Episode 222 - Me and Manatee

New to Florida is Alex Berntsen and Jim Timmins. Alex is the GM of the new Palm Coast Big Buoys and Jim is the team's head coach. They're playing summer collegiate baseball in the Orange State League. Jim shares his background coaching little league and travel ball and bringing summer baseball to the Palm Coast. Alex tells us what promotions fans can expect at the ballpark and they both share their Proffitt & Loss. 

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Transcript

0:17

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Earn Fun Average podcast. I'm your host, Eric Prophet, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas, and with me as always I have... johnny Bolin from the Bayou Broadcast Center in beautiful Calhoun City, Mississippi. Well, Johnny, we have a pair of guests with us today. We have Alex Bernson and Jim Timmons with us. How are both of you? We're doing wonderful. How about yourself? Good, good. How are you? I'm glad we, uh, have you on tonight. So, uh, you guys work in summer collegiate ball. Alex, would you mind sharing with everybody who the team is and what you guys do with the team? Uh, yes. So this is our first year starting here in Florida, and we are part of the Palm Coast Big Buoys. And I am the general manager. I'm the head coach. I love it. Well, appreciate both of you joining us here. So, uh, kind of one of the first segments we do is talk about a favorite hat. So I don't know if the Big Buoys have, uh, team hats yet or if you guys have, like, a favorite Major League team. Alex, do you have a favorite hat you wouldn't mind sharing with everybody? I mean, we both grew up in New Jersey, so I would say Yankees, 'cause- Yeah that's what we always grew up watching. Um, we have not yet received our hats. Um, everything's kinda coming in day by day right before our season starts I love it. And so would that be the same for you, Jim, a Yankees hat? Or do you have any others that you prefer? I, I like the Expos. Okay. Montreal Expos. Oh, good. those old-school uniforms and those old hats, so I would say that one too. I love it. Yep, that's a great one there. Uh, Mr. Bolin, what hat do you have today please, sir? I, I wanna make one quick observ- observation here tonight. What a strong w- relationship these two have, Eric Prophet. I mean, the general manager and the coach That's right. I mean, he can't come home and complain about his boss. He can't, he can't come home- He can, but it won't end well. He c- he can't come home and complain about, "You know, you should've sent that guy in the fifth inning from third." This could end up be- this could end up being a setup by the time the season's over. I... This has potential for a great sitcom. Yeah. Yeah. It, it does. It really... You know, that's, that's a strong relationship right there. Uh, not only working together, but in the dynamics of general manager and, and head coach. That, that's, that's gonna be, that's gonna be fun this summer, for you guys. tonight I'm wearing... Uh, this came in, uh, k- I guess a couple weeks ago. Uh, there's a store that I follow, uh, on Facebook called Louisiana Hot Stuff, and no, that was not my nickname when we lived there, Eric, okay? At all. And so they had a sale. This was dangerous. They took pictures of some of their inventory of hats and said, "Hey, today only, $15." And so I grabbed this one. This is from those Ragin' Cajuns from the University of Louisiana- Nice I should say Lafayette, but they go by Louisiana. I was watching them just a few days ago, uh, in the Sun Belt Tournament, pulling for them, to win the Sun Belt, and then of course they got crushed in the championship game by Southern Miss. But they did make the tournament. In fact, they'll be an hour away in beautiful Starkville this weekend at the time of this recording. So a little 47 dad hat Ragin' Cajuns tonight. Nice. And you're talking about the regional that you're pretty close to, uh, close by to. I'm sure it's probably a very hard and expensive ticket to get. so being from, uh, Wichita, about two hours south of Lawrence, they are host, KU's hosting their first ever regional this year as a 15 seed. typically their ballpark only seats about 2,500. Uh, they've expanded and done some outfield, standing and seating areas, so they expanded to about 4,000. But even then, they have Arkansas coming in from the SEC. Oh. So, you know, they're used to a big ballpark and- Oh uh, so it's gonna be pretty rowdy, but this is the first time, last year and this year is the first time that they've really made any noise in baseball. So I can only imagine how difficult of a ticket that is to get one in the Lawrence Regional, let alone the Starkville Regional. Yeah, I, I, I told Melinda, of course I didn't research it 'cause we're not gonna be here this week, uh, this weekend, but I thought, you know, I, if I can't get a ticket for Louisiana and Cincinnati, you might for that game, right? You might could... I don't know what it would cost, but I don't know how well Cincinnati would travel. I might be surprised, right? In, in Louisiana, you know, how well they would travel. that would be a pretty healthy drive from Lafayette, but still, you know, it's just one state over. I, you know, I might, there might be a lot Bearcats and Cajuns there. I, I don't know, but at least you would have some glimmer of possible some hope. to, uh, to see them. I, I saw Cincinnati. Well, of course, they were in the same league with UAB for 100 years, you know, the great- uh, they were in the Great Midwest early '90s, and then of course Conference USA. So I saw them when I was in college, and yes, they still... we, we did use batting helmets back then. I know that was so, so long ago that they, Uh, but yeah, they, uh, they came to Birmingham, you know, several times because you had league affiliation for so long. And so, I can't be here. I can't go, so I kinda didn't, and didn't research it. But in my mind, I think that would be a possibility, at least that game. Rest of it, forget about it. For sure. Well, so my hat, so just over a week ago, I was down in Tampa and met up with some friends, and we went to some games in the area. And we went to the Tampa Tarpons, and they gave away, uh, it was kind of for the military appreciation game, and so it's kind of hard to see, but it's an all black hat. It has kind of the T for the- Okay Tarpons logo on a US flag. It's a snapback hat, but it was a giveaway they did. so we got to see the Tarpons at Steinbrenner Field. Uh, went to see the Bradenton Marauders, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Clearwater Threshers, and then the USF Bulls. So spent last weekend, week and a half ago, uh, in Tampa to see a little baseball, and that was kind of my first trip. But yep, got the Tarpons hat today. Very nice nice. So Jim, I wanted to ask a little bit, so obviously you're the coach now of the Big Buoy, so kind of what's a little bit about your background? Have you been coaching, or kind of how'd you get into this? Um, I started with Little League, and then, um, I did some coaching with travel ball and stuff like that. And, uh, basically we just kind of branched off this season, and I opened up my own, uh, travel team, the Palm Coast Reds. Okay. And that's, and that stands for red fish. There you go. And, and, uh, I was like, hey, the, a college league is something we needed around here. I've had Where, where I grew up, there was always a college league, and for some reason it was just never here. And I'm, we moved here two years ago, and within these two years I, I brought an indoor facility to this area, and now I'm bringing a college league to this area. So everything that we're doing here is, is, geared towards the community and, and creating a baseball community, because there's a lot of young athletes here, but the, in the, in the past they, they kind of traveled to different areas, and the goal was to kind of bring them back to this area. Okay. And, and, you know, show the, show the county and show the area that, you know, Palm Coast has some real players. I love it. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. And then Alex, for yourself, obviously you had mentioned kind of before we got going that you have four kids, and so obviously you've been big within the baseball. So, uh, what kind of led you into being the GM then of the team? Uh, Jim actually, 'cause he found out the information on becoming the coach and signed on to be the coach, and when he did that, they were like, "Hey, do you know anyone that would be interested in being the GM?" And he was like, "Well, my wife, she's runned all my businesses for the past 10 years or so, and she's pretty good with these types of things. What do you guys think about bringing her on?" And they were like, "Yeah, we, we love the idea of, you know, it being the two of you together." And so I mean, unlike Jim, I didn't grow up in baseball. it was more of a football family. But pa- the past two years having both of our sons be involved in Little League and travel ball, and being able to watch him coach, has brought my love of the game, and I'm still slowly learning and understanding the game. Sometimes I ask some questions that make him roll his eyes. Well, I appreciate you sharing a little bit about that. So I was just curious, so is it the league the Big Buoys are gonna be in, is it the Orange, is it the Orange State League? Yes. Okay. We are the Orange State League, and then, we are an extension of the- Carolina Carolina League. Oh, okay. Yeah. Awesome. Yes. so obviously being, new in here with the league and everything, Jim, just tell us a little bit so far what you've learned and what you're kind of excited for being in this new league. a lot of the kids that we have are coming from this area, and their parents are just, they're ecstatic that they get to actually come and they can watch their kids play baseball again, 'cause everyone goes to college, and then they come back home and, and, you know, they don't, the parents don't really get to see them and, and watch a baseball game and watch their kid play anymore. So, I guess that feeling w- is, is pretty awesome to, to be able to give to the community and the parents. but then, you know, there's a, there's a lot of kids instead of going to Daytona to j- to a Tortugas game, they'd rather just go to down the road to Indian Trails and, and watch a semi It, it's a semi-pro atmosphere. It's a minor league atmosphere, some of these kids are, are looking to get drafted. So this isn't, uh, a league just to have fun really. This is You know, there's gonna be scouts at these games. These kids are gonna have opportunities, it's their job and, and my job to make sure that they take advantage of it For sure. Well, obviously you'd mentioned that you've, coached some travel ball, but so far, is there anything specific that you've learned that, you know, it's gonna have to take adjustment to being able to coach these college kids? Maybe something you, obviously now in the day and age of, like, NIL and everything, so I'm sure there's probably lots that you're learning now doing the college kids. Yeah, there's tons. I don't have to remind them to pay attention to the game and stop pick- picking, uh, daisies out of the grass, that's for sure. Yeah, for sure. So that's, that's a, that's a relief on the brain for a little, for a little bit. You know, the base running stuff, you know, the kids that I work with are 11, 10, 12. Okay. Those, that age category, the kids are just, they're just starting to figure out baseball and learning all these rules and, and it's gonna be a, a relief, you know, for me to be able to watch kids I'll be able to tell if they're, they're well-coached, if they were well-coached or not from the colleges that they go to. For sure. And, uh, it's definitely gonna be a, it's a stepping stone to the, in the right direction. I just think that it's a, a necessary thing for, for the neighborhood. Well, Alex, I did wanna ask, so for any fans or any, you know, family that are gonna get to come out to, uh, see the team play, do you guys have anything that you're gonna do this year, any little promotions or firework nights, anything like that? What can fans expect if they come out to the games? We are gonna be having theme nights throughout our season. Um, our first home game is June 17th, so that is gonna be Faith and Family Night. So I'm trying to work with local churches and schools to get them involved. there's gonna be Military Appreciation Night. We have a Local Heroes Night, which I'm already started to meet quite a few different businesses in the community that do things. There's a place, it's Vincent's Clubhouse, that works with the, with children and adults with autism and other learning disabilities, and, the woman who started that and her son I've gotten to know quite a bit over the past couple months, and my kids absolutely adore Vincent. you know, and then we're gonna be having, there's First Responders Night, so everything's to just try to get the community involved as much as possible. We're gonna have Little League Night. There is Kids Run the Bases. And so my biggest thing is just getting the community involved and getting the community excited. Um, there's going to be, like, on-field games in the middle of innings for the kids and, you know, we're having that if there's a foul ball, they get to keep the ball. And so I think that that will help bring the excitement and just make it more entertaining for them and, you know, bring everybody together. Yes, that's wonderful. Um, and then where, where's the team playing this year? What ballpark? We will be at Indian Trail Sports Complex. Okay. Very cool. So that's where the Little League is, and that's the main area where majority of our baseball fields are here. Okay. So if anybody's obviously in the area, they'd be pretty familiar with where the team's gonna be playing, then? Yes. Okay. Love it. My first question, and you guys said you've only been in Florida for two years, when I saw the logo- Was it inspired by those dearly departed Brevard County Manatees, a departed beloved minor league logo? Did that influence this logo at all? No. The, the, the logo was kind of picked, we, we had nothing to do with any of the design or anything like that. But if you You know, I like to think it could be something like that. Yeah, 'cause that was my first thought. Okay, cool, because I've never, you know, I've never encountered, you know, four years of doing this podcast and Twitter, X, whatever, that was one of those logos that was just universally loved, and of course they have been, been gone for a while now, uh, of people, you know, going on eBay and trying to find merch for the Manatees. And, and so I thought, "Well, that's clever for this new team to maybe indirectly tie in to, you know, to the Manatees name and into that, into that branding." Yeah. Uh, second question: what would, uh, what's the origin of the nickname? Who, who came up with that? That's, that's all the league. That's all the league. Yeah, the team name and all that was determined by them is this league connected to the Volunteer State League and- Yes the Cowboy Collegiate? connected? Yeah, they're all, and, um, so they're all, yes, they're all connected. you know, I've noticed a lot of the artwork's the same for branding logos. The league logos you can tell was probably the same creative team or person, you know, did those logos- Mm-hmm the similarities, between the three. Uh, who do you guys anticipate being the biggest rivals that will bring people out and get them excited to come to a ballgame? Who's gonna be the biggest rival team or who- Yeah what's gonna be the biggest hurdle? No, the biggest rival team for us. Biggest rival. The biggest. Out of- I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say, uh, St. Augustine probably will be, 'cause that's our closest, that's the closest one to us, and, you know, we, compete with those travel teams a lot, and I could see that being, being our biggest rival this year. Big Buoys and Sardines, I'm, I'm up for it. Let's go. Yeah. Let's go. Let's see what we got. I'm curious myself. want, wanted to ask, uh, this question of you guys, I guess particularly Alex, as general manager. This is my, one of my go-to questions, Alex. I say this repeatedly, I believe in recycling. Okay. Love the answers we have gotten over I don't know how many years I've asked this question, out of the four plus. If money was no and they said, "Alex, here is a blank check," what is your dream one-night promotion for the Big Buoys? Ooh, that's a tough one, cause it, I mean, we already s- to me, have so many great theme nights. Oh my God, what are you talking about? We can invite the Major League, every Major League player to the field, honey. Oh, that would be true. That's true. There's no money and there's no amount, so I would say that definitely we would fill the fields with Major League players, and, have them be able to watch them hit a home run derby. Oh, that would be amazing. That would be awesome. A dream bobblehead, along those lines. That, that's a new question. I, I, I, Mm-hmm collector, Mr. Proffitt is, of some of bobbleheads. I love bobbleheads. What would be the dream, year one dream bobblehead giveaway as a promotion? I would say a manatee bobblehead. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I think that would be cool. I was gonna pick my favorite baseball player. I don't know if that's gonna make sense here though. I was gonna say you, 'cause I think all, all of your, uh, players would enjoy that. Oh, yeah, the coaches bobblehead. That'll be great. The coaches bobblehead. But if I had to pick a player, I would have David Cone bobble, bobblehead night. You know, i- in this era of NIL, I guess that's permissible, right? If you had a, a- an active player, current player. Absolutely. so that's a What a gr- You know, toward the end, I guess maybe middle the, of the season, a particular player that's currently playing on the team, that would be something new. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. That would be a good thing too. Yeah. That's a, that's a absolutely great idea. yeah, we've got some great answers with that question. Some things just totally unexpected, with that question. But like I said, that's kind of my go-to general manager, team question that, that, that I, that I like to ask Well, Jim, so you had mentioned, so favorite player, David Cone. Uh, Alex, did you have a favorite Yankee or, or any favorite player you enjoyed? I would ha- always have to say Babe Ruth, and that's just because No, it's, it's our oldest son's favorite player. He- You never saw him play, though I know, but he's- That's the- Our oldest son, Colton, has always, that's his number one favorite- No, he loves Shohei Ohtani He loves Sh- Well, now. Mm. But I would, when he first started to get into baseball- I wanted to hear, like, Bernie Baseball. Bernie Baseball Bernie Williams or something. Well, my nickname from Jim is Bernie, so. So Bernie Williams. He calls me Bernie Baseball now. There we go. I love it. one of the segments we do, it's called the profit and the loss, and the profit's some- uh, it's something you've gained or earned. So Alex, that could be, your time kinda learning now, the GM role and everything with the Big Buys or, uh, maybe any favorite moment. Obviously you said you're a football family as well. Uh, any profit or gain, Alex? I would say the profit is to continue to be able to work with Jim and to be able to have my kids involved in this, and to be giving the younger kids in our area the hope of being able to play when they get to high school. 'Cause we've already had kids that he's coaches, and they're like, "Well, you know, we're 12, but when we get to that age, are you still gonna be the coach?" And he's like, "Well, obviously, I hope so." But, you know, I think that it's giving them something to look forward to as they get older, and it's not like, oh, I go to college, and if I play in college, if I go far away, my parents aren't gonna be able to watch me. You know, I can come home and play, and my parents can, can see me and can still see competitive baseball. For sure, yeah. Love that answer. How about you, Jim? Any specific profit or gain, whether that's any specific moment with the Yankees or, getting to coach and bringing in the, uh, everything that you've done in Florida the last couple years, any profit or gain you can think of? I mean, I, I feel like this is a, uh, as far as a profit, it's, it's a, a learning, for me, it's more of a learning curve to get used to, you know, the environment of not having to be in control of every aspect of the game. Mm-hmm. being able, b- having that relief, can make you really a better coach. So I think that's what I'm, what I'm gonna gain. That would be the profit. the loss would be, uh- Let me think. I mean, all, the only thing it would be is, is, you know, this is a, a big commitment. Yeah. So it's, it's not just like, hey, you're going to play a game once a, once a week in the field. three, four nights a week we're driving, in some places an hour, some places 45, some places an hour and a half, two hours. For sure. So it's just like being in the minor leagues, driving a school bus full of kids. And, it's a, it's, it's gonna be a learning lesson for me, but I can see stuff like that being fun. For sure, definitely. Alex, what about you? Any, uh, specific loss you can think of? I think I would have to agree on just, you know, the travel, but, you know, we're fortunate enough that with our away games, I can still have all four of our kids with us. I don't have to have my GM hat on that night. For sure. So I can sit and enjoy watching our players play and watching Jim being able to coach and kind of be where I think he, he belongs and so I am excited for and... But yeah, the tra- I think the travel might be difficult, but especially when we have our first month is- Mm-hmm all pretty much away games. Oh, wow. So we're playing up to five nights a week. So it, it, it could be taxing, but I think that the outcome of it will be worth it. Definitely, for sure. Well, uh, Alex, Jim, I really appreciate both of you joining us today, getting to talk a little bit about you guys and talk about the Big Buoys. So Alex, if anybody wanted to go online to, uh, check out what you have going on the website, do you have that website, the web address that you can share with everybody? Yes. It's palmcoastbigbuoys.com. Perfect. And are you guys on social media at all? Uh, yes. We have Facebook, and I believe they did an Instagram also, and again, uh, it's, just the Palm Coast Big Buoys. I love it. Well, make sure everybody goes out there and follow the Big Buoys on, uh, social media. Check out the website, and if you get a chance to get down there, uh, check out a game, and then make sure you guys follow us as well. We're Earn Fun Average. Average is A-V-G. We're on Instagram, Twitter, BlueSky, and Threads. And one more time, thank you both. Really do appreciate your time today. Thank you both for having us tonight. Thank you for having us. America, lower your standards. Average is what these guys do best. Yes. Eric, is that the first couple that's done the sig- I- are we... Has history been made tonight? Well, my wife- Oh, we're making history my wife and I have done this, but yes. Okay. We're breaking barriers.