time was Nick Nuccio. He's in that picture too. So yeah, they had all the people who helped build it.

[00:19:39] Mark Corbett: Like I said, that's actually a trilingual newspaper, if I remember correctly. Right. 

[00:19:44] Tony Ciccarello: Exactly. 

[00:19:45] Mark Corbett: You can actually find online a lot of the old papers of this, but you have to know a date. 

[00:19:51] Mark Corbett: It's a great resource for a lot of folks but I love this and 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. 

[00:20:03] Tony Ciccarello: Well, he, along with a lot of the fathers there, they, , my dad was in construction.

[00:20:08] Tony Ciccarello: There's the other gentleman there. A lot of them were in construction. So one of them ran the show and the rest of the people got and helped him. , it was a two story block building and they would go, they would do that on the weekends, the fathers would get together, they'd get people to note, donate materials and they donated their times.

[00:20:27] Tony Ciccarello: So it, it, the only thing that cost them was their time and 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 day. And they upstairs was the room for the board of directors. downstairs is where they served all the food and everything like that.

[00:20:46] Tony Ciccarello: So yeah, it was a big deal at that time. 

[00:20:49] Mark Corbett: Well, now that we've seen this and talked about yourself here in West Tampa and the Little League and the senior league. What was there you feel like that After going through all that, what does you carry through today as part of that history in yourself?

[00:21:06] Tony Ciccarello: It's a very proud history. Yes. I was very proud to be from West Tampa. And, , And the life we had, we really enjoyed. It was a really good life. We enjoyed it. We got on our bicycles, rode to the park, you know, and, , it was, it was, I'm not going to say a dream, but it was, it, growing up was a fantastic thing growing up in West Tampa.

[00:21:31] Tony Ciccarello: It was, , it's big now, but it was a smaller community. Everybody knew each other. Everywhere you went in that area, somebody you knew. And, , yeah, it was, it was, it was something special, something special. 

[00:21:45] Mark Corbett: I get that, you know, and reflecting back on myself, that's what I do. , no, as a child, there was a park near me and actually it had like four diamonds, , and it was great.

[00:21:58] Mark Corbett: There was a summer, the Little Leagues there was just great. Great. I mean, you have a little concession stands and it brought a lot of people together. There was some picnics and people would bring food and all that. It was, it was a blast. It was, it blessed. It was a blast. It was a blessing blast. But the thing was it, it, this whole sense of community.

[00:22:19] Mark Corbett: I mean, like you're talking about West Tampa, you know, it brings those folks together to enjoy something together. And, , to me that, that is just, essential 

[00:22:28] Tony Ciccarello: I'll tell you this too that, , you know, now, , youth baseball and all that, they don't play any Saturday night games. Well, back in, when I played there, West Tampa, they played Saturday night games.

[00:22:44] Tony Ciccarello: And that was a big, big deal. The crowds were full because Saturday night, a lot of people, that was their entertainment, go watch a game at the park on Saturday night. Now, no, nobody wants to go watch a baseball game on Saturday night, if you use baseball. They want to go to the movies, they want to go out somewhere.

[00:23:01] Tony Ciccarello: But, and it was a really big event on Saturday nights at the park. 

[00:23:06] Mark Corbett: Well, you know, 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, , I say this probably too many times on the show. 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.

[00:23:34] Mark Corbett: That I feel like sometimes the travel leagues, and I guess I need to have someone on the show they rebut me on this, I feel like they are so tied into absolute performance that I feel like the joy of the game sometimes is missed. 

[00:23:48] Tony Ciccarello: I'm glad you brought that up. I have strong opinions about that. I had a couple of my boys, , with two of my sons, they played, they played youth baseball and, , they still, they were having travel ball teams and, and I was hoping that they didn't want to do that.

[00:24:06] Tony Ciccarello: They did not. And I was happy. Okay. Because I, I think a lot of these travel ball teams, it's just my opinion that, 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 them think that if they go through this travel ball, they're going to go to the big leagues, they're going to be discovered and this, and they're going to be discovered in that.

[00:24:28] Tony Ciccarello: This friend of mine, we talk about it 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. 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, 

[00:24:48] Mark Corbett: you 

[00:24:49] Tony Ciccarello: know, but at a youth baseball park, there's room for all kids.

[00:24:53] Tony Ciccarello: The good, not so good in the middle. And the youth parks are 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 to play and to travel and yeah, they're going to make the big leagues. No, very few people do. And don't worry if you're good, they'll find you.

[00:25:14] Mark Corbett: I mean, come on, boys and girls, let's let's face it. It's an ugly truth, but it's it's there. , and even if you do, it's going to be what, six years before you can be a free agent, then maybe be able to work with the team you want to work with. So you think about, well, if Rob Manfred hadn't cut a couple levels of minor leagues, you know, I guess there might be a few more players there, but The minor leagues, if you look at how full they already are now and it isn't going to be just traveling folks there and I've talked with scouts and had them on the show before too.

[00:25:50] Mark Corbett: And they say the same thing as you. And that's like, guess what? If you're good, you're going to get found. You're just somebody's going to come out. 

[00:25:57] Tony Ciccarello: Exactly. 

[00:25:58] Mark Corbett: 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.

[00:26:06] Mark Corbett: If there's not a a true scout, there's somebody who thinks they're a scout . Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're gonna make sure, just call them bird dogs. They call them bird dogs. 

[00:26:13] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. They call 'em bird dogs. They, they go look, and then they send the real scouts to look at you. And when, and you've heard stories too, that the scouts go to see somebody.

[00:26:22] Tony Ciccarello: But 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. Yeah. Yeah. They'll find you. Don't worry. 

[00:26:31] Mark Corbett: Well, again, coming back to West Tampa and having played ball as a youngster. And enjoying the game now.

[00:26:39] Mark Corbett: Did you see, is there friendships, relationships that you still carry today in those times ? 

[00:26:46] 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 them, it's like you just pick up where you left off. 

Yeah. 

[00:26:55] Tony Ciccarello: You know, it's like, I saw you yesterday. I see a lot of them.

[00:26:59] Tony Ciccarello: One of them I'm, I'm particularly close to others. I see on and off a couple I see more often, but no, you, you, some have moved out of town 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. It's a, it's a good feeling, good feeling 

[00:27:19] Mark Corbett: because I think about it too.

[00:27:20] Mark Corbett: Even as you're growing up day in and day out, you see the others families. I know from the communities where I've been, , people I've grown up, I see the, where they get married and they have their kids and you have those discussions, or maybe you want to be more with them in the workplace. So those kinds of relationships to me are really cool to be able to see that.

[00:27:39] Mark Corbett: Be sustained. I'm really glad to see that you guys, you know, have that here in West Tampa. 

[00:27:43] Mark Corbett: Okay, Tony, is there something special that you would like to make sure people know when they think of West Tampa and the teams and Little Leagues here? 

[00:27:56] Tony Ciccarello: That's, that's a good question, very good question. I think the best thing that that I could get out of it was The whole place got together and made sure that, and I'm talking back when I was here for the guys sports, it was, you know, boys baseball, 

[00:28:16] Mark Corbett: right?

[00:28:18] Tony Ciccarello: 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. And I think that's what they wanted to give us a place to go to play, to enjoy.

[00:28:41] Tony Ciccarello: And they were very successful at it. They did it. And that's, that's the best thing I can think of. 

[00:28:47] Mark Corbett: That probably should have been a closing question. That's a great answer. No, no, that's okay. It's all right. 

[00:28:52] Tony Ciccarello: That's all right. 

[00:28:52] Mark Corbett: But I just want to sit here and shoot the breeze with you forever. I'll be 

[00:28:55] Tony Ciccarello: no problem.

[00:28:56] Mark Corbett: One of the things to, , 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 tonight. Tony, tell me, bud, you got a favorite?

[00:29:15] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah, well, I'm, you know, the Rays are my favorite team.

[00:29:18] Tony Ciccarello: I'm a homer, but I kind of want to see the Dodgers win. You know, they, both teams have that huge payroll. And I was, I was hoping that the Mets would get in it because they had that Pete Alonzo from Tampa. I was hoping they'd get in, you know, he's a Tampa boy, but, , yeah, two and O helps you a lot. Yeah. I don't know what the percentages are, but they're probably pretty high that the Dodgers are going to win it.

[00:29:45] Tony Ciccarello: I saw the first game was, I saw that it was an excellent game. I missed the second game and I can't imagine how Freeman felt when he hit that walk off grand slam. Yeah. He said, and he even says, that's stuff you dream of when you're kids playing in the backyard with your brother, your friends.

[00:30:03] Tony Ciccarello: So we're ninth, ninth inning of the world series and you hit a home run, you know, so I, I'm kind of thinking the Dodgers are going to win. I'll, I'll be for the Dodgers. 

[00:30:12] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I hear you, you know, and being from this area and loving the Rays, there's, there's a couple of things. One, it's not unusual that people say, I hate, the Yankees, but I wouldn't say that, but, , the other thing I really liked about the Dodgers is I can't help, but see the Rays out there.

[00:30:35] Mark Corbett: You know, I'm seeing, , geez, I mean, who, who all's on there. Kiermaier, Kiermaier's there. I was 

[00:30:41] Tony Ciccarello: surprised that he was there. I forgot about him. 

[00:30:43] Mark Corbett: Yeah, and then my mind's a blur at the moment But I mean there's some of the pitchers and anthony Banda that he's out there and there are our boy who , geez Who's a I can't go Glasnow 

[00:30:55] Tony Ciccarello: the one that's hurt last now.

[00:30:56] Mark Corbett: Geez. There we go , I have to edit this part. So I 

[00:31:00] Tony Ciccarello: I I got I got an opinion about what the dodgers did when one of their games They threw a reliever in every inning. 

[00:31:08] Mark Corbett: Wow. 

[00:31:09] Tony Ciccarello: Do you remember that game? 

[00:31:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:31:10] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah. And I was telling this friend of mine, you know, I think they have, don't they have the largest payroll in baseball?

[00:31:16] Tony Ciccarello: 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, they're going to play in that Rays baseball with you having a different reliever every inning and somebody told me, well, they have a lot of hurt pitchers in the starters.

[00:31:36] Tony Ciccarello: 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 every inning, a different pitcher and, you know, Rays ball. 

[00:31:48] Mark Corbett: Yeah, a Rays ball, really. No, they've gone through a lot. There's no doubt. You just think about how rich their bullpen must be.

[00:31:57] Mark Corbett: 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 because they don't have the payroll. And while I love the Mets and I was thinking about Pete Alonso, I also know Steve Cohen of the Mets.

[00:32:16] Mark Corbett: He's putting some money in there. He's been pouring some dollars into 

[00:32:19] Tony Ciccarello: the Mets. The Yankees and the Dodgers were up in the top three, right? Money. Yeah. 

[00:32:23] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, I thought that we may actually see The subway series in the world series. 

[00:32:29] Tony Ciccarello: Yes. 

[00:32:30] Mark Corbett: New York would be so happy with the revenue coming in 

[00:32:33] Tony Ciccarello: from travelers.

[00:32:33] Tony Ciccarello: Better believe it. Yeah. 

[00:32:36] Mark Corbett: So, but I wish Pete was there, you know, and it's fun too. Tony, we on the show recently, , Matt Germain and I, we do a Rays up show almost every week. 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 Tropicana Field, fingers crossed, wouldn't it be nice if we already had Pete Alonso playing for the Rays for a couple of years and he could be the guy who cuts the tape.

[00:33:07] Mark Corbett: opening the new stadium. I don't know. What do you think that what he'd be?

[00:33:10] Tony Ciccarello: He'd be a hometown boy. That would be tremendous. Oh, yeah, and I'm hoping that when they get the new stadium, they'll have the money. They want the revenue. They want to put some more money in players. Oh, you know, they that's what they say.

[00:33:24] Tony Ciccarello: They say once we get this done. We're going to have the money. Well, we'll see. We'll see. 

[00:33:29] Mark Corbett: I'm a wait and see kind of. We'll see. Exactly. I'm for years. People have asked me about the stadium. I mean, of course I wanted, there was one spot. I sound like you're talking about building here, West Tampa and Ybor.

[00:33:38] Mark Corbett: And I was like a kid in a candy store when I heard that about you. I was like, yes, 

[00:33:44] Tony Ciccarello: they had the site here in Ybor and everything. It would have been fantastic. 

[00:33:48] Mark Corbett: I remember a banner up on a fence somewhere talking about future home of the Rays. Website. Yes, yes, Ybor, you know, but it's didn't come to fruition.

[00:33:57] Mark Corbett: Unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned, 

[00:33:58] Tony Ciccarello: well, they had the developmental rights. Don't they own it to that 90 acres? 

[00:34:03] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:34:04] Tony Ciccarello: The Sternberg has the developmental rights. That would have been a lot to give up to move a team to Tampa. Sure. You know? 

[00:34:12] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I mean, 

[00:34:13] Tony Ciccarello: Still the money thing, 

[00:34:14] Mark Corbett: still the money thing, brother.

[00:34:16] Mark Corbett: I mean, there's no doubt about it. Money does make this game run. I don't want to get into a diatribe on this. This is no, but it is BaseballBiz On Deck. Yeah, sure. One of the reasons we do have the show is to talk about the business of baseball. . So I'm looking forward to game three night. I hope a lot of you all had the chance to watch that special last night.

[00:34:36] Mark Corbett: There's room between games two and three on the MLB network. I'm going to find out where it's running and I'll share that with you all later to the, , the show is called see her, be her. And it was a documentary by a lady by the name of Jean Fruth, who is a magnificent photographer. And, , I saw a part of it last night, MLB network, cause my computer wasn't working well.

[00:34:57] Mark Corbett: And I, I don't have spectrum. Okay. I pulled the plug and I thought maybe with, , subscription, I'd be able to watch this stuff, but, , evidently not. All right. Enough of my tears, man. I tell you what, I enjoy the game. I'm looking forward to what's going on. And, , you know, wherever you're playing, I mean, baseball's being played somewhere, you know, as soon as the world series is over, we'd be looking at, well, right now, some of the different places, whether it be, , looking at Arizona league, looking to the Dominican Republic and looking at Australia.

[00:35:34] Mark Corbett: 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? 

[00:35:47] Tony Ciccarello: You know, I'm, I'm pretty good about once the World Series is over, I pretty much turn, Baseball off. And I go watch, I like college football.

[00:35:58] Tony Ciccarello: And of course we've got our Bucs, 

[00:36:01] Tony Ciccarello: you 

[00:36:01] Tony Ciccarello: know, and I had season tickets of them for many years. So I'll, I'll, I'll move on to that. And then 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. I might watch it just for a little bit, you know, see what's going on.

[00:36:18] Tony Ciccarello: But then again, you know, come, come January and February, Spring training starts. I'll start, I'm a homer. I'll start following the Rays and see how many players they've traded, who they're going to keep, who they're going to get rid of, you know? So, and I'm, I don't know what they're going to do this year. I want, I'm wondering if they're going to.

[00:36:39] Tony Ciccarello: Trade a lot of players, maybe. I don't know. They didn't, they didn't make the playoffs this year 

and 

[00:36:44] Tony Ciccarello: they battled, they really battled, but they just didn't make it this year. So we'll see. 

[00:36:49] Mark Corbett: You know, they're not afraid to make changes. That's for sure. They're not. You, you take a team from opening day to closing for the season and it ain't the same, but it is something that's a bad thing.

[00:37:01] Mark Corbett: I mean, you know, I, there are certain guys like Harold Ramirez, I wish that we could see for a long time, but he's, he's gone. Yeah. But then you see other folks coming up like, , Junior Caminero and, Mm-Hmm, and some others from the, the minor leagues. , kudos Eric Neander that in the group. I mean, there's, there's times I'm sure they don't make some fans happy.

[00:37:18] Mark Corbett: 'cause if a favorite player gets traded, 

[00:37:20] Tony Ciccarello: I, 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 never understood that Mark. I don't know why, but I don't know. I don't know. You have any idea catching position?

[00:37:39] Tony Ciccarello: I don't know. 

[00:37:40] Mark Corbett: We've asked that question on the show before. Okay. All right. Neither had. I don't think you really had a solid answer. We see that as a need and something that needs to be done. But it's not something that we had an answer for either. I said before, too, I love when we had Travis d'Arnaud, man. I love I loved him and Charlie Morton.

[00:37:58] Mark Corbett: I mean, they didn't come up to our system, but man, that was that was such a great team to have. 

[00:38:03] Tony Ciccarello: This isn't d'Arnaud. Wasn't he playing for the Braves when they won the World Series? Oh, yeah. 

[00:38:07] Mark Corbett: You know, he and Charlie and. , so, you know, great for them, but there are that catching position has just been fluid and it hasn't never in the last few years.

[00:38:19] Mark Corbett: And this is taking nothing away from something. You know, the guy's been doing a great job, but not necessarily consistently or someone you felt like, Oh yeah, I'm glad that's the guy we got in that spot. And I don't have enough of that. So let's, you know what I'm at now, we'll take a closer look at the, at the Rays farm system and see if there's anybody that's being nurtured out there.

[00:38:43] 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 out of the organization. And the other thing is it, um, I'd say the Rays don't have a power game. I, I, I, I don't, you know, I, that's another thing. Can't you come up with some guy, you know, that's going to give you 30, 30 home runs every year, a hundred RBIs somewhere.

[00:39:06] Tony Ciccarello: Can you come up with them? But maybe they're not looking for that person. I don't know. Maybe, I don't know. I don't, but I tell you what, I mean, they were five years in a row. They were in the playoffs. 

[00:39:17] Mark Corbett: Oh yeah. 

[00:39:18] Tony Ciccarello: That's very good. You know, and they lost the world series. What to the Dodgers in 2020. So they've been there, you know, I Cash has to be a genius to win the way he does.

[00:39:32] Tony Ciccarello: He has to be, you know, 

[00:39:33] Mark Corbett: there's a reason they've kept 

[00:39:34] Mark Corbett: him 

[00:39:36] Mark Corbett: and it's like any court manager, he, he earns the ire of many, some fans, you know, and, , four years ago, Yeah, he certainly did with, but you know, oh yes, I remember you, hopefully that won't be a moment. This crystallize as part of that man's career, but it's certainly one 

[00:39:55] Tony Ciccarello: that he went to the, he went to the computer.

[00:39:58] Tony Ciccarello: Yeah, yeah, he went to the computer. 

[00:40:00] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'm going to make a, , a little sales pitch here to you guys. There was a show on BaseballBiz on deck. , it's like the seven, , points of denial or something, but , we talk about, it was a Halloween show https://bit.ly/4e4vgHk because it was right after the world series and at the Rays.

[00:40:15] Mark Corbett: And then we talk about the different stages to get to the point of acceptance of what had happened. Yes. Yes. Right. I know what you mean. 

[00:40:22] Mark Corbett: Well, man, I tell you what, it's, it's great talking to you here, Tony. Any words of wisdom or something you would really like to impart on folks?

[00:40:30] Tony Ciccarello: I just, I'm hoping that as far as youth baseball goes, that when people go to the park, bring their kids to play, make it an enjoyable experience. Have fun with the game, don't put so much pressure on the kids, you know, work with them, help them and all that. You know, and a lot of kids, hey, , some of them, they, , you have to have the want to as a kid to move on and go forward.

[00:40:57] Tony Ciccarello: Some of them, they don't have it, and there's nothing wrong with it. Others, they really want to push forward and go for it, and you as a parent, you support them. But hey, if they just want to go there and have fun and enjoy the game. Let him have fun and enjoy the game. 

[00:41:09] Mark Corbett: Thank you. Thank you for saying you're 

[00:41:11] Tony Ciccarello: welcome.

[00:41:11] Mark Corbett: I think that's so important. And Tony Ciccorello. Yes. All right, Tony. Thank you again, man. It's been great talking about this and thanks for joining us here on BaseballBiz. I think there's so much enjoyment out there with it too. So thanks again, brother. And thank you all for joining us here today.

[00:41:26] Mark Corbett: We look forward to talking to y'all again real soon. Take care. 

Thank you.