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The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 3

The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 3

The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 3 

Frankie – Back to the Bobby Valentine Sport show. I’m your host Frank Rampen, and I’m here with my dad, Frank Ramppen III. I’m Frank Ramppen IV, as you can tell. So today, we’re going to do a little bit of a different type of episode here. We’re going to do kind of a recap of when this account pops up on your feed. You see me talking about sports, you see me sitting here yelling, watching Shohei almost hit a home run, freaking out, and then you see Bobby Valentine at the top, and you’re wondering, who is this kid? Why is his name Bobby Valentine out there? Why is this? So today, me and my Dad, we’re going to go over the story of how we are connected to Bobby Valentine, and we’re going to go over the whole story of that. 

Frank – So, okay, let’s start with our real names. Yes, I’m actually Francis Ellsworth Anthony Ramppen III, and unfortunately, he is Francis Ellsworth Anthony Ramppen IV. Almost didn’t want to do that to him, wasn’t going to keep the tradition alive and name him the fourth, but my wife Michelle when she was pregnant, she was in the what was called the breach position, upside down, and like a week before her due date, they said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to have to have a caesarean because he’s in the Frank breech position.’ So I had to do it to the kids. Sorry about that. 

Frankie – Hey, it’s okay, it’s all right.

Frank – So the Bobby V story, yeah. So let’s get into it. Let’s start from the very beginning. We’re going to talk about when you were younger, getting out of high school, trying to become a college athlete, and just talk about your first interactions with Bobby and how you ended up meeting him. We both grew up in Stamford, and we both went to Rippowam High School. Bobby’s nine years older than me, and I had never met him. I went off to the University of Tampa to play baseball after my junior year. I was told I was getting drafted, and I had no idea what that meant. My parents knew nothing about sports. So I went to my summer league coach, Bob Kennedy, who was the sports editor of the Stamford Advocate at the time, and his dad was the ex-commissioner of the NBA. Do you know that? Yeah, he did not know that. I said, ‘Hey, Skip, you know, they’re telling me I might get drafted. I don’t know how that happened. You know how that happens.’ He goes, ‘Uh, go ask Bobby V.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know Bobby V. He’s the legend of our town. You know, I’ve known all of what he’s done and accomplished, and I didn’t know who he was.’ He goes, ‘I was just up Bobby, fifth overall pick out of high school out of Rippowam High School.’ Just to keep that into context, fifth. Unbelievable part of that legendary atmosphere around Bobby and recruited for the Collegiate and major league in NFL for baseball and football. I mean, you go to his restaurants, and that’s part of this whole story, and the letters on the wall of his recruiting process were absolutely unbelievable.

So, you know, Bob Kennedy tells me, ‘Go see Bobby Valentine.’ I don’t know Bobby Valentine. You know, a little intimidating. He’s a man, he’s a star. He goes, ‘Ah, he’s a great guy, blah, blah, hey, bro.’ He was just up at, it’s called, it’s not a high school anymore, but it was Trinity Catholic for the last bunch of years. It’s called Catholic High. He was up at a Catholic High baseball game. So I go wandering up there. I’m 20 years old at the time. I go wandering up. I know what he looks like, and I see him, and he’s got, of course, a bunch of people around him as always. I go up to him, and I say, ‘Hey, Bob, I’m Frank Ramppen.’ He goes, ‘Hey, hey, you know, Bobby’s charismatically, I know who you are. How you doing?’ And we, the two of us, still don’t know this story, but he got a piece of paper with my name written on it in his hand. Now, Bob Kennedy didn’t call him because there were no cell phones back then. It was the horse and muggage. This was the 1980s. There were no cell phones. Neither one of us understands that. But for some reason, he had my name written down and introduced myself. We talked for a couple seconds. I told him I was hoping to get drafted, and he, yeah, all excited. Bobby’s such a charismatic individual, as you know. I just asked him how the whole thing works, and he took me under his wing like a brother from that point on. That’s 43 years ago, and I’ve had a journey with him. And now, your experience in that journey and have been with Bobby V, and it’s been amazing. And I mean to complete that portion of it, he told me at the time, you know, now you watch it on TV. Back then, you get a telegram, really, a Western Union Telegram. So he says if you get drafted, you get notified by a Western Union Telegram, and a few days later, I go to the mailbox, and there it is from the Minnesota Twins that I got drafted. I remember, nobody was with me. I went jumping around all over the front lawn, and my mother was, ‘What are you, what are you doing?’ So I got drafted, and blah, blah, blah. So I notified Bobby that I got drafted. Congratulations, the whole deal. The big scout from the area, Herb Stein, came to our house to sign me, and he was actually the same person who signed Rod Carew. 

Frankie – Oh, really? 

Frank – Yeah, which there’s another little Rod Carew story there. I’ll get to that. So he comes to my house. It’s me and my mom. I think my sister was there, and Bobby and her were sitting there, and we’re talking about the whole thing. I got drafted in the 30th round. You know, there’s not a lot of money at that late round, and there wasn’t as much money in baseball, 30th round anymore. Yeah, and it’s not even a thing. Right? There was only 20 this year, and a couple years ago, what, they’re only six or something. I think there’s only ten. So this was funny. They offered me a $2500 signing bonus, and I’m sitting over there. My mom’s over there, and Bobby’s sitting right here, going like this, waving for me to ask for five, which I did, and they gave it to me, actually. So I have to make a decision at this point whether I’m gonna sign professionally to go play for the Minnesota Twins or go back for my senior year of college. So Bobby and I take a long walk down K-More street, and we’re talking about the pros and cons of the whole situation. You know, he’s giving me every bit of insight that he has from his life’s experience, and which was unbelievable. And we go back home, and I signed and became a Minnesota Twin that day. And then that night, Bobby invites me and my family down to Bobby Valentine’s Sports Gallery Cafe, which I ended up working, which is more part of the story. Legendary sports bar in Stamford, which had just opened a few months earlier, and we go down there. The place is packed, and he gets on the microphone. ‘Hey, I want to tell everybody, local guy Frank Ramppen gets drafted by the Minnesota Twins,’ and champagne and everything and picked up our tab. And it was just an amazing night, an amazing memory, but Bobby V was all over that thing. And that’s where it all began. 40, actually, the draft was, I think, was July 6th, so almost, you know, a couple of weeks away from 43 years. 

Frankie – Wow, yeah, that’s crazy. Pretty, pretty cool story there with, with Bobby. That’s really the first real Bobby story that you have him being there the whole time for that. That’s really cool. Yeah, so then you get drafted, you play for the Minnesota Twins in the minor leagues for, well, how many years? For four years, and then after that, you stay down in Florida for a couple of years and then end up coming back here and reconnect with Bobby. 

Frank – Yeah, but the story, the connection happens before. So while I’m playing, I’m taking classes at Sacred Heart because I didn’t graduate. So I’m taking classes and trying to make some money. I look in the newspaper, the Stamford Advocate, and I see an ad for a bartender wanted at Bobby Valentine’s. So I call up, and Bobby answers the phone, which is kind of unusual. And he says, ‘Hey, Bobby, it’s Frank Ramp. Hey, Bob. We’d stayed in touch through my playing days. I think he got, we actually hit a couple times in the off-season. Um, and how you doing? Blah, blah, blah.’ He said, ‘Hey, I see you got an ad in the paper for a bartender.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, you know how to bartend.’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Come on down.’ So, I go down to the place, and he basically, he and I sat there behind the bar, leaned against the bar, up against the beer cooler at the end of the bar, and he was talking to me about stuff and showing me some ins and outs. And the next night, I’m bartending up, Bobby V’s this hopping place, which I ended up running when, like you said, when my career ended. I stayed down in Florida for a couple of years, living with my buddy Lou. 

For more from Frank on his history with Bobby Valentine click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

 

 

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The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 2

The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 2

The Bobby Valentine Sport Show: Episode 2

A pretty interesting and fun week in Major League Baseball, right? There’s a new team that has taken over the top spot in the American League. Instead of the Rays, who have been the team of the first half or the first two-thirds of the season in the American League, the Baltimore Orioles have stayed consistent over the past year. They have finally taken over as the best team in the American League East and the best team in the American League as a whole. They just took three of four against Tampa Bay, which is a tough place to play when they’re doing well. Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson are leading this young Orioles team, and it’s very fun to watch. They also have Jordan Westburg and a lot of young stars making significant contributions.

Let’s talk about Ryan O’Hearn for a second. His batting average is over .300, and on July 27th, he’s arguably the Orioles’ most clutch hitter. It’s pretty ridiculous, and he’s been having a great season. The Orioles have a bunch of other players contending as well, like Jorge Mateo, Anthony Santander, and Ryan Mountcastle. This Orioles team is fun to watch, and they’ve already made significant moves in the American League by jumping over the Rays.

Moving on to something else I wanted to mention. I’m wearing my A’s shirt today, the “Sell the Team” shirt that I received. It’s a bit big on me because I got a double XL, but I’ve been trying to shrink it down by washing and drying it on high heat. This shirt is from the original reverse boycott game on June 13th in Oakland, and it was a ridiculous atmosphere with fans chanting “Sell the team” and “Stay in Oakland.”

The A’s scheduled their third fan-organized boycott, this time called the “Unite the Bay Boycott” because they were playing in San Francisco against the Giants. They called for Giants fans to unite with them to keep the A’s in Oakland. This was the third fan-organized protest of the season, with the first one being the reverse boycott on June 13th, and the second one happening during the All-Star Game. A’s and Giants fans are coming together to protest and show their support for their respective teams.

The Giants starter, Alex Cobb, couldn’t hear his pitch comm during the fifth inning when the “Sell the Team” chants came in. It was so loud that it affected the game, which shows the impact of these protests.

Now, let’s move on to our Outfield play of the week. This week, we’re featuring another center fielder, Riley Green from the Detroit Tigers. He made an incredible play in left-center field when Jake Cronenworth hit a ball that seemed like it would be an easy catch. However, the ball sliced away from Riley Green, and he had to make a last-second dive, making an awkward, but amazing, catch. It’s a fantastic play by Riley Green in center field.

That’s the recap for this week in Major League Baseball!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 26

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 26

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 26 

Frank – Alrighty hello everybody and welcome back to the Bobby Valentine Sports show. So this week we’re going to be doing a little bit of a different type of episode because this week I was actually this past week I was actually in California with the man himself Bobby Valentine so I’m going to give you a little bit of a rundown of the past week that I was out there. I went to so from July 14th to the 21st, I went to that is eight days, an eight day span I went to seven MLB games, so pretty crazy stuff. I’m gonna break down all of those games for you and I actually was able to do an on-field interview at Angel Stadium with Bobby V and I’m going to show that to you. I haven’t watched the full thing back yet, so I’m gonna be watching it for the first time too with you guys so we’re gonna get that going. I’m gonna pull that up and then we’re gonna get into the seven games that I watched over this past week.

Alright so here’s me and Bobby on the field Angel Stadium we’ll get into it right now.

Bobby Valentine Interview:

Frank – Alright welcome back to the Bobby Valentine Sports show and we are here not in the regular studio today we’re in a different little PG we’re in Anaheim California at Angel Stadium and we’re here with the man himself Bobby Valentine. So Bobby was a 10-year professional baseball player, 23-year manager in the big leagues, two in the minor leagues, 16 years here in America and seven years in Japan. So Bobby thank you so much for taking the time to do this today.

Bobby – Right good to be with you dude let’s do it because everybody back there at BVSA wants to know what the Angels are doing because we’re playing against the Yankees right now.

Frank – Yeah alright so Angel Stadium is the fourth oldest stadium in all of baseball it’s only behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium. So given the long history of this field and that you played here from 1973 to 1975, how has the stadium changed at all or stayed the same now that you’re here in 2023?

Bobby – Well a lot of it stayed the same, the entire horseshoes basically the same but when Disney bought the team from Gene Archie the old singing Cowboy they put on the field the ambiance with the big scoreboard. They moved the big “A” out in the parking lot now it’s just being left there but it’s all cool you know it’s a nice stadium. It’s old but it’s friendly.

Frank – Very nice very nice, I think it gets a bad rap personally. I think for most three; Fenway, Wrigley and Dodgers Stadium, it seems the newest of all those.

Bobby – It’s you know the 60s is a long time ago and that’s when it was built so it’s probably time for a new one soon.

Frank – Alright so now that you are working for the Angels yeah and the general manager of the Angels, Perry Minasian.  So I know that you have a relationship with Perry you work with him all the time but what is your background with Perry Minasian and the Minasian family throughout the years and would you like to elaborate on that story?

Bobby – Yeah Perry was a bat boy for me matter of fact at nine years old he was a bat boy for Nolan Ryan’s sixth no-hitter. We’re in Oakland against your favorite team and Nolan Ryan was throwing a no-hitter, his dad was by clubhouse guy in 1968. His dad’s dad was a very good friend of Tommy Lasordas that’s why he had the job as the clubhouse guy in 68′ then it became a clubhouse guy in Texas for 33 years his kids grew up in baseball. Perry’s one of them, his brother Zach is a vice president with the Giants, his brother Calvin is the head of equipment for the Atlanta Braves so it’s a real baseball family. 

Frank – So pretty cool stuff there a lot of history between Bobby V and the Minasian family. Obviously he’s active Clubhouse manager and the bat boy Perry and now the GM of the Angels so pretty cool kind of a circle wrap around story coming back in the beginning so cool stuff there. So moving on to the Angels team the inevitable question that I have to ask what do you think the future holds for Shohei Ohtani. So I’m going to jump in here and pause it for the first time. I don’t know if you guys notice here but I mean obviously we’re on the field and it was about 95 degrees on the field that day and obviously Bobby’s a pretty well-known icon, pretty good pretty famous face. As more and more people were filling up the stadium more and more people were gathering around and watching what Bobby was doing right here so I’m a little nervous here if you can’t tell. But I think this is kind of funny to watch back but if you can’t tell here I’m a little nervous so let’s get into the next question here.

Bobby – Yeah greatness is in his future he’s already spectacular and he’s going to be great for many years hopefully he’s going to be great for the Angels, no telling what will happen if his agent decides that he wants to stay here obviously we’ll get a contract done in the winter time. But if the agent says in the next 10 days then he wants to go somewhere else that a trade has to be made and some lucky team will have this great services for probably the next 10 or 12 years.

Frank – And it’s going to be interesting to see what teams are willing to offer for that generational talent that he is or what teams we willing to pay for the generational talent that he is.

Bobby – They have to pay the Angels, they have to pay in players and then they have to pay him in yeah dollars or Bitcoin or something that he wants or whatever you want. 

Frank – Yeah so continuing with the Shohei Ohtani theme, so in your opinion Bobby how long do you think that Shohei will be able to keep up his dominance as both a hitter and a pitcher.

Bobby – There’s no reason to doubt anything about Shohei Ohtani, people doubted him coming in and he’s proving everyone wrong and I think he’s just that special guy. He sleeps better than anyone ever recorded you know goes into deep zen like that sits so he can recover better than anybody I’ve ever been around and he runs faster, throws faster, hits it further does the whole nine yards better than anybody else on the planet so I don’t doubt him. I think he could do it as long as he wants to and I think he wants to do it for as long as his contract stays so no one could ever duplicate what he’s doing.

For more from Bobby and this awesome interview click the link below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 25

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 25

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 25

Hello everyone and welcome to the Bobby Valentine Sports Show. I’m your host Frank Ramppen, and we’re going to do another solo episode this week. So this week, we got a couple of things to talk about, a lot of things to talk about, actually, a very eventful week in the world of baseball. We’re going to talk about the All-Star break, talk about the Home Run Derby, talk about the All-Star Game, those surprise events that happened, those surprise winners of maybe one of those things, the MVP of the All-Star game, that’s for sure. We’re going to talk about the MLB updates at the halfway point as this is the All-Star break going into the second half of the season. We’ll talk about a bunch of those different division matchups going into the second half, and then I’ll make a prediction for each division at the end of this episode. So stay tuned for that one.

So we’ll start off with our past week recap, and well, the first thing we’ll talk about is the All-Star break. The first thing that happened on this All-Star break, obviously, was Monday night was the Home Run Derby, and the winner of the Home Run Derby, if anyone hadn’t seen, was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. So great job to Vladi. Actually, his dad, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., won the Home Run Derby in 2007, making it the first time ever that a father-son duo has won the Home Run Derby. So pretty cool stuff there. We’ll get more into that later. We’ll talk about the Home Run Derby. We’ve got a whole All-Star segment. And then the All-Star Game MVP is Elias Diaz of the Colorado Rockies. The first time a Colorado Rockie has ever won MVP of the All-Star Game and the fourth most long-shot player of all the players listed as All-Stars to win MVP going into the game. So pretty crazy stuff, pretty unexpected stuff. And the National League came home with the win, obviously, on the Elias Diaz two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning. This was the first win by the National League in the All-Star Game since 2012. So nine years in a row, it was the second longest streak by any team in All-Star Game history by the AL, nine years in a row. So the first time they won since 2012. And a couple of things that were going on in 2012: that was the first year that Bryce Harper and Mike Trout made All-Star appearances. So think about that. They were both, I think, 19 years old when that happened. They’re both going into their 30s years old now. Mike Trout, to dad. So that’s pretty crazy to think about. That’s how long it’s been since the National League has even won the All-Star Game. So pretty cool. We’ll get more into that later.

So we have the first combined no-hitter in Detroit Tigers history that happened the other day. So the Tigers and their storied franchise, they’ve had nine no-hitters in their history, and this is the first time that’s ever been combined. So that’s pretty crazy to think about that the Tigers have had nine in total, but this is the first time that the starting pitcher didn’t go the distance. So that shows you how baseball’s changed over the years. Probably it’s been a while since the last actually Spencer Turnbull threw one a couple of years ago. So good stuff there for the Tigers. Matt Manning started that game off with six and two-thirds innings without a hit before he was taken out with two outs in the seventh inning. Jason Foley stepped in to get the final out of the seventh, followed that with a hitless eighth as well. And then Alex Lang, the Detroit Tigers closer, came in, and he was forced to face the top of the order. So that top of the order of the Toronto Blue Jays is not so easy, like we talked about before. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in that top three. He had to face him, last Home Run Derby winner. Bo Bichette led off, so that’s another All-Star right there. And those two guys hit around Brandon Belt, so another solid hitter. So he faced Bo Bichette, got him, Brandon Belt, and then had to face the Home Run Derby champion, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., got him to ground out to third to complete the first-ever combined no-hitter in Detroit Tigers history. So pretty cool stuff there, great stuff for Matt Manning, Jason Foley, and Alex Lang, as it’s been a pretty tough season for the Tigers overall. But I mean, who knows? They’re only five games out of the hunt in the Central, and the AL Central is completely up for grabs, so anything can happen there, and that could kickstart them to go in the right direction.

Another headline we have here in our past week recap is, of course, Elly De La Cruz, because he just again does the unthinkable whenever he steps on a baseball field. He’s truly becoming a must-watch talent every single night. It’s getting to be ridiculous. So they were playing a huge series against the Brewers that I touched on last week, last week’s episode, starting Friday, they played a three-game set. They actually ended up losing the set two games out of three. But on Saturday, with the game tied 5-5 late in the game, I believe it was the seventh inning, Elly De La Cruz had it was in an 0-2 count, and he ripped an RBI single into left field to score TJ Friedl from third base. So then he’s on first after he just drove in the go-ahead run late in the game. What does he do two pitches later? Takes off without a very, very close play. He was in there. He’s the fastest man, quote-unquote, in the world, so he steals second base two pitches into the next at-bat. What does he do next pitch? Gets an unbelievably huge jump, takes off for third, right? Takes off for third. There’s not even a throw made to third. He’s just there standing up. He’s got no chance. So the catcher, William Contreras, looks at him. I’m pulling up the video right here. We’re gonna have it for you too. So he takes off for second. This throw from Willy Contreras is pretty good, one-hop throw on the bag. Elly De La Cruz is in there safely, no chance, not a chance. So after that, he’s like, “All right, I’m gonna just chill out here for a sec, fix my hair, do a couple of this.” William Contreras is like, “Oh, geez, what am I doing now? Oh, boy.” De La Cruz brushes off the pants, get himself ready, and what does he do now? The next pitch, he gets an absolutely ridiculous jump. And he would have beaten Brian Anderson to the bag anyway because they were shifted slightly. But Brian Anderson didn’t even try to go to third base. He beat him to the bag, and William Contreras didn’t even have a chance to make a throw. Ridiculous stuff, and Elly De La Cruz just decides to round third, fix his helmet a little bit, fix his hair, do a little bit of this, put his helmet back on, and he sees William Contreras flip the ball back to the pitcher, and he sees the pitcher kind of just turn around, not really paying attention to him. He sneaks off a little bit more, a little bit more, and then he just breaks for the plate. And the pitcher turns around, he’s got no chance, throws it wild home. Eli De La Cruz slides in safely. So he just drove in the go-ahead run, stole second and third, and home in two pitches. People don’t do that. The things that he does, nobody does them. He’s an absolute freak of nature. Nobody does the things that he does. He’s an absolute freak of nature. So we’ll get more into the Reds, we’ll get more into Elly De La Cruz, but what a ridiculous highlight from the 21-year-old. Like, what a ridiculous… And he became the second player in the expansion era to steal three bases in one plate appearance, and he was the youngest player ever to do that. So what he’s doing is just ridiculous.

Moving on to the last couple of segments of the past week recap. The first one will be the AL Player of the Week. This past week, Logan Gilbert was the AL Player of the Week. He made two starts. In both starts, he got the win, was 2-0. He pitched 16 innings in those two games, a 0.56 ERA with 13 strikeouts and no walks. So, wow, crazy week there for Logan Gilbert. And on the 4th of July, he had his first career complete game, CG. So, nice job there. And then we’ll move on to the NL Player of the Week was Manny Machado. In the six games this week, Manny Machado hit .478 with four bombs, 13 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.599, basically 1600 OPS throughout the week. So, what a ridiculous line there for both Logan Gilbert and Manny Machado. Great job for both of them to win their respective leagues Player of the Week.

For more on this past All-Star Weekend and some updates on the MLB standings click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 24

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 24

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 24

Frank – The first thing we got to talk about is a major event, and this happened about a week ago now, actually a week ago from today. Domingo German threw the 24th perfect game in MLB history, and we got a video of that, the last out of that game. It’s been 3969 days since the last perfect game thrown in the MLB, and in that time, there are 31 individual no-hitters as well as nine combined no-no’s, so that just tells you how rare a perfect game is. In that time since the last perfect game, there have been 31 no-hitters by individuals and nine combined ones, so 40 in total. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

So that was the fourth perfect game thrown by a New York Yankee, making it the most by any team overall. They pass the Chicago White Sox, who were tied with three a piece. They get ahead of them with four. They had one thrown by Cone, one thrown by Don Larsen, obviously in the World Series in 1956, and the last one was David Wells. So the A’s become the first team in MLB history to have thrown two perfect games. One was by Catfish Hunter in 1968, and the other was by Dallas Braden in 2010. And they’ve also had two perfect games thrown against them, obviously Domingo German last weekend, and Cy Young threw the first ever recorded perfect game against the Oakland Athletics, or actually, at that point, the Philadelphia Athletics in 1904. Pretty crazy stuff. It was the first perfect game in 11 years since Felix Hernandez did it in 2012 for the Seattle Mariners. And as I mentioned before, Dallas Braden threw a perfect game, and Dallas Braden was on the call for NBC Sports California, the A’s broadcast, making it the first time in history anybody has thrown a perfect game and also called one in the broadcast booth. So, Dallas, pretty cool right there. This is the third time a perfect game was thrown in the Oakland Coliseum, tying it with the old Yankee Stadium for the most perfect games thrown in one venue ever in MLB history. Most runs scored by a team throwing a perfect game as the Yankees shut out the A’s 11-0, and it was 99 pitches thrown by German in that game, making it a Maddox game. So a Maddox Perfecto, which is the first Maddox Perfecto since Philip Humber, which was the first of those three perfect games that happened in 2012. Interestingly, 51 of Herman’s 99 pitches were curveballs, and he finished the game with nine strikeouts.

Crazy enough, with so many great Dominican-born players and pitchers over the years, Pedro Martinez is the first one that comes to my mind. It’s the first no-hitter of any kind thrown by a Dominican-born player. Pretty great for that, pretty crazy.

Another crazy fact: before the game, the A’s had the longest active streak in the major leagues without getting no-hit. They hadn’t been no-hit since July 13th of 1991, and they come up and get a perfect game thrown against them. So that shows you how the A’s season is going. That’s another just crazy thing going on. So a lot of crazy facts about that perfect game. The first one in 11 years, a long time coming. It was the second-longest drought in between perfect games ever. So pretty crazy stuff there.

Another crazy thing that just happened this week, it feels like we have to talk about this, but it’s just inevitable: Shohei Ohtani, the inevitable Shohei Ohtani had another unprecedented week, even for his standards. He had six home runs in the week to cap off a 15-home run June, which is, let me put that 15-home run June in perspective. So last year, Aaron Judge, he broke the American League home run record, right, and he never had even a 14-home run month, let alone a 15-home run month. What Shohei Ohtani just did in that month hadn’t been done by an AL player since 1961, and that was Roger Maris the year that he set that record that Judge ended up breaking last year. So he’s in unprecedented territory, and he pitches. So yeah, we’re gonna go into that now. He pitches, right? He had a two-home run game in a game while he was pitching. He pitched six innings of two-run baseball and had 10 strikeouts. And, yeah, he hit two home runs at the plate. That shouldn’t be a fair thing. Shohei Ohtani, you continue to amaze every single day, and somehow, he just continues to get better and better and better. But last night, he gave up back-to-back home runs for the first time in his MLB career on back-to-back pitches, nonetheless, and he immediately came out of the game. He had a cracked finger, a cracked fingernail issue, but now it’s a blister, and he was pulled this for the second straight time. His start had been cut short. So that’s something to look out for there. But still, he’s got the All-Star break coming up, so he’ll have a little bit of time to rest up. Hopefully, he’ll get back on track for his next start after the All-Star break, and everything will be looking good there. So Shohei Ohtani, maybe a minor setback, but still, the absolute freak that we all know and love. Oh, and one other thing, I didn’t forget about him. He hit a 493-foot home run last week, the longest home run in the majors. I forgot about that one. How about that? It’s one of those six home runs of the week. It was 493 feet. What an absolute freak. And now he was selected to his third straight All-Star game as both a pitcher and a hitter for the third straight year. Nobody else has ever been elected as both a pitcher and hitter ever. Babe Ruth? No, no, no, no, no, no. Shohei Ohtani, three times. And that’s it. Nobody else ever. So what an unbelievable freak.

So moving on, we’re gonna go to one of my favorite settings because I’m a former outfielder. I’m an outfielder, so I always gotta love the outfield play a little bit more than most, I’d say. So we’re gonna get to our outfield play of the week. Last week, it was George Springer. This week, I think it was Cedric Mullins. Cedric Mullins made one of the most unbelievable catches I’ve seen all season, and I was watching this play two days ago. I was watching this play upstairs here at my house, and I screamed like my parents thought I was like something was wrong. I screamed. It was unbelievable. Cedric Mullins ran from shade a little bit towards left center field. Byron Buxton smoked one to right center, and he went on a dead sprint, took a couple peeks at the wall, a couple peeks, took one last check, and jumped up and made a backhanded catch up against the wall just at the last second. As soon as he made contact with the wall, he made the catch. It was unbelievable. I don’t know how he made that play. And it was very, very similar to a play that Ken Griffey Jr. made back in, I believe it was 1995. I’m not sure. Don’t quote me on that, but they pulled it up in the broadcast, and we’re gonna pull it up here for you too. This play is almost identical, and Griffey actually broke his wrist on this play, but it shows how great he was, sacrificing his body to make unbelievable plays. But Cedric Mullins, this is pretty much an identical play to the Ken Griffey play that he made years ago. So Cedric Mullins, props to you, looking like Griffey out there, looking like the kid. Maybe flip that hat around backward for me. All right, so there it is for our weekly recap, and now we’re gonna move into the All-Star Weekend segment.

For more information from Frank on the MLB All-Star Weekend activities click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 23

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 23

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 23

Frankie – So Virg what do you think the surprise positive teams are throughout this season?

Virg – I’m wearing one still though, still I’m rocking with (pirates) them. I know there was an earlier episode I think I did with Joe and Matt where I said the Cardinals are like the surprise team for everything, and with them faltering and that pitching staff not being the same and not being able to control the game and their hitters just unraveling. The fact that Tyler O’Neil is being talked about in trade rumors already. Like with that team falling, that division went from theirs to wide open. Pittsburgh ran with it early. They’re still kind of there. There’s positive signs for O’Neill Cruz coming back from his fractured fibula. 

Frankie – Not until after the All-Star breakdown, right?

Virg – Still. So you still have positive signs of that coming back. That’s a spark, that’s a Elly De La Cruz spark. Yeah they’re almost the same, they’re very similar. But in that division alone, you have the Reds, you have the Pirates, you have the Cubs outplaying their expectations, good baseball. If anything, the Brewers have allowed it to happen because, and you could have seen that coming with how they treated Burns in arbitration. You knew something was not going to be right.

Frankie – But when he lasted started he gave up 6.

Virg – I will commend him for going four plus or whatever it was. Like, he’s staying there, yeah.

Frankie – He’s a good player, he’ll be able to figure it out. But I mean, yeah, it was crazy, it was unexpected.

Virg – That’s 3 surprise teams right there. Let alone the best of all of them is the team that put up those six runs against them. First-place Diamondbacks.

Frankie – That’s my surprise team right there, the D-backs. What are they, 10 games over right now, almost? Yeah, it’s about nine, nine-ten games over .500, leading that division by three and a half games. Whoa, like what’s going on over there?

Virg – Faltering Padres. The Dodgers that are spending astronomical numbers to continue a competitive team on the field. The Giants, who you thought would be good.

Frankie – Another Giants team in my surprise team. They’re above .500. They just jumped ahead of the Dodgers. The Dodgers are in third place in the NLS right now. It’s Diamondbacks, Giants, Dodgers.

Virg – I think looking at the list that we’ve talked about, I think as it stands right now, four teams out of last year’s postseason are currently in playoff spots. That’s it, yeah. It’s a lot of young exciting teams making their way through. I could see the Diamondbacks holding on.

Frankie – I could too. Their pitching has been very good. Zach Gallen has been great, Merrill Kelly has had a good year. Yeah, they have a good bullpen. Andrew Chaffin’s good at the end of the bullpen. I like them, but they have a lot of good young guys.

Virg – I think they get one more arm for their bullpen. And it they can get another corner bat, and because I Christian Walker and I love Longoria, I’ve got nothing bad to say about them. You need a true everyday differentiating bat and everyday bat.

Frankie – Yeah, Evan Longoria is not going to play every day. Like you got one at first with Christian Walker. He’s good. He’ll give you 25-30 home runs but right now they have Emmanuel Rivera playing at third. They’re going to need an everyday third baseman to make this happen. Yeah, but I had a lot of promise there with that D-backs team. And similarly, as the D-backs, I think the Orioles, that Orioles team is good. That Orioles team, 

Virg – I don’t think they’re firing on all cylinders yet either. 

Frankie – Yeah, no, I don’t think so either, and they’re sitting there nestled right under the Rays. They’re not going anywhere. And with the Blue Jays not really putting it together for a long period of time, the Yankees faltering right now, it’s only going to get better for the Orioles. 

Virg – And that AL East is still going to be competitive. No one’s going to give up in that. Red Sox are 3 games over .500. I’d like to see what happens to the Blue Jays when they get Manoa back. Let that be their spark plug, that energy. 

Frankie – Oh, yeah, but I’ve never seen a guy fall off a cliff like that in my life, like recently, like that. That was insane. His every start he had this year, that I watched him pitch in, he looked helpless. He actually looked, it was insane to watch because last year he was dominant. He was striking out 10 guys a game. He was going deep into ball games. He can’t get out of the first inning anymore. Yeah, his last start was the worst of all of them, and I didn’t think that this was going to be so much of a thing. The pitch clock looks like it’s really affecting him. 

Virg – So the pitch clock was his big thing. It made him work so much faster, where he had big times in between. Yeah, and his fastball-slider usage also changed over the last year. Like it’s going to affect everybody differently. 

Frankie – Well, you know what’s interesting about that? He did take a lot of time between pitches. You know who had the most and took the most time on average in between pitches the brothers on base last year? Shohei Ohtani. Yeah, he’s still doing pretty good.

Virg – When you’re Shohei, I think you figure it out. I guess so. He’s a different person. Sure. But he’s definitely not the same as he was last year. I find no, but he’s still putting those numbers. Oh yeah, top five in K’s. I think the only thing that isn’t high is his win total. Yeah, and all his pitching stats, his ERA over three. Yeah, true. But the Angels are in a playoff spot. If you end the season right now, Angels are in the playoffs. 

Frankie – Let’s think about let’s talk about one more surprise team that I got here that I don’t think anybody was really expecting to be doing what they’re doing, and they’re kind of being led by a historic Superman figure right now. Luis Arias is hitting .398 right now, just a touch under .400, and the Marlins are good. The Marlins have won like 13 of their last 15 games. 

Virg – It’s very reminiscent of the COVID season of like, ‘Why not us? Why not us?’ and just go out there and leave us on the COVID season Marlins. 

Frankie – Yeah, this team is better than that too. 

Virg – No, I know it is, but I’m saying that’s the same energy I’m getting from that. Like, ‘Why not? We’re gonna go, we’re doing it, we got the stars.’ Yuri Perez last night was literally shutting down baseball. 

Frankie – He’s so good. That guy is 20 years old. He’s born in 2003. Yuri Perez was born in 2003. I saw his first career start. I’m two years older than that guy. He went six scoreless. I’m like, what if? 

Virg – Imagine what that rotation can be. And Sandy’s not having the same season. He’s got a five ERA. Yeah, that’s an exciting team. That is a very exciting team. Talk about from all the surprises to where teams are faltering. The Twins, who are right now leading the AL Central under .500. Under .500. 

Frankie – The Red Sox are three games over in last place. 

Virg – Also, as of a few days ago when Araez passed the 100-hit mark. Yeah, the Twins had no hitter over 60 hits. Correa was leading the team with like 51-54. No one else. It’s a great European Pablo Lopez. You go get your star. Took him, took a week off for mental health. You will get all that. Nobody’s hitting on your squad. Nobody can stay. I don’t think nobody’s doing it now. Everyone on the Marlins hits because it’s contagious. Oh yeah. So, you have the surprise team of the Marlins, and you have the team that a little surprise traded him away. Yeah, and no one in that division can play. 

Frankie – No one can hit. Not a singular person, not a singular person.

For more on the MLB and some crazy surprises so far click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 22

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 22

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 22

Joe – So with that, let’s get into a little bit of baseball real quick. Let’s touch on it; it’s the one everyday thing going on right now. There is a little college baseball going on, but we’re not going to pretend like we know enough about what’s going on. The biggest thing we followed was West Virginia just because your brother goes there. Frank’s son Zack plays there. They just got bounced; they lost then won, then lost, so double elimination. Just got bounced, lost to Kentucky the other day. Sticking with Major League Baseball, do you want to go with the Yankees first? They seem to have figured it out. 

Matt – Yeah, so I mean the biggest thing was the injuries; we have it every year. We got all the big guys that hit home runs, and they always get hurt; it always seems to happen. Judge had an injury; thankfully, it wasn’t too crazy. He came back and has been insane since he’s been back. Then we had, obviously, the Stanton injury; you knew that was coming; it was bound to happen. Rather have it earlier in the year than later in the year, so not that bad. He came back, first game, hit a home run. Donaldson was out; I’m not the biggest Donaldson fan right now in the Yankees, but he came back and hit two home runs. So you could see right there, their lineup can be extremely good when they’re healthy. Pitching has been kind of up and down this year. Nestor just went on the IL, I think it’s 15 days with shoulder issues. That’s not great, but Cole’s been pretty lights out this year. Schmidt’s been up and down recently; he’s looked okay. German has actually been very good. I know we talked about the cheating thing, but he came back, and he did really well against the Dodgers. So that’s good to see. Obviously, Rodon is something that we are still waiting on. It’s kind of tough that you get him, and it’s just injury after injury, and he just hasn’t played a game. Hopefully, he’s not Frankie Montas when he comes back and actually plays, so we’ll find out. Yeah, they’ve been hot as of late. I think it was like they said they were 18-6 last month or something like that, along those lines. They were definitely coming up after being last in the division and struggling. So they are definitely on the upswing now, so we’ll see what happens. Keep getting healthy, and pitching stays consistent. Hopefully, get some bullpen guys back too, and they could be in a good spot. Not too worried. 

Joe – They’re definitely trending in the right direction. The problem being, they just play in such a tough division, arguably the best in baseball. Every team is over .500. They’re sitting 11 games over .500. If they were in the AL Central, they’d be leading. If they were in the NL Central, they’d be leading. If they were in the NL West with the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks and the Padres, they would be leading. It’s crazy just to show the level of competition they’re dealing with. As for the Mets, we’re fortunate that we don’t play in a division like you guys play in. Washington’s in the basement, Philly can’t get out of their own way. It’s crazy. We are 30 and 30, just got swept at home by Toronto, and we’re sitting five and a half games behind Atlanta. We’re now traveling to Atlanta tomorrow for three games. It could be a big swing. Obviously, two and a half to eight and a half, and a couple of things in between as well. But they’re just… I can’t put my finger on it. They’re not that banged up. Guys aren’t performing. Lindor’s getting very close to being under .200 for the year. McNeil is not putting up the average that he had last year, obviously he won the batting title so maybe doesn’t need to be that high. Alonso is putting the ball over the fence but is hitting his weight at like .235. So there really isn’t any steady production coming from anybody, 1-9. Alvarez came up, hitting home runs and providing a spark, great. Everyone’s complaining about the kids not playing and then they play and they’re not doing too well. Brett Baty, Vientos and Alvarez. So the offense isn’t clicking by any stretch. You can blame the bullpen and not having Edwin Diaz, but we can’t even get there. The starters are, specifically the big 3 are struggling. You would think Scherzer and Verlander have figured it out. Scherzer maybe a little bit starting to turn a corner. Verlander has not. Simply put, he has not. Maybe you hope he’s on the same trajectory as Scherzer, where it took him four, five, six starts to get going, but we’re 60 games in. I know it’s a 162-game season. It’s June. They are 30 and 30, and it’s coming down to almost the next piece: it’s come trade deadline time. Are they gonna be buyers and try to push and squeak into a wild card and go up against those Braves and those Dodgers and ruin more of your farm system to try to win a series or two? I don’t think they’re gonna be sellers, but they’re gonna be stuck in no man’s land if they’re at the spot they’re in right now. They are 5.5 games behind Atlanta for the division, and they’re two games out of the last wild card, chasing the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins. Crazy. So, I don’t know where they go. I just… I’m not one of those… you know what’s the guy’s name on Barstool, Frank the Tank, who just lives for screaming on his phone that the season’s over and blow everything up. I’m not panicking, but what I’m telling you is they are running out of time to figure out their direction for the rest of the season, and they need to figure it out sooner rather than later.

For more information on the NBA and NHL Finals as well as MLB and Ohtani click the link below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 21

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 21

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 21
 
Joe – We are live episode 21, our long-awaited return. I’m Joe, that’s Matt. We have so much that we’ve missed, so much to get into. We’re talking two, three months back. I think the last time we spoke, it was actually me alone in Frank’s office breaking down my March Madness bracket. Obviously, we’re not gonna dive into any of that stuff; it’s obviously too far gone. But I need to officially on camera phone up to my horrid March Madness bracket and officially apologize to all the great people of Connecticut for doubting UConn round after round, particularly Rob Faugno. I owe you my deepest apologies. My talent on this was around they’re going. So I officially own up to that. On the flip side of that, I want to officially pat myself on the back for the World Baseball Classic. I did pick Japan on camera before it started to win the whole thing. We haven’t spoken since, so I’m gonna give myself a little bit of credit for that. The reason I bring up March Madness is that I want to tie it into what’s going on right now in the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs. Both are in their Conference Finals. There are four teams left, and across the board, all three sports and tournaments, whatever, there have been so many upsets, so many underdogs advancing. And usually, it’s one round, it’s two rounds, especially in March Madness, right? But we saw UConn at the four, I think San Diego State at the five, and then the Miami Heat are in an eight seed currently in the conference final against Boston. And you have the Florida Panthers beating arguably the greatest regular season hockey team in NHL history in the Boston Bruins, and now they’re in the final against Carolina. So I’ll let you start: Is this a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Does it depend on the sport? Where do you stand with how all this is going? 
 
Matt – To start with hockey, because obviously I just really got into it this year, started to follow it. I enjoyed it, obviously watching the Islanders. I mean, they actually had a chance, so it wasn’t the worst thing. Seeing like, obviously, hockey, I don’t really know much about it. I’ve seen the Lightning the past four years; they won it, what, three of the last four years. So it’s like, to me, I mean, knowing the NBA a little more, it was very similar; the Warriors were doing that kind of thing, but then everyone wanted to see that Warriors-LeBron matchup, which, whatever team he was on, whether it was the Cavs or the Lakers this year or whatever. I don’t hate it because I think it’s entertaining. The only thing is, like, once they beat the high seed to get to the next round, I feel like it loses its luster. Like, it beats the good team, then they’ll play like that middle-seated team, and it’s just not as, I don’t know, it just doesn’t make it as fun. I think about the Super Bowl last year where it was the two best teams, obviously completely different sport. It’s not a series; it’s one game each round, so very different. But those two best teams made one of the most enjoyable games we’ve ever seen. So I think that there is something to having the better teams being left because of the quality of play, but also for those teams to get there, obviously, they had to do something right, so I think it’s good and bad. I think that it’s good to have variation, I think it’s good to see different teams do well because that means that they’re doing something right with the draft, with trades, with free agency, all that stuff. So I think it’s okay. NHL, I’m still learning about it, but for the NBA, I think it’s good for the NBA for sure because yes, LeBron is still LeBron. He’s still with the final four, right? He’s not the same guy he was five years ago, obviously, but for him to bring a team as the seventh seed halfway through the year, they looked like they were done. They beat the Warriors, the defending champions. Obviously, the Warriors have plenty of flaws this year; it’s a little different, but that series was awesome. I watched a lot of that series. I’m not a huge NBA guy, but I watch basketball usually in the playoffs, really good series. So again, like I enjoy seeing that the Heat, they made it three of the past four years to the Conference Finals. They look like a legit team, even though they were in eight seed. They just get to the playoffs, and they turn something on. So I think it’s enjoyable. I think it’s great. I think it’s great for the NBA for sure. So, yeah, I think it’s interesting to see. I think it’ll be great to see the finals for both of those sports. I think it’ll be good. 
 
Joe – Yeah, I think I’m with you on the NBA 100%. I stopped watching the NBA, in part because if you’re not a fan of one of six teams and probably that’s even generous, you really don’t think you have a realistic shot. So I started watching more playoffs this year than years past, and I’m following the Kings, hoping they make a run. I’m following the Knicks; that was a really enjoyable Knicks team that was able to make some noise. And like you said, the Heat are the eight seed, the Lakers are the seven seed. It’s still LeBron James, and it’s still the four teams that were in the conference final three years ago. So it’s showing that these teams and how they rebuild or how they continue to stay relevant. And I actually saw this morning the teams that were left in the NBA were a one through eight seed. There was a one, a two, or three all the way down to eight left, one of each. So that’s pretty cool. And at the end of the day, there’s still the two one seeds left, no? Denver and Boston. Like you just expressed with the Super Bowl, the best teams were there at the end. So for me, these runs are kind of cool. I don’t want to see Miami in the final; I want to see Boston. The other side doesn’t matter as much. I know the Lakers are a seven seed, but it’s still LeBron. So that to me, I think is great for the sport. I think NBA, it’s perfect. Now, on the flip side, same sport, just the college level, I think it was awful for college basketball. Yeah, it’s really cool to see; who was it? Fairleigh Dickinson got the 16 seed beat Purdue, that’s really cool. If every year a 16 seed can knock off a one, make them think they have a chance in the tournament, great. But then if you really think about it, you got a 16 playing a nine in the second round, a lot less appealing. It was supposed to be like Purdue and Memphis, was that one-eight matchup? That would have been sick. Instead, you get FAU and Fairleigh Dickinson. And now FAU made that run to the final four, right? You had a couple nine seeds go far, and we were interested here in Connecticut because it was UConn. I don’t think many people cared about UConn San Diego State in the final, probably. So I don’t think it’s that good for college basketball. I think these teams, it’s really cool to see them make, you know, win a game, win two games, maybe have a double-digit seed in the elite eight, maybe even the final four. But in the end, you want to see one if not two of those top teams at the end. The way you talk about the Chiefs and the Eagles, same way, hopefully it’s Denver and Boston. Now with hockey, I think it’s kind of a similar path. Maybe I’m biased, and maybe it’s a market thing, but you look at who was in the East, those 8 teams. I’ll see if I can name all of them right now: the two New York teams are out, the Devils are out, the Bruins are out, the Lightning are out, the Maple Leafs are out. A loaded Eastern Conference, and you’re stuck with the Florida Panthers and the banged up Carolina Hurricanes. I’m not going to tune in for a minute of any of those games. And then on the other side, it’s a little bit better. You have Vegas and you have Dallas, higher seeds. There are better teams all year. But for me, it was more of like Edmonton and Connor McDavid. I wanted to see. Seattle’s a new team I wanted to see. So I don’t think it’s as bad for the NHL. You do have Vegas, who, I believe, this is now like four of six years in existence they made it to the Conference Finals. You can argue that’s good or bad for hockey, that a brand new expansion team is making runs. Seattle, a brand new team, made a run. Tampa being the dynasty. I think there’s a huge difference between the dynasty and the new teams. But nonetheless, it’s not as bad as I think college, as it was for March Madness. But still, you wanted to see that Boston Bruins team make a little bit of a run, as much as you might like or not like them. As much as I hate the Rangers, I think I’d rather see them play Carolina right now than Florida or at least play that Florida team that upset Boston. So I think it just goes one too many steps. I think this is going to be one of the least viewed Conference Final matchups on both sides. And then the Stanley Cup, I don’t even know what your best-case scenario is. Both those teams in the East are not fun to watch. I guess you’re watching for the west side, but I don’t think too many people are going to care in comparison to if you had Boston against Conor McDavid in the Oilers. So a much different scenario. Obviously, we’ll see how it all plays out, but I think it really depends on the sport. Football’s totally different because you brought up football. It’s one game, yeah, so you can go on a run. You can win three games in a row at the right time, right? Whereas these sports, hockey and the NBA, it’s so different because the seven-game series, you would think that it’ll right the ship. Like the Milwaukee Bucks can fall to nothing or whoever, eventually, it’ll play itself out. It’s really hard to beat them far and away better team in a seven-game series. So a lot going on there, good or bad for the sport moving forward, whatever it is, we’ll see how it all plays out.
 
For more information on underdogs in sports, the NHL playoffs and the NBA playoffs click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 20

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 20

Alright, what’s up guys Joe Wanderlingh here BVSA Sports Show episode 20. As you can see I am riding solo today with a lot to get into with the NFL but I’ll save that for when Matt is back with us. Tomorrow is the start of March Madness. Favorite time of the year, brackets are out, upsets all over this bracket. I want to take a couple minutes and dive into this with you guys before kicking it over to Frank and Bobby and the debut episode if the When of Bobby V so I’ll kick it over to you guys in just a couple of minutes. I just wanted to go through this with you how to share it with somebody don’t have too many guys around here to go back and forth with so might as well get myself on video giving you the not so expert picks. Obviously Friday morning we all wake up brackets are busted so going in clean slate feeling good thinking this is the year you’ll win some pools or go perfect all that good stuff, let’s dive right into it.

Let’s start upper left of your bracket in the South, just going through your first eight winners Alabama/Maryland pretty chalky. I’m gonna use the word chalk a lot that just means going with the favorites. 1 and 8 Alabama Maryland. Maryland beating West Virginia, sorry Frank, sorry Matt um Frank’s son Matt’s brother um don’t see West Virginia don’t see the Mountaineers coming away with this one I know it’s a heavy public pick but I’m going with Maryland um underneath that are my two my first two big upsets double-digit seeds both 12 and 13. Charleston and Furman over San Diego State and Virginia both teams historically not so great in the tournament Virginia being the big one as they are the only team as a 1 seed ever lose to a 16 seed. As a 4 here I don’t think their luck is going to
change all that much I got Charleston and Furman in two double-digit teams meeting in the round of 32 this weekend towards the bottom it goes back to the favorites 3 and 6 Baylor Creighton. I’m a big big East guy, Providence, Xavier, Creighton, Marquette who you’ll see a little bit later on I have them going very far so I’m a big believer in the Big East. I was there last Wednesday for the first round those first three games so you tend to see a little bit of a trend here of me going a little further than I probably should with those big east teams but can’t help myself and then round it all out Arizona
and Missouri 2 and 7 so from top to bottom you got one eight got the big upsets in the middle 12 and 13, 6, 3, 7 and 2 seeds. Moving into the sweet 16 I’m gonna stay on that one side I’ll get you your one pick on each side of the bracket and then come all together with your final four. I’m sticking with the tide, Alabama, I have Charleston winning that barn burner of a 12 vs 13 seed. Creighton
upsetting Baylor, I think they’re too banged up they really haven’t gotten too much of a rhythm this year especially down the stretch. I think Creighton can handle them and then Arizona beating Missouri that gives you 1 vs 12 and 2 vs 6 in your Elite eight I’m sticking with Alabama sticking with Arizona I think these are the two far and away best teams in this side of the bracket that are going to meet in the elite eight and I’m gonna ride with that one seed Alabama being the first team I have
punching its ticket into the Final Four. 

Over on the top right Midwest we’re going to go Houston Iowa another 12 seed .Drake obviously a lot of us love those 12 seeds historically they do very well in this tournament it’s the first really big upset that people look at on each side of the brackets the 12 is beating the fives I got another one here and Drake beating Miami. Indiana, Iowa State, Xavier, Texas A&M and Texas this whole side of the bracket is one through eight for me minus Drake beating the five seed Miami in that next round. You got uh Houston and Indiana advancing I think Drake’s gonna be a one-win and done team on the bottom side 2 upsets 6 Iowa State excuse me and seven Texas A&M going up against two Texas. Texas is a big big favorite from the public for people to really come out of this out of the bracket even win the whole thing they’ve been red hot they won their conference tournament but I think Texas A&M, a little rivalry there they can out shoot them given us 1, 4, 6 and 7 in our Elite eight and then a couple more upsets. A little bit different than the other side of our bracket where we had 1 and 2 seeds in the elite eight. I’m going with 4 and 6 seeds on this side of the elite eight with Indiana and Iowa State where Indiana jumps over them, making them our second team into the final four so we got Alabama on the top left you got Indiana as a four seed on the top right.

For more on Joe’s NCAA March Madness picks and a look into the first episode of The When of Bobby V with Frank and Bobby click the link below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.com 

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BVSA Sports Show: Episode 19

BVSA Sports Show: Episode 19

Joe – Alright, we’re live, BVSA Sports Show episode 19. We have Matt, we have Virg. It’s kind of in a way Christmas Eve for all of us right now. Let me explain why. It’s March 1st, which means we can officially talk baseball. It’s March 1st, so it’s getting closer and closer to the golf season for you. Oh, and I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow, so something going for each of us. I feel like every time we get on the show now, I’m like a day or two away from going on some kind of gambling trip, but I swear it’s all warranted. Mohegan was work. Vegas is a bachelor party, and then next week we’re going golfing. Just happens to be a casino in Atlantic City, yeah, for March Madness too. So all national holidays. Alright, so last time we were on the show with Gio, we talked football. That was kind of the last of it until something happens, until a piece falls, whether that’s Rodgers or Carr, etc. I guess I can be happy and say Carson Wentz has been released. 

Virg – Also could be a trade at the first pick.

Joe – We saw today that the number one pick, the Georgia guy, is now involved in that whole crash and everything, so his draft stock is going like this. So more to come from that. But today is about baseball. Matt wants his 30-second segment at the end about golf, and that’s all we’re going to do today. The World Baseball Classic starts next Tuesday. Let’s start with MLB, and then segue into the World Baseball Classic towards the back end. I feel like we have to start with this new pitch clock, hitters’ clock, whatever they call it, the new rules implemented this year. We’re seeing it in spring training. We saw it happen with LSU first, I believe, or like the game ended on some kind of violation, and then it happened in the Red Sox game with a hitter who literally just shrugs his shoulders, and he thought he was right, right? So, like, that dramatic effect, I guess, for a second of, like, “Oh, is it me, or was it the pitcher?” kind of thing. I hate it, and I’ll leave it at that for now. Virg, I’d love to hear your… You’re on the clock. 

Virg – I’m on the clock. Yeah, I’ll make sure I’m looking at you at what, eight seconds? The hitter has to look at you. 

Joe – Go ahead, take it away. 

Virg – It’s taking everything away from the hitters. This is now squarely pitcher benefit. I’m going to work at my pace. The hitter can’t adjust too. I just threw him a 1-1 slider, and now he doesn’t know what I’m coming back with. He’s got to be in the box. He’s got to be ready. The pitchers that work slow, they’ll speed up naturally. But think about all the great moments in history. The batter steps out of the box. It’s a deep breath. It’s like finding yourself. Everything that these guys have done their entire career, it’s like that’s now changed, where the pitchers, for someone like Scherzer, who we saw the other day calling his own game, he said, “You know, he was following it, but when I had a feeling, I pressed buttons and told my cather what I wanted” Why? What location? But for him, we’re going to watch him just run through a lineup in two hours. For hitters, they have no time to adjust. No time to think. You can’t think about the scouting report that they take hours upon hours to review. It’s… It’s going to go through a really weird phase where… I don’t want to completely jump down it. Much like any other rule, there will be adjustments, but I think playoffs will see either no clock or extend the clock. We’ll see some things down the road. But this first month of spring training, month of the season, once staple hits may be off. It’s going to be weird. It’s going to be an odd time in baseball. 

Matt – So, I’ll take a different angle because you more so would know about it from the game aspect. But when I went to school, we actually talked about this in one of my classes because I went for sports, right? Like we had stuff like this come up. We were talking about how fans of the game, it was tougher to watch because of blackouts and all that stuff. So, they wanted to speed up the game. They felt like people would enjoy it more if there was that aspect to it because people think it takes too long. It’s boring, blah, blah. Obviously, we all love it, right? We all enjoy watching baseball. It’s just part of our lives. But you have so many people that won’t tune in because they’re going to watch three pitches and now it’s like a 2-1 count. Like, all right, man, I’m bored. Like, nothing’s happening. What are we doing? I don’t feel like that is going to change much. I don’t think you’re going to get the younger fans that they’re looking to get. They’re looking for something that’s fast-paced, that’s got action all the time. Now, of course, you’re going to have the people that are growing up with baseball and parents teaching them about it that they’re going to get into it, I’m sure. But I don’t think you’re going to gain new fans. I don’t think it’s going to be bringing in anyone new. It’s just going to be the same core fan base that you’ve had that I feel like, I don’t know. I don’t think the speeding up is going to change that.

Virg – I completely agree. The lot, the shift, the non-shifts will go for more offense, get more fans, not the other way around. I definitely don’t think that’s going to have more of an effect on who watches and who stays too, because all three of us know the amount of information that has to go through a 2-1 count. Yeah, it could be endless depending on the situation. Oh, yeah, the rest of the field. But we are all football fans. A lot of people that watch this are football fans. A 15-minute quarter isn’t 15 minutes. And now the things that happen in a 15-minute quarter, but because people are getting hit or there’s a deep ball, there’s always something. For baseball if you watch three straight full counts and one ends in a walk, one ends in a strikeout, then you’re hoping someone puts the ball in play. Yeah, more likely to end in shifts. We’ll do what the pitch clock is right now being geared towards. 

Joe – I have 15 different thoughts in my head trying to figure out how to organize them all as you guys are talking. But what you just said about the shift and tied in with the bigger bases, which now it’s four and a half inches closer, and you said it’s going to lead to more stolen bases. So those two things are going to fix it where there’s more offense. I’m all for it. But isn’t it like, I’m pretty sure it’s a stat. I don’t know. I’m sure it fluctuates year to year, but it’s something along the lines of eight minutes of action in a baseball game, call it 10. Whatever this isn’t going to increase that. The pitch clocks and stuff all it’s going to do is deduct the final number by a half hour, right? We’re seeing now games or spring training games are two hours and 30 minutes instead of three. But every sport we watch, you guys watch football, college football especially, basketball, hockey, they’re all three-hour games or more. College football championship goes four hours, right? The last two minutes of a basketball game takes 30 minutes sometimes. Right, it’s what we sign up for. It’s what we, I don’t say we like or don’t like, but it’s part of the sport that we love. So there’s an extreme where we’re seeing, I always botch the guy’s name, the video that’s been going out with Jose Altuve’s inside the park home run from a wild card game like years ago. Pedro strope apparently in between two pitches, Jose Altuve hits an inside the park home run like seven times. So for me, that’s extreme that’s got to go in this game. 

Virg – It wasn’t that I haven’t seen the video to say that, but wasn’t that the playoff video we were talking about? 

Joe – Yeah, it was a playoff video. Batter steps out. It’s like a cat and mouse game. 

Matt – Pitchers mental game to it, right? 

Joe – So to me, that is extreme, and that’s got to go. In this game, it wasn’t that I haven’t seen the video to say that, but wasn’t that the playoff video we were talking about? Yeah, it was a playoff video. Batter steps out. It’s like a cat and mouse game, mental game to it, right? So to me, that is extreme, and that’s got to go. In this game, but this, to me, is silly, right? We watched it in spring training already. We’re going to watch it in a big game in the regular season where a game ends because, you know, that dream, I think you were talking about the other day, that dream scenario that every kid goes in the batter’s box. Oh, full count, bases loaded, two outs, World Series game seven. This, right? Imagine that game ends because of the clock. 

Joe – Yeah, and then you have to look at the umpire and see which way is it going. Is it pitcher or is it hitter? And it’s just… I think it’s a really bad look. And Virg, to your point, I watched one of my buddies send out a thing of, you know, all these new rules over the last 20 years and how everyone had the same exact reaction. Oh, this is going to ruin baseball. I think they said it with like the universal DH or interleague play or whatever. Every rule. So we’ll give it a chance and hopefully they tweak. But it sounds to me like the no shift and it sounds to me like the bigger bases can be good and lead to offense. With this one, I’m not seeing it.

Virg –  The one rule I want to get rid of still is the extra innings runner at second. I will never get behind that for ending the game sooner or more offense, whatever it is. It’s artificial. It’s more towards not real baseball than anything else. Yeah, I’ll go for robot umps with strike zones before I go for pulling a guy who made the last out the last inning to second base. 

Matt – Yeah, that’s funny too. Like you say that too because last year I went to a game and it went 13 innings with someone on second every single time. And it didn’t matter. We were there forever. And there was a guy on second every inning. 

Virg – Brian Kennedy wrote a book of like all the situations and the odds on scoring runs depending on outs and where the runner is. There’s one way to win that game if you’re the away team and one way to win that game if you’re the home team in the 10th inning. If you just followed what that book said, tendency leads that you’ll win that game. Yeah, or you’ll at leasy score that run and they might score in the bottom. Teams don’t do that. So, it’s not even like they’re being efficient with the fact that they start the run exciting days. So, we want to talk about getting rid of a rule. Let the pitch clock play out for half a season. We’ve seen how stupid the runner at second base has been. Houston-Seattle went 18 innings. Did not matter. 

Joe – I remember there are a lot of people like us that love that. So, for us, that idea of free baseball, right? When the game goes into extra innings, whether you’re at the ballpark or you’re home, like, we live for that. And we’re staying in our seats. We stay to the final out.

For more information and our opinions on the MLB rule changes click the video below!

Contact Us!

Here at BV Sports Academy, we are a passionate group of dedicated baseball and softball instructors with some pretty impressive resumes. More importantly we have been educated by Bobby Valentine himself. If you don’t know who Bobby V is, it’s worth a quick google search. We teach a proven curriculum which has developed some of the finest talent in our area, and we’re just getting started. BVSA was founded in 2006 and has been growing steadily ever since.

We have been blessed to be joined by some of the top programs around when it comes to other sports like lacrosse and soccer. Check out our valued partners section above to learn more about them. Parties and events for all ages, we do those too!

There is something for everyone at BVSA. We look forward to helping all athletes become the best they can be. If you would like to book anything or have any further questions, please email info@bvacademy.comÂ