Q & A with Ricky Bottalico

Ricky Bottalico pitched parts of 12 seasons in the big leagues, including seven in two stints with the big league Phillies.

The former all-star closer ended his big league career in 2005 with the Milwaukee organization, his fourth different team in four years.

In between 1995, his first full year in the bigs, and 2005 he amassed a career saves mark of 116, a won-loss record of 33-42 and an ERA of 3.99.

For three seasons, ending in 1997, he was stellar for the Phillies, appearing in 192 games, saving 34 games in back-to-back seasons and compiling a 3.06 ERA.

Pitching at Veterans Stadium in the 1996 All-Star Game, he threw a scoreless inning and recorded one strikeout.

Bottalico and Garrett Stephenson were traded to St. Louis following an injury-laden 1998 season in return for Ron Gant, Jeff Brantley and Cliff Politte.

The right-hander appeared in 196 games for the Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Phillies the next three seasons, ran into injury problems the next two, and rebounded nicely in 2004 with the Mets.

With the Reading Phillies in 1993-94, he appeared in 87 games and saved a franchise-best 42 games along with compiling a 5-5 record and a 2.44 ERA. In 1993 Bottalico received the Paul Owens Award as the best pitcher in the organization, and by 1994 Baseball America dubbed him the second-best prospect among Phillies minor leaguers.

Possessed with a live arm, Bottalico got hitters out with a mid-90s fastball and a hard slider, though for a time he changed to a more off-speed curveball to enhance his fastball. Mostly, though, he excelled through grit and determination. He attacked hitters aggressively, was a ferocious competitor who always took the ball, and nobody had more heart. Or more fun playing the game.

Today he finds himself in the broadcast booth, the color commentator for the new Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Triple-A International League. We caught up with Bottalico before a recent game at Coca-Cola Park.

TZ: As I recall, you signed a pro contract under rather unusual circumstances. Talk about that.

RB: I was catching at Central Connecticut State and pitching an inning here and there. At the end of my junior year, I decided in summer league when I wasn't catching I was going to pitch. I pitched in the Greater Hartford Summer League, which was, quote, unquote, a beer league. I pitched in about 10 games, threw the ball real well, and signed in the back of a car. It was one of those things that came out of nowhere.

TZ: When did you realize you could play this game for a living and be successful at it?

RB: The first day I got to (rookie league) Martinsville, Va. I got down there and the first thing I saw were all these No. 1, No. 2 picks, and most of them were pitchers; and I looked around and said, 'There's no way that I didn't get drafted.' I was shocked after I saw some of these people pitch, that I didn't get drafted. After I threw my first start down there, I think I became a No. 2 prospect (in the organization).

TZ: You wound up playing 12 mostly productive years in the big leagues. Is it accurate to say you were an over-achiever, given your humble beginnings?

RB: I guess you could say so. But it's hard to say you're an over-achiever when you get to the big leagues, because everybody who's there deserves to be there. No. 1, you need to have a little bit of luck, regardless of who you are. You also have to have some talent. But you also have to have some desire, and I think desire is the biggest thing. Once you push that desire to a high level, you're going to do some damage as you move up the ladder.

TZ: You played in Reading in parts of 1993 and 1994. What do you remember about those seasons?

RB: Great teammates. We had a lot of fun there. It was strange, because everybody pulled for one another, and in the minor leagues, you would think it would be almost opposite of that. Off the field, a lot of guys lived together and ate together every night. It almost becomes like a family when you're in the minor leagues. In Reading what I remember most is going to Mike's Sandwich Shop every day and making my own cheese steaks. I also feel like the fans in Reading are outstanding, and even now, when you go back, it brings back memories of when you played, because not a lot has changed there, even though they've made improvements to the ballpark. But I'll never forget Reading because those were my breakthrough seasons.

TZ: Your first full season in the big leagues came in 1995. What was that like for you?

RB: That was a little bit of a whirlwind. At first it was a disappointment because the players were on strike before the season started. But I just wanted to get my career started. I didn't know what was going on with collective bargaining agreements and what not. Once we did get started it was a lot of appearances (62). I started in middle relief and in about a month I was setting up. And I tied for the league lead in holds that year. It was one of those seasons that was kind of a blur to me. I remember looking back when it was over and thinking it was a pretty good year.

TZ: The next year, 1996, was your first season as a closer. Talk about the pressure of assuming that role as a young player.

RB: I didn't think there was a lot of pressure on me, to be honest with you. Closing was the easiest job I ever did in the bullpen. They give you the job, go get 'em, game's over. In the other jobs, you don't know how many innings you're going, if you're going to face one hitter, two hitters. There's a lot of waiting in those other roles. When you're a closer it was usually one or two outs in the eighth, and then you also pitched in the ninth, but for me 66 percent of the time it was just the ninth inning. So for me it was, relax in the beginning of the game and get yourself motivated about the sixth inning. I looked at it as going out there and letting my adrenaline take over. I think that was always a big thing for me.

TZ: I've always admired the mental toughness that most closers possess - the ability to rebound from blown saves or outright losses and put them behind you the next time they hand you the ball.

RB: The good thing about when Jim Fregosi was my manager was when I had a bad game, I was out there the next day, automatically. No matter what, he put me back out there. It was always good to know that I was going out there the next day if I failed.

TZ: Of course, 1996 was also your all-star year. You pitched a scoreless inning that year in the game. That had to be a thrill for you.

RB: Those three days (in Philadelphia) were a lot of work. I had a lot of people coming in. You had to make sure they had hotel rooms, tickets. I think if the game was away it would have made it easier on me. The funny thing is, I actually thought I was going to make the team the year before, but at that point they weren't taking setup guys so much. But my ERA was under a one before the all-star break. We also had five other guys go to the game, so it was a flip of a coin as to who was going to go at the point.

TZ: Let's skip ahead to 1998. You had elbow surgery that cost you two months of the season, but you also made headlines for hitting Barry Bonds with a pitch, leading to a bench-clearing brawl.

RB: I wasn't 100 percent healthy till September. I didn't throw a pitch over 90 miles-per-hour till Sept. 2. About the Bonds incident, I remember I shouldn't have been throwing the ball in that game because I had the day off. That was right after I came back from elbow surgery. What I also remember is that Jerry Spradlin said he didn't want to do it. He started warming up in the bullpen and the call from the dugout said you got to go in and hit Bonds and he refused. That's the only reason I actually went in the game. When I hit Bonds I remember the whole place went black. It was about 100 degrees at the Vet, and we both wound up on the ground and then everything just went black. I also ended up giving up an earned run, so it didn't help in any way for me that game.

TZ: The next two years you played for the Cardinals and Royals. What were those years like for you?

RB: I had a hard time going to areas to pitch where those areas weren't just . . . vulgar. Do you understand what I'm saying? Philly. New York. Boston. It was actually real quiet for me in St. Louis, which was strange. I guess the biggest thing I remember about that year with the Cardinals was coming back to Philadelphia, and we have J.D. Drew on the team. We make a double switch, and guess who gets to go on the mound with the batteries flying. I remember watching (Mark) McGwire's batting practice every day. It was phenomenal. It was the highlight of your day, seeing what he could break in all the stadiums. But I never really got my feet wet there. When I got traded over there I was assuming I was going there as the closer. I wound up in the setup role and I was disappointed with the whole move. When I look at it now I guess I should have asked for a trade when I got there. I think that move threw me off in my career more than anything else. I think that ran me into
getting my shoulder injured. What happened was, you do so much warming up as the setup guy, and you're not used to it as a closer, and that year was the first time I started getting a lot of soreness in my shoulder. In Kansas City it got worse and worse. I came back to Philadelphia as the setup guy in 2001, and I had a real good first half. And then we got (Turk) Wendell and Dennis Cook, and Rheal Cormier and I ended up sitting for a week. They didn't do the job and one of them got hurt and all of a sudden we got to pitch the bulk again, which was kinda strange. After that season my shoulder started getting worse, and in 2002 I was just a shell of what I was.

TZ: In 2004 you bounced back with the Mets. That had to be a gratifying season for you after all you went through the previous two seasons.

RB: It was, but I got cut out of spring training, which was the worst part. They told me I was on the team, and the next day they made a different move and I wasn't on the team anymore. So I went home a week and (GM) Jim Doucette called and asked me if I wanted to go down to (Triple-A) Norfolk for two weeks and then I'd be back in the big leagues. So I took it and ran. I loved New York. What's funny is that you pitch better in the places you like to pitch. When I went to Milwaukee (in 2005) I felt like it was the end of the road. Now it's not. It's different there now. I started that season very good, too, but then I had a couple of bad games and got released. That was pretty much it. I took two weeks off and then I went to Pawtucket (Red Sox) and pitched for a month there. I told them I wanted to be called up by Sept. 1, because I wanted a chance to make the playoff roster, but it didn't happen.

TZ: Now you're in the broadcast booth. How did that come about?

RB: Last year I did some Comcast pre- and post-game work for the Phillies. I liked doing the broadcast aspect of it. I wasn't sure if I liked the in-studio part as much. I think you have more freedom being in the booth and being able to talk about what's going on in the game. This year in the offseason (team president) Chuck Domino called me and said they were interested in having me come down as the color commentator and I took it.

TZ: How would you describe your style?

RB: A little bit off-the-wall at times. Straight to the point; kinda the way I played. I really don't beat around the bush. I feel like players should know when they pitched bad, or when they're slumping as hitters. I'll say it more in context now, rather than pointing at somebody. You try to put a positive spin on anything negative that happens. I've learned this, but I was never offended by anybody saying anything about me as a player. That's why I probably enjoyed playing in Philadelphia and New York, because I was very truthful about myself. If I sucked I'd let you know it. You remember, I was pretty honest with everybody. No doubt I was the exception.

TZ: The IronPigs staggered out of the gate. They lost their first 11 games and at one point were 5-30. As a new broadcaster, that had to be a real test for you.

RB: (Gasp). It was bad. There were games when (broadcast partner) Mike Zambelli and I would look at it each other and say, 'What do we talk about?' We would do show openings and we didn't have anything positive to say; you just make stuff up. (Laughs) There was nothing else you could do. That was not what was expected. A month later the whole team was different and they were playing great baseball.

TZ: Are you hoping to take this new career back to the big leagues?

RB: Absolutely. I want to do this all around the country. I want to do basically what (former pitcher) Larry Andersen did. I guess you could say I want to follow in his footsteps. 

This story was posted on July 24, 2008