Bryan Sunnucks and Moe Collins

00:00 Do I ask you a question?

00:06 Hi, my name is Mo Collins. 59 years old. I'll be 60 in a couple months. Today's date is March 31st. 2018 location is here in St. Pete at the Tropicana Field of the Rays and my relationship to my partner here. Brian is on my friend. Am also is a slow pitch Empire when he plays out there or attempts to play morning everybody. My name is Brian Cenex. I am 3:31 in May today's date is Saturday, March 31st, 2018. We are at Tropicana Field and I'm here with Mo Collins my friend Empire and life coach. So excited to talk everybody today. So I mullets jump into it right now here were talking about the Rays. It's their 20th season back in the day. What did you do? What was your reaction when you heard that Tampa Bay was going to get a team. I was excited. I thought that the baseball team for the longest time.

01:06 Cuz all these years I was growing up you had the Reds here in spring training you had the Phillies, you know in the Yankees are eventually came into so and it was all right there in Tampa and Clearwater area and to me it support in baseball and just the you know, just the attitude everybody that they couldn't wait for it to come here. And if and it finally came yeah, I was a little young back in the day. So I don't really remember that. Yeah. She said something interesting there is growing up. I remember going to a lot of games at Al Lang when the Cardinals were here. They're the same Peak carnosyn and they got rid of them. Where were the Reds playing the Reds were on the other side of where Tarpon Tampa tarpons play. You don't remember them because I was a minor league team for the Reds and that was on the the only on the Tampa side where the Buccaneers play at now. They used to have a Lopez field.

02:06 Please play eye on that side where the right now where they actually Yankees play at that's where the Reds were at tomb for me. It was an exciting time because my grandpa is doing it baseball team called the same piece and they were minor league team and they were down at all Lang so don't even know anything about them. I remember the same piece things that I do cuz I remember growing up to the Tropicana Field. They use that for like the Tampa Bay Storm the arena football team and then it was called the Thunderdome right when the lightning play that was a great name that little bit better than Amalie Arena. So remember your first game coming here to the shop season tickets. My tickets were in left field right there on the border and I think after about the fourth year, they move left field back so they eliminated my my tickets and I had to get something to go to a different section. So yeah, that was a

03:06 I can remove it was now but I still have the ticket stub and everything. You know, I know this seat that you get for the first game. I'll take cool. Did you get one of like the cushions cushions right now? Did they what Renovations because I know they have that porch area. Now, what's it like where the the bullpens were or was it like on the field side or in the in the Outfield? Yeah, it was left fielder. OK Google. I like the Outfield seats cuz you to me you can see everything, you know as far as when it's going to happen. And you know, I definitely like behind behind home plate to but you know, you can't get them seats all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. I mean unless you do know Becca Becca Ray or Sammy Byerly hook hook you up with her or with the employee discount. I'm right you were there think it was the Tigers this right now. My memory is not as good as your cuz you working half my age probably and younger than me.

04:06 A couple of weeks later. They were playing the Mariners on a Saturday and Ken Griffey jr. Hit to monster home runs. So I don't know if you if you were at that game, but I was like one of my first memories cuz that that time he was probably one of the best baseball players in like, you know, the whole league and he hit two modster monster dingers and I was like, wow, I feel like I've ever seen playing through my career's. Yeah. It was a shame that he got injured like you're not really derailed his career. So it's like kind of the first 10 seasons up for me. It was kind of a trying time still trying to find themselves like what it like to have your memories and thoughts sound like, you know those first couple of those first 10 seasons.

04:51 With any new team baseball team, they're not going to just jump out and be contenders, you know, and but I think that with the community there were just happy that there was a baseball team. And that way they can come and watch the other teams are you know, when you hit you got your certain big teams like the red sox-yankees or or whoever sure you're going to have those fans that come follow them like that. You know, it's just I think everybody was happy at least they can watch him here and not watching on TV. Now you say so now as far as getting a fanbase, I think it's going to take a while. It was going to take a while before they actually would get a fanbase. You know that you get to Loyal people say no the razor or the Devil Rays at that time. We're going to be my favorite team is OS for me.

05:37 I'm always loyal to the local team in Owen and I'm a baseball fan. I love my Yankees, but I'm a baseball fan and but when the Rays when I go to the Rays game, I root for the Rays if they play the Yankees, I root for a good game. That's how I've always been that way. You know, I love great pitching and that's usually how I always go to a game to see who's pitching to see, you know, so I can get a good pitching game. Yeah last night. It was a good game. We had snow and price doing against each other was 1-0. So I mean, I think price hat David price for Marais had had a perfect game through about four or five innings and they got broken up. So I was kind of excited like that because I've been to a couple of games here when the Rays have got no-hit. So that was interesting growing up like an Indian stand because my dad was from Cleveland, so I like wood root for the Indians win the race first got here because they had that that was kind of their prime time on that about a five-year stretch Whatever May

06:37 Play house every year that guys like Jim Thome Kenny Lofton and they were going to the World Series and they were in the playoffs ALCS almost every year. So kind of took me awhile to get into the motion of the Devil Rays and then you like me like you said took him awhile to you know, actually get up till I get over there baseball team. I mean the first 10 years. I didn't know a lot of the players. I mean, I know my name is a lil bit better than I remember guys like Ryan roof and tanyon sturtze and like we were having only one of my 55 games 65 games a year one of my memories, stretchy Year's Day this guy Jason Tyner and they had Jason Tyner bobblehead night and they had sent him down to the minors right before they had Jason Hunter bobblehead nights near Yankees and you were Yankees fans. You would like any of those Yankees games like them coming in cuz that was kind of, you know, they had one I think the World Series about three or four times. So, you know in the first couple years when the race were there.

07:37 You know, I think when the Rays play the Yankees every time it seemed like there was a robbery right from the day one, you know and and all the games. I thought were always good games. It wasn't it wasn't that many blowouts. Either way. It was always just an intent you walked in there. You knew it was an intense game already in a lot of knew each other because they say it's spring training for the Yankees or we're basically here and the Rays were in Port Charlotte or a lot of them knew each other too. So yeah that was interesting the the dynamic of POF Yankees fans coming down here to this already a lot of you know native New Yorkers down here and it's always it seems like an even split with the Yankees coming to town is where you got a lot of Yankees fans and likes same thing with like kind of the Red Sox. So that was interesting Dynamic when those two teams play. I mean cuz you know, they've got the other the War and what is a 25 championships.

08:37 Play like so then in 08, do you know that was the start of their second in years and that's when the team really took off it and it changed from the Devil Rays to the Rays. What did you think about that? When I like the name changed our I like the name change and I also like to eat the logo. I mean I didn't affiliated with meal because it was a Devil Rays. It was a devil thing or religious thing like that. You know, I just thought that the logo with a better fit and we just haven't raised in the colors, of course, you know came out to with the uniform. So whether that inspired the players or whatever that played better, you know, we change it every year you have to yeah, I mean, I remember like the first couple years we had the black in the purple uniforms and I thought that was looked awful. Then I think we switch to like a like a Kelly Green Kelly Green. Oh, yeah. So I mean I just remember like that and then like you said like, you know, I can name like only like 20 players after the first of the seasons like guys.

09:37 Aubrey Huff and Jorge Cantu but I remember when we switch like, you know, you went to the navy blue with so I was excited and I mean changing the names and really do much Manning's like care Devil Rays to me. So that was interesting. What do you remember about that like OA season when they went to the World Series and won the division and like you'll have their first winning record. Well, I tell you that my son and I were at the the game the deciding game with the Red Sox in the championship game in the American League Championship. And that's when they the price was just basically came onto the team. Okay, and not that I manage or whatever in the stands like most people do you know, right but I was going when he got into that last minute. I need to put David Price in the price. You just going to throw the ball right past them in in exactly after what he did. They put him in there. He just shut that game down and it was just like, you know, I've got chills right now still thinking about my son was, you know, just

10:36 Jumping up and down and couldn't leave it to you know, how the game ended. And so how old was he? My son was c2008 that makes it he was about twelve. Okay, Yeah. I remember that game. I was in college. I was watching it on TV and getting pumped up for when they got it. Where did you sit we were we were actually in right field in a corner, but you know, what are the bullpen is there and I'm so we had to give you everything when I saw him warming up. I said put them in put them in. Yeah, I remember that. I know that he had pitched like a couple of games before the playoffs started and it but you just knew like going in that he was going to be a star mean. I think he's won the Cy Young once or twice since then and then you know, he's made a lot of money on since he's left the Rays you don't go into the Blue Jays and the Red Sox. So I remember that I'm just remember that whole season was really exchanged. I just turned twenty one. So I was in college. I remember me and all

11:36 Friends, we came home and that whole summer. It was like almost like they were had like, you know, we could games we probably go to like four or five games. Remember the first game we came home. They were playing the angels and they were the best team in baseball the time and James Shields pitched a two-hit shutout and it was right when Evan Longoria had for it later. He'd only been up for about a month or so and he had a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win and life from there. They just took off and it was like just a wild ride of them just you know all the way I remember that season. They had probably about 12:15 games where they came back in the bottom of the ninth and one so it would like every game like it was just like you got to go and that was just a difference from the previous game of think. That's so wait season. I probably went to you maybe 25-30 games that was probably all the games previous to that. So I mean with you you season tickets like did you use them all like

12:36 Because of my job but at least I knew that I could try try to make one game of each series if I could that was a thing that I tried to do and if I could not in my tickets were giving away to my friends or my family. So I was like, I know I'm prying to that prevent you from, you know going to most of the games but no because when I umpire I really can.

12:59 Tell my assigner know I can't do these dates here. Don't go sign me these days so he knows in advance when not to you know, and then if something came up today before like oh no, I'm going to go because phone sells pitching matchups.

13:22 Well, there's a

13:25 I'm not going to say a division 1 school because I'm just going to say that I had a game with two two good Division 1 teams and I knew the one coach really well vocal coach. Okay, and the other Division 1 team the catcher just was having a hard time with the picture where the pictures were throwing the ball on the ground so much and she was blocking everything. You know, that was a visiting team. Right and she was doing a great job the whole game and as an Umpire when you do division 1 you're you're hoping that you get a good catcher in front of you so you don't get hit and most of the time those Division 1 catchers you will you don't have a problem. That's the reason why they're they're in there in division one like that. Right? But that this this game it was just the pictures every penny. I think that's six pictures and they were all just hitting the ground so much and all time. I can think I'm going to get here. I'm going to get hit and didn't get hit the whole game, but eventually that catcher got off the bat it was like

14:25 Mother the sixth or seventh inning and it wasn't really a close game the home team was winning the coach that I knew and that it was like a 2-2 count whatever and a picture through one that everybody else could have called it a strike you known and you know, I said Ballin.

14:46 The coach over here in the home team. He's screaming what you know, just like where is that picture so that you know it, you know, so it division one that they don't really argue balls and Strikes. Okay, the coaches like that. So after the Indian ended he walked up to me like to give me a lineup change whatever but he really wanted to come up to me and asked me where that pitch watch. Right and I said I said, that's my catcher. He looked at me and goes I get it. I'm not going to call her out at school. And I remember some of the games where I was to catch her and I put on those school team. We were not very good number one game. We were losing by like 20 runs or whatever and the Empire just goes to the batter. I don't care where this picture is it strike, you know play infield or pitch and I was just like back there and my pants were

15:46 Adderal run from the guys who were pitching and we were down 28 players numbers come to mine automatically as far as a Fielder and then I've got you know, David Price's with a picture you have been serviced. I remember him. I think we traded for him in like oh six or seven and he came up and I remember that as send him down and he can he got his stuff. So you like, you know, if I figured out in the minors then came back in 08 and I think before he left for the Cubs or the Royals Royals first. Yeah Royals that he was just a star and he could play anywhere like Center in the Outfield position in Infield position with switch hitter. I just remember you're not thinking he was a good guy. I did you ever get to meet him know I never met him. I just know from other people who knew him that knew he was just such a great person person himself and what I saw on the field whenever whatever position he played you knew that it was

16:46 Downgrade heat. It was still a good player that position. Yeah, I member yeah, he was just awesome. So I'm glad he's doing