With the Orioles bats going cold and the sudden early exit, we had to talk some MLB playoffs and pitching with Coppin State head coach Sherman Reed as he welcomes former big leaguer Wayne Franklin onto his staff to teach the Eagles hurlers in West Baltimore.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Coppin State, Orioles pitching, Wayne Franklin, plate discipline, offensive struggles, postseason evaluation, pitching importance, team strategy, young talent, fall ball, recruiting efforts, injury prevention, MEAC playoffs, baseball partnership, offseason plans
SPEAKERS
Sherman Reed, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, tassel, Baltimore, Baltimore, positive. We are positively doing some great things around here. Now that baseball season is over, it’s never over for the people that are involved in baseball, certainly watching the postseason all that, but Luke and our get together next Friday. We’re doing the Maryland crab cake tour in Essex over the east side with our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’ll have scratch offs to give away for all of you legally of age, but everybody can come and eat the pizza and the crab cakes, especially the ice cream, because it’s Luke’s birthday. It’s my birthday. It’s all brought to you by our friends at Liberty. Pure solutions as well. They’re taking me out on the oyster tour. One 800 clean water. They keep my water clean and of course, Jiffy Lube multi care powering Luke up to get him back and forth to Owings Mills for the Bengals and the commanders and football. And we’re watching baseball on TV after what happened to the Orioles on Tuesday and Wednesday, and only score in one run. And I have this great partnership with Coppin State University. We’ve had it for a long time. I think it’s our 14th year together in many, many ways, in many capacities, we run games. I know most of the people over West Baltimore on the campus over there. Dr Anthony Jenkins is is a frequent visitor around here for our compensate segments. But I have a little latitude to have other professors, deep thinkers and baseball head coaches on as well. Sherman Reed has been my friend for a number of years. He’s a good man. He’s Baseball, baseball man, which I love the most in the I don’t know how often you win to me act. I’m gonna let you brag about all of that, but a couple things. First thing, the orders were playing. They needed some relief pitching, and you just hired Wayne Franklin to be your pitching coach. And I was wondering if the lefty from northeast, you know, had a couple innings left in him, but then I looked and thought, Damn, he’s almost as old as me. He’s 50. Feels like five minutes ago that we were all 28 and trying to be a left hander in the bullpen in the big leagues. But Sherman, it’s good to have you on. I know it’s not baseball season, but I know you’ve been glued to this. You’re an Oriole fan like all of us, right?
Sherman Reed 02:02
Oh yeah, man, it was. It’s been a tough 48 hours for all of us, oil fans, for sure, man.
Nestor Aparicio 02:09
Well, give me the lowdown on first off on Wayne and what’s going on with your program, because I’ve been talking a lot about how Mike Elias and sigma Dell and Brandon Hyde, all the management will get together and evaluate everything. And some guys are going to need surgeries and off season this, and contract that, and free agent and all that. But I think you evaluate the game a little differently and watching it as a manager, as a coach, as a man who played the game, you’ve been a cop in a long, long time. Um, it’s really hard when you don’t hit the ball. And I think this time of year, pitching so important, and I think we saw that on both sides of the series, really, and we were worried if our pitching would hold up. But when the bats go silent, and it’s been silent now for a little while, for the Orioles, it’s really, really a tough thing. What’s going on with the Orioles and hitting the ball?
Sherman Reed 03:01
Right? Yeah, I tell you what, I know that I can be very tough on offense. I know here at Coppin, we tell the recruits, you know, coming in the door that the Coppin way is a disciplined approach, because the bottom line is the toughest thing to do in baseball, or in any sport, rather, is to hit a baseball, and you don’t want to make it any more complicated than it needs to be. So we just preach disciplined baseball. I know the last two or three years, when you look at on base percentages, there was a point in time, just this past season, where we struggled a little bit with this young team, but through the first third or so of the season, we were in the top 10 in the nation and on base percentage, because you can’t swing at pitchers pitches, and you got to give yourself a chance. And there’s that fine line between being overly aggressive and then being disciplined. Unfortunately, you know when you when you bat 167 and play off baseball, and that’s the last, the worst average of the eight teams currently playing in Major League Baseball, you got 167 that’s not going to do it and and the team that got the two wins got it 219 but it was the difference with the plate discipline and taking a walk. You know, I get frustrated watching a three one swing at a ball out of the strike zone, and you leave the opportunity to be the time run by taking the walk. That’s something that that you know Brandon, I know we set it’s tough, but they’ve got to, they got to have more discipline at bats than they they’ve shown really since. The second half and the beginning of second half of the season, after the all star group,
Nestor Aparicio 05:05
I will be their apologists on the field all off season, because I know what it’s like to have the best laid plans and a strategy and you feel like you have the right people, and then bad things happen, and bad things happening. Let’s start with and Luke talked about this Batista last year from that moment where Bradish didn’t really make it to post this year in the way means didn’t make it. We’re worried about Wells’s innings and all of that went away, and yet, you go back to before Angelo died, Rubenstein took over the team like that AFC Championship Game week when they signed Corbin burn, or made the deal for Corbin burn and signed him into Ortiz in the deal, they got a number one. I mean, Grayson wasn’t available. Radish wasn’t available. They went and got effluent at the deadline, and those two guys weren’t even on the team back at you know, in football season, let’s say last January, those guys weren’t on the team. They really gave the Orioles and operate. I mean, they had the kind of pitching on the front end of a three game series at home in that ballpark that you would want to have. The defense wasn’t great for the Orioles second half defense didn’t let him down. They got runners on bases loaded. Nobody out, runners in scoring position, all that, but the pitching was the thing that we were the most worried about. It should be right. And Luke would say, look, long term, if they won, they have to go to Yankee Stadium. The bullpen would have gotten exposed. Kramer Suarez, deeper in no Rodriguez that it would have been, it would have been tough. It would have been tough for them to win a World Series based on where their pitching was. But I’ll tell you to get bounced out when you get that kind of starting pitching that they got from outside the organization, really, from a good space, from a management standpoint, you know what I mean? From Uh, hey, man, I recruited that kid. He made it to post it hat, you know, like fate did that with burns and effluent from outside the organization, and to still come up short it. That’s really the disappointing part, because I really do feel like they put it together with rubber bands and paper clips and Mr. Rubenstein’s money burn. This wouldn’t happen with Angelo. He wouldn’t have put up the money for burns. No, you wouldn’t put up the money for got
Sherman Reed 07:22
the pieces that that really came up big for them. And I think, I think that’s just as you stated, the question marks were, was always the pitching, and could you get a good start, someone that can go six, seven innings and give you a chance, but to give up, you know, three runs to give up three runs in two playoff games, and you lose them both. It just things that much harder. But the old adage in baseball has always been nasty, good pitching on any given day can shut down a great offense, and that’s really what we saw here with with the struggles of the oils. I mean, you can’t ever expect to get that kind of pitching. It was set up really well for us playing at home Camden Yards and with the gyms that we got. You know, from the starting pitching position, it is tough. But again, you know, when you have a short series Nestor, you gotta, you gotta do the small things to win, man, you gotta, you gotta take some chances. You know, catching for Kansas City was isn’t really all that great, but you gotta take some chances. And you know, as a head coach myself, when you lose a one, one or a two, one game, you do have to sit back and say, Is there anything we I could have done as as a guy calling the shots, basically, to find a way to get a run across the plate. And you know, and even though bunting isn’t part of what the warios do, but in a short series where you’re not hitting, you got to do something different. And like I said, it’s going to be a tough off season, because the two guys came up so big for you on the mound, and you got to find a way to score some runs when when you only let three in in two games and you don’t get one win, that’s that’s pretty tough.
Nestor Aparicio 09:26
They call him a head coach over there. We call him the manager. I call him skip. He is Sherman Reed over Copic state, our partners with the Eagles. We appreciate everything that they do. And as I said, Dr Jakes, we’re gonna be talking a lot of professors and different people on campus. I’ve always had the sports folks on. I’ve always had coaches on back when Juan was coaching. And, you know, obviously, right now we’re going into basketball season, so I’ll be, you know, I’ll be over there chasing you guys around, but last thing on the orders, because I want to get to the cop, and I want to talk about Wayne. I want to talk about what you’re doing over there. And just. Get the kids back on campus, in a general sense, as an educator, and being on campus, I could see you’re sitting the campus right now. See lighting coming off the field there, Orioles for you offseason. I mean, you love the Orioles and the lineage of the seat that you’re in. Paul Blair used to come on my show all the time when he sat in your chair over there for many, many years. The Orioles and cop, and have a partnership, and HBCUs, and there’s a night like to all of these things that happen, but you love the Orioles. You’re a fan of the Orioles. You’re frustrated, like all of us, right? They’re a little off season for you, things that you’d like to see. Do you have any prescription at all for them? And thoughts that what could get you excited about opening day next year.
Sherman Reed 10:42
I just think that you’ve got, you know, there’s a lot of unknowns, and it almost appears some of that talented young young these young players. I’m not saying this is the reason why the offensive walls occurred, but you have so many of them playing for contracts and trying to secure their families. And I just, I just wish I saw more team oriented at that. And so you know that. And again, this isn’t on Brandon high when, when you have your four, four big time hitters in Henderson saying tan sand and gar sand sander and Ali lunchman and Mount castle, and you have those four guys going combined, two for 31 with the seat offensive season that they’ve had, you’re not going to get rid of that young, that talent. You’re just not so I just would like them to go back to the 23 season, where we offensively, anyway. I think we were a little bit more disciplined at the plate, and I think there was more small ball integrated into our offense this year. I just think it was all about long ball. And when you look at the fact that statistically, whether it’s slugging all runs, you know, we’re like, number one in Major League Baseball, but at the end of the day, that don’t win you baseball games. So they get excited about the Orioles in the offseason. I just think they need a little different strategic approach to take from the offensive side of the ball, because the talent is really there, and it’s going to be a tough off season with, you know, it’s all independent free agent that we protect potentially can lose, can lose, but you know, overall, I wouldn’t tear the team all the way down up, because the talent is there. Sherman
Nestor Aparicio 12:56
Reed is here from our partners at COP State University. They have a new pitch a coach over there, easy, former a major leaguer that I remember as a very young man at Northeast and going to the big leagues and pitching in the minors. Sure you’re familiar with this, because you’re a young, old timer like me. Stevin would say, there used to be and I used to be in charge of this, right? I used to be in charge of this at the paper Marylanders in the minors. I took that over at the news American, if you go watch my documentary, knowing my background, there was always a Sunday thing, Marylanders in the minors and my area. I always tell Brian co it’s this. And I always tell you, know, any of the guys bark, any of the guys of my era that played ball, played baseball, Danny Nagel would be one of those guys, for sure, coming up through Billy Ripken before that, even when I was at the paper, you know, back in the 80s that there were young players, and Wayne Frank was one of those guys with a dream of pitching in the big leagues, made it to the big leagues, didn’t go to Hall of Fame, but pitched a lot, pitched the seasons with the brewers and the Giants and other things. And you’ve you, he’s now on your team. You You bring a guy in and say, this guy, he’s got pitch six, seven seasons in the big leagues, man, you gotta listen to him, right? And I think for young people, that that brings a credibility that, you know, if you haven’t done it, you don’t have that credibility, right?
Sherman Reed 14:17
Yeah, I can tell you what, man, instant credibility is what it’s about. I mean, at this, at the divisional level, you know, you almost have to have that to get the buy in that’s required to get the most out of these guys. And I can tell you what, when I post that position, that we had a our pitching lead position was open. I got, I got swamped with, probably in a three to four day period, I got over 60, uh, resumes for this position. And then I saw Wayne Frank, and I was like, Is this the same Wayne Franklin from the area that we don’t want to have a really nice, big. Career for Maryland. Look at his resume, and the only question was whether or not we could, I joke with Wayne and say, Man, I don’t know. We can afford you man, and the more we talk and and the mental part of pitching is so, so important, and just having him explain how important the mental part of pitching is, and his stake in that area of development, in the area of pitching, it was just exactly what we needed here at Coppin, first two weeks of the fall session, yesterday, markdown, second Complete Week of the six weeks we’re given by the NCAA division one to play a fall session. Just the first two weeks, we pound the strike zone. That’s been a problem the last two years for this this talented young pitching staff pounding the strike zone, and to see how these kids are pounding the strike zone and competing the weak contact and not always trying to miss the burrow and make it about strikeouts. It’s just been a welcome addition to the pitching staff, and I’m excited to see what’s going to happen this spring when we take the
Nestor Aparicio 16:16
field, when you guys take the field, give me just a lot of folks don’t know about, you know, fall ball. And, you know, I mean, fall ball, we talk about it, you know, fall balls a thing, but nobody really, it’s not a sanctioned, it’s not regular. There’s no MEAC champion. What happens to kids this time of year that are on your campus, that are compensated student athletes? They come from? You’ve had kids from Hawaii, man, you’ve had kids from, I don’t know how many states in all the years you’ve been there a long time, won championships. I mean, the cop and baseball program. One of the reasons I have you on, it’s kind of a big deal, right?
Sherman Reed 16:50
Oh, yeah, in fact, man, we do a really good job right now the theater we have from the West Coast, whether it’s Washington State or California. Man, we, we’re, we’re bringing in some top notch baseball players from the West Coast that’s now recognizing the opportunity is to go somewhere east coast, northeast area, and make a name for yourself. We I’ve got a lot of over the years. I’ve got a lot of really good friends in this game that’s gone on to coach at different levels of police and baseball, that’s been really good, foot on the ground, feet on the ground for us, and eyes for us. And we’re we’re getting a chance at some really good, talented baseball players. And you’re right. One of the things I’m looking to do more of moving forward is to nail down some of the talent in Maryland, because typically, in any given year, we only have two or three Marylanders on the entire roster. But now Texas is another state that we’re that we’re hitting really hard and we’re doing a really good job. Florida has always been a big a big feeder state for coffin state baseball. But right now, like I said, the fall has been going tremendous. We want to, want to keep our seniors cars that we continue to stay injury free. But this is very important time in a young man’s career, because you carve your role, your spring roll out based on performances that occur in the spring. And like I said, we got a really nice schedule coming up. We’re going to open up again with navy. We’re going to go to Edmonton and naval academy to open up the third week of February. And then we get some home cooking, and that we’ve got BMI coming in for the Virginia Military Institute coming in for three. And then we go on the on a brief trip up the river for a mid week, sir game, single game against going over. And then we got UMass coming in for three games before we start the Northeast conference part of the season, season with our conference schedule.
Nestor Aparicio 18:59
Reem here. He is the head coach. He’s moving his he’s moving his camera around. If you’re out watching. We’re having some fun here. I want to have Wayne on talks and pitching, maybe during the World Series, as we get up on this and hopefully somebody beats the Yankees. I guess it’s going to be the Royals. They wear the same blue you wear. So maybe, I don’t know, we got to get the Yankees out at this point. And it was Phillies fans up the road. They all think they’re going and I yeah, my wife likes baseball more than I think she does. Like when the Orioles got done, she’s watching the brewers in the Mets. She’s all into that series. She’s watching Machado. Well, listen, that’s Sunday, that’s Monday, and sometimes it’s Thursday. So I will get back in touch with you. I appreciate you bringing the kids back on the campus out of COP and talk a little baseball little Orioles with us. You will not be a stranger around here and get back to the MEAC playoffs. We’re going to have to hijack my programming around here in April and May, put your games on. Alright.
Sherman Reed 19:56
Yeah, we’ve been doing pretty good in the last six years. We got a couple champions. So we want to get back to there a little little young last year, but this year, I think that given what I’ve seen the first third of the fall, we’re looking pretty good for the spring.
Nestor Aparicio 20:12
Alright. Well, tell Wayne. I’m looking for him. I need to get some local guys on here to talk about how left handers get them out. And you talked about injuries, you like, gotta keep everybody healthy. Copping man, the Orioles, right? I mean, case in point, when you get injured, you’re not Hey, Hey, Coach Sherm, strolling it up here in the off season. But if you lose two starters, two position players, a bullpen like, all of a sudden, you know Morgan’s trouble for you. You You know what I mean? N c, a, n t? You know what I mean? You can’t. So you want to go with your full contingent. The Orioles didn’t have that, and therefore I’m grading the Orioles incomplete. Sure.
Sherman Reed 20:50
Yeah, you’re absolutely right. Oh, good, successful year for the for the orange and black. Man, we’ll, we’ll be, we’ll be back next year, and I look forward to getting Wayne coach, Coach Franklin would love to come on, man, he’s already shared some really great, intimate stories about some legends of the game that he’s played with. You
Nestor Aparicio 21:10
tell him straight away, I can never hit a left hand talking those left handers that come at me and I’d be like bailing out when the ball’s coming out in the other direction. Richie path knows Barry stitts made fun of me over curly trust me, man, I’ve been beating up all my little league teammates are striking out with the bases loaded, man, I feel you. Santander, I feel all you guys. Luke’s been around this week. We’re gonna get to some football. It’s a baseball. We’re gonna be celebrating my birthday, Luke’s birthday, our birthday, Jim Palmer’s birthday, John wooden’s birthday, the greatest coach of them all. Everybody knows that Raven scratch. Also the Maryland lottery going to be over pizza John’s on Friday the 11th. My thanks to liberty, pure solutions. My thanks to Jiffy Lube, multi care for supporting all that we’re doing around here. I am Nestor. We are W NST AF 1570 tasks in Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive.
