RaysUp - Rays Opening Day - Josh Weaver & Tampa Baseball Museum

­­­­­­RaysUp Opening Day - Tampa Bay Rays & Tampa Baseball Museum with Josh Weaver

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to Baseball Biz On Deck. I'm Mark Corbett your host, and with me today I have a man who knows all about the Rays on this special RaysU[ edition. A baseball biz on deck. And I'm talking about Mr. Josh Weaver. Josh is a baseball historian. He stays in touch with the game daily. He's working as, uh, lead man up there with the Tampa Baseball Museum in Ybor.

He also is a fan host. And Josh, you got to do something this to this week that I only wish I could have. And that's to be at the opening day of the Tampa Bay race. Welcome, Josh. How you doing, man? 

[00:00:40] Josh Weaver: Good. Thanks for having me. 

[00:00:42] Mark Corbett: It is great to have you here buddy. Now Josh and I have known one another for about a half a year or so now, and had the good opportunity to work with one another occasionally if at the museum.

Josh, you've done a great deal with that and there's a lot evolving and I'd like to cut more on that about the Tampa Baseball Museum a little later in the show. So, uh, [00:01:00] we'll make sure we cover that as well. Sounds good. All right, dude. There you go. You were there. You were at the Trop. All that excitement everybody's been waiting for so long Spring training's there.

Okay. But those aren't real games. Okay. Really, let's face it. Yeah. You got split squads. You got guys that aren't probably giving everything cause they're saving it for the real season. What was it like when you went into the Trop the other day? Not opening day it, 

[00:01:25] Josh Weaver: it was great. Ironically enough, this was my first Tampa Bay Rays opening.

Day that I've ever participated at as a fan or a fan host. So it was a really unique perspective to be able to do it as a fan host and actually welcome everybody to the tr I was in the outfield as far as my positioning that day, and it was, it had the atmosphere. Of a playoff game. I'll be honest with you, mark the, it was buzzing the trop.

Right now we don't have the third deck open, so it was technically considered a sellout. So it was nice if we could sell out opening day for the guys. And I think that the [00:02:00] players really do appreciate when we have a full ballpark. 

[00:02:03] Mark Corbett: Oh yeah, I know. I went to the fan fest about a month ago or so, and the crowd, the line to that was amazing.

But I'm excited to hear that you all were out there. What was some of the hoopla? What did, uh, how'd they roll out? Some of the things on this opening day? 

[00:02:18] Josh Weaver: The one of the while they started, and obviously because of them being in the playoffs last year, one of the first things they did is they have the banner prepared, but they have it covered up when Black, one of the first things they do is they drop the tarp from the banner to go ahead and list the 2022 Wild Card Champ.

We didn't, we made it to the, you know, A little bit in the playoffs, but it's always good when you can start an opening day when you can. We, you can Rays a banner. So it's really good to see, and the fans went nuts for that. I think that's always a highlight when you can ever, when you can always wa wi, it's witnessing history.

Anytime you, you can drop a banner, hit the drop is always a good day. 

[00:02:53] Mark Corbett: Oh, that's a lot of excitement. I'm glad they were able to do that. And as part of rolling things out, they had a very [00:03:00] special guest to do the first pitch out there. 

[00:03:03] Josh Weaver: Yeah, it was good to see James Shields come out, especially big game James, and he is beloved by Rays fans.

He was always one of my favorites as just a fan and to have James Shields come out and do start for the 25th anniversary of the Rays being there, it was really a special moment and I think he really appreciated and the crowd went nuts for him. It was really a good moment I think for, for the fans and for him personally.

He seemed to really enjoy the moment. Yeah, they still, you, you can't get any better than having big game James, throughout your opening. 

[00:03:33] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Uh, from what I saw, he really enjoyed it quite a bit too. I've saw some of him, I guess, on the Valley sports, and I heard him on. Let's see what the Rays network. So he was intermingling with all those folks and he is, he's been, was a great value.

He was there at a time when the rays were trying to turn around an attitude the way things were going when the rays were just seeing it's at the bottom, but he was there at a time, was Carl Crawford, I think was about the same time, and they started really gearing the [00:04:00] rays up with a lot more energy and positivity at that.

[00:04:04] Josh Weaver: I agree, mark. And I think one thing they did too was they certainly brought the pitching staff. You had James Shields and then, you know, later you had David Price come in and you had Matt Garza come in. So Scott Kasmir was there before. So you really had this great. Great pitching core that kind of built the new team, if you will.

And I think that, like you said, then you had the hitters, you had Carl Crawford and that's where around the time that Carlos Pina came through, and of course Longoria was coming up. So you really had this group, this core group of players that, and I think are just will forever endear themselves. For, to Rays fans, and of course you lead off with the head coach.

When Joe mad when the manager Joe Madden got there, I really think he, he was the core ingredient that kind of put everything together. And of course we, he went on to success over which Chicago winning the World Series. But I think Ray fans, you, anytime you talk about Joe Madden are James Shields or any of these.

Just the love that the [00:05:00] race fans have, and they're always gonna be an, it's the 25th anniversary, but these guys really were the probably one of the favorite teams of race fans. 

[00:05:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah. The one thing I was gonna say, looking at that, and we were mentioning a big deal about the pitching, we were looking there, Mr. Shields, but there's a lot of great talent with the pitching staff right now who was, it rolled things off the mound the other day for the. 

[00:05:22] Josh Weaver: Yeah, the fact that they had local college products, Shane McClanahan start the game and I think his career is just gonna keep soaring. He, last year you saw the performance he put in and to have, I went to usf, so, ha.

So to have a USF bull up there leading the charge, I think was just great for the Rays and for all of 

[00:05:40] Mark Corbett: Tampa. No, I, I know I was glad to see it. The team played real well. What the final score was four to zip. And if you look at the offense that was put out there the other day, you had. Here he comes in, he, what is a solo home?

Home run there. So a home run, uh, hit and a R B F and then, uh, Wanda Franco. That was also, I guess another [00:06:00] solo home run. 

[00:06:00] Josh Weaver: The, the whole lineup top to bottom. I think what was good for the race is the fact that we kept these hitters no, and also the defense. I'm sure you saw Margot's play out in the outfield that.

That got the crowd really electrified when he made that. You saw I'm sure on tv. He was just laid out for that. Oh yeah. Catch It was. It was an awesome catch. And being in the afield, I had a pretty good view of him making a catch. He's a good player. And then with Randy Rosa Arena leading that, he's such a dynamic player and I think what was cool to see with Randy was, and the World Baseball Classic.

We know as Tampa Bay Rays fans, what Randy's capable of and his spirit, and his drive, and his enthusiasm. But being able to be on the world baseball, classic stage playing for Mexico, I really think that the country and the world now knows Randy and what he's capable of. Really, we really kept a lot of the players as far as the rays and, and as you sometimes mark, you know, some years are a little more lean as far as what we have to, what they have to do in [00:07:00] revamping the team, but, Really, obviously with Kevin Kier Myer, the face of the franchise for longer being there, but we still have a good core group and I think that this team is a real team.

I think I, I think they're gonna build from last season and I wouldn't, I would see, expect 'em to see you. These guys go far in their playoffs, in my opinion. 

[00:07:19] Mark Corbett: It's interesting to see this team as it is today. You and I both as Rays fans. We saw last year what happened, we mean by all-star break. It's okay.

How many of these guys are still there at from the beginning of the year? How many of 'em are not injured? And we brought in a whole bunch of new fellas, including Piat. I think Siri came in. When did Siri come in? Did he come in around that time or is he earlier than that? 

[00:07:42] Josh Weaver: I think he did. I think you're right, mark.

I think that's around when he came in. Yeah. So go. I was gonna say, yeah, the talent, because they talk about the depth of the rays, but the, what they do when trades and what they do in their farm system, it just was like, next man up. It's a cliche, but then the rays use it. But with the Rays’ [00:08:00] organization, I really think Mark that that's where.

They keep winning. You just never know the talent that's gonna come up next. And the fact that Wanda Franco, they got him for the Rays for, that's a long term contract. Yeah. And I think he's gonna be, yeah, the character and the passion that these guys have. You could see it on the field. And like I said, it was really good, I think for the players too, that.

We had a good house, we sold our version of a sellout. And because they feed off that, the fact that these guys, and obviously you know Kevin Cash, being from the Tampa Bay area, it's so cool to, to be able to see him represented Tampa, the way he's done and what his career has been is just fit, I think has been phenomenal.

As the manager of the Tampa 

[00:08:39] Mark Corbett: Bay Rays, he keeps that engine running. He's been there for a little while, but he came in as a young man. He still looks pretty young as far as the vitality of how he manages that team. And one thing I heard, I can't remember if it was Nail Solon or somebody else who was talking about Kevin, and they said that during the winter games, right after [00:09:00] he went and he visited Siri, He wanted him to know that he was gonna be on the field.

I dunno if he meant every day, but he was gonna have him out there. And I guess he wouldn't give him any, if he had any questions, give him all assurances that young man was gonna be playing. He, I'm so glad he did. Uh, Siri can be a little bit of a showboat, which kind of, you know, we ki my. You could see that Kmar was probably gonna be leaving last year, and you saw Siri out there.

I said, I see a little Kemi out there. I see some of the little pizzazz. Uh, and and to the other outfielders as you're talking about, Randy, of course, but going back to Margot, wow, that play out in right field, that was just, that was stunning. The man probably had himself floating parallel to the ground about a foot above it to catch that ball his entire body.

And it was like good gravy. And if anybody hasn't seen it, look it up as well. We're seeing. They provide a great team. They provide great entertainment and I know opening day's always exciting. Like you said. I'm glad to hear they had this sellout and the, this sounds like both the team and the fans had a great time.

[00:09:59] Josh Weaver: Yeah, and it [00:10:00] was nice just all around. I think one thing as working at the stadium, it was cool to see Stu come out and actually greeted the fan host. He, he did before the game. He made sure during our meeting he came over and thanked us for being there. So really, Top to bottom organization where it's just cool that the owner, the principal owner comes out and thanks the fan host and the day-to-day people for being there and charge us all up.

And it was a nice surprise because when the vice presidents said We got a special guest, and yeah, then Stu came out, it was really nice. It meant, I think it meant a lot for the, for us as Van Osen, it just a good rallying point. 

[00:10:36] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm glad to hear that because a lot of times upper management can be detached from the workforce within, and while I don't think they necessarily need to be out there elbow to elbow with them throughout the day, I think it's good to show the support to all the folks that are doing that work out there.

So a, as a fan host, You've pretty much gotta do everything right. You gotta give that positive, magical experience to everybody who comes through that door. Almost Disney, [00:11:00] like some might say, but the whole idea of keeping everybody happy, keeping them safe, there's a lot of different things going on. It's almost like an umpire.

You gotta keep your eye the ball, you gotta make sure what's going on and taking care of these fans. What are some of the experiences you've had over the years that, that are worth telling or, or some stories, some, maybe some fans have shared with? 

[00:11:21] Josh Weaver: Even in opening day, it was, I was walking up and down the aisle as we do, making sure everybody's doing okay.

And, and it was a, there was a group of Detroit Tiger fans there, and the lady on the end, she says, man, she's, it's, she's like, I don't think anything could take that smile away from you today. She's, you are just in. She's in the zone today. And I said, yeah. I said, it's opening day. And I said, it's baseball's back.

And I said, I got a grit. I had a really good group in my section. Everybody was just, the kids were there having a good time. And I and one kid, I just a quick story about, like I said, more opening day stories. But this lady was, she, you just can't get the smile off your face. I said, man, it's opening day. I said, baseball's back.

And she said, that's right. [00:12:00] But, and, and the race fans and the Tigers fans, we were all mixed. Everybody was mixed together, having just a good time. And then when I. They were doing batting practice. There was a young fan comes up and he walks up to me and says, he says, yeah, I'm, I'm in the front row. So I'm like, okay, yeah, go ahead and, and get your front row seat.

Um, and he says, yeah, today is my birthday. He says, and I'm skipping school. You're gonna skip school, I guess going to Rays game as a pretty opening day. And he was just really excited. And the wild thing, one of the players from the Detroit Tigers actually tossed him a ball. And he, he gave it to another younger fan.

Oh my gosh. And he was a kid as well. And it was his birthday. And I, and I said to him, I said, I gave him a fist bump and I said, that was really cool of you. And he says, yeah. He says, I have, I've already got some. And he says, I just wanted to share with somebody else. It was just, I'm not gonna say everything is always perfect, but it was a pretty close to a perfect opening day.

But to your point about fan host is one of the great stories. This happened last year. I was up in the party deck and I had an individual come to [00:13:00] me and. I don't speak Spanish. I know a little bit of Spanish and I, he didn't speak English, so it was just a really interesting conversation we had because what I got out of it is he was asking me if he could go down to the front row for a little bit because there was nobody down there on the third deck and maybe try to get a ball.

So, I said, okay. I said, yeah, you can go down there. Because like I said, it was a thin crowd mark. So it was like, and you could tell he was just a passionate fan and then he was there with his family. So later I saw him with the ball. He had, he actually got the ball and so I gave him a fist bump and I said, congratulations on that.

And then his son was there and so it was cool. So I was able to, we were able to get a translator being the son. That's the thing about baseball is I was speaking English, he was speaking Spanish, but yet we understood each other because of baseball is a universal language to if you love the game. And it was just one of those really touching moments, mark where you, it's, it was, [00:14:00] Two, two totally different people from to, to, it was from Venezuela and he, and like I said, then I got to talk to the family and I said, I said, I told the son, I said, well, please congratulate him for me for being able to, to get the ball because it's just what he wanted and we were able to make it happen 

[00:14:13] Mark Corbett: for him.

I'm really glad to hear that, cuz that sounds like to me. The ultimate of what a fan host should be able to do, and that's to create like when I was there years ago, I do remember, I thought they did say magical experience and that sounds like what you're able to do for that young man to be able to have the language is baseball.

So, uh, congratulations to you and all the other fan hosts who are doing that out there, and I appreciate everything you do when I come and visit as a fan. And seek you guys out for everything. He said, where's where can I find this? Can, is there a special kind of hotdog or can I get find those vegan nachos 

[00:14:47] Josh Weaver: and y You're right, mark.

That's one of the things that, it's almost like you have to be a Swiss Army knife out there. Like you said, you would have done this before because you never know, because you, it's in, what we always try to instill is the fact that [00:15:00] you don't know whose. Baseball game that is ever, you have somebody coming in the stadium.

It may be, they may be a young fan, which is easy to tell their little kid. If they're older, it still might be their first time in a baseball game ever. Or our first P, it could be their first time for us with us at Tropicana Field. So you always, what we wanna try to do is make sure that person gets that experie.

And you just never know. And I know over you through throughout history, players will talk about that. They wanna have a good performance because you don't know who's going to get their first game. And I think it's, for me as, as a fan host, I think it's that way for me. And I think most of the fan hosts, I'll tell you just quickly the kind of people that we, that I work with.

I started out in the middle of the 10, it was the end of Jan July. And so I was what I called myself a mid-season replacement and. The fan host there, no one ever once said, oh, that's not my job to teach you. They all took the [00:16:00] time to make sure the veteran staff that I knew what to do, whether they were one of the leads or regular, just another fan host, the caliber of the people that work there and they are very caring and they wanna make sure people, like you said, mark are safe.

That's job one of everybody because you don't want anybody getting hurt anywhere at any time. And if you can mitigate some of that, that'd you are always. Trying to foreshadow what could happen in trying to make sure everybody's safe, whether it be kids or adults. We have a diverse population as that lives in Florida age wise.

So we wanna make sure that whether you're 99 or you're nine or nine months, that everybody's taken care of and everybody's safe. And I think that, I think the tr, I think we do a pretty good job at Tropic Canopy Field with 

[00:16:40] Mark Corbett: that. I believe so as well. I've heard others, even national numbers, that the Tampa Bay Rays fan hoster appear at the top.

I don't have those studies with me anymore, but I wasn't surprised that they run a very good ship. They are very selective about, uh, having people with a positive attitude in there and people who have leadership qualities. [00:17:00] I felt very welcomed when I started there years ago, and I felt like there was a lot of guidance to get me through some of.

Beginnings to try to understand some of those things. Jumping into something as far as getting into something in, or, excuse me, getting through some difficult times. I wanna look for a moment back to the players and playing Detroit the other day. Think anytime you're baseball fan, you're gonna find players you enjoyed watching one place appear somewhere else.

And with the tigers playing the other day, there was somebody I definitely wanted to see on the field, and that was Mr. Austin Mead. And yes, he had some difficulties last year and some mental health issues, which he came out about, and he even put a statement out about, I'll probably put a link to it later here if somebody wants to see that he owns up to all that.

But he was actually not so much looking about for understanding for himself. I think sharing to make other feel more people more comfortable if they had similar difficulties and to seek help. [00:18:00] I've got a lot of respect for him with that. I know he is a young man. He got a young child and his wife. He's back and he looked pretty good yesterday.

[00:18:09] Josh Weaver: Yeah. And not only that, obviously during the pre-game ceremony, the ovation that the Rays fans gave him, I hope he heard everybody in the stadium cheering for him. Cuz I, I, all of a sudden I realized I'm clapping. Here I am as a fan who was supposed to be making sure everybody's okay. But I tell you, mark, when he, they announced his name, it was a good moment at the stadium and I.

Sure you, I know he hurt us, but I hope he understands that how much we appreciated him being with the Rays organization. So as a fan, not a fan of us, but as just as a fan, I found myself clapping for Austin because, and like you said, when players have other people and I as role models, I think sometimes it's okay now for people to say, listen, we all won't have perfect lives.

We all have issues. And I think maybe it gives people. Hope and I think it gives, people can [00:19:00] gravitate and realize that it's okay if you need help to ask for help. I know this is, talk about another great race player. I was reading, I was looking at a thing on Ben Zores recently. Oh yeah. And they honored him in his hometown area.

And he was talking about how he wants to get back to the game, and of course, Ben Zobrist was beloved by Ray's fans as well. Just one of the great rays, and I was glad to see him go on and have success elsewhere. Obviously with Chicago, with Joe Madden, that was a pretty good dynamic Ray duo that went up there.

One of the things that Ben mentioned is that he would like to get back into baseball, but one thing he wants to do, Is actually work what you're saying, mark, on that aspect of it as far as mental health, not just, so he's, I don't know that I wanna come back as a coach, but I think so. I think that's a movement that's, we're gonna hopefully see more of that.

That people understand that players are people 

[00:19:49] Mark Corbett: too. Oh yeah. And you think of not just players, but they're usually very young people. Maturity skills come over time. Even [00:20:00] so age isn't the only thing. These guys who are coming into the major leagues and there's a world in front of them, they had no idea what was gonna happen.

Maybe this thing that Zobrist is doing will be able to help those folks before they get down a road that can be difficult for them. Again, I'm glad he owned up to it. Uh, uh, his own personal challenges and shared with people what his way to come back to that. But even more, I'm happier to hear the response that the crowd gave him the other day on opening day cuz it's well deserved and he is a beloved 

[00:20:31] Josh Weaver: player.

Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely, like I said, you look around and he actually, I would say God won of the lot of cheers of even with comparable to a lot of the race players because I think, like you said, mark, that's how much people were glad to see him back and to see him with the Tigers. It's weird to see him in a Tigers uniform, but it was good to see him.

[00:20:50] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I'm really glad. So, sounds like it was a great time for all. You walk away with a win the first day out and. Get a day of rest out there. That kinda, you got an [00:21:00] opening day and Oh, then go ahead and take a break, guys. So I guess they'll be back tomorrow. Tomorrow being Saturday. 

[00:21:05] Josh Weaver: Yeah. Yeah, it's another, and then the weekend series will complete on Sunday with Detroit on Sunday.

One of the things that they're doing for opening day, I didn't mention this, is they actually opened the gates two hours early. Oh. So you really could get in there and get settled in, and if you wanted to just spend the day at the TR and because with it being a three, A three, three o'clock start, little three 10, I guess it was, We, we welcome fans early and I think for most of the weekends that's what they're gonna do is on Saturdays and Sundays they're gonna, we're gonna open up the gates two hours early and I think they said to also on some Friday games and make it still a, an event because obviously Sundays and I'm working Sunday, it's gonna be, they're gonna honor Don Zimmer.

He's gonna be the first inducting in the end of the Rays Hall of Fame and certainly deserving with the Zim going in. And of course, they're gonna have the Zim bear. Bobblehead, which is an interesting conglomeration of a bobblehead, but I'm gonna be there. It's one of those things [00:22:00] that with his retired number 66, you know, a lot of people will ask, what are the three retired numbers?

Of course you have Jackie Robinson at 42. You have Wade Boggs at 12 and he had, you have Don Zimmer, who was just beloved. The Yankees organization with our organization and I, but somebody, I think person. Maybe over a time we'll get in the Hall of Fame just because of his overall career. That's the 66 is for his 66 years in baseball.

Wow. You think what he was, he started as a young guy with the Dodgers, so it just, his career is his and his time as a manager with the white, not the White Sox, so I'm sorry, with the Cubs. So he's had a long, distinguished career and it's just cool to see him going in first and then they're gonna have, Carl Crawford will go in.

He'll be the second inducted into the Rays Hall of Fame and then Wade Boggs will be the third. So it's definitely a good trio of the first three to go in and Carl Crosser Crawford during his time, obviously the catch, and I remember I got, I, we went on those, that game as a fan, so I could get the shirt, [00:23:00] the catch shirt.

So it was, he was a dynamic player too fast. And I see a lot in some of these guys, like you're talking about Siri and Franco and you have a lot of these guys. Have the speed and the passion. I think Crawford has I, and we, I think we're gonna have a good team for. For several years. These guys are young and they're hungry.

They got the taste of it last year and I think they're 2020. They got that close to winning the World Series. But the Dodgers were a good team. That was a formidable group. Dave Roberts has got quite a machine over there when in Los Angeles, but I think our guys, they were, they showed they had a good effort and I think it was, and I think this year is gonna be outstanding.

I think. I think this one and oh start, you know, I think this, we're gonna have a lot of wins this. 

[00:23:44] Mark Corbett: I'm looking forward to it. I've always been poked fun at the front office at the Rays. In the end, alls I gotta say is, thank you Eric Neander. Uh, with that outfit, man, we wouldn't have the team that we had, we wouldn't have the success that we had with the Rays [00:24:00] and the guidance.

If people are complaining about what we spend to say, you know what? He must be spending it wisely. And he be picking talent. I think back to, was it from the Pirates where he got glass now and medals in a deal? Both of those guys bringing them in and it was like, yeah, somebody had a good, uh, for these, this.

And hell of a deal, man, hell of a deal. So I got management's. Important thing when it comes to the persistent success of a team, sometimes ownership can, can. Drop the ball and sometimes they don't. And sometimes you just have a great team beneath you as well. When I'm talking here with Josh Weaver, one thing I've known Josh for a little while working together at the Tampa Baseball Museum.

He leads up a lot of the good work that they do there. And one of the things that he did most recently was uh, we got a call, I think from Malcolm Sweat and what was the organization they were with? Kind of tell that story. 

[00:24:53] Josh Weaver: Malcolm Sweat he presented. I think he actually spoke to you first, mark, as I think you were the first contact with us.

But [00:25:00] yeah, Malcolm invited the Tampa Baseball Museum to go out for the opening ceremonies of the East Bay Youth Athletics, and it was a really nice event. He made sure that Armenda, who was our c e now, was able to speak a little bit. I spoke a little bit and he could not have. Nicer to our museum, and he made sure we, we had, we were able to set up a tent and really come out with the kids and kind of show, show off what, what we do at the Tampa Baseball Museum.

And it was a wonderful event to see all these groups of kids come out there and march. They always had their flags in front with say, their banners, where, where the, what teams they were with, and just to see the amount of youth that are on one, one field and the parents and cheering for their kids as they marched around.

But yeah, Malcolm Sweat reached out to us and said, We want you there and we wanna help promote the museum, and it was just a good win-win for everybody. It was a good, it was a good baseball day. 

[00:25:56] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I was glad he came and he visited on an event too, [00:26:00] that the museum held recently with, in conjunction with was at the, uh, Tampa Bay Hall of Fame and, uh, see, so there was that going on va, was it Baseball, bourbon and cigars.

Man, it was nice little night this past Thursday and all kinds of stars came out, whether it was football, hockey, baseball, uh, who, who were some of the guests that, that appeared that evening at the. One 

[00:26:25] Josh Weaver: thing I was excited about seeing was Johnny Damon came in. Yep. He made the trip over for, from Orlando and Johnny took and he was great.

He took time to take photos with everybody that wanted photos. And thanks Mark for taking our photo with, for me and my daughter. I appreciate that. It was, yeah, cuz I had to get in there with Johnny too real quick and it could not have been nicer. He spent, he spent the whole evening there. There was a nice question and answers that he took part in.

Um, Mike Heath was actually on the 78 Yankees World Series. He was the backup catcher for Thurman Munson, so he was there. So we had some pretty good Phil esp, Phil Esposito [00:27:00] Hall of Fame hockey player was there. We had several gentlemen that won were as far as Super Bowl champions. So we had a really good mix of players, like you said, from different genres, not just baseball.

And like to your point before too, it was an interesting experience because that's the Tampa Baseball Museum. And we hosted the v i p party the hour before, so that was neat to hang out with the players and then to do it with the Florida Sports Hall of Fame is an interesting mix of, and merger of two organizations.

But I think we, we put on a pretty good event and, and only in Ybor City, mark, can you put baseball bourbon and cigars together and make it work. But it was a great night and I think it was just a gorgeous day. And the players. Very gracious. They were willing to sign autographs, take photos with people. So it, and it was almost, I talked to some of the players and they were almost appreciative of us inviting them.

They were like, thank you. They really enjoyed the evening as well, and it wasn't one of these overwhelmingly [00:28:00] size events where you can't get close to the players. It's one of those things where you really could get, like I said, I talked to Johnny a couple times, but I ask him, Can you explain, uh, do you have a vineyard?

Because I don't know if you remember Mark Burr for a little bit. He had wine. That, that what it was for? He said, no, I don't actually have a vineyard. He paired up with a vineyard and they produced this wine, Johnny Damon Wines, if you will. I don't know his name of it, but it was for charity. It was for some of the fallen police officers.

Oh wow. To my, as far as my understanding. So Johnny's out there and he was talking about supporting the troops. It was just a good moment in law enforcement. So it was just nice to see the players come out and support us and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So it was just a good night all around. And like I said, what I loved about it was the fact that the fans could really interact with players.

You could get one on one time with these different former major league players, former National Football League players. National Hockey League players. It was just a great, 

[00:28:55] Mark Corbett: who was that hockey legend that popped 

[00:28:56] Josh Weaver: up out there? Phil Esposito, and I don't, [00:29:00] he didn't, he stayed for a little bit, but I, I think he's, if I'm not mistaken, he's in his early eighties now.

[00:29:07] Mark Corbett: Anytime that fans had come together and spend some time with the players, that's huge. As you were mentioning earlier, Malcolm Sweat with the East Bay Youth Alliance Gibson. I was glad that the museum was able to work closely with them and do put together something as they were launching their whole new season with the Little League.

And I hope that the museum's able to do moral things like that in the future. But talks about the camaraderie, and I've mentioned the museum several times. I really haven't said what it is. Can you give us a rundown of what somebody might expect when they come to visit the Tampa Baseball Museum in Ybor?

[00:29:42] Josh Weaver: The first thing that people are always surprised of and, and one of the first things I mentioned is the fact that you're stepping into Al Lopez's home and, and that's what really captive. You can almost see the surprise on people's faces. They're like, really? And then they start looking around the everything, because it was built in 1905.

And [00:30:00] it actually was moot from its former location. The d o t realized what it was when they were doing the interstate expansion, and so you tell the story of the house itself and the fact that Al Lopez grew up in this house. It. It's a Casita. It's a Tampa Casita. So it's relatively small in the fact that he was one of nine kids.

So then you start talking about Al Lopez as himself and being the first player that you know, from Tampa or Hillsborough County to make it into the major leagues. And then we tell the story about him being the first manager to make it from that area. And then we talk about him being the first Hall of Famer.

The thing about LOP is people don't realize his pedigree. The fact that he began it all for everybody. He was the first, but he was also one of the best. And the fact, now what I tell people is, yeah, as we guide people through the museum, one of the things that we point out is the fact that this is one of only four.

Museums that were one time players, homes or birthplaces. So people really, fans will travel. They are [00:31:00] a group that they love to get their maps out and they love to see if I'm going to the city, if I'm going to Tampa, St. Pete area, what is there to do? That's baseball related. We are on literally on the baseball map now, and that's something that I think, so I tell people the stories of, you have our museum.

Obviously being, since they're there, say we got the Alop Museum itself, the Tampa Baseball Museum, the Alop House, that's number one. And then you have, in Baltimore, you have the birthplace and museum for Babe Ruth. So people are fascinated by that. Some people have been there. And then you talk about the Shoeless, Joe Jackson Museum and Greenville, South Carolina.

So that's the third. And then the fourth is I always tie in with the Hank Aaron Museum, and that was also his childhood home and Mobile, Alabama. So when you. Tracking things like that for baseball fans, then they, they eyes light up because some of 'em be like, and everybody that's on our museum clearly has gone to one cuz they've been at our museum.

And then some of 'em start telling stories of, yeah, I've been to, I've been over to Baltimore, I've seen the [00:32:00] birthplace for Babe Ruth. Or, oh, I didn't know that Greenville was, I had some people from Atlanta today. They were in here. And they're like, wow, Greenville's not that far away. That's the beauty of the museum is you talk, we talk about our baseball players that came from here and in the families it's all about, So yeah, you have Kyle Tucker and his brother Preston.

So you've got brothers that are represented. Our museum one one, Kyle was on the World Series Championship team last year for the Houston Astros, and then another teammate of his is Lance McCullough's Jr. So he was on there. So you show them, yeah, you got two players that were on last year's World Series team.

Champ, champ, Shep winning team, and then you guys, so. Preston and Kyle Brothers and you got Lance McCullers, senior lance colors Jr. So you got father and son and then you point out, then you move down the line. You talk about Dwight Gooden got Doc Gooden and Right. The fact that he was the uncle of Gary Sheffield.

It really ties baseball as a family sport together. People love baseball [00:33:00] and it's one of those things that's passed on from generation to generation. The fact that these, you can show this in like living history, what I refer to it at our museum mark as our baseball wall, that represents all the players that came from Hillsborough County, and that is everyone's, it's my favorite and it's pretty much everyone.

The most photographed item in the museum I think is also one of the things that that's really, people will spend time, and especially if you're from. People will say, yeah, I was at the airport the other day waiting for someone to pick me up and he, one gentleman said he looked over and he says there was Tino Martinez.

So he waves to Tino and Tino comes over and starts talking to him. You know, Tino's obviously was born in Tampa, so he's represented right next to Tino is Luis Gonzalez. You know who, you know, we're talking about tying the two, my two jobs together, if you will. Mark, you have at the Ray Stadium, you have the first home run ever hit by anyone.

Was a, was Luis Gonzalez. As a visiting player with the the Detroit Tigers, have Luis Gonzalez come in as a Detroit Tiger hits a first home. [00:34:00] As a native Tampa, somebody from Tampa. It was pretty amazing. And then of course you had Wade Box hit the first as a double ray. And even though Wade wasn't born in Tampa, we claim him cuz he is been there.

He went to Plant High. It was really cool. The fact that you have Tropicana Field was broken in by two Tampa guys, you can't get any better than that either. 

[00:34:17] Mark Corbett: No, no. And uh, I love it. The museum, I said it's nice little cita. It's the home of Val Lopez. But a lot of history's towed in there. It's a nice little area.

I like the way it has a flow to it. You come in, you, there's some introduction to al with some of his equipment and some things about the Al Lopez field. Then there's a wall that kind curves and gives you some information about. Baseball in general and how things evolved in E bor, the all and all the collectible information in there as well.

But the stories that come, and as much as you and myself sometimes share some stories with a guest that come in there to me, We get the richest part of all because they share their stories with us, and [00:35:00] that is absolutely rich. So if you wanna have a good time, if you're involved with baseball, I just wanna get a glimpse of history.

It's coming down to Ybor, you'll find on the map, uh, it's listed as the Tampa Baseball Museum. It's a small little casita, and when they're open, there's a flag hanging out there off of the roof. And uh, we hope to come to see you there. So, Can you share any other nuggets about the museum you let folks know to?

[00:35:26] Josh Weaver: You never know who's gonna show up there. We've had former players that have strolled in Darren Clark came in one day and I did not recognize him at the beginning, and it's just a quick story on him. He came in and he paid, and then he was telling me about how he signed a ball and I'm thinking, oh boy, he's on our baseball.

Well, you know those, one of those 89 players and he is, yep. He brought his wife and his son and I said, I said, we can give you a refund. I said, that's not a problem. I said, I'm, I apologize, mark. I said, I didn't know at first. And he, cuz he, I try to get people's discounts. We always try to help people, veterans, and if you're, if you're teachers [00:36:00] or whatnot, we try to do what we can for people.

And he said, well, firefighter. So I'm like, okay. So we gave, I gave him the discount and then after he paid, then he, then he told me why he was there and who he was. And, and just real quick in the newsletter, I, he. Was up for a cup of coffee in the major leagues. He w he spent his time in the Colorado Rockies organization as a, he was a pitcher, but it's a cool story because he played in two games and it was 1.1 innings he pitched in, but what I referred to as his Moonlight Graham moment, his era r a is 0.00 and that's got one of a cool story.

And one day I was, we were, I was working like you and I do there, and a gentleman came in first and he had his wallet. And he says, yeah. He says, you know how many, there'll be five of us. And the last of the five in was Al Lopez Jr. And I said, yeah, put your money away. It was, if your name's on the building, you don't.

But it was one of those moments where we didn't know he was coming in. You just don't know he was gonna be coming in the museum. 

[00:36:59] Mark Corbett: [00:37:00] Josh Manning. It's exciting at times, always up there at the museum. Like I said, you never know who's gonna walk in the door, so I love it when some of those famous folks walk in and this regular fans and some of 'em recognize one another.

But it is always fun times there. There's always great history and great stories to be told. Uh, anything else we should know about the museum? 

[00:37:20] Josh Weaver: Right now the museum is open, the hours for the museum is 10 to four, and we're open Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays. So right now, and you don't have to make an appointment, you don't have to do a reservation, just come on into the museum.

And we're you or I we're gonna welcome whoever's coming in. And those are the hours. So yeah, definitely. Hopefully people will come in and usually there's plenty of room and we do have a little video. We sometimes will present to people. And we also, like you said, the history and sometimes you can plan on, I would say 30 minutes at the museum, but I've had people that they'll stay over an hour.

And to your point about telling stories is sometimes as much as I like to talk, [00:38:00] sometimes I quiet down because the average. They make these connections and that's when we know we've done a good job at the museum. When you have these moments where people will start telling stories of their grandfathers or their fathers taking them to Wrigley Field or Finway Park, or it could be Tropicana Field, it could be a brand new stadium like in Atlanta.

I had a couple come in today with a little tiny baby and they were Atlanta Braves fans, and it was just a great moment and they had a good time and. They walked in, they spent probably a good 30 minutes. I spoke softly because I didn't wanna wake the baby up. But bring your kids because there's a neat thing for the kids.

In the center of it. We have a little field of dreams there, and the kids like to walk around the bases, so there's something for the kids. There's games, there's trivia games that the kids like to play. They really get a kick out of, especially what, real quick mark, what we refer to as Pete's cleats, Pete Alonzo's cleats are there and they love to look at that.

The dirt is still on [00:39:00] there. The grass is still on there. And the kids, like I said, with the younger players, they can, they know Pete Alonzo. They may not know the history of the game yet, but they know the current game and to see their faces light up when they see there's Pete's cleats right there. So yeah, when Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays right now from, and come in from 10 to four and we welcome anybody that comes in.

[00:39:20] Mark Corbett: All right, man. I can't thank you enough, man. All you do is a fan host, and all you do is far as managing and leading up there at the Tampa Baseball Museum. 

[00:39:28] Josh Weaver: Good. Thanks for having me, mark. You've been 

[00:39:32] Mark Corbett: listening to baseball. As always, you can find us on your favorite podcast directory, including Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google Do Podcast, iHeartRadio, and more.

Thanks again and remember, you can also check us out on Twitter at the baseball biz. Take care and have a great week. Special thanks to X, take R U X for the music rocking.[00:40:00]