Roman Acosta: Baseball, one of history’s great sports, considered America’s pastime and arguably the hardest sport to ever play. Hi, I’m Roman Acosta.
Silas Bravo: I’m Silas Bravo.
Roman Acosta: Today we’ll be talking about some baseball…
Roman Acosta: What it has to offer.
Silas Bravo: Baseball has taught, teaches a lot of lessons and has taught me personally how to just be mentally tough, how to can really compete.
It’s like we said earlier, it’s one of the hardest sports out there, and it is not just physically, it’s a lot to do mentally. It’s taught me a lot of teamwork as well, how to get along. Unlike other sports (you), baseball is really big offensively and defensively, so you have to contribute on both sides and on the field.
Roman Acosta: Right and to add on to that. Baseball is really tough. It’s a mental game because obviously when you’re up at the plate, you might strike out and you might have to go back out there for the next inning to go to hit.
So you really have to be mentally tough. And to those who don’t really enjoy watching it. Umm, It’s ok. Baseball, it’s not really for the simple-minded. It’s really a competitive sport. You have to compete and be mentally prepared to play.
Silas Bravo: One thing my dad always taught me as I was a kid was to have a short memory and having a short memory is big and playing in the spate..
Of sport like like this, you have to forget what happened in the past and just move on, because that’s how the sport goes.
Roman Acosta: So why it’s important to us? But, besides us, the community, the kids and families all around who enjoy the game of baseball.
Silas Bravo: Like I said earlier, as far as teamwork, you get to know your teammates very well. You connect the bond with them. Some of my closest friends I’ve known for, as long as I can remember from just playing sports, playing baseball, I still keep in touch.
A lot of them was to have me because I was a catcher. Help me up. Hey, can you catch a bullpen this and that? Hey, you come up to my game and it’s just, yeah, I meant a lot to me as not even just as far as competing, but bonding with people around me in the community and seeing my parents always out.
My parents would drive down far, really far just to see me can be in a lot.
Roman Acosta: Okay, so for the community of Norwalk and other communities, uh, baseball tournaments, leagues, are held locally to really bring out the kids, and I teach them all these, as you mentioned lessons.
And for the parents as well and families, to go out there have some fun on maybe a Sunday afternoon, whether it’s their child or even if grown-ups want to go out and toss the ball around. So it’s really it’s it’s baseball is for family, really.
Okay. So we’re going to talk about some of our influential players, players we like and kind of the lessons they have taught us.
So Silas I would say, you go with yours first.
Silas Bravo: Oh, this is tough, obviously. I mean, there’s been a lot of players I’ve loved, but I think I’m going to go and hit you with the old one and I’m going to hit you with a new one .And when it’s you with a new one, obviously a new one, a current one. I mean, it’s got to be got to be Kershaw. I mean, a guy, a man of faith.
He’s just he’s had a lot of criticism, a lot of dominance. And just seeing him, especially seeing him win that first ring and seeing him persevere through everything and how humble he is, how he rarely just doesn’t show too much emotion on the mound. He just goes out there and dominates year after year.
I’ve I’ve had it. I’ve owned a few Kershaw jerseys, and you cant be a Dodger fan without loving Kershaw. You know.
Roman Acosta: And obviously for me as well, I’m a Dodger fan and players who I’ve loved, some who stick out I would have to say would be Matt Kemp and Joc Peterson and me. I really love their style of play. When I was younger, I had jerseys. I would really just they just made baseball fun to watch.
Silas Bravo: And then for my old influential player, I got to go with Eric Gagne, one of the greatest closers of all time. Obviously, a Dodger was very dominant, just seeing his intensity, seeing him come out on the mound in the ninth inning, knowing, Oh, it’s game over. You know, especially as a kid, something about the big guy with him, with those goggles, how hard he threw the Vulcan changeup he threw.
He just, I loved him, and that’s probably my old, influential player for me.
Roman Acosta: And my own influential player for me would have to be Joe DiMaggio. Based on his popularity, I mean, he’s a Yankee, obviously, when Dodger fan doesn’t really mix well.
But to me, he, he’s a historical icon. I mean, he’s not the greatest like baseball icon in the world. Obviously, there’s other ones you could. Considered like Hank Aaron and all these other guys, but to me, Joe DiMaggio, he’s usually it’s just a classic.
It’s like, how do you you can’t watch baseball and not know who Joe DiMaggio is. Played at a time during World War II and I believe it was his last season with the Yankees back in 51′? I wanna say where he hit the hitting streak.
Roman Acosta: And yeah.
Silas Bravo: He’s just like, he’s an iconic player. Didn’t he, didn’t he date Marilyn Monroe?
Roman Acosta: Marilyn Monroe Yeah, he married. He was married to Marilyn Monroe. I mean, it’s hard not to like the guy.
All right, now, some of our favorite moments would start first.
For me, it’s been a while since I’ve tossed the baseball around, my friends, family. So lately I’ve played co-ed softball, but it’s not really baseball. But um relative to that, one of my favorite moments was when I had a I had to fill in for my brother, who was an outfielder. And we had a doubleheader and on the first game I sucked. I went like one for four and I know I dropped an easy pop up and I was really pissed off in the dugout.
And for the second game in the dugout I had, I brought a Cherry Coke in my bag. I drank it at the start. A second game, I went for four-for-four, I almost had a cycle. And I caught like two balls in outfield and that that I was given the nickname “Cherry Coke” by all my dad’s teammates and my cousins when they were watching me play. So, I mean, that’s some of my that’s probably my favorite memory.
Silas Bravo [00:06:39] Cherry Coke haha Cherry Coke.
Silas Bravo: Yeah, my favorite moment, man.
Roman Acosta: You have tons.
Silas Bravo: Yeah, my dad can probably get into this, but it’s got to be my senior year. When I caught and played my seat, I was able to play on a torn ACL. I am. It’s funny because baseball is not as really a sport you can just hop into like you got the spring ball, winter ball, you can’t. So my senior year, because I had a torn ACL, I didn’t expect to play and I think we were about five games in and my coach, we were like bad.
Our catcher wasn’t too good as a young guy, sophomore. He said hey bro. Pretty much. Do you want to try to go out there? I mean, we are going to lose. I said, All right. I called two innings. I felt good and I ended up starting every game from then on. Now I started. I mean, obviously because baseball such a game you have to get, you can’t really just hop into. I started off like zero for 15 with nine strikeouts, but after I really turned around, got them to work with my dad in the backyard, I ended up batting around .330. I was first in my league. I threw out like 15 guys.
I um. I went deep a few games and it just knowing I was really proud of myself knowing like I pulled through and I was able to play on a torn ACL, which not many people can say they did. And that’s probably gotta to be like that…that memory is always going to be in my heart, for sure.
Roman Acosta: Know what about your favorite watched moment or something your brother or profe.. or major leagues?
Silas Bravo: I’ll go. I’ll tell him. Oh man, my brother used to love watching my brother play. He he the way he pitched, he didn’t go hard because he was a late bloomer.
We had a he had movement, nasty changeup. I remember his, his senior night, actually, because he didn’t play that much, his senior year, because he was just a P.O., but he just really didn’t play that much and he finally got a start and he’s dominant. Like, zero earned runs and was K’n, everyone.
That’s probably that one. Or if I go professional. Got to be. When Will Smith, Will Smith walk off a few years ago, back up, just sitting there, watching and seeing how lit Dodger Stadium was that everybody went. It’s one of my favorites,
Roman Acosta: and let us know who your brother is.
Silas Bravo: Oh, my brother is Isaiah Bravo. He’s a D1 quarterback at the University of Texas El Paso also a Cerritos College alumni. Shout out to him.
Roman Acosta: Right.
Roman Acosta: Okay. Ok, so now we’re going to get down to the obvious. So we’re Dodger fans. I mean, so what? It’s like.
Roman Acosta: So.
Silas Bravo: Diehard diehard fan. My whole family has been diehard fans of what it’s like. It’s just a sense of pride. It’s kind of annoying, as I kind of like, I’ve always like this, especially being a Laker fan as well, just being hated how everyone hates us because we’re good at every year our fans, they can be a little much, but you know, that’s a winning fanbase. It’s hard not to be a little cocky.
Uhhh I love it. I love being. The colors. I love wearing the jersey blue and the blue, the Dodger blue is different and talk about Dodger Stadium, how it’s a different atmosphere being as opposed to I’ve been Angel of games. I’ve been there. Nothing compared to Dodger games sitting in the outfield high fiving everyone around you is just it’s amazing.
Roman Acosta: Right?
Roman Acosta: I would say to add on to that, there’s probably nothing better than being at a Dodger game on a Friday night as they win and watching the fireworks. Yeah, that that that’s something special.
Silas Bravo: Hearing that song, I love LA.
Roman Acosta: Yeah. Randy Newman, anyway. Uhh for the most part, I would say in the postseason, I was all over those years like shoot, like 2015, like besides the year we won the the Championship in just that COVID year, umm like it’s been pain watching the Dodgers, what was it the Cubs, the Nationals…
Silas Bravo: The owned us, Cardinals for a long time. It’s hard. They had a number of Cardinals, Cardinals, the Mets got us one year. Yeah, it’s just been tough. But I mean, we pull through.
Roman Acosta [00:10:31] I mean, we’re still nothing better. I mean, I can’t really say I can’t really see. I think obviously we could root for other players, but you can’t really turn your back on the Dodgers despite how many times they’ve
Silas Bravo [00:10:47] let us down.
Roman Acosta: Yeah.
Roman Acosta: All right. Now we want to to finalize this, we’re just going to talk about some of our favorite movies, baseball movies. Obviously, there’s a lot to pick from. But I would say, uh, for me, a movie that sticks out is “The Natural.” Only because uhm I would watch it with my dad.
Obviously, an old timer. So it’s an old time baseball movie starring Robert Redford, and just that moment that where he has the ball and hits the lights and the lights are going off. Like if it was like some kind of firework effect, I’d say that’s like an iconic moment in uhh our pop culture uh cul.. cult… bleh eheh our culture that sticks out.
Silas Bravo: I think the greatest baseball movie, it’s got to be “Sandlot,” but I mean, everyone’s favorite. So I’m going to go with my alternate “Rookie of the Year,” just as a kid watching a movie, how funny it was seeing him go out there and play against them. They had a lot of actual major leaguers in there.
I know Barry Bonds was in there and just seeing them and seeing it’s just a funny movie. I literally love the guy. The same guy who’s in “Home Alone” is in there. He’s…, me and my brother and his friends. We still quote like some of his his quotes out there to this day, like a hot ice. just..just that movie.
Roman Acosta: It’s kind of, I believe it’s the one where has he got his arm talent from his mom correct?
Silas Bravo: Yeah, yeah and she ended up playing softball and he, yeah.
Roman Acosta: I remember. What was it like that final scene in the movie where he’s on the mound and he’s like, he looks out to his mom, like, all like, what do I do?
Silas Bravo: He looks like he looks at his glove and he’s like, It was you. Yeah, it’s just, yeah, it’s a good movie. Good storyline, good act. Solid acting for a little kid, but it’s good.
Roman Acosta: I like it and we’ll finalize with. I feel like it’s the obvious for a Dodger fan. Forty-two…. So it’s starring Chadwick Boseman, and I believe, with Harrison Ford.
Silas Bravo: RIP.
Roman Acosta: Yeah RIP to Chadwick Boseman. But I mean, at that time, baseball, obviously, that’s still not too far from World War Two, and we’re still obviously racism going on to where segregation they didn’t even want him to play.
So like being a Dodger fan as well, that sticks out because we kind of paved we helped paved the way towards the new generation of baseball that we all watch today. And I would say it’s something we can look back to and be grateful we got to witness.
Silas Bravo: Yeah, its definitely a movie you can watch 100 years from now. Like, this is a good movie. I remember this movie means a little bit more to me too, because I remember being like in third or fourth grade. Going out to one of my first very plays was watching a Jackie Robinson play.
And I remember just being so infatuated with the storyline, the plot, the acting and just it was it was a crazy story. And he, like he… Went through a lot and anybody can learn from this movie. It’s a great movie and we can learn from his story. Jackie Robinson was a great player, not even mentally and physically.
Roman Acosta: And that’s all we have for today. We thank you for listening, and we hope you join us soon. Thank you bye.
Silas Bravo: Thank you.
