'Full circle': Ricciardi jumps on NESN broadcast during busy week for Bravehearts
· Yahoo Sports
WORCESTER — As J.P. Ricciardi sat inside the Fitton Field press box Thursday night, a poster of his youngest son, Mariano, hung from the wall located just a few feet behind him.
With the Worcester Bravehearts hosting the Westfield Starfires, Ricciardi provided analysis of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League game aired live on the NESN TV broadcast.
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The opportunity to promote the competitive summer league in which both his sons, Dante and Mariano, previously played in provided a full-circle moment for Ricciardi.
"I'm a big proponent of the Bravehearts," Ricciardi told the T&G. "I want to see the Bravehearts do well, and I think it's great family entertainment, and I think it's a great league for players.
"It's a great place for kids to play. They were great to my kids. Anything that promotes baseball in Worcester, I'm for. So, it's fun."
After J.P. Ricciardi grew up playing baseball at St. Peter-Marian High School (and competed in playoff games at Holy Cross' Fitton Field), his two sons played for the Bravehearts — and teamed up for one summer with Worcester in 2017.
"I got to see them play a lot, which was great," said Ricciardi, a current NESN analyst who previously served as the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays and then as New York Mets assistant general manager when his kids played for the Bravehearts. "I saw them play in high school together and I got to see them play together for the Bravehearts.
"I'm a big fan of the league. It was basically scouting in my own backyard. I got to see a lot of good players, that made my job a lot easier."
Mariano Ricciardi spent parts of four summers (2017-20) playing for the Bravehearts.
The former Worcester Academy and University of Dayton infielder won two championships with Worcester and helped the Bravehearts advance to the title series in all four of his seasons with the team.
Between the regular season and playoffs, Ricciardi is the Bravehearts' leader in career games played (133), runs scored (97) and hits (136). Fifteen of those hits came in postseason play, which ranks as the second-most in Futures League history.
Ricciardi's top season came in 2019 when he hit .311 with a franchise-record 17 doubles, 26 RBIs and 34 runs scored. He then helped the Bravehearts win it all that postseason, earning MVP honors thanks to a .364 average with four RBIs and seven runs scored in the playoffs.
After graduating from Dayton, Ricciardi was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2021 and spent three seasons in their minor league system and then half-a-season with the Los Angeles Angels before retiring from professional baseball.
Ricciardi was enshrined into the Futures League Hall of Fame last year along with former Bravehearts teammate and current New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice.
"The first word that comes to mind (of playing for the Bravehearts) is fun. It was just an extreme blast," Mariano, 28, said. "I had some of the best summers of my life doing that. … It really turned me into a player that was ready to play at the next level."
And on Thursday night, his father broadcasted a Bravehearts game from Fitton Field just a few feet from where Mariano's poster hangs on the Worcester Wall of Fame.
"It just comes full circle," said J.P. Ricciardi, who is a member of the Worcester Red Sox Hall of Fame.
Bravehearts to the bigs
On July 12, Bravehearts infielder Cole Travers was selected with the 582nd overall pick (19th round) by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Travers, who played in 20 games with Worcester and hit .254 with 7 RBIs and 8 runs scored, recently graduated from St. John Neumann (Florida) and was a Stetson University commit.
Travers joins four other Bravehearts alums who were selected in the 2026 MLB Draft. And two former Bravehearts, Brady Stuart (pitcher) and Casey Wensley (infielder/outfielder), were recently signed as undrafted free agents by the Angels.
"I'm a fan of the game, on top of anything else, so to see these young guys excel is exciting," Bravehearts president Matt Vaccaro said. "If you're a kid or a fan and able to get an autograph from these guys, you can say 'I remember when.'
"That makes it come full circle for our fans and for us and my family owning the team," Vaccardo added. "Obviously, we want to win and the more talent we can bring in to keep our fanbase happy and team successful, that's what we try to do year in and year out."
Worcester sends seven players to All-Star game
This year, Worcester will send seven players to the Futures Collegiate Baseball League All-Star game.
Pitchers Connor Herlihy, Lane LeClair and Jake Shaughnessy were selected from the staff and position players Alan Carpenter (C/DH), Benny Hess (C/DH), Will Kraemer (INF) and Julian Mercado (1B/OF) will also represent Worcester in the All-Star game held on July 21 in Nashua, N.H.
"I wasn't really expecting it," said Herlihy, who lives in Holden and pitches for Stevens Institute of Technology. "I just try to go out and do my job and as it turns out everything is going really well. It's going to be cool."
"They've had a great first half of the season," Vaccaro said. "I'm proud of all of them."
What's on tap for the Bravehearts?
With a 15-9 victory on Thursday night, the Bravehearts now have 17 more games left in the regular season.
Worcester currently owns a 20-22 record and sits in fifth place in the league standings, just four games back of second place.
Following Thursday's NESN night, the Bravehearts will host Christmas in July (July 19), Camps Day Game (July 23), Heroes Night (July 24), Wrestling Night (July 25), Jake's Birthday Bash (July 26), Welcome to Football (July 28), Irish/Drink Around the World (July 30), Legion Night (Aug. 3) and Fan Appreciation Night (Aug. 8).
—Contact Tommy Cassell at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'Full circle': Ricciardi jumps on NESN broadcast during busy week for Bravehearts