February 4, 2024 • 8 mins
Rob Bennett discusses the growth of the Michigan State First Pitch Dinner, alumni of the year, Dr. Tom Dieters & more
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to Baseball this week a spotlightproduction, and here's your host, Jim
Stark. Hello everyone. Producer andco host Robert Bennett with you to share
a conversation I had with Michigan StateBaseball head coach Jake Boss Junior during the
eighteenth annual Michigan State Baseball First PitchDinner. Coach, thank you for taking
(00:24):
a few minutes out of your busyday to eighteenth First Pitch Dinner. And
you've been part of a lot ofthese building it, seeing it grow over
the years. You always talk aboutshowing off your guys, showing off the
team. They deserve it, butonly years can you kinpoint maybe one or
two things ever really strike a chordwith you, especially of how this has
(00:47):
grown, well, yeah, youknow, I mean when we started this,
at least when I got here,we were over in the Football Tower
and we just had a couple hundredpeople, maybe two hundred people, one
hundred and fifty people, and nowwe're anywhere from four to six hundred.
We outgrew that room and we're closeto outgrowing the room here in the Kellogg
Center. So just to see thesupport that their community has for our program
(01:07):
has been overwhelming. To be quitehonest with you, I do enjoy,
like you said, Rob, showingmy players off to our to the public,
and it's you know, it's again. It's a great way to kind
of signify the season getting ready tostart. Here. We're less than two
weeks away now, but yeah,I think to see it grow. All
(01:29):
the hard work from Eric Rosecrants,who's a baseball lum, all our assistant
coaches, our student managers or socialmedia people that help out with this.
Zach Fisher, our sports information guy, marketing, sales and marketing is here
today. So you know, whenyou get a lot of support from from
people outside of your program, youhave a real chance to make it a
(01:49):
memorable experience. And that's where we'reat right now. I'm talking about your
guys. Every team is different.You've really built on the program of the
community of doing things the right wayand the spartan way on and off the
field. Every team is different.So what does what you've seen of this
team so far, what makes thisteam maybe different than others? Yeah,
(02:10):
well, you know, just onthe baseball side of it. Obviously,
we lost a lot of offense fromlast year, but we got most,
if not all the pitching back.So you know, we lost our closing
from last year, we lost along relief guy. But you know,
we've got some really talented young guyson the mound. We've got some experienced
guys that are very talented as well, So you know, I think we'll
(02:31):
go as far as our pitching willtake us. At the same time,
you know, we've got some unprovenguys that are gonna be out there defensively
for us. But you know,it's no different than when the guys they
just signed pro contracts last year,when they were younger, they were unproven
as well. So now it's it'sthis next group's turn. I think they're
ready for it. You know,we talked to our to our guys about
(02:53):
you know, the character of ourgroup is going to take us a long
way as well. And you know, I feel good about the fact that
I think other teams can prepare forwhat we do similar to how we prepare
for what other teams do. ButI don't think other teams can prepare for
who we are. And that's somethingthat you know we've addressed as a team.
And you know, we're gonna bea tough group to play against.
(03:15):
And win or lose. You know, these guys are gonna compete their tails
off from Michigan State. So specialgroup. All right, let's talk about
the one of the main reasons whywe're here. A great Michigan State alum,
baseball alum, done a lot ofthe community. I'm talking about doctor
Tomaters. Let's talk about him.What was the process in choosing him?
(03:36):
Not a hard choice, I wouldimagine, no, not a not a
hard choice at all. You know, Tom, I met Tom I think
my first year here at Michigan State, and we've kept in contact obviously throughout
the years. And uh, youknow, Tom has been very involved with
fundraising both in Michigan State and otherplaces, but also uh, you know,
and in the nil landscape. Anduh you know when name, image
(03:59):
and likeness around town to a passionateMichigan State guy and and wanted to help
and has done so. Uh andyou know for all his work with already
with our team and others within theathletic department. Again, it was a
no brainer. He was. Hewas honored last fall at Homecoming week with
a Distinguished Alumni award, and uh, you know, we're gonna be given
the same thing today, all right, and this uh, the last couple
(04:24):
of years. Timothy Busfield last year. Now, Robert, we'll go in
a little Hollywood, right yet,Just how excited you already have Robert Well,
here was at the basketball game lastnight. He was Hugh State,
looking like a great time and justexcited to have him be the keynote speaker.
Yeah. You know, we've hadsome unbelievable keynote speakers. We've had
I think five Hall of Famers.You know, we've had a number of
(04:46):
guys that have had very successful careersin in baseball, in you know,
in one either as a player oras a you know, administrator, uh,
you know, radio guys, thingslike that. But you know,
last year Timothy Busfield was here.Uh, and Tim and Robert will are
very good friends and and uh youknow, actually Tim brought it up last
year. He said, why don'tyou call call my good buddy, and
(05:09):
uh, I said, well thatwould be fantastic. Obviously involved in movies
like Buldurham and you have Cobb andthings like that, and so we called
him up. And yeah, it'sa little bit different in that we're we're
kind of pulling guys out of Hollywood. Now, but I think it's still
it's great. We had a greattime at the basketball game yesterday. Robert
(05:30):
is a baseball guy, There's noquestion about that. Uh. He's got
some incredible experiences that uh, youknow, I'm looking forward to hearing it
share today. So I'm glad itworked out. Uh. You know,
he's a busy guy, and sofor him to make time in his schedule
for us, and he's an awfullot. All right, speaking of baseball
movie, He's gonna ask you someRobert Wolves here. You got a favorite
to go to? Well, yeah, with Robert wool here, how can
(05:51):
you not say Boulder right? Yeah, for sure, all right. You
know a matter of fact, Iwatched it last night, made my made
my family watch it, and uhyeah, we had a good time.
But you know, I mean peopleforget he was in Cobb as well,
which is a great movie, yes, you know, amongst others, and
his you know, his his showR List on HBO was a lot of
fun to watch. Uh. Andso yeah, I mean there's a lot
(06:12):
of good ones out there. Butyou know, if you're looking for the
baseball experience type of thing, Ithink Bull Durham's right at the top.
All right, at the top,all right, one last question. Talk
to the fans out there, yourexpectations. What can they expect from this
team this year? Well, youknow, Robbie, I mean we say
it every year. I think,you know, our guys are gonna play
hard. You know, we're gonnado things the right way. They love
(06:32):
each other, We're gonna play foreach other. We're gonna conduct ourselves in
a way that represents Michigan State inthe best possible manner. You know,
I stopped getting into predictions as faras wins and losses and things like that
a long time ago. But that'snot to say I don't feel very confident
with this group, because we do. You know, we're very confident.
You know, our goals every yearare to compete for a championship, and
(06:55):
you know, getting too the BigTen Tournament last year, getting back to
the tournament last year was was away to to compete for a championship.
And I would expect nothing else lessout of this group as well. So
I think we're gonna surprise a lotof people. I don't think across the
landscape of college baseball and the BigTen, I don't think expectations are very
high for our guys. But atthe same time, within our locker room
and our four walls, the expectationsare very high. So again, I
(07:19):
think we're gonna surprise a lot ofpeople and I'm looking forward to to showing
them what we're all about. Andit must be nice this type of event.
You can kind of take the baseballmanager off a little bit and become
a fan, right, yeah,no, absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
it's you know, it's you seea lot of friends and family that you
don't get a chance to see.You know, an awful lot of I'm
(07:39):
obviously in the dugout well, alot of this is going on, and
so you know, you get toreconnect with with a good group of parents
and you know, family members andthen again local community members that are just
sparking baseball fans. So you know, it's kind of electric and there's some
type of electricity in the air rightnow in the room, and you know
it just kind of get excited forbaseball steam all right, coach, thank
(08:01):
you for joining me. I appreciatedthat. We'll see it through hell the
seasons. Good, all right,thanks, thank you, appreciate Thanks to
coach Boss for the time, andwhat a great event the first Pitch Dinner
was. I look forward to bringyou more Michigan state baseball coverage this season,
right here on Baseball this Week
Welcome to Baseball this week a spotlightproduction, and here's your host, Jim
Stark. Hello everyone. Producer andco host Robert Bennett with you to share
a conversation I had with Michigan StateBaseball head coach Jake Boss Junior during the
eighteenth annual Michigan State Baseball First PitchDinner. Coach, thank you for taking
(00:24):
a few minutes out of your busyday to eighteenth First Pitch Dinner. And
you've been part of a lot ofthese building it, seeing it grow over
the years. You always talk aboutshowing off your guys, showing off the
team. They deserve it, butonly years can you kinpoint maybe one or
two things ever really strike a chordwith you, especially of how this has
(00:47):
grown, well, yeah, youknow, I mean when we started this,
at least when I got here,we were over in the Football Tower
and we just had a couple hundredpeople, maybe two hundred people, one
hundred and fifty people, and nowwe're anywhere from four to six hundred.
We outgrew that room and we're closeto outgrowing the room here in the Kellogg
Center. So just to see thesupport that their community has for our program
(01:07):
has been overwhelming. To be quitehonest with you, I do enjoy,
like you said, Rob, showingmy players off to our to the public,
and it's you know, it's again. It's a great way to kind
of signify the season getting ready tostart. Here. We're less than two
weeks away now, but yeah,I think to see it grow. All
(01:29):
the hard work from Eric Rosecrants,who's a baseball lum, all our assistant
coaches, our student managers or socialmedia people that help out with this.
Zach Fisher, our sports information guy, marketing, sales and marketing is here
today. So you know, whenyou get a lot of support from from
people outside of your program, youhave a real chance to make it a
(01:49):
memorable experience. And that's where we'reat right now. I'm talking about your
guys. Every team is different.You've really built on the program of the
community of doing things the right wayand the spartan way on and off the
field. Every team is different.So what does what you've seen of this
team so far, what makes thisteam maybe different than others? Yeah,
(02:10):
well, you know, just onthe baseball side of it. Obviously,
we lost a lot of offense fromlast year, but we got most,
if not all the pitching back.So you know, we lost our closing
from last year, we lost along relief guy. But you know,
we've got some really talented young guyson the mound. We've got some experienced
guys that are very talented as well, So you know, I think we'll
(02:31):
go as far as our pitching willtake us. At the same time,
you know, we've got some unprovenguys that are gonna be out there defensively
for us. But you know,it's no different than when the guys they
just signed pro contracts last year,when they were younger, they were unproven
as well. So now it's it'sthis next group's turn. I think they're
ready for it. You know,we talked to our to our guys about
(02:53):
you know, the character of ourgroup is going to take us a long
way as well. And you know, I feel good about the fact that
I think other teams can prepare forwhat we do similar to how we prepare
for what other teams do. ButI don't think other teams can prepare for
who we are. And that's somethingthat you know we've addressed as a team.
And you know, we're gonna bea tough group to play against.
(03:15):
And win or lose. You know, these guys are gonna compete their tails
off from Michigan State. So specialgroup. All right, let's talk about
the one of the main reasons whywe're here. A great Michigan State alum,
baseball alum, done a lot ofthe community. I'm talking about doctor
Tomaters. Let's talk about him.What was the process in choosing him?
(03:36):
Not a hard choice, I wouldimagine, no, not a not a
hard choice at all. You know, Tom, I met Tom I think
my first year here at Michigan State, and we've kept in contact obviously throughout
the years. And uh, youknow, Tom has been very involved with
fundraising both in Michigan State and otherplaces, but also uh, you know,
and in the nil landscape. Anduh you know when name, image
(03:59):
and likeness around town to a passionateMichigan State guy and and wanted to help
and has done so. Uh andyou know for all his work with already
with our team and others within theathletic department. Again, it was a
no brainer. He was. Hewas honored last fall at Homecoming week with
a Distinguished Alumni award, and uh, you know, we're gonna be given
the same thing today, all right, and this uh, the last couple
(04:24):
of years. Timothy Busfield last year. Now, Robert, we'll go in
a little Hollywood, right yet,Just how excited you already have Robert Well,
here was at the basketball game lastnight. He was Hugh State,
looking like a great time and justexcited to have him be the keynote speaker.
Yeah. You know, we've hadsome unbelievable keynote speakers. We've had
I think five Hall of Famers.You know, we've had a number of
(04:46):
guys that have had very successful careersin in baseball, in you know,
in one either as a player oras a you know, administrator, uh,
you know, radio guys, thingslike that. But you know,
last year Timothy Busfield was here.Uh, and Tim and Robert will are
very good friends and and uh youknow, actually Tim brought it up last
year. He said, why don'tyou call call my good buddy, and
(05:09):
uh, I said, well thatwould be fantastic. Obviously involved in movies
like Buldurham and you have Cobb andthings like that, and so we called
him up. And yeah, it'sa little bit different in that we're we're
kind of pulling guys out of Hollywood. Now, but I think it's still
it's great. We had a greattime at the basketball game yesterday. Robert
(05:30):
is a baseball guy, There's noquestion about that. Uh. He's got
some incredible experiences that uh, youknow, I'm looking forward to hearing it
share today. So I'm glad itworked out. Uh. You know,
he's a busy guy, and sofor him to make time in his schedule
for us, and he's an awfullot. All right, speaking of baseball
movie, He's gonna ask you someRobert Wolves here. You got a favorite
to go to? Well, yeah, with Robert wool here, how can
(05:51):
you not say Boulder right? Yeah, for sure, all right. You
know a matter of fact, Iwatched it last night, made my made
my family watch it, and uhyeah, we had a good time.
But you know, I mean peopleforget he was in Cobb as well,
which is a great movie, yes, you know, amongst others, and
his you know, his his showR List on HBO was a lot of
fun to watch. Uh. Andso yeah, I mean there's a lot
(06:12):
of good ones out there. Butyou know, if you're looking for the
baseball experience type of thing, Ithink Bull Durham's right at the top.
All right, at the top,all right, one last question. Talk
to the fans out there, yourexpectations. What can they expect from this
team this year? Well, youknow, Robbie, I mean we say
it every year. I think,you know, our guys are gonna play
hard. You know, we're gonnado things the right way. They love
(06:32):
each other, We're gonna play foreach other. We're gonna conduct ourselves in
a way that represents Michigan State inthe best possible manner. You know,
I stopped getting into predictions as faras wins and losses and things like that
a long time ago. But that'snot to say I don't feel very confident
with this group, because we do. You know, we're very confident.
You know, our goals every yearare to compete for a championship, and
(06:55):
you know, getting too the BigTen Tournament last year, getting back to
the tournament last year was was away to to compete for a championship.
And I would expect nothing else lessout of this group as well. So
I think we're gonna surprise a lotof people. I don't think across the
landscape of college baseball and the BigTen, I don't think expectations are very
high for our guys. But atthe same time, within our locker room
and our four walls, the expectationsare very high. So again, I
(07:19):
think we're gonna surprise a lot ofpeople and I'm looking forward to to showing
them what we're all about. Andit must be nice this type of event.
You can kind of take the baseballmanager off a little bit and become
a fan, right, yeah,no, absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
it's you know, it's you seea lot of friends and family that you
don't get a chance to see.You know, an awful lot of I'm
(07:39):
obviously in the dugout well, alot of this is going on, and
so you know, you get toreconnect with with a good group of parents
and you know, family members andthen again local community members that are just
sparking baseball fans. So you know, it's kind of electric and there's some
type of electricity in the air rightnow in the room, and you know
it just kind of get excited forbaseball steam all right, coach, thank
(08:01):
you for joining me. I appreciatedthat. We'll see it through hell the
seasons. Good, all right,thanks, thank you, appreciate Thanks to
coach Boss for the time, andwhat a great event the first Pitch Dinner
was. I look forward to bringyou more Michigan state baseball coverage this season,
right here on Baseball this Week
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