As starting shortstop for the last three years, senior Ozzie Fleischer has consistently been both a dynamic and an impactful player on the Jumbos baseball squad. Fleischer hails from Texas and attended Fort Worth Country Day High School. At Tufts, he is majoring in political science and will be attending the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy next year. Baseball fans might get the chance to see him on the field as shortstop for another season thanks to his extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19.
Like many other Tufts athletes, Fleischer was a dual-sport athlete in high school, almost playing for the Jumbos on the football field as well. On the baseball field, he has been a key defensive player, keeping a level head in the important situations. His total batting average for his Tufts career is .310, and he has started 100 games for the Jumbos. Notably, he was selected as the 2023 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year and made the American Baseball Coaches Association Division III All-Defensive Team.
On a typical weekday gameday, Fleischer is out of bed at 8:30 a.m. at the latest, eating breakfast at around 9 a.m. His breakfast typically varies — usually he eats an egg and cinnamon toast, but he will make himself something more substantial if he has time.
“I love breakfast, but I don’t live and die by eating a crazy breakfast every morning,” Fleischer said.
Class for him then usually runs from about 10:30–11:45 a.m., before he picks up Alexander’s Food and Convenience for lunch. While the lunch meal varies a little bit, it frequently is a lighter sandwich that he brings to eat in the locker room. Somebody in the locker room is always “on aux” playing music. That person is frequently senior outfielder Johnny Briody, who is the go-to “team DJ” before games. Two of the most popular team songs right now are “Afraid to Feel” by LF System and “Take Me to America” by Salvatore Ganacci. Fleischer emphasizes that in the locker room, listening to music together helps build team chemistry, which can be the difference between a good team and a team that can win national championships. Fleischer himself isn’t a “hype music” person in the locker room, typically preferring relaxed country music to keep himself focused before game day. As he gets dressed in his Tufts regalia, small superstitions start to appear: He always puts on his left sock and left shoe, then his right sock and right shoe. The team then will start to get batting practice materials ready by 12:30 p.m.
The team will go into their normal stretching routine, which takes about 10–15 minutes. From there, for a 3 p.m. game, the team will start batting practice at 1 p.m., which entails splitting the team up into groups and rotating around the field, hitting and receiving a variety of different balls. Batting practice typically lasts about 40 minutes, and then the other team takes the field to do their batting practice. Fleischer typically heads to the locker room to get off his feet for about 20 minutes, sometimes drinking a Red Bull if he feels it’s necessary. As a captain and a defensive player, he will then try to catch the last round or two of batting practice of the opposing team to get an idea of what type of hitters the opponents are.
He will then walk back to the field for an “in and out” drill, which is a long series of ground balls thrown across the diamond between the outfield and the bases. During this period, the team might also walk through any prewritten plays and sequences they need to practice. Right before “in and out,” all the hitters get together and talk about sign sequences, along with if coach Paul Svagdis has said anything to them specifically before the game. Before the national anthem as well, the team will do a variety of running and agility warm-ups in left field. This is where outfield coach Bob Clarke will get the lineup together and give the team a history lesson or a fun fact about the team they are playing.
The lineup will then get together and stand for the national anthem. After the anthem, before Fleischer puts his hat back on, he always gives his heart two taps with his hat. While some players and some sports are big on pre-game speeches by the captains, he doesn’t speak unless he needs to, instead focusing on leading by example, and being level-headed at all times. While he naturally has been excited about the prospects of the team this season, his focus has been on “not getting too high on the highs, not getting too low on the lows and just being super steady throughout the process,” something he thinks can take them far this season.
When the Jumbos finally take the field in the first inning, Fleischer always taps his left foot and then his right foot on second base before heading out to shortstop.
Baseball games are doubleheader heavy, especially in the NESCAC. So between games, Fleischer will eat a protein bar or a Clif Bar. However, he likes to feel light on his feet, so he won’t eat a ton in between games. That being said, there are guys on the team who always have candy on them, and he will have some candy from time to time, especially when it’s Nerds Gummy Clusters.
At the end of each game, Fleischer will nearly always be one of the last people out of the dugout, making sure everything at the dugout is all set. This is especially the case for away dugouts, where he makes sure the team leaves the visiting dugout better than they found it.
Fleischer’s favorite part about Tufts baseball is the team culture, especially because his class of seniors are his best friends: “This whole team really is a family, and that is what I think is so special about this group, and why I love it so much, and why I think that this team could really do some cool things this year.”
