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Ricky Bottalico tells it like it is and understands it might bother some Phillies The analyst who presses the Phillies every night was once the player who got pressed as a closer with the team.
Its all part of the gig for Bottalico: You have to be truthful to the fans.
The analyst who presses the Phillies every night was once the player who got pressed as a closer with the team.
Its all part of the gig for Bottalico: You have to be truthful to the fans.
Ricky Bottalico often walks NBC Sports Philadelphia with a hockey stick, pacing the newsroom like a third-line enforcer before its his turn to dissect that nights Bottalico battled that same restlessness during his 12-year major league career, often bothering fellow relievers with his inability to simply relax in the bullpen while they waited for the phone to ring.
Its only fitting that he prepares for TV the same way.Hell take slap shots at people, said Sean Kane, a senior producer who oversees the networks Phillies coverage.
People are trying to get work done, and hes shooting hockey pucks.
Hes all amped up talking to people.
Its just how he is.How hes wired.
And it makes for good TV.
Bottalico pitched with intensity he once started a brawl by beaning Barry Bonds and cursed at his old manager after earning a save once he left those jitters in the bullpen.
His fastball was blazing, and his stare was glaring.Bottalico had an edge.
So does the guy who carries the hockey stick around the newsroom.
The 56-year-old Bottalico has made his name on TV as a no-nonsense analyst who isnt afraid to criticize the Phillies, even though the team owns part of the station.
Bottalico is irate after a loss, fumes when relievers dont throw strikes, and blows his lid when fundamentals are lacking.He does praise the Phils when they deserve it and is just as heavy-handed with the opponent.
But it is his barbs against the Phils This is pathetic, he said after a rough loss one night that players have bristled at over the years.
Bottalico pitched seven seasons for the Phils, and its uncommon for a former player working as an analyst on the station that carries the games to have as strong opinions as him.The former player said he never takes a cheap shot as he speaks solely on what happens on the field.
Its never personal.
Hes doing his job, just like he did when he was on the mound.
Bottalico is throwing strikes.Im sure there are some guys who are pissed at me, Bottalico said.
You dont want to piss anyone off.
Thats not why we do it.
Im sure there are some people who enjoy teeing off on players.I dont enjoy teeing off on something that happens in a game, but you have to.
Its part of the job.
The way I look at it is if you can look in the mirror and see that you had a bad game or you made some bad pitches, then everything is status quo.
Bottalico started with the network, then called Comcast SportsNet, late in the 2007 season.He retired two years earlier and was looking for the next chapter.You get your first summer off in 15 or 20 years, Bottalico said.
And Im like, This is going to be great.
Then you realize that its not everything you thought it would be.
Youre sitting around a lot.Everything is getting stale.
I missed the game.
Bottalicos TV gig gave him a chance to get back to baseball.
He didnt have much experience, but station fixture Michael Barkann said the former All-Star closer had what it took to be in front of a camera: knowledge, passion, and an opinion.Hes just so good at conveying whats going on on the field, said Barkann, who hosts the pregame and postgame show.
Many people will say baseball is just as simple as See ball, hit ball, field ball, and throw ball.
But its so much more than that situationally.When you absolutely live it and it just runs right through you and its a language you can speak with other people who have been there, it enables you to explain the game in a much more clear way.
Thats him.
Bottalicos work that season led to more postgame shifts in 2008 along with work as a color commentator for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.A Daily News review of broadcasters in 2009 said Bottalico would be a star once he lost the alumni-bias that sometimes causes him to broad-brush obvious chinks in the Phillies armor.
That soon happened.You have to be truthful to the fans, said Bottalico, who also cohosts an afternoon radio show on 97.5 FM.
I dont like to beat around the bush.
I learned early on that you have to be truthful about what happens because fans see what happens.
But the other side of that is when theyre good, you point out that theyre good.I will say its a lot easier to do the show when theyre good.Ive been doing this job for a long time.
I now work with Cole Hamels.
I see Ryan Howard around all the time.
Jimmy Rollins, I played with and analyzed.They never had a problem with me.
They might say, Ah, youre getting on me today.
But thats about it.
The network started broadcasting Phillies games in 1998 and gave the team a share of the station in 2014 as part of its current $2.5 billion TV deal.So Kane said it can be a little tricky sometimes when the studio analyst working for the rights-holder takes a dig at the team.
Kane said hes heard Bottalico might not be the most popular person if he walked into the Phillies clubhouse, but hes never fielded a complaint from anyone.
So Bottalico keeps bringing the heat.
Meet the All-Stars: What to know about baseballs best coming to townWho's competing in the Home Run Derby?Here's who is in already Phillies radio calls give him goose bumps.
Then he shares those chills with everyone on social media.Hes going to tell it like it is, and I think thats why fans love him, Kane said.
Hes not going to worry about Well, if I say this it might upset the players or it might upset the front office.
I dont think he takes cheap shots, but I just think he tells it like it is.If someone needs to play better or if someone needs to be more accountable, then hes going to say it on TV.Im sure over the years that has rubbed some guys in the clubhouse the wrong way.
Like, Whats this former player doing? He should be more protective.
He should be more of a player-friendly analyst like, Theyre trying hard.Thats all you can ask.
But I really dont think he takes cheap shots.
I just think hes objectively watching this like a fan and This guy needs to be better and This guy needs to hustle and This was a stupid decision and They shouldve done this.
When theyre not playing well, hell get angry.Its not manufactured.
If you think Bottalico is intense, he said you should watch a Phillies game with his dad in Connecticut.Its unreal.
It is unreal, Bottalico said.Ill be there every once in a while and be outside with my brothers and well hear What the heck are they doing? Youre like, Wow.
OK.
I guess I know where I got it.
The intensity Bottalico inherited from his father, Jay, proved to be a perfect match with Barkann, the host who rides an emotional roller-coaster every night during a 162-game season.Overlooked Santino Harwood got his chance at an HBCU despite not being Black.
Now hes in the Swingman Classic.He made a comment the other night and said, You know what I love about Philadelphia is that we treat it like the Eagles, and they play once a week.
Thats how we do every game, Bottalico said.But its true.
Because thats our job.
A lot of people dont understand, How are you getting so excited over this one game? Because thats our job to bring what we feel that night.I think hes a perfect example of what Philadelphia is and how intense the city has always been.
Treating the result of a baseball game the same as a football score is the antithesis of how baseball players manage the grind of a season that often is characterized as a marathon.
But how many viewers would tune in after a loss if the hosts simply said, Thats baseball? This is TV theyre making, and even the pitcher who ran those marathons for years had to become a sprinter.When youre playing, you dont do this, Bottalico said.
But lets face it: If I wasnt true to whats happening each and every game, I wouldnt be doing this anymore.
Its one of those things where you have to have a love of the game, a passion for what youre doing, and you have to be able to talk and explain it.
The analysts know their tone may not resonate in the clubhouse, but their audience is the fans who are reeling or riding high like they are.
The teams postgame show meets the die-hards where they are.does, then come on.
You want people to watch the program.
You want people to get excited.You also understand as a fan that its not one of 162.
Its everything on that particular day or night.
I pride our program on the fact that we do get excited, maybe a little over the top, about every win or every loss.
Bottalico signed his first professional contract with the Phillies in 1991 in the backseat of a scouts car after being discovered in a mens league in Hartford, Conn.He was a catcher who didnt start pitching until his junior year of college before going undrafted.
Bottalico reported to Clearwater, Fla.
, and another pitcher wondered how Bottalico fell through the cracks.
It would have been easy to be bitter about the route he needed to take, but Bottalico never felt slighted.The edge he pitched with was not because he was overlooked.
It was just him.I had it in Little League, Bottalico said.
And Im being honest.
In Little League, I wanted to win every game.
I wanted to get a hit every at-bat.At that point of your life, you dont realize that the game is a game of failures.
I always wanted to win.
I always had that desire to make everyone on the team better, no matter where it was.
I just think youre born with that fire and desire.
Five years after being undrafted, he was the lone Phillies All-Star in 1996 at Veterans Stadium.
He was a big league closer, which meant the reporters flocked to his locker after a blown save but practically ignored him after a 1-2-3 ninth.
Like a kicker, the closer usually makes news only after a botch.
Bottalico understood the game.John Marzano was doing pre- and postgame, and he would rip us apart, Bottalico said.
But I thought it was funny.
I never took it offensively.
Id be like, OK, John.Get on me.
What are you going to do? Rip me tonight.
It was just one of those things.I was always the look-in-the-mirror-first guy.
We used to have to stand in front of our lockers, and if I had a bad game, I would tear myself apart before they even asked a question.
I was true to myself.
If you can look in the mirror and self-evaluate, then you dont have a problem with getting ripped apart.
The analyst who presses the Phillies every night once was the player who got pressed.
He didnt have issues taking it, so he has no issues dishing it out.
Bottalico is doing his job just like Marzano was.
The guy who carries a hockey stick around the office can still pump one by you.Lets face it: People criticize me, Bottalico said.
You know what I do? I laugh at it.
OK.You have your opinion, and I have mine.
Ive never thought about it as a critical thing.
Its just that I have a job to do.
Im doing my job, and they have a job to do, and they do their jobs.was a three-time All-Star and champion of the 2006 Home Run Derby in his legendary run with the Phillies.
With the baseball world coming together in Philadelphia for the 96th All-Star Game, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra to discuss his All-Star memories, his expectations for a Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park, his outlook on the Phillies' season, Kyle Schwarber's chances of breaking his single-season franchise mark for homers, and more.