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San Diego City College Assistant Coach and former player Anthony “Pazzo” Fernandez provides the highs and lows of the 2025 Knights baseball club’s season, including the addition of Daniel Tatis, brother of Padres superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., to the squad and the prospects for 2026. Fernandez also shares his growth from City College player and radio student to media and sports entertainment entrepreneur, and his latest venture into eSports, Enzo Sports, with City Times Sound news editor Vince Outlaw and City Times Media sports editor Danny Straus in the CTS KSDS HD2 studios on April 14, 2025. A complete transcript is available below.

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Transcript: 

Vince Outlaw  0:00  

City Times Sound presents the Knights Community Round Table. In this interview-based program, students engage with community members, college staff and fellow students to discuss topics that matter to us all. 

Vince Outlaw  0:11  

Welcome to the Knights Community Round Table on City Times Sound where your voice is heard. I’m your voice, your host, Vince outlaw. On today’s show, we’re talking San Diego City College Knights baseball, and how a former city baseball and soccer player, radio student and now knights assistant coach, pursued his sporting dreams, both on the field and into the sports entertainment industry, including the fast growing field of eSports. My co-host today is City Times Media sports editor, Danny Straus. Welcome, Danny. 

Danny Straus  0:41  

Hey, great to be here, Vince. Thanks for having me. 

Vince Outlaw  0:43  

Our guest today is Knight’s assistant coach, baseball coach Anthony Pazo Fernandez, thanks for being here, coach. Fernandez, thanks for having me. Thank you guys. Danny, let’s start with you in your second season covering city sports and baseball in particular, you’ve written several stories this season at SD City times.com covering the team who are currently eight and 22 overall and in the cellar of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference at three and 16. As we move into the final two weeks of the season, before we ask coach Fernandez his view from the dugout, what have some of the highlights and low lifes of the season, low lights of the season that you’ve seen from your perspective, 

Danny Straus  1:22  

Absolutely. Yeah, a little bit of an up and down season so far for the Knights. Will have to say, last season was a great season for the Knights. They won 22 games, made the playoffs for the first time since 2010 and had a ton of successful players who are now playing at the four year level. So with that said, it’s always tough at the junior college level to, you know, recruit and kind of, you know, flip your whole roster to me. You know, the Knights lost about 90% of their roster, including Jake fitzner, who had 19 home runs last year. To put it in perspective, the Knights baseball team has seven home runs this year in total. Knights put up 41 home runs in total last year, and just had a, you know, stack squad of ton of division one, ton of division two guys. So tough to regroup and, you know, retool. And that’s kind of shown so far. I will say the big name in the San Diego City College baseball, of course, is with the arrival of Daniel Tatis, the brother of Padre superstar Fernando Tatis, definitely big name, big headline in the beginning of the season, started a little slow, but he’s really kind of starting to find his swing. He’s had a couple home runs in the last couple of weeks is really kind of starting to find a swing. Besides that, highlight included a home run from Tatis and the 12-2 victory over Imperial Valley, that was kind of their main blowout victory of the season. Low lights have to say they had 11 game losing streak from March 3 to about April 3, so it was a tough month for the Knights, but they bounced back. They ended that streak with that decisive win over Imperial Valley and spin up and down. The Knights have had some injuries, you know, mainly at shortstop. They lost, you know, a couple shortstops kind of trying to rotating things in. But Coach Brown, Coach Fernandez and the staff are, you know, staying positive, doing what they can with their squad.

Vince Outlaw  2:57  

So Coach Fernandez, again, welcome to the Knights Community Round Table. Great to have you. So you kind of heard Danny from a journalist viewpoint, as a writer and kind of spectator, what’s your viewpoint on on the season? You know, so far as we’re kind of nearing the end of the season and that big kind of drop off from last year’s, you know, 22 win season, 

Anthony Fernandez  3:20  

yeah, no. First off, thanks again for having me. Love being part of City College and the growing radio department here now. Danny hit it on the head. Last year was a spectacular season. We had a bunch of amazing players ranging from fitzner and hitting home runs and Avery lane on the bump and just a great club that battled diversity throughout the season, and we were able to piece together a playoff team. 2025 on the flip side, has been a challenging season. We knew in the beginning it was going to be a young club, a club that we’re going to have to fight and scrap to the end. And then we lost a key shortstop. We had an injury to another infielder, and so from that point on, we kind of we had some rotating pieces at shortstop, in the middle infield, but I’m a big fan of failure, as crazy as that sounds, because after failure comes disappoint, or after disappointment comes success, and I think we’re going to see that here with this club next year. This has been a great learning season. We haven’t put it together and all departments, whether it’s pitching, hitting, Fielding, we’ve shined in one department, but not all three at the same time. Our record kind of dictates that, but we’ve had a lot of success in terms of mental building because of the failures, and we expect these guys to come back next year hungrier and ready to compete for a playoff spot.

Vince Outlaw  4:40  

So Danny, you, you’ve kind of been following the the career and learning some more about Coach Fernandez. What, what do you want to tell us? And what kind of things would you like to learn from Coach Fernandez today?

Danny Straus  4:52  

Yeah, well, first off, have to give a shout out to coach Fernandez, because he was kind of the first one to kind of welcome me in with open arms when I first started covering City College. Much baseball, you know, first time, kind of journalist coming to games by myself, and Morley field is all fenced in, you know, so it’s tough. So he was kind of the first one to welcome me, bring me into the dugout, let me know where I can shoot, and kind of give me access and kind of make me comfortable. So thank you for that. So I have to give you a shout out to that at first. Otherwise, yeah, I’m just interested in, you know, your growth. And you played in 2000 so you played under Coach Brown. 

Anthony Fernandez  5:24  

So, Coach Brown was brought in the year after my first season, it was coach Watson. He was retiring in a young hot shot from El Paso, Texas, where he was coming from. Coach Brown, a young, young coach. It was his first season. I played fall baseball under Coach Brown, but after my first season, I went to Italy to visit some family, and that’s when I realized that, wait a second, I can play baseball as an Italian I’m leaving school. I told my mom, and I had this vision in my mind that I was going to capture my Italian passport and leave and go play overseas. And ultimately I did. It took five years because of the passport situation, but within those five years, I was able to parlay my internship from Magic 92.5 which I was able to get because I was a student here at City College. I was part of the radio TV program where if I didn’t make it in the big leagues, I was going to be in journalism, I was going to be in communications and on TV and talking sports, because we’re going to be part of something we love, and so I took an internship at Magic 92 five all while waiting for the citizenship documentation to come through so I can go play that took five years, and in those five years, I was able to climb the ranks within Clear Channel radio or iHeart media as we know it today, and become A pretty successful advertising executive selling sponsorships to big time concerts and working with big time artists and clients as well. You know, the IKEAs of the world were being managed by me, who would have thought, right? But where I’m at today is I was able to put myself in position to come back and give back to our baseball program and to our kids and mentor and let them know that, hey, first off, time flies, so take advantage of your opportunities, but also know that there has to be something else that you’re working towards, because baseball is short lived. We all want to be big leaguers, but there’s a small percentage of us who will become them, and so being out there with the guys daily, talking baseball, of course, talking life, and seeing what their dreams and goals are put me right back to where I was, back in 2000 where I played baseball and soccer here at City College. 

Vince Outlaw  7:26  

So, you, you went from you were here as a media student, a radio student, and you It sounded like you first wanted to be on the air and and do the, you know, in front of the, you know, the things that people notice, but about the industry, but you How did you kind of switch that and switch into the sales, advertising, that part of the entertainment industry, music industry? Great

Anthony Fernandez  7:55  

question. They said I had a face for radio. They’re not lying, right? Me too. No, once I got inside the building, I realized, really around the holiday time that DJs, unfortunately, were being let go, right? They were being replaced by voice track. And, you know, one DJ is managing and talking to 10 different markets. And so it was me in the mail room, and I, you know, you see on TV the mailman delivering the mail to different departments. And I went to the sales department and the sales pit, and I saw the guys wearing suits, and they were never there, and they were always entertaining. And that’s when I knew, wait a second, I might want to go this route, because I love working with people. I had a great product to talk about at the time. Now I’m on payroll, so it’s channel 933, which is a top 40 station here, that really was a big, big force in the in the community, and that’s when I knew, and I let the directors and all the vice presidents know, hey, wait a second. I want to be, I want to be in sales. And gradually worked my way to that department, and I had a lot of success under my heart. 

Vince Outlaw  8:57  

So, you, you, you took that and then, and you kind of then started your own things from that. Tell us how you went from being an employee. And I don’t know, are you still? You’re still at at, at, iHeart.

Anthony Fernandez  9:14  

No, no, I left. iHeart, back in 2010, eight. Excuse me, 2008 and to answer your question, How did I know? Well, again, I’m selling sponsorships to all these big time concerts that we’re putting on. I’m meeting the managers of artists who are coming into the studio to highlight their tour or the new album. I’m like, wait a second. Had an aha moment, and I said, I can do this. I can sell sponsorships. I know how to create a commercial that targets the right demographic. And then, you know, the proof was in the pudding. I was able to put together some concerts and, and I was like, Wait, this is amazing. And so while I was still working on that endeavor, I was also still working at a radio station as I continue to grow my brand and able to fly off on my own,

Vince Outlaw  9:57  

how did you tie back in? Baseball coaching, 

Anthony Fernandez  10:01  

yeah. So, from from advertising to my own concerts, where then I realized after my first show, I wasn’t able to get the Justin timberlakes of the world or under Live Nation, or that somebody else with big pockets has them. And so one Sunday, I’m sitting there watching soccer with my grandfather, and I had another aha moment where I was going to organize a professional soccer game. And so once I started organizing professional soccer games, and I started to really create this new energy, this new ideas, I got pinged by Coach Brown, and I said, Wait a second, I love to come back. And so for the past eight years, I’ve been working under Coach Brown and the rest of the staff, whether it’s Coach Anthony Sorrentino, Bennett, Perry, Jace, Cadwell, Eric pourier, I’ve been around some pretty great coaches that helped us succeed and helped grow the kids, ultimately, is the main goal right to grow them on the field and off the field.

Danny Straus  10:55  

Yeah, absolutely. Do you have a specific role? I know your assistant coach, you kind of seem like a jack of all trades. Do you have a specific role? Do you work in field, outfield? You kind of seem to do a lot anything that you, you know, yeah,

Anthony Fernandez  11:06  

you know, the past couple years has been have a child now, you know, you get married, so things, things change. But being a little guy, I had to know how to work a roster. I know how to get on a roster, and that was through speed at defense, whether that was in field or an outfielder. So I like to say I work with with all departments outside of pitching, just to give the guys inside. Love hitting fun goes. You just give little pointers. But I don’t want to take anything away now, this year or last year, from the coaches that we currently have in place that are there day in, day out, slave and since August, where this year, I’ve become more of a part time coach, but still giving back and their, you know, games and practices.

Vince Outlaw  11:45  

Why have you moved back to a part time coach? You know? Is that because of your other businesses?

Anthony Fernandez  11:52  

Exactly it so, you know, again, I have a wife, I have a four year old, so I’ve been putting a lot of effort into that new life of mine. And then, as time goes. COVID changed my world, the sports and entertainment world, and I happen to have a buddy who’s in logistics that focuses on time critical shipping. So think organs for transplant, aerospace, parts for aircraft that are down, and I was able to really get into that field the past five years. Now I have a family working in transportation logistics. I still get to coach baseball and help out with international soccer matches across the country, so I think I have the best of all worlds right now. And more importantly, I get to be here with you guys talking about it. 

Vince Outlaw  12:34  

Yeah, I was reading about an Enzo Sports. Is that? Is that your is that one of your endeavors? 

Anthony Fernandez  12:42  

Yeah, it’s my new endeavor. Sports and Entertainment really took a hit. Soccer match is really what I focused on for the past 10 plus years, after the music concerts or whatever you want to say about them, and eSports is really the future. Every kid that you talk to is out there playing the game. And so Pat. So sports was my soccer biz. My son’s name is Enzo, and I created Enzo sports, which is going to be an E Sports focused gaming company that that puts on tournaments and gives back, ultimately, to the community. Yeah,

Vince Outlaw  13:13  

that E Sports is is really booming. You know, go to Vegas and there’s e sports venues, you know, arenas and those kind of things for that tell us a little bit about that industry and its growth. Yeah,

Anthony Fernandez  13:26  

the growth, I mean, I think it’s going to be bigger than NFL in the next five years in terms of revenue, obviously, eyes on it. And I just want to sliver and ultimately, these kids that are growing up now, and we as parents say, Oh, get off the computer. These are the kids are going to be computer science engineer or engineers, or that’s the field, really, that these kids are going to go to. So when parents are saying, Hey, get off that computer and get off the gaming on the flip side of it, it’s really, it’s really, you know, growing their minds of what we’re going to soon see here in the future. We already have it with AI and what’s being created there. So esports is really going to start booming more so here in the next five years,

Vince Outlaw  14:04  

that makes me think about the previous thing you talked about, about not everybody is going to be in a pro when they’re, you know, playing baseball, if that’s your that you’re doing. Is there a similar kind of vibe in the E Sports? Or is esports more open to more people?

Anthony Fernandez  14:20  

Yes, yeah, a roster can have 25 folks on a baseball team, right? E Sports, Hey, you’re good at gaming. You’re good at Call of Duty, or whatever the game they’re playing. There’s a lot of opportunity out there. And kids these days realize that, whether it’s YouTubers making millions of dollars or gamers, this is the really the route they want to go and be part of

Vince Outlaw  14:41  

Danny, you were kind of, you talked a little bit about Coach Brown and and him and and then, and also coach Fernandez working under Coach Brown. I’m wondering if, if you could tell us a little bit about what you’ve learned from him. He. There was a big event that Danny covered recently that was celebrating his 400th victory, which happened last season, but a big event here, tell us a little bit about your relationship with Coach Brown and how he’s impacted you.

Anthony Fernandez  15:15  

Yeah, Coach Brown impacted me back during Fall 2000 right? He came in as a young guy, first off, he taught me about communication, where I missed a practice and I showed up. He’s like, You can’t do that. You have to call me. And from that point on, I knew that, hey, you got to always let people know when you’re going to be late, you’re going to be missing something, communication. Fast forward to where we are now. He’s like a father to me. He’s there for anything that I need or anything that I ask. He’s willing to help, and we are all pulling on the same rope. We know there’s challenging times, especially this year, all years, but he’s been there for us as coach, coaching staff, and for the players my family. He built my son his first swing set. So Coach Brown is one of the greatest guys that I’ve met this far in my life, right?

Danny Straus  15:59  

Yeah, and you were saying, yeah, he hit his 400th win last season, I believe is at 408 or 409 right now, why do you think he’s been successful so long now, in his 26 season?

Anthony Fernandez  16:08  

Yeah, look, City College is always been a tough place to recruit, right? We’re inner city. We’re downtown. Our complex is off the campus. What makes Coach Brown successful is he him as the person and the folks that he’s able to recruit. And you know, coaches myself, Coach Perry, I’m gonna say it again, Coach Boyer, Tino Sorrentino, Jace, those are the guys that Brown will also say that make him successful. It’s always gonna be the staff. He can’t take the credits. It’s the team. It’s we’re one team, and that’s what’s made him successful thus far as 409th win, or whatever it might be, he will say that it’s his staff and the people that he surrounds himself with. 

Vince Outlaw  16:48  

Well, kind of talking a little bit further on that subject. There’s a lot of talk about college sports these days and the growth of n, i, L, and the impact of name, image, likeness and transfer portal and those kind of things. How do those, those kind of things, impact you and your and the program here at City College? 

Anthony Fernandez  17:11  

Great question. I don’t see it really impacting us at the JUCO level, the kids that are getting n i l deals, they’re they’re already recruited, they’re top notch players and whatever sport they’re playing for us, I would love to be able to capitalize on some names for these guys, right sponsorships, pizza for free by a restaurant and but the ones that really seen the the fruits of their labor are the d1, d2, kids that they able to go to local, Local companies and capture some revenue,

Vince Outlaw  17:40  

and students, student athletes at the junior college level that are aspiring to D1 Do you see that as a as a move from from community college up to D1

Anthony Fernandez  17:52  

Oh, we had a picture last year. Avery lane, he was really great at marketing himself, creating videos and putting it out there. And he’s over at LMU this year, having a great season, and I believe he’s captured a couple deals. So hey, this JUCO is going to be able to catapult you to the next level, both on the field and off the field. And with n i l deals now, and if you have the right kid who’s really out there marketing, marketing himself, he’s going to be able to capitalize. Yeah,

Danny Straus  18:18  

There’s also a Bobby Perebzac, not sure if I pronounced that right. He’s also pitching division one in Hawaii as well. Bob, Hawaii as well. Bobby had some serious talent last year. Yeah,

Anthony Fernandez  18:25  

last year was a great club, great kids. But hey, we’re onward and upward, right? Those guys are doing what they’re supposed to do at the d1 level. Now. They’ve earned it. They worked their tails off here at the jucos level. And we hope these kids this year and next year are going to be able to parlay that as well. So

Vince Outlaw  18:41  

tell us a little bit about that. Then, how are the how do you see the team this year and their skill levels? What are going to be some of the big advancements you see for this team coming up next year? Yeah,

Anthony Fernandez  18:53  

it’s a young club. We already said that, right? We have a ton of freshmen, and the bumps and bruises that they’re enduring now are going to set them up for next year again, that that failure is good, right? We all want to win, but sometimes that failure is going to be able to come next year, or success will be next year. And then on top of that, Coach Brown and the rest of the staff are out there recruiting hard, right? You got to keep on filling the pipeline, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re out there capturing great kids that can play baseball and then ultimately put them together with our returners for next year, and flip the season from eight, and don’t even want to say it, to where we can be next year.

Danny Straus  19:29  

Absolutely real, real quick. I’m interested in pivoting a little bit towards soccer, especially, you know, you’ve thrown soccer events, and now, with the popularity of San Diego FC, seems like it’s booming right now, and a perfect time to be in the mix. Do you have any plans to throw any, you know, international matches, or any soccer things coming up? Yeah.

Anthony Fernandez  19:44  

So San Diego. Fun fact, I went on Shark Tank and asked for $100 million because I wanted to build a stadium. What am I going to use with it? They looked at me like, What $100 million that’s easy, right? You secure stadium rights, MLS rights, etc. I’ll show you how to. To to really offset the dollars. So to answer your question, yeah, San Diego has boomed into, and I’ve always known it into a soccer community because of our border. Right our borders here, San Diego’s 55 plus percent Hispanic, and they’re so passionate about their teams. And when I organized my matches, I really focused on Hispanic teams, because I knew how loyal they were. And now that San Diego has their own club, will there be a friendlier too? Yeah, there’ll be a friendlier too that maybe we were able to collaborate on, in terms of myself putting on matches? Yeah, I look at different markets now that aren’t saturated with other soccer teams, right? It’s very niche, and it’s high risk, high reward, and I want to make sure that hedge my bets, and I don’t, I don’t risk any more than I have to. But no, soccer is soccer is amazing, amazing sport. And you want to see people come together. Soccer is that sport.

Vince Outlaw  20:56  

So let’s, let’s kind of finish up. Then by talking about the end of the baseball season, you’ve got games starting tomorrow, the Tuesday the 14th, at home versus second place Palomar, and that’s then three games against Palomar, and then three games against first place Grossmont. What are you looking for moving into these last six games? 

Anthony Fernandez  21:17  

Yeah, we just want to see these kids ultimately finish off strong, right? We might not be playing for a playoff spot, but these top two teams are going to have scouts and other college coaches watching them, so we want to make sure that we’re shining and delivering and staying positive and being a great teammate at the end of the day. And a lot of these guys have been great teammates all year long, despite what we’ve endured. And we have a tatis and it’s great having him, and everybody expects that name. He got to be a superstar out of the gate. No, no, we’re at the JUCO level for a reason to get better, and that takes time. But what he’s done is he’s brought this calm, cool way of playing the game, and it rubs off on the other guys, and they they’re aspiring to be bigger and better. And when you have a tatis brand on your field, you have to, you have to strive and shoot for the stars. And we were blessed a month ago to have his father, Fernando Tatis Senior, speak to us and gives give us some powerful words of wisdom. And we take that into the final two weeks of the year and really just grind it out, refresh and and bounce back here in August for the next fall ball. 

Vince Outlaw  22:23  

So will Daniel tatis be back next year at City College? 

Anthony Fernandez  22:26  

We hope he is. We hope he is. We want to keep the young guys together, because they’re building on it.

Danny Straus  22:32  

Yeah, I wonder, before we let him out, I wonder, with the articles coming out that I put in with ABC News, you know, do you think other schools are now trying to poach him as a question. Also wanted to mention Coach Pazzo also brought in a new station from Tijuana, I believe. So just wanted to see if you want to touch on that real quick,

Anthony Fernandez  22:48  

yeah, Danny, I gotta give you a shout out as well. You’ve done a tremendous job covering us, shown a lot of love, as you do to all programs but baseball. Obviously, you’re a Yankee guy. I’m a San Diego Padre guy. We love baseball. Tatis. Will he get poached? Yeah, he’s brought a lot of a lot of news media or coverage to our to our team. I don’t know if he’ll get poached. He’s pretty loyal. I hope he stays that way. But yeah, no, we had look. You guys have done a great job on the English side. I brought in Univision. They did a big covering the tatis dynasty, where he was able to have Danny Tatis, Fernando Tatis Senior, and then when Fernando Junior was in spring training, they were able to put together this nice little 15 minute clip on on who they are and what they’re doing. So shout out to everybody here at San Diego City College and the music department.

Vince Outlaw  23:37  

So Coach, where can folks find out more about you and your sports entertainment endeavors and and get in contact with you. 

Anthony Fernandez  23:46  

Yeah, if anybody wants to reach out, they want to be an intern. They want to grow or just maybe, Hey, you want to chat for 15 minutes because you’re aspiring to be in the music entertainment world, you can, you can send me an email or visit me at Enzo sports Comm, Enzo sports.com and we can go from there.

Vince Outlaw  24:03  

Excellent. And Danny, thanks for co-hosting. Absolutely great to be here as the semester wraps up. Can you give us an idea of what you’re working on it for at City Times Media, as you kind of end the school year?

Danny Straus  24:15  

Absolutely, yeah. And the home stretch here, just finish an article about the badminton team, which is currently up on SDCityTimes.com they’re kind of having a hard time. Having a hard time recruiting and finding positions for their sport, and a sport that’s a non scholarship sport. So it’s kind of tough in times, you know, to require a lot of time and to not have us, you know, to not have a scholarship available, you know, for students in the future. So that’s kind of tough, but otherwise, just kind of showcasing teams, kind of wrapping up sports. Um, our tennis teams had great season. Both the men’s and women’s both won conference championships, and now they’re kind of in individual play, kind of paying attention to that also, kind of want to do a story on City College assistant basketball coach darren McLean, who’s a former star at City College, had the game winning shot of the state championship game in 2018 in his back. Back as an assistant. But kind of just, you know, want to see about the grind, what Coach Fernandez was talking about as well, kind of the grind of an assistant coach here, you know, he’s got multiple jobs. He’s up at 5am doing training things like that. So just kind of want to give an in depth of what you know, the coaches go through here to in order to, you know, give back to the community as well. And

Vince Outlaw  25:18  

where can folks get in contact with you or your socials or on SDCityTimes.com 

Vince Outlaw  25:24  

Absolutely. SDCityTimes.com, type in “Danny Strauss”, Dan Strauss, [email protected], if you want to reach out to me directly, otherwise, yeah. SD City times.com for more information and on LinkedIn, shout out, Vince. I’m finally on LinkedIn now trying to get you know make the next step. So follow me. Danny Strauss on LinkedIn as well for some connections. 

Vince Outlaw  25:44  

It’s all about the business. All about the business. 

Vince Outlaw  25:46  

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