0:00

The Dodgers certainly got a great pitching performance from a local kid that is making

0:06

his dream come true, pitching for the team he grew up rooting for,

0:10

and he made certainly his dreams come true by the hard work he put in

0:15

in high school under the tutelage of our next guest at Hart High School,

0:20

the head coach for nearly a quarter of a century, the one and only

0:25

Jim Mozella, joins us on Dodger Talk. Coach. Thanks a lot for

0:29

the time, appreciate it. Thanks David. I appreciate you calling. Oh

0:34

yeah, I had to. You know, when I was watching Tyler do

0:37

what he did yesterday, it was going through my mind wondering what you were

0:41

thinking watching him in a Dodger uniform at Dodger Stadium pitch eight scoreless innings.

0:49

It's thrilling to see him pitch and be so successful. He's really worked hard.

0:55

It's really, you know, in my honor, just to watch and

1:00

see how he's developed. It feels like he's taking still another step in his

1:06

development. Last year career high and starts and innings. It feels like the

1:10

injuries are behind him to allow him to do what he did yesterday. I

1:15

think the upside is really starting to come on. You know, he got

1:21

White, got over to Tommy John has been you know, they often say

1:25

with the Tommy John two years after the surgery, you're usually the best.

1:30

And I think he's really kind of coming into his own right now. Coach,

1:34

How similar is he to what he does at the major league level compared

1:38

to when you had him at Harvard High School? Oh Man, David,

1:44

he he was a work in progress. He was a hard working kid who

1:49

was trying to grow into his body. You know, he's now six'

1:55

eight. You know, back in high school, back in his high school

1:57

days and they started out a five nine and you know, kind of by

2:00

the time he graduated, he was about six' four. So you know,

2:05

there's a lot of growing, it's a lot of development. He'd have

2:08

some great days and he'd have some some not so great days. What's your

2:14

relationship like with him now? We talked quite a bit. You know,

2:19

I don't try to get in their way a little bit. I don't try

2:21

to get in the way. I text him every once in a while. I texted him yesterday after his performance, and you know, the comment was,

2:29

I'm glad you read the page on your last doubting but he turned it

2:31

and you moved on, which is good. And I think he's become comfortable

2:38

at developing his mental game, and I really think, you know, he's

2:43

really kind of ahead of the game. Coach Ozella is our guest. He's

2:47

the head coach still at Hart High School nearly a quarter of a century,

2:53

just producing great players that play in the major leagues. And Coach Jim Ozella,

2:59

I'm just curious. Eler is just one of many that have graduated Hard

3:02

High School, played baseball at Hard High School under your leadership, and made

3:07

it to the major leagues. What's in the water out there? A lot

3:13

of a lot of tradition, a lot of kids who want to work hard,

3:19

a lot of players who are dedicated and their families are dedicated. We

3:23

just try to, you know, the gates open and they come through it

3:27

their freshman year and we try to do the best we can to develop their

3:31

skills. And you know, we've been blessed. Let's not kid ourselves.

3:36

You know, some schools are are blessed to have one player. You know,

3:38

since I've been around, we've been blessed with eight. So you know,

3:44

that's that speaks highly for our guys. Can you tell when a guy

3:47

has the work ethic to at least give himself a chance to be in professional

3:53

baseball and even make it to the major leagues, can you see it at

3:57

that age? Well, one thing you bet you better be is you better

4:00

be very talented. And all of our guys have been very talented. They've

4:08

also been guys who've been dedicated to the process. They've also, you know,

4:14

have loving families. I mean, all eight of our guys have had

4:16

great they're great families that you know, have have led them, you know,

4:20

to their success point. And I think you know when you talk about,

4:25

you know whether or not they can you know, have the talent at

4:28

that age, Well, boy, it's still a long way away. But

4:32

you know, in Tyler's case, probably of all the eight that I've had

4:35

that made it to the bigs, uh, he probably has the most freakyshability

4:41

of all of them. When he was at her high school, how tall

4:45

was he? Uh? He ended up he left us at about six four.

4:50

That's still a pretty big high school pitcher there, coach, no doubt,

4:55

no doubt, big feet real you know, I think he's size fifteen

4:58

or sixteen shoe, real big hands, and you know he started to really

5:02

come into his own as junior. Senior year, he really kind of turned

5:06

it up a level. But you know, he was a guy who you

5:13

know developed, you know at once he left us, you know, he

5:16

got with the pirates and every year his progress was was being made in the

5:21

minor leagues and you know, we come he'd come back and work out with

5:25

us in the fall and winter, and you just you just you know,

5:28

wonder where where the heck had all that improvement came from? And it was

5:31

just obviously through his dedication. Have you come to a game to see him

5:36

pitch yet this season? Yeah, we came to the Giants game. He

5:42

pitched against the Giants. Yeah, he was really he was really good.

5:46

I thought he gave up a few runs. I saw that. I saw

5:50

the Minnesota game on TV. Well, he was really really good there.

5:56

So, I mean, the fastball is really big, jumping, and I

6:00

think he's starting to start to get a real good feel for the curveball.

6:02

And when he gets that over and the slider works, you know, watch

6:06

out. You're in trouble as a hitter. Yeah, no doubt, Like

6:10

they were yesterday. The Mets were in trouble yesterday. Eight scoreless innings,

6:14

ten strikeouts for Tyler Glass. Now and as high school coach, Jim Mozella

6:18

is joining us from Hart High School and coach just one thought from you.

6:23

With so much talk about picture injuries and even at the high school level,

6:28

kids having Tommy John surgeries even when they don't really require them. You've been

6:32

around a long time. What are you seeing going on with pitchers these days?

6:41

Well, let's not care ourselves. Players. Pitchers are coming in a

6:46

lot more physical than they were back in the old days. Guys are throwing

6:50

in the nineties on a regular basis. Now. I remember when I first

6:56

started this. You know, if somebody through ninety, watch out, he

7:00

was unbelievable. Well, now you have kids who are, you know, mid mid nineties and high nineties in the high school level. And for some

7:06

of them, they're still growing and they're still developing, and maybe they've maybe

7:12

they've reached their velocity a little soon for the you know, for the ligament

7:15

and for everything that's that's needed. But I really don't I think, you

7:21

know, we're kind of drawing at straws a lot. There's a lot of

7:25

a lot of speculation. Uh, but you know, let's let's not here

7:29

ourselves. There. The kids are stronger these days, they are more physical.

7:36

Maybe that maybe that's leading to some injuries, there's no doubt. Yeah.

7:41

Remember even hearing when weight training became a big part of a baseball conditioning.

7:46

Old time pitchers like Oral Herscheizer would say, you want to be limber,

7:50

you want to be loose, you don't want to be too tight with

7:53

all that muscle mass. Yeah. Not not only that, but long toss

7:59

pro has got more and more developed. You know. I remember when that

8:03

just kind of came into into fashion, you know, a few years ago.

8:07

And you know, I remember when the pro guys would, you know, tell some of our guys when they got into pro ball, hey,

8:13

we only want you throwing one hundred and fifty feet and our guys were already

8:16

thrown out to two hundred and fifty feet. Yeah, when they stretched it

8:20

out, and so, uh, you know that. I think I think there's been a lot of a lot of change in the game, a lot

8:26

of developmental things that have happened at the lower levels. Weight training obviously has

8:31

become a staple for all kids. You know, let's not kid ourselves.

8:37

Also, the you know, the pro scouts who come to us and see

8:41

our kids are saying, you know, they get they have to get more physical, they have to get more physical, and so our kids are really

8:46

getting after it. So you know, a little bit of a two way

8:50

street here, Yeah, no doubt. Well, thank you for that insight.

8:52

I really appreciate it. And next time you come to Dodger Stadium to

8:56

see Tyler pitch, come by the press box. I'll give you a tour.

9:01

I would appreciate that. That'd be awesome. Thank you, coach.

9:03

Thanks a lot for your time and continued success. You certainly are a treasurer

9:07

up there at Hard High School to be the head baseball coach for as long

9:11

as you've been up there and the success you've had. So really appreciate you

9:16

coming on. I don't really talk to high school coaches that often, but

9:20

you're a special one. So thank you for your time tonight. I appreciate

9:26

your kind words. I wish you the best. Thank you,