February 4, 2024 • 6 mins
Rob Bennett had a chance to chat with Michigan State Baseball Outfielder, Jack Frank about the upcoming season and his apparent lack of baseball movie knowledge plus more, during this year's First Pitch Dinner.
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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,
producer and co host Rob Bennett,back with you for this bt W
extra as I was able to geta few minutes with Michigan State baseball outfielder
Jack Frank during this year's first PitchDinner. Jack Frank, thank you for
(00:22):
joining me here today. A veryspecial moment for this team, for this
program. You've kind of been aventer of these things now as you've gone
through the years. What's been sospecial about this event that you've been a
part of. You know, it'sinteresting. I think as it goes on
the first year, it's like youdon't know if to expect. You're a
little nervous. But the first thingyou feel, I think when you hear
(00:44):
is you kind of realized how manypeople care about this program that you don't
even realize or when you're a player, you don't think about you know,
all the kids from e Slancing,all the parents from me Slancing that do
care about this team. So Ithink that's the first thing you realize,
and it's it's really special and reallywhy I love the school, why I
feel so grateful to be a partof it. It's you know, people
(01:07):
from this community love this school,and everybody that went to this school still
loves the school. So that's themost special part. You get to meet
so many people firsthand that support youand support what you're doing, and they
might not even know you, butjust because we all leed green at the
end of the day, you know, we all care about each other.
So that's the best part about it. And of course playing on the field,
being with your teammates, this isalso important, but Coach Boss also
(01:30):
talks about off the field and thisis a perfect example of that. And
just the growth that you've seen ofthe fans and the and the support of
the community. How much is Zachronthat you've seen over your time man a
lot. I mean, considering myfirst year was COVID that that kind of
throws it off. We literally played, you know, a full season where
(01:53):
there was basically no fans and thatwas my first college experience, so that
was weird and you know, definitelynot something that anybody's experience. But I
think, you know, if youwant people to support you, at the
end of the day, you gottawin, you gotta play well, and
I think those COVID years, westruggled a little bit and you know,
(02:13):
that was what it was. Andas a result, you know, you
don't have as many fans. ButI think as we've turned this around and
made a you know, a betterenvironment for ourselves, I think you've seen
the fans come back. You've seenthe students start to take notice. You
know, we played like last year, we played a midweek I don't remember
who against, but you know,there's a bunch of fans there and it's
(02:34):
the middle of the day, beautifulday, a bunch of students. We
had a student section. Like thoseare the things that are super fun getting
to play in front of those people. And I'm not somebody who like pumps
up the crowd or whatever anything likethat. It's baseball. But it's just
good to see people, you know, starting to take notice and starting to
care, because we just want tobe like any other sport on this campus,
(02:55):
have some people care about us alittle bit. We don't expect anything
extravagant, but you know, it'sfun when when people start to be a
part of what we're trying to do. And this this also brings kind of
the past to the present and intothe future. So how cool is that
to see some of these older playerscoming back and the dignitaries that are here,
and Robert wool coming in this year, right. I think that's,
(03:17):
like I said earlier, I thinkthat's exactly why this place is so special.
People just keep coming back and yearafter year, and it's like something
that's you know, a lot ofthings change over time, but it's timeless,
like everybody remembers their time here.Everybody comes back ten years, twenty
years, thirty years, Like everybodywants to come back and feel bad again
and be a part of what we'redoing now. And I think that's a
(03:39):
super important message, you know whenyou are the twenty year old who thinks
like, oh, practice is sohard. Oh you know, doing this
every day is so hard, Butin reality, everybody wishes they were back
doing exactly what we were doing.So think about that and think of how
lucky we are, and you know, use that perspective of like every person
that you meet today is going tosay like, oh, that was the
(04:00):
best time in my life, LikeI remember our team and the guys I
was around and being in school.So just a little perspective I think is
good too. Realize, you know, we're so lucky to do this,
and it's a lot of fun.At the end of the day, it's
hard work, but you know,it's a lot more fun than what most
people get to do on a dayto day basis. What can we expect
from this team? How excited areyou for this team this year? As
(04:21):
we are less than two weeks nowfrom opening day. It sounds crazy to
say we're that close, which isthe first thing, but I'm really excited.
I mean, I can be honest. I would say there's a couple
of years when I was younger thatI wasn't that excited to start in the
season. I was probably more nervous. But what I've learned over the years
(04:42):
is like nerves just means you're excited. It's just another kind of energy.
And if you just think of itas excitement rather than oh I'm afraid to
do this or that, it makesit, you know, it turns it
into a positive energy. So Iam very, very excited. I think
the best thing about this team iswe have so much to prove, and
we have so many guys that wantto make a difference, that want to
(05:04):
prove they can play here. Thatthey can be an impactful player. So
that's why I'm so excited. It'ssuch a you know, the book is
so unwritten. We have like literallythree four guys who have played in college
on the on the offense. Sothat's what's exciting. I cannot wait to
see the guys that are gonna havegreat years, the guys that are gonna
(05:25):
play themselves in to get drafted,the guys that are gonna play themselves in
the lineup. But ultimately just letthem, you know, take over this
year and let them, you know, make what they can of it.
And it it's important that, youknow, some of those younger guys get
ready to lead for the next year. So that's what we're gonna be focused
on on and always trying to getbetter. And I think that's that's that's
(05:46):
what we're looking for this year.All right, One more quick question.
Baseball movie. Robert Wolves here donea bunch of baseball movies, So what's
your favorite baseball movie. Okay,the the irony of that is, I
don't think I've really seen most ofthem except for this Sandlot. When I
was a kid at the Salem Sandlotwas the easiest one for me. But
like the classic ones I haven't evenseen, which is embarrassing to admit.
(06:11):
The Sandlot's my thing. All right, thank you, thank you for joining
me, Man, I appreciate it. Talk during the season, all right,
all right, So forward to it. Man. Don't worry, Jack,
We'll get you caught up on allyour baseball movie knowledge. Be sure
to be on the lookout for agreat season as one of the leaders in
this year's Green and White squad.Stay tuned for more Michigan State baseball coverage
right here on Baseball this week.
Welcome to Baseball this Week a spotlightproduction, and here's your host Jim Stark,
producer and co host Rob Bennett,back with you for this bt W
extra as I was able to geta few minutes with Michigan State baseball outfielder
Jack Frank during this year's first PitchDinner. Jack Frank, thank you for
(00:22):
joining me here today. A veryspecial moment for this team, for this
program. You've kind of been aventer of these things now as you've gone
through the years. What's been sospecial about this event that you've been a
part of. You know, it'sinteresting. I think as it goes on
the first year, it's like youdon't know if to expect. You're a
little nervous. But the first thingyou feel, I think when you hear
(00:44):
is you kind of realized how manypeople care about this program that you don't
even realize or when you're a player, you don't think about you know,
all the kids from e Slancing,all the parents from me Slancing that do
care about this team. So Ithink that's the first thing you realize,
and it's it's really special and reallywhy I love the school, why I
feel so grateful to be a partof it. It's you know, people
(01:07):
from this community love this school,and everybody that went to this school still
loves the school. So that's themost special part. You get to meet
so many people firsthand that support youand support what you're doing, and they
might not even know you, butjust because we all leed green at the
end of the day, you know, we all care about each other.
So that's the best part about it. And of course playing on the field,
being with your teammates, this isalso important, but Coach Boss also
(01:30):
talks about off the field and thisis a perfect example of that. And
just the growth that you've seen ofthe fans and the and the support of
the community. How much is Zachronthat you've seen over your time man a
lot. I mean, considering myfirst year was COVID that that kind of
throws it off. We literally played, you know, a full season where
(01:53):
there was basically no fans and thatwas my first college experience, so that
was weird and you know, definitelynot something that anybody's experience. But I
think, you know, if youwant people to support you, at the
end of the day, you gottawin, you gotta play well, and
I think those COVID years, westruggled a little bit and you know,
(02:13):
that was what it was. Andas a result, you know, you
don't have as many fans. ButI think as we've turned this around and
made a you know, a betterenvironment for ourselves, I think you've seen
the fans come back. You've seenthe students start to take notice. You
know, we played like last year, we played a midweek I don't remember
who against, but you know,there's a bunch of fans there and it's
(02:34):
the middle of the day, beautifulday, a bunch of students. We
had a student section. Like thoseare the things that are super fun getting
to play in front of those people. And I'm not somebody who like pumps
up the crowd or whatever anything likethat. It's baseball. But it's just
good to see people, you know, starting to take notice and starting to
care, because we just want tobe like any other sport on this campus,
(02:55):
have some people care about us alittle bit. We don't expect anything
extravagant, but you know, it'sfun when when people start to be a
part of what we're trying to do. And this this also brings kind of
the past to the present and intothe future. So how cool is that
to see some of these older playerscoming back and the dignitaries that are here,
and Robert wool coming in this year, right. I think that's,
(03:17):
like I said earlier, I thinkthat's exactly why this place is so special.
People just keep coming back and yearafter year, and it's like something
that's you know, a lot ofthings change over time, but it's timeless,
like everybody remembers their time here.Everybody comes back ten years, twenty
years, thirty years, Like everybodywants to come back and feel bad again
and be a part of what we'redoing now. And I think that's a
(03:39):
super important message, you know whenyou are the twenty year old who thinks
like, oh, practice is sohard. Oh you know, doing this
every day is so hard, Butin reality, everybody wishes they were back
doing exactly what we were doing.So think about that and think of how
lucky we are, and you know, use that perspective of like every person
that you meet today is going tosay like, oh, that was the
(04:00):
best time in my life, LikeI remember our team and the guys I
was around and being in school.So just a little perspective I think is
good too. Realize, you know, we're so lucky to do this,
and it's a lot of fun.At the end of the day, it's
hard work, but you know,it's a lot more fun than what most
people get to do on a dayto day basis. What can we expect
from this team? How excited areyou for this team this year? As
(04:21):
we are less than two weeks nowfrom opening day. It sounds crazy to
say we're that close, which isthe first thing, but I'm really excited.
I mean, I can be honest. I would say there's a couple
of years when I was younger thatI wasn't that excited to start in the
season. I was probably more nervous. But what I've learned over the years
(04:42):
is like nerves just means you're excited. It's just another kind of energy.
And if you just think of itas excitement rather than oh I'm afraid to
do this or that, it makesit, you know, it turns it
into a positive energy. So Iam very, very excited. I think
the best thing about this team iswe have so much to prove, and
we have so many guys that wantto make a difference, that want to
(05:04):
prove they can play here. Thatthey can be an impactful player. So
that's why I'm so excited. It'ssuch a you know, the book is
so unwritten. We have like literallythree four guys who have played in college
on the on the offense. Sothat's what's exciting. I cannot wait to
see the guys that are gonna havegreat years, the guys that are gonna
(05:25):
play themselves in to get drafted,the guys that are gonna play themselves in
the lineup. But ultimately just letthem, you know, take over this
year and let them, you know, make what they can of it.
And it it's important that, youknow, some of those younger guys get
ready to lead for the next year. So that's what we're gonna be focused
on on and always trying to getbetter. And I think that's that's that's
(05:46):
what we're looking for this year.All right, One more quick question.
Baseball movie. Robert Wolves here donea bunch of baseball movies, So what's
your favorite baseball movie. Okay,the the irony of that is, I
don't think I've really seen most ofthem except for this Sandlot. When I
was a kid at the Salem Sandlotwas the easiest one for me. But
like the classic ones I haven't evenseen, which is embarrassing to admit.
(06:11):
The Sandlot's my thing. All right, thank you, thank you for joining
me, Man, I appreciate it. Talk during the season, all right,
all right, So forward to it. Man. Don't worry, Jack,
We'll get you caught up on allyour baseball movie knowledge. Be sure
to be on the lookout for agreat season as one of the leaders in
this year's Green and White squad.Stay tuned for more Michigan State baseball coverage
right here on Baseball this week.
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