His work on the sidelines and field is done at WJZ but longtime sports anchor Mark Viviano isn’t sitting in the stands and watching life unfold – he’s contributing where it matters in our community. Viv joins Nestor at Faidley’s on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour to discuss real life after sports media and serving others across the city via several charities and managing Little League baseball and his two sons.
Nestor Aparicio and Mark Viviano discuss Viviano’s transition from sports media to community service, highlighting his involvement with charities like Helping Up Mission and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Viviano emphasizes the importance of spending time with family and community over his media career. They also touch on Baltimore’s sports scene, noting the challenges of attracting fans to games and the impact of local teams on the city’s spirit. Viviano shares his experiences coaching his children’s baseball team and his commitment to community service, including weekly lunch collections for the homeless. The conversation also covers the importance of positive media representation and the need for community engagement.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Baltimore, sports media, community service, Lexington Market, Orioles, Ravens, charity work, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Helping Up Mission, baseball coaching, family, Baltimore positive, Maryland crab cake tour, sports competition, Baltimore stories.
SPEAKERS
Mark Viviano, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively no longer at home. We are we’re at our home, away from home. We’re failies. We’re Lexington market. I am getting Mark Viviano, the magic eight ball scratch offs. We’re gonna have some new scratch offs next week. We’re doing the Maryland crap cake tour everywhere. We will be a cost this next be at Costas next week, we’re going to be at the Beaumont. We’re going to be at Cooper’s north. We’re going to be Cocos, but we are here in the epicenter of Baltimore. It is not Oriole pregame just yet, but it is an Oriole Game Day will remind everybody. Faith is about three blocks away from long fly ball from Oriole Park, Camden Yards in the new they actually picked the whole market up VIV and they moved it a block toward Camden Yards to make it a little easier. Man, now wait,
Mark Viviano 00:45
I’m doing great, and it’s, this is my first time in the refurbished Lexington market. Possible. This
Nestor Aparicio 00:52
first time in here. Man, I just, I’m just, it’s like, you’re not media anymore, or something,
Mark Viviano 00:56
not media anymore, and happy of it. You, You dragged me back into this for some conversation, which is just fine, but, no, this is beautiful. You know, I go back to remember, during Preakness week they used to do the crab races. We would sprint right
Nestor Aparicio 01:12
out here. Yeah, so do it outside. Okay, so here’s I’m gonna give before even start, they’ve asked me to do it, and I’m actually not in town. Gina, shocked from the Go Go’s, has invited me out to Vegas for their big reunion, and there’s a Maryland thing. So they asked me, and I had to decline to do it. So they’re looking for washed up media guys, and I’m done, right? So I can’t do it. No any other washed up media guys. And I’m like, maybe VIV would want to do it. So first up your impression as a St Louis guy of all the Baltimore you’ve had, and you and I did Cocos last year, and we’ll get to all of our media stuff and all of our sports stuff and all that. But like you love Baltimore, you’ve made it your home. It’s things like this that make Baltimore awesome. And when people walk in here and see the new fadelies. It looks just like the old fadelies. It probably blew your mind 20 minutes ago
Mark Viviano 02:06
when you walked in no doubt. I mean, I lived in Federal Hill for 20 years, and when they redid cross street market, I mean, for some and you know, you know Baltimore as well as anyone. We are, and I’ll just call myself. We have lived here 30 years, very we hold on to tradition. Provincial, yeah, provincial is a good one. Okay, good. And it bothered some people to see cross street market shiny. It’s like I needed to smell like oysters. I want produce in there. COVID,
Nestor Aparicio 02:39
right? Exactly I need it to be, not modern. And there are problems with that, health problems with that. Well, there can be and yes, well, the old market had things in it that were in the air, let’s say the market that just needed to be put away,
Mark Viviano 02:55
right? And, yeah, to the to that point. And I think everybody learns to adapt heck Nestor. You know this, when the Ravens moved here, there were people who did not embrace them because they weren’t the Colts, and they hated the NFL for letting the Colts go away. So let’s just say Baltimore, at least certain generations of it are slow to accept change, even if it’s improvement. But that said this is for generations to come, sure, and they will love this.
Nestor Aparicio 03:27
I think this is the fourth actual structure there’s been for Alexei over 200 years. And that one was built in the 50s, late 40s, after a 1948 fire, I believe. And it just 75 years. And that struck, and it wasn’t meant for that. It was thrown together very quickly, as I understand it, because when the last market burned down, they had businesses. You know, the family, family was selling fish out of the back of a truck across the street, trying to keep their business open when the when it burned down. So this thing was thoughtful, well thought out, sturdy and really lovely, I’d add something. And if Damian were here and I saw her Monday, it would make her mad, but I’m going to tell her this anyway, she’d love it. I have not walked in here in two years, and I’ve done the show in a new place a dozen times, and Luke will be here later. Also, Ron Cassie is going to be here from Baltimore magazine. I walked in today, and the first time ever, I’m thinking of getting food somewhere else, because I’m smelling everything I walked in, I’m smelling the Indian food. I’m smelling the coffee over here. I’m smelling the Italian I smell pizza when I walked in. I smell hot dogs. I smell fried chicken from parks across street. And I’m thinking I had a giant crab cake here on Monday for opening day. And French, I’m gonna hook you up as well. But there is, there’s a beautiful market here. You can come down here and find something to eat, even if you’re shellfish and talent. You said your kids are picky, right? Yeah, they’re kids. There’s watermelon down there, there’s fruit down there’s hot dogs, there’s french fries. You’re talking they’re wearing chicken fingers. Markiano is here. He is. First things are, what are you doing? I mean, let’s talk about your life and your charities and your work and all that you talked about. You. In serving other people and serving your children, your family, most and foremost. And I sense you’re not even watching a lot of baseball. Well, I do, because
Mark Viviano 05:09
my kids like it, and I still have that in my veins. Grew up in St Louis, love baseball. I’m now coaching their baseball team. That’s
Nestor Aparicio 05:17
a really important team.
Mark Viviano 05:18
It really is. Yeah, and then remember one thing, and I have shared this, and WJZ was great to me, and I’m so grateful for the time I got to spend there. And they offered me a three year contract at the end of my last one, and I had to say, the only job I ever wanted I don’t want to do anymore, because it keeps me from the things that are now most important in my life, which is my wife, my children, my church and my community, and the things that I can now do with a schedule that is not 2pm to midnight, where I am locked into having to work for a TV station or a radio station or whatever the breaking
Nestor Aparicio 05:59
news in our In our line of work, in our line of work. So
Mark Viviano 06:03
I’ve removed that 10 hour window from my life in and also the Sundays of ravens coverage, leaving church soon as it’s over, and dashing up to the stadium to do a pre game show or to the studio to do a pre game show that’s gone. What I’m doing is spending time with my children, spending time with my wife. I’m a you’ll never get the time back. You don’t get the time back. If you say, I gotta go do this, I’ll catch up with you later. Next thing you know, your kids 17. They don’t want to hang out. How old now? 11, nine and seven years old. Nine and seven? Nine? Yeah, I came to the game late as a father. But so be it, God gives you life. Maybe
Nestor Aparicio 06:39
that’s like, that’s got to be a blessing to be an older parent to some degree, right? It’s awesome perspective than me being 15 as an example. Yeah, well, well, correct
Mark Viviano 06:48
again, you get you get life, you don’t get a schedule. Things are what they become, and you you adapt, and you say, there’s a reason for this, and I accept that. So being with my kids, being with my wife, being in my community, and just being able to serve people, whether it’s the helping up mission downtown, whether it’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, by the way, may 19, want to let your listeners know that’s banquet. That’s the banquet Martin’s West. No, it’s Martin’s mansion. Okay? The Right, yeah, and I’m gonna be one of the speakers. Frank Kelly’s
Nestor Aparicio 07:25
had me as his guest today half dozen times. I’ve seen Lou Holtz. I’ve seen John Harbaugh twice. I’ve seen Ben Watson has done that event. Yeah?
Mark Viviano 07:35
Tony Dungy, yeah. Last year it was James Brown from CBS. Okay, great. So doing some work with them. May 19, come on out, join us for that
Nestor Aparicio 07:47
Casey cares. May 19 is that that’s after Preakness.
Mark Viviano 07:50
It’s a Monday. It’s the Monday after Preakness must be it must be, okay, okay, good. I used to, I used to be able to tell you. I used to let I used to be able to know when the Preakness was. I don’t know when these things are anymore. The Preakness
Nestor Aparicio 08:03
is the 17th, Saturday, 17th. And most importantly, no offense to Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but the crab races, I think are on the 15th, 14th or 15th. I gotta let you know. But and then on the 19th is Monday. So Monday the
Mark Viviano 08:20
19th. Monday the 19th fellowship. I know you’ve had the folks from Casey cares on
Nestor Aparicio 08:25
many times. Casey was up on the front of my website. Is there? Like 20 did they do an anniversary? 25th anniversary? I did see that we did the Spain’s wallenberger on my Facebook. I
Mark Viviano 08:36
saw it last week, right? Yeah, my wife and I are on the advisory board with them, and just she does wonderful work. And you know, when you have children and your children are healthy, and you see what else children and families have to go through, and she’s there to help them. So it is, oh, another thing. Tuesday mornings, I’m always up in the city in Canton st casimirs parish, we collect lunches to bring to helping up mission and beans and bread. It’s Tuesday it’s Tuesday morning, okay? And we get about 700 to 1000 lunches, and they are distributed at those facilities. And this started during the pandemic, when they had to shut down a lot of the drop in services. They couldn’t do them anymore. So one of the parishioners at St Casimir. Pam protani said, Well, how about if we make lunches and they can just come take them? They said, we’ll do that. So that’s grown into a ministry that’s now going on five years, and they’ve I know we’ve served hundreds of 1000s of these much of
Nestor Aparicio 09:35
that goes on in this city our daily bread. I mean, every time Rogers comes on, he talks about that, and there’s just good things happening here, and you’ve rolled your sleeves off, dude, right? It’s
Mark Viviano 09:43
what I want to do. This is what I wanted. This is the meaningful stuff. No more standing around in locker rooms hoping a guy is going to give me, you know, five minutes.
Nestor Aparicio 09:54
I don’t stand around locker rooms either. That’s right.
Mark Viviano 09:58
And I’m not downplaying it. I’m. Saying I got to do it, but I don’t do it anymore. And when I’m asked, Do you miss it? It’s no, if I were doing it again, then I’d be missing the important stuff, right? My children and these opportunities to serve, and I’m exactly where I should be, ness and it’s well, you
Nestor Aparicio 10:15
always tell me I’m where I’m supposed to be, too. So I appreciate that you are as well, because people have only, there’s only second public conversation, I think, third we’ve ever had, because you called in when you worked at CNN, apparently, and I don’t remember it, yeah, on the national show. But like, there is a point over the weekend, and you know, Luke has all of those things. Luke is a deacon in his church. Luke will be here later, and you got you guys can cross talk and have at it. But he and I, over the weekend, I went up to Buffalo, and you know the Mark, Mark Viviano, former sports guy, reform sports guy, Andrews, dropped the ball. Are you familiar with these two kids in Buffalo that did a Go Fund Me for diabetes? Well, you know, after Andrews dropped the ball, obviously the bar stool crowds kicks in, and he’s this, and he’s all that, and then he stiffed the media, which I don’t recommend. Afterward, I didn’t think that was cool. I’m a big accountability guy, but at some point in the aftermath, two young men that were Canisius College students started to go fund me, and it got going amongst their fan base, the bills mafia and the Ravens. $150,000 they’ve raised, right so I’m up in Buffalo over the weekend, and I’ve been back and forth with these two kids who did the show. So the two kids do the show. This is an amazing cause. I learned this on Sunday, Saturday, Saturday, two kids do the show. They don’t tell anybody. They don’t tell their parents. The university got wind of it, and the university is the one that set up the interview with me. The University Communications like we have these two students doing this lovely thing in Baltimore. Do you want them on? And they did one television station in Buffalo, and their parents got wind of it. They didn’t even tell their parents. These are college guys, right? So, and this is where the story gets a little stiff for me, so I’m hoping I can tell it the right way. Three days later, I get this email from this dude in Buffalo. He said, You had my son on. My son’s had this health challenge, this thing. He’s had 33 surgeries. He’s had two kidney transplant like on and on. Just the kid I had on the show who clearly had some physical issues, you know, during the show, but all he talked about was wanting to be a journalist. He wants to be you. Wants to be me, right? Works at ESPN, part time in Buffalo and this and that, and radio and whatever. So his dad writes me this letter, makes me I’m sobbing in bed. I just haven’t talked to the kid since he was on the air. The kid doesn’t even know I had dinner with his dad last week in Buffalo. So his dad writes me this note, as a father, it freaked me out, right? So I wrote him back. I’m like, we’re gonna do something, you know, over the hill. I’ll see you. So we booked a trip into Toronto to go cover the Orioles, because they’re opening up there. And I’m thinking, hey, I live more for Luke and for I’m like, you. I’m like, I’ve been to every I’ve been everywhere, man. You know, Luke’s never been to Toronto, never been to Canada, never been a skydome. And I’m like, opening day, maybe the Orioles will give me a press credential. Who knows Mark Shapiro runs the Blue Jays. And I love Toronto, so I took Luke up. We went through Buffalo, and on Saturday, we had dinner with this fella, who’s the father of the two kids. And, like, we’re trying to put something together, because they’ve done something unbelievable, you know, like you talk about helping up and what all these other people do every organization, I mean, the Hope Lodge is two blocks away. American Cancer Society comes over and promotes that with me, there’s just so many causes out there. But when regular people do things, and you’re a regular guy now, he’s a civilian, you see nothing but citizens everywhere trying to lift places and lift people. And the buffalo thing was interesting to me only because I sort of slipped into it because Mark Andrews dropped the ball. Right, right. Mark Andrews doesn’t drop a ball the Leukemia, or, excuse me, the he didn’t do it for leukemia. He did it for a diabetes $150,000 and then there’s how many humans gave to that fund to get that 150 grand. It wasn’t a sugar dad. He was a whole bunch of $1,500 and $20 donations. Everybody participated in that. I want to find some way to celebrate that. You know, that’s awesome. Well, I mean,
Mark Viviano 14:07
look at your own evolution in terms of that, what your wife went through, and how you turn that into a mission like that matters when we see the reality of adversity and the world and and when it hits you personally, and you can turn that into, let’s do this. That’s, that’s the calling. And, you know, when you, if you live in Baltimore, just from where I parked my car to I walked over here, it’s like, yeah, we this is beautiful, but we still people who need, I see him sleeping on the sidewalk. Sure I understand that, that I that’s a reality. Let’s deal with the reality. Let’s help each other whatever it takes. And let’s get away from the politics of it and delve into the humanity of all of it. Because that’s, that’s essentially, that’s all we are people. We’re all the same. No. These better than anybody else. We’re all created, and some of us just have a better lot than others. That’s all. It’s really that simple. So I hear your I listen to your show, and with the power
Nestor Aparicio 15:11
your celebrity and the power what you built for 40 years here on Jay Z and stuff, you’re not using that every Tuesday to feed people, keep them alive. I mean, that’s that’s just different than hanging on the country club and hitting the golf ball at this point. You know? At this point. You know what I mean? Nothing wrong with that, and that’s what you’re doing. That’s
Mark Viviano 15:26
not what you want to do. No, it’s not. And I all I want to do is encourage, and if anything that I do inspires, well, then great, come help. Because, yeah, let’s do it. Let’s just answer the call of the need of those who are our brothers and sisters. They’re everywhere, and they’re we’re all the same. Shovel
Nestor Aparicio 15:45
man, let’s go. We’re all the same. Yeah, yeah. Mark Vivianna was here, by the way, to be determined, it’s what we’re having. This guy invites me. I had the best beef on whack I’ve ever had, best buffalo wings I’ve ever had. We’re watching Nestor Cortez give up torpedo bad home runs in a game on that Saturday, and you know, ravens play up there, sports for you and the exit for you. I almost did an April Fools thing yesterday just to say I’m done and list every reason that would be reasonable, why I would be done. Orioles threw me out. Ravens threw me out. They don’t need us. This isn’t fun. Terps coach left this week Right. Not only do I get thrown at the guy that drops the game winning pass doesn’t even show up at the media. Then the Justin Tucker scandal, or lack of scandal that isn’t even on your former website, or WBA else for the second and third scandal, and then we’ve got an NFL Draft. We got opening day. We have new ownership. The owner has the bobblehead coming out on April 19. They have an interesting team with bad pitching. You miss any of this this? Because you’d be talking about this five days a week. You know that? Yeah, I
Mark Viviano 16:49
don’t miss having to fully immerse myself and filling my mind with the details of the things you just described. I still have an interest in competition. And to me, essentially, that was my draw to sports competition and how human beings prepare themselves to be the best they can be to do this competition,
Nestor Aparicio 17:13
marathons, though, right? Yeah, what was your sport though? Your baseball player? Baseball
Mark Viviano 17:16
and basketball were my team sports, and I got into marathon running and but, you know, again, it’s everybody’s got a story about what got them. I don’t care if it’s a if it’s an NFL football player to a guy who runs a 5k everybody’s got a story as to what led them to that. And obviously, when we’re in the media, I’m more interested in how a guy who grows up in Lakeland, Florida and is a wrestler is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and what Ray Lewis’s mind was like, and you saw it?
Nestor Aparicio 17:59
Well, we were in front of it. You witnessed it. We saw Cal Ripken do what he did. You know, seeing the the seeing Lamar right now, seeing the best of the best. And what makes Brooks Robinson, Brooks Robinson,
Mark Viviano 18:10
right, phenomenal. And I love that part of it, and I and then then it plays out for all to see on the field, the great, you know, highlights and stuff. People have asked me, you know greatest moment, greatest interview, when Ray Lewis got inducted into the Hall of Fame, I’m up in in Canton, Ohio, and people are saying, all right, what was Ray Lewis’s greatest moment? You know what it was for me was practice in Westminster, and he’s playing, he is practicing back when they used to hit and practice like it’s a super well, he
Nestor Aparicio 18:42
left in a medevac one day. I was down at Nate’s, Leon’s doing a show that summer. And we didn’t have a tech service back then. So it was like radio b, a, l. Radio was two in the afternoon in 1997 98 Yep, he, you know, he got, was it somebody tackled him? Kenyan cotton, or he taking cotton was the one. So it’s stuff
Mark Viviano 19:02
like that, like you’re watching this going, Man, this is another level of human being. And sure enough, he sustained that for 16 years. And as a bronze bust, another Cal Ripken. So one of the things I’ll everybody’s Oh, 2131 all this, all this, I said, Yeah, that was cool. Everybody saw that. What I remember most about Cal was after it was the year of 2131 Phil Regan’s the manager. They had spring training at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota. New manager walks in. Nobody knows who he is. He was a pitching coach for the Indians at the time, I think. And he was coaching down in Venezuela. I like Phil lotto, and I went to Venezuela to do his rockets. That’s right, Tony. So here’s a here’s a day spring training, everything everybody’s done, everybody’s gone, no backfield. Cal Ripken, Phil Regan, I’m just walking around. I’m like, What’s going on over here? Ripken is taken. Regan. And through how we do the infield. This is how we do this. This is the cutoffs. This is the bump. It’s like, that’s a guy who is so locked into the detail. And everything he did every to this day, everything Cal does the Ripken way, it’s detail, right? Like he doesn’t mess around, like he is locked in. So it’s things like that are more interesting to me than, hey, you get to hang out with these guys. It’s like, No, I don’t hang out with them. I report on them. I love to ask stories. I love to learn about the process and their motivation. That was the thing that always drove me, that made it most interesting to me. And then the games, and then you sit back and you watch the games, and then the competition happens. And the one thing I love, and you know the saying, you go to a baseball game, you might see something you’ve never seen before, and that’s usually the case. And I love that part about it. Football, same thing. Well, they’re down by 25 there’s no way they’re winning. They’re gonna win this game. It’s like stuff like that is fun. Win or lose. I you know, I’m not in I’m not invested in the outcomes. Now, I do say this. People say, Are you a Ravens fan? Are you an Orioles fan? Well, for the job that I did, no, but for the city, I hope they do well, because when they do well, you’re happy, and when you’re happy, your friends are happy, and the city’s happy and business is better. So I’m all good. I had
Nestor Aparicio 21:20
Terrell Suggs say to me, y’all like to write headlines and we lose. Y’all like and we lose. I went to him, and I’m like, nothing ever good has happened in my life, beginning when the Colt started losing, right? You know, from losing, you know, losing begets losing, and that’s the Angelo story. For all those years, nothing good happens when the local teams here don’t win. No, I mean, they’re they’re only here. They’re only effective when they’re winning. They have a hard time being effective when they’re not winning, because there’s shame involved in not winning. And they don’t come out when they when they don’t win, they don’t that’s true, but that’s a that’s a truth over 40 years of doing this, Mark Viviano is here doing this. We are doing the Maryland crab cake tour. Is all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. We’re out on the road. We’re gonna be a Costas next week. We’re gonna be Cocos later on the month, we are in the epicenter of Baltimore. Nancy Devine stares at me. I purposely set up here and when, when this place opened last year, Nancy took me over your shit. You’re gonna do the show right here. And I want you when every time you see me, I want you to think of me doing this to you. So she’s, they’re actually honoring faith Lee’s as part of a 250th anniversary of America. NBC gonna be here filming and honoring them. Is a great American family, you know, because this family’s, you know, two generation or two centuries of having fish and seafood, since 1885 in this, in this, in this market. So those are the Baltimore stories. And you’re a St Louis guy that’s adopted Baltimore, that’s doing great things in Baltimore to Baltimore’s biggest needs. As you see it, haven’t been on the streets here for a year and delivering things. I mean, you find some grace that some people want to turn the blind eye to, maybe not want to drive into the city and participate in seeing that.
Mark Viviano 23:03
I think what you just what you just said, and I know this. I now I lived in the city for 25 years for family reasons, and I live in Severna Park now, there are a number of people who don’t want to come down to the city, whether it’s from Baltimore County, whether it’s from Anne Arundel County, I understand that. I think it’s vital that, as much as Baltimore does an outreach to the country, say, come see us. We got to get our own people to say it’s okay to come down here. It’s okay to come in here, so I’m down here
Nestor Aparicio 23:41
three days a week, and I lived in the heart of the city, and it’s sort of like, people ask me, is it safe down there? I’m like, I walk in and out of Lexington market freely as the second time I’ve been here in two three days, right? The reputation and stigma than anybody, and it’s born of the media. You know this, right? I mean, people believe a bad story quicker than they believe a good story, and that’s unfortunate about our city.
Mark Viviano 24:05
Well, what’s also now, there have been some true challenges regarding the statistics and the fear. There’s reality based, but as it gets better, that should equally be known and and reported that it’s getting better. This is a beautiful market. This is a beautiful day. There are things you can do. You know, I do notice I mentioned I lived in Federal Hill for 20 of the 25 years I lived in the city. When I go there in the evenings, there’s police everywhere. And it’s, that’s a good thing, because there’s a reason for it, but it’s also it’s like, why are all these optic Yeah, yeah, why are they, they here? And it’s because the there, there has been need, and let’s hope that need lessons and that things stabilize to where the fear factor is take. In a way. So I don’t want to say there’s not a reason for the fear factor, because it’s there. But if and as it gets better, that has to be made known. And when you ask me, What can Voldemort do, get the people from the county, if you can, to know it’s okay for there are some Well, that’s
Nestor Aparicio 25:18
what changes. The reputation is I came into the city, had a great meal, saw a show with the Hippodrome, did something at CFG bank, came and see the Orioles, and this is where my free the birds and whatever that happens on the other end, I did free the birds because I lived on the 23rd floor over the city, and I watched the deterioration of me drinking beer with Mike Messina in balls in 1992 and going to Hooters, which is now in bankruptcy, but doing all of those shows there in the 90s, seeing the city, seeing 3 million people come to the ballpark, seeing that, that energy is what birth the ravens, right, that early Oriel energy, 90 234, even in the strike Angelo is buying The team all star game. All that was how John Moog went and got the Ravens here. And you reported on that, by the way, if you missed the piece with him at Cocos last year, telling the true story of his scoop. And Kevin Butler, make sure you go check that out. But, but, I mean, we’re 30 years past that, but the sports part of it, for what the Orioles have been and the Ravens have been great, I mean, but that doesn’t really flood the city. Baseball was the lifeblood, and that’s why I wrote free the birds. Wife did free the birds, saying, get 80 opportunities down here to make another Monday. Monday was spectacular. You know what? I mean, I don’t know if you went or not. You’re still doing the opening day thing. I came down, bought a ticket, started a crab cake here. I went to seven bars around in and up the club level. I spent seven innings in the ballpark. I went out to the deck. I walked the whole stadium. That was 1992 and three and four and five. And you know that you were here, you know. And I don’t expect that energy every day, but they should, well, they should. The Orioles should not say that’s not possible. No, that I saw it happen. Don’t tell me it’s not possible. Now, you got to tell me the challenges between here and there, but that’s what I want for the team. And Luke compares them to your Cardinals all the time. You know what, what that franchise has been for St Louis. I’m hoping that these new people can create something here that gets people into the city, because it’s not about baseball or winning or rah, rah, rah or the billionaire, it’s his philanthropy in buying the team that builds these businesses, including right here, where we have people behind us right now at fade leads, but three hours from now, I want to see Orioles fans in here, because it’s lunchtime
Mark Viviano 27:37
right now. I think the hard thing for baseball is and I’m seeing this everywhere, including St Louis. You do have 81 home games. The games are now so pervasive in terms of availability on television, every game you can you can watch every Orioles game. They’re trying to keep them from you, you know I’m saying you, you can talk about the distribution.
Nestor Aparicio 28:00
My boy, Mike broach was up here. He lives in North Carolina. He’s like, they won’t give me the games. I’m like, they won’t want. He’s like, I can’t get there’s no streaming service. I’m like, what
Mark Viviano 28:08
think about this? You know this The NFL has gone through, and still may be going through a fight to get people in seats, because it’s so much easier to stay home and they play once a week. Think about baseball, 81 of these. 81 of these, other than if they’re giving away a bobble head or a Hawaiian shirt, and opening day, and they had 10,000 empty seats for a playoff game here last year. I
Nestor Aparicio 28:40
know. So I brought that up with Katie Griggs when she refused to, you know, meet with me too. It was, it was a day game. It was a day it was a Wednesday day game. So again, they use that as the crutch of, well, it was an afternoon game for the night game. People would have taken off of work. And I’m like, if people cared, they would have been there. It was $10 to get in. It wasn’t a price point, because I A lot of times it was price point oriented. And VIV when I first started getting I was their complaint department, right? I mean, that’s really where this thing got sideways with Angelo’s, is people called my radio show 25 years ago to air the grievances and complaints that they weren’t hearing on and off the field, you know, in a lot of different ways. And the notion of the city struggling, and me seeing less people at Hooters, less people at Phillips, places that are now gone, right? I mean, a generation later, that was my jam on the social responsibility that apparently Rubenstein, at least, is acknowledging it’s his job to get people back into the stadium. I don’t think Peter ever acknowledged that. And certainly from a fan standpoint and from a sports guy standpoint, you and I could look at their payroll and see that they really weren’t invested in winning. They were invested in getting the Games in and selling tickets, right? I mean, especially when the Red Sox and Yankees fans came down and started taking it over, I. Yeah, they need to undo a lot of that. And I when I met David, I’ve met David Rubenstein since the last time you and I spoke. I waited in line at the Beth Beth, the fellow he spoke night before Trump got elected in November. I waited in line when I met him, and I said, those empty seats in the upper deck, that’s trauma from the previous ownership. You can fix that. You can fix that because I believe there are 10,000 more people that would want to be in those seats if that game was played tomorrow. To some degree, at that particular moment, people didn’t want to invest in it. And I don’t know why that is, but they better figure it out. It’s their job to figure it out. I’m just taking the temperature out here. Viv, you know, as I see it, and
Mark Viviano 30:38
that’s fair, and that that’s the challenge. And again, I say it’s not specific to Baltimore, but it’s in a lot of ballparks. It’s, it’s in Cincinnati, it’s in St Louis, it’s, it’s, it’s in Milwaukee and in Cleveland, similar sized cities that people are just finding it easier to watch it at home. And I get it. Our lives are busier. Our lives are full of different obligations and commitments, and going to a ballpark can now, if bringing your kids is still a joy, because especially the first time it’s like, whoa, Major League Baseball, this is awesome. And I still have that. Your kids have that. Michael, yeah, so I still have that, but at a certain point, they’ll make their own decisions, right? And Major League Baseball, I know you’ve noticed, is gearing its product and its marketing, not to you and me, but to the kids the runner on second base, so the game doesn’t go till midnight. All of
Nestor Aparicio 31:38
our pitcher handout rules that we had, we were kids playing pinkies, right? You know,
Mark Viviano 31:41
like, you know, it’s a pitch clock. Move this thing along. Let’s go. Let’s get these games over with bigger bases, more steals.
Nestor Aparicio 31:49
Pitcher has to pitch the three batters. Yeah, anymore. They’re not doing that for
Mark Viviano 31:53
you and me. They’re doing it for the kids. They they want these kids to fall in love with baseball, which is smart, which is smart? Because what are these kids? What do they know? They don’t have them. They’re gonna have anything. I know this when I when I go to my kids elementary school, that I see more English premier soccer jerseys than I see NFL or major league baseball jerseys. Who’s marketing Well, who’s doing a good job there a sport an ocean away has these kids wearing their jersey.
Nestor Aparicio 32:24
Soccer ain’t never gonna catch on in Baltimore, in this in this country, ain’t no no way. Viv however
Mark Viviano 32:30
they have the World Cup here next year. However they’ve done it. Somebody study it. Because I’m just telling you, eyeballing as a parent, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 32:38
a beautiful game, soccer. I mean, around the world, soccer is embraced everywhere.
Mark Viviano 32:42
Kids love it verse. And I’m not saying they don’t like the Orioles and the Ravens, because they keep
Nestor Aparicio 32:48
running. They keep running and keep moving. That’s true. Like that had me picking daisies out in right field, you know, cold out here, and baseball practice in April. And you’re doing all that as a parent, though, right? So getting fun goes all
Mark Viviano 33:01
of it, throwing bad. I had rotator cuff surgery a year ago this week, just so you could throw BP, or because you threw, I was throwing BP for Fall baseball. Dr Amir Moin far, my guy took care of me. No, he was awesome. And I’m leaving. Put
Nestor Aparicio 33:16
you back together again. Put me back. Really. Throw a party right now. Reattach
Mark Viviano 33:19
me and I’m good, but yeah, I’m once you get over 60, stuff is just harder to do anyway, but it’s all good, no, because
Nestor Aparicio 33:27
I love you. Can I make it a mission? Because you’re gonna laugh like hell. Are you ready? I hurt myself, like, two days ago brushing my hair. I’m not kidding. It was, it was like a Fonzie moment. I was brushing my hair, and the brush snapped in half, and I like, I had a pec injury from brushing my injury, 56 things are, you know, things are breaking down on me. Viv, you know, I mean, you thought throwing baseballs or playing tennis or stuff I couldn’t brush my hair over the weekend.
Mark Viviano 33:52
I’m sorry to hear that. Welcome, welcome.
Nestor Aparicio 33:57
The notion of me throwing BP, like, if Barry has kids tomorrow, and I I just, I can’t throw a party right now. I’m not throwing BP. You don’t
Mark Viviano 34:08
need to. You need to do this. You need to do the thing, the things you really
Nestor Aparicio 34:12
love. I’ll come and watch your kids play ball. And that would be fun.
Mark Viviano 34:15
I don’t know how much fun that would be to watch. It’s It’s fun, sloppy game at that age, it is. It’s fun to teach. The reward is getting kids to learn, develop, get a little bit better. See that light go off on their head that well, what Coach Mark said, if I did this, it actually worked. Confidence, yeah, confidence, Joy. I had two kids in the fall who had never played baseball at any level by the end of the year, not only were they proficient, but they couldn’t wait to play again. And to me, that’s, that’s, that’s the goal, that’s what we’re working on. See,
Nestor Aparicio 34:50
you’re like every great parent I have met. My dad was a little league coach, so you know, I I feel all of that and in every different level at that point, and I love the bad news. Spares and all of that. I just love that baseball still be played by kids, because I don’t, yeah, I live in Towson, and I say this to my wife all the time. We’ll be out driving around, I’m not talking six weeks ago when it’s cold as balls, you know. We’re out six o’clock, going to dinner, going over to Cooper’s, going out to Dr Steve, whatever. And I see the lights on, and every one of those fields is lacrosse. Every one of those fields. So the fact that kids still are playing baseball when soccer and lacrosse are nine out of 10. Parents I know have, especially with girls in the mixed bag, soccer and lacrosse are ahead of baseball in the pecking order in a way that they weren’t Colgate 19 seven, right?
Mark Viviano 35:38
But there’s, there’s something happening South Baltimore Little League. Check them out. They are that’s out of Ford Avenue. Dot, Ford Avenue, okay, you know who’s who’s on the board running that is Matt blood from the Orioles, and he’s really helped develop a program that has kids loving the game and like they’re good.
Nestor Aparicio 35:58
I went down there on an opening day years ago, one of my employees, Casey, we’re playing, yeah, I did a parade as I prayed down there. In the beginning, I thought I did a lot of little league parades years ago, for baseball, they don’t have a little league parades for lacrosse today. No, they don’t base baseball, you know. But to
Mark Viviano 36:15
your point, I can speak to Anne Arundel County and the green Hornets in Severna Park. In particular, you go down to Severna Park, Anne Arundel County, lacrosse and soccer are huge. Baseball is a giant. Well, they had
Nestor Aparicio 36:29
a softball community down there. Where did you ever do the story on Jack that that taught all the kids how to throw Jack Crandall was his name back in the 80s and 90s. Why was the prep writer at the at the paper, and everyone told me softball Mike Farrell ball is my boss. Time before Sam Harris and all these guys got involved, they told me, Anne Arundel County, you’re gonna see, there’s a there’s a market down there. This is the late 80s. There was a guy in his backyard teaching girls how to bring heat and get and get college scholarships. Now, you know, so the Anne Arundel County girls softball thing. The girls were so much better than anyone else in the state. Yeah, like anyone else in the state would play them, they had pitchers and they could bring the heat. So Anne Arundel County had and Bernie Walter, yeah, on the boys side, right? Just an incredible baseball tradition in Anne Arundel County.
Mark Viviano 37:19
Yeah, and Eric Milton is coaching at sa Vern Park. Heist. Oh, yeah, he said, Yeah, TURP in major leaguer. So, so I’m coaching 910 year old head coach, 910 year olds with lacrosse going on and being as big as it is with soccer going on, 169 and 10 year olds on 13 teams, and that’s just green Hornets. I’m coaching. I gotta come
Nestor Aparicio 37:45
down there. Did you have snowballs? Oh yeah, if you have snow. I’m just asking because I’m thinking, literally getting snowballs mark. Viviano is here. He has made the long drive up to the city from Severna Park. So I’ll brought you by the merlotti. I’m gonna hang on to VIV we’re gonna talk some more about media and about sports and all that good stuff. Luke is going to be coming by a little later on. Also, I will have Ron Cassie from Baltimore magazine, who also loves sports. It’s baseball season we’re at faintly, he’s one of the reasons I’m here today is I was thinking like it would be cold and gray and awful. It’s not. It’s actually pretty decent, good. Day two, we’re weak into the season. We’re getting some good weather, and it’s about getting people back downtown and supporting not just the Orioles, but all the businesses around here. I saw all sorts of orange in here on opening day, and I want to invite everybody back down to Lexington market. Come in here and don’t tell damey, but everything in here smells good. Everything in here smells good when I come in here lunchtime, VIBs gonna hang out. We’re hanging out. We’re gonna
Mark Viviano 38:39
talk some. What do you talk about next? Tell me It’s your show. I’m just here. I don’t
Nestor Aparicio 38:44
know. We did charity baseball. Do you want to do football? I mean, did you watch the NFL season? I mean, are you watching sports at all? Yes, I watched
Mark Viviano 38:53
the Terps in the tournament,
Nestor Aparicio 38:56
but not three nights a week. No,
Mark Viviano 38:58
I love baseball, so I’ll flip on any game. Watch games. Watch the Orioles. So
Nestor Aparicio 39:04
8it’s okay. We can talk pitching. We can talk gunner Henderson, course. We can talk Justin Tucker, we can talk Lamar Jackson. We can do all that. Yeah, basketball coach leaving Maryland. See, he told me he was retired. I gotta, you know, I this is like The Godfather here, Viv, you know? I mean, I know you’re with the family out there and in the loo and all that saying, once you’re out, bringing you back in, I’m pulling you back in. That’s
Mark Viviano 39:25
right? I’m like everybody else with an opinion. Mine’s not special. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 39:29
I want your opinion. So does Baltimore, former w, Jay Z, sports director and fan your mid days, right? You were tended to, weren’t you tended to? Yeah. And former CNN and they had another name, CNN sports, Sports Illustrated, si CNN si Mark Viviano is making his home here at sverna Park, serving the community in all sorts of ways. Casey cares, helping up mission. Who else you helping up your Tuesdays? You’re doing your meals. Tell everybody that’s
Mark Viviano 39:58
at St Casimir chair. In Canton. That’s where we collect the lunches that we bring to helping up in beans and bread, and also fellowship with Christian athletes. May the 19th is the the big event go to the website Valley this year. FC, no, it’s Cockeysville. Cockeysville. FCA, Hunt Valley’s Cockeysville. Hunt Valley. Cockiest one was saying, I guess, not really. I think more of
Nestor Aparicio 40:22
me started on this. Every time I’m in Perry, all they tell me I’m in Nottingham, I know, or Fullerton, or I’m in Costas. And they, some people, tell me I’m in Sparrows Point, and I’m like, not that’s down the road, you know? So we it’s a neighborhood city. Well,
Mark Viviano 40:35
it’s also, don’t tell me I’m in Federal Hill. If I’m in South Baltimore, don’t tell me. BUTCHER So if I’m in Canton, don’t tell me I’m in Highland town. If I’m in East Baltimore, there’s no one ever
Nestor Aparicio 40:47
admits to being in Highland town. It’s Canton. It’s upper Canton. Viv is here. He’s doing good stuff. We’re going to talk some sports. All brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I’m gifting these away. We’re going to be doing the crab cake tour in lots of places later on in the month, but no place as fine as our friends here faith, we have the best sponsors in the world, and we have the best crab cakes in the world, and I’m going to get VIV a special faith leads crab cake right now. You.
