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Speaker 1: From the Berkshires to the sound from wherever you live

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Speaker 1: in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give

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Speaker 1: us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop

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Speaker 1: on Major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame

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Speaker 1: voter number eight six, Rob Parker. Welcome to Inside the Parker.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Rob Parker. What a show we have today.

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Speaker 1: Former major league manager Bobby Valentine drops by the podcast. Also,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk some baseball rule changes for the upcoming season

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Speaker 1: with Baseball Beat writer Anthony Finnick from the Detroit Free Press.

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Speaker 1: That plus foul Affair and much more. Let's go to

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Speaker 1: lead off. It's getting robbed and keep him on. Rob's

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Speaker 1: hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball.

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Speaker 1: Number One, wake the kids call the name verse. July one.

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Speaker 1: That's right, players reporting to makeshift spring training facilities all

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Speaker 1: over Major League Baseball. Here we go basically three weeks

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Speaker 1: and we could have a major league game. The season

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Speaker 1: can get started. July that is the scheduled opening day. Um,

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Speaker 1: who knows what to expect. It's gonna be strange, it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be weird, But I'm gonna tell you this. I

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Speaker 1: am embracing it, Embrace the season. Except what we have.

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Speaker 1: It's better than nothing. I'm not gonna pooh poo it.

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna call it I legitimate or any nonsense

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Speaker 1: like that. We're in a pandemic. If you want to

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Speaker 1: read more, go read my column on dead spin dot com.

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Speaker 1: It's an open letter to MLB America talking about this

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Speaker 1: very thing. We just have to embrace what we have

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Speaker 1: and will it be legitimate? Sixty games? To me, it's

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Speaker 1: legitimate if everybody's playing the same amount. Given the circumstances

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Speaker 1: we have in the country right now with the pandemic,

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Speaker 1: this is the best that can happen. There's no other

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Speaker 1: way around it. I'd rather have this than eighteen months

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Speaker 1: with no baseball. So it won't be long. Twenty two

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Speaker 1: days and we'll hear play ball, and yes, Baseball America

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Speaker 1: will be open for business even without fans, but the

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Speaker 1: national pastime will be back. Number two. A few days

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Speaker 1: ago was the one hundredth anniversary of the Negro Leagues. Yes,

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Speaker 1: you remember, Prior to Jackie Robinson being allowed to play

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Speaker 1: in the major leagues in nineteen forty seven, black players,

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Speaker 1: brown players were barred from playing in Major League Baseball,

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Speaker 1: so of course they started their own league, the Negro Leagues,

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Speaker 1: And there were teams all over and fans showed up,

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Speaker 1: and they had great uniforms and team names. Kansas City Monarchs,

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Speaker 1: the uh Black Yankees, I mean, the Newark Bears. There's

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Speaker 1: so many different teams and names, the Cleveland Clowns. I'm

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Speaker 1: just crazy, crazy names. Um, but let's celebrate and you

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Speaker 1: should take a look. How many Negro League teams can

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Speaker 1: you name? And we know some of the great players

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Speaker 1: who played there, um, including Satchel Page, Josh Gibson. Uh,

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Speaker 1: all kinds of great players who never got a chance. Uh.

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Speaker 1: In case of Josh Gibson, never got a chance to

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Speaker 1: play in the majors, who was considered one of the

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Speaker 1: ratest hitters who ever played baseball period. And that's a shame.

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Speaker 1: But it is the one hundredth anniversary, and I think

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Speaker 1: you should google and look it up, read on it.

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Speaker 1: It's very fascinating, try to figure out some of the

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Speaker 1: teams and the players, and uh, celebrate Black baseball. Yes,

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Speaker 1: the Negro Leagues and uh, it's one anniversary. Number three.

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Speaker 1: The Rockies Ian Desmond had some interesting and harsh words

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Speaker 1: about Major League Baseball this week, talking about baseball leaving

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Speaker 1: behind minorities, especially in the game when you talk about

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Speaker 1: the financial um ramifications of what baseball has turned into

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Speaker 1: from kids playing on sand lots and neighborhoods to now

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Speaker 1: you know this whole organized baseball and elite level and

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Speaker 1: show cases and players have to pay a thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: to be seen by scouts at these big tournaments, weekend

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Speaker 1: tournaments and whatnot. And the response to it, obviously is

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Speaker 1: that that is not good because you do separate and

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Speaker 1: you limit some players from having access to that stuff.

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Speaker 1: So the only players who are being seen and drafted

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Speaker 1: are the same people who can afford to go to

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Speaker 1: these showcases. Baseball has done a lot to try to

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Speaker 1: bring baseball back to the black and brown faces, especially

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Speaker 1: the black kids in the inner city. They have the

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Speaker 1: RBI program reviving Baseball in the Inner City. It's been

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Speaker 1: around since nine and just more than a million kids

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Speaker 1: have participated over the years, and and that's a good thing,

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Speaker 1: but there needs to be more. We've seen the numbers

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Speaker 1: and Hispanic players UH explode to scent, which is incredible.

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Speaker 1: Baseball at a small uptick of African Americans from six

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Speaker 1: point four to seven point three somewhere like that, about

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Speaker 1: a point up, which is good, not going the other way.

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Speaker 1: So it's growing, but there needs to be more, and

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Speaker 1: I think Baseball recognizes it, understands it, and I hope

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Speaker 1: it does more to make the game more inclusive and

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Speaker 1: more accessible to everybody. Here comes the big interview. Listen,

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Speaker 1: Headler Good. We've got former Major League baseball manager Bobby

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Speaker 1: Valentine here on the podcast. And Bobby, I want to

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Speaker 1: start with this. I need you to clear this up

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Speaker 1: for me. Rumor has it back in when you showed

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Speaker 1: up to the dugout wearing sunglasses and the fake mustache.

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Speaker 1: That wasn't a one time thing. That was a crazy

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Speaker 1: It was a crazy day. Um. Yeah. There's a catcher's

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Speaker 1: book called the Mike Piazza by the home Plate Umpire.

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Speaker 1: I had never seen, but I heard about catchers us

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Speaker 1: would never seem uncalled in a game. And now in

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Speaker 1: this very close game that we felt we had a

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Speaker 1: when when at least I felt I had a win

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Speaker 1: because I had fifty five games to go forty and

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Speaker 1: fifteen or else I was going to quit. Okay, I

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Speaker 1: made that a public statement I would go forty and

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Speaker 1: fifteen in the next fifty five games, and when I

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Speaker 1: was asked what if I didn't, I said, I quit.

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Speaker 1: And this is like the fourth game of that fifty

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Speaker 1: five game stretch, and they called this ridiculous call on

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Speaker 1: Mike Fanto, who I starts arguing with the umpire and

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Speaker 1: I run out to the umpire to get in between

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Speaker 1: them and say, hey, guys, let's not do this. Mike.

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Speaker 1: I can't lose you. It's extra innings. Stay in the game.

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Speaker 1: And as I was walking away, I turned around and

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Speaker 1: I said, hey, Randy, can just throw me out for

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Speaker 1: what I'm thinking? And he said no. I said, well,

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking you're a loalzy umpire and then other things,

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Speaker 1: and he threw me out. And so when I got

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Speaker 1: up into the clubhouse, the guy said, hey, you gotta

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Speaker 1: go back down to the dugout because we had just

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Speaker 1: changed coaches and they weren't sure that the coaches knew everybody.

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Speaker 1: It was in the bullpench and so it was extra innings.

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Speaker 1: And I went down after putting on glasses and a

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Speaker 1: hat and a T shirt, and then went into the

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Speaker 1: training room and looked to see what I looked like

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Speaker 1: and saw that they had these ice stickers that you

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Speaker 1: put underneath your eye to keep the suns from having

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Speaker 1: too much clear and one of the ice stickers, and

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Speaker 1: I put it underneath my nose along my top of

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Speaker 1: my lips, and I took another one and put it

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Speaker 1: down the other way. I looked at the guys in

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Speaker 1: the clubhouse and they said, they'll never know. And with that,

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Speaker 1: they'll never know. I went out into the dug out

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Speaker 1: and got find ten thousand dollars in a three game suspension.

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Speaker 1: And then when I threw myself on the mercy of

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Speaker 1: the court, president of the National League Uard Coleman, reduced

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Speaker 1: the three days to two days and reduced to find

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Speaker 1: from ten thousand to five to five thousands. So what

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Speaker 1: do you do? That's that whole story, so, Bobby, But

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Speaker 1: but when was the second time? Did you do it

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Speaker 1: another time? The first time I did it, I was

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Speaker 1: in the American League and I got suspended for three games,

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Speaker 1: and the league president of the and said I couldn't

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Speaker 1: be in the stadium after banning practice, and so it

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Speaker 1: was like, oh, it couldn't be in the stadium, Well,

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Speaker 1: how if we're in the Metrodome. Am I going to

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Speaker 1: watch this game? Because somehow I've got to watch this

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Speaker 1: game it's my team playing. And it wasn't TV in

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Speaker 1: the bar across the street, So I uh went to

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Speaker 1: these little street vendors and I found a led Zeppelin

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Speaker 1: T shirt and I got some baby powder. At this

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Speaker 1: time in my career, my hair was like jet black.

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Speaker 1: And I took Malcolm powder and I put it all

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Speaker 1: over my head to make my hair look like it

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Speaker 1: was gray. And I got a pair of sunglasses, and

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Speaker 1: I got a fake mustache and turned it gray, and

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Speaker 1: I put a hat as though I was going to

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Speaker 1: leave the stadium as I was directed to, and I

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Speaker 1: turned right and went up an escalator to go to

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Speaker 1: the left field bleachers. Because the only problem was on

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Speaker 1: the way up the elevator. Some Minnesota Twins fan going

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Speaker 1: down the escalator the other way look over and said, hey, Bobby,

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Speaker 1: where are you goingonds Tell me how do you how

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Speaker 1: do you rush to up what You've eaten plenty of

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Speaker 1: times in Stamford doing how long has it been opened? Well,

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Speaker 1: you know the I've been in the restaurant business for

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Speaker 1: forty years. Forty more than that, now, forty years this year,

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know, because of the COVID they are

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Speaker 1: doing terribly. Obviously we're you know, we're big attraction bars,

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Speaker 1: so hopefully we'll be able to come back. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: It's time for the pocket Protector Centrum. The analytic numbers

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Speaker 1: you need to know. Well, maybe Anthony Masterson is his name,

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Speaker 1: b S Analytics is his game. What do you got

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Speaker 1: for me, Anthony? Well, rob evaluating pictures in today's game,

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Speaker 1: as much we thant looking at a win loss record

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Speaker 1: or even e r A, with the preponderance of data

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Speaker 1: at our fingertips, we are always looking for new ways

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Speaker 1: to rank hurlers. That today we're gonna look at a

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Speaker 1: metric called SIERRA or skill Interactive d r A. Now

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Speaker 1: like SIP or d r A we talked about earlier,

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Speaker 1: SIERRA is measured by d r A, but instead of

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Speaker 1: taking into account only strikeouts, walks, and home runs like

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Speaker 1: FIP does, it uses balls and play to find out

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Speaker 1: why certain pictures are so successful at not limiting runs. Now,

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Speaker 1: strikeouts they're very good. High strikeout pictures usually allow weaker contact,

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Speaker 1: which limits runs. Walks they're bad. But pictures who limit

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Speaker 1: them will see their year and numbers improve balls and play.

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Speaker 1: That's where Sierra differs pictures who can maintain a low

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Speaker 1: batting average on balls and play or babip either by

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Speaker 1: coaxing week contact or a high strike out rate will

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Speaker 1: perform very well, according to Sierra. Now with those parameters

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Speaker 1: in mine, let's take a last year's leaderboard. No shot

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Speaker 1: at seeing guys like Cole Scherz or Verland or to

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Speaker 1: glob up there is one through four really helps to

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Speaker 1: legitimize the metric, and in fact, each of the top

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Speaker 1: twelve pitchers on the leaderboards struck out at least ten

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Speaker 1: batters for nine innings while walking less than three batters

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Speaker 1: for nine innings. Now, Sierra year to year is one

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Speaker 1: of the most accurate predictors of success for pictures and

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Speaker 1: should be one for baseball fans everywhere. To keep tabs

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Speaker 1: on going forward, and that is it was a big

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Speaker 1: week in the Big League? Is it follow? Or is

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Speaker 1: it fair? And now here's shadow league dot com. MLB

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Speaker 1: insider JR. Gambo. In a nine page letter on Instagram,

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Speaker 1: Colorado Rockies player Ian Desmond reflected on racism he's faced

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Speaker 1: to his life and recently became one of four players

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Speaker 1: sitting out the MLB season. He said he's been doing

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Speaker 1: it to improve the Sarah sols A little league parks

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Speaker 1: and inspire better Little league baseball culture at more diversity

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Speaker 1: in the game. Is Desmond sitting out the season for

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Speaker 1: these reasons? Foul or fair j r. It's fair, that's

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Speaker 1: a fair ball Ian. Destmond is by racial, which is

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Speaker 1: a completely unique experience then to most people. He says,

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Speaker 1: he sometimes feels like he belongs everywhere and nowhere all

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Speaker 1: at once. He says the image of George Floyd's murder

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Speaker 1: was his breaking point, infect him on the world wind

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Speaker 1: of reflection and the race of challenges. He said, but

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Speaker 1: just when he was in high school and a baseball

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Speaker 1: team in the circle and shout at white power before

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Speaker 1: the games, or he says, racist and sective remarks that

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Speaker 1: he heard in the pro locker room, He's kept his

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Speaker 1: emotions hidden for so long. Instead of playing this season,

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Speaker 1: he's committed to making baseball more affordable to kids. So

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Speaker 1: many African Americans get priced out of the sport, and

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Speaker 1: that hurts him because baseball has so much to offer

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Speaker 1: all kids as far as development as a person. He

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Speaker 1: also wants to change what he calls a white culture

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Speaker 1: of baseball, one that doesn't penalize black players for, in

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Speaker 1: his words, having fun, tipping home runs or playing fancy.

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Speaker 1: He thinks he will help reconnect black athletes to the

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Speaker 1: game and just make it more fun. So kudos to

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Speaker 1: I in Desmit being one of four major leagues to

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Speaker 1: sit out for acknowledging these things and wanting to help

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Speaker 1: improve baseball culture from the youth levels on up. It's

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Speaker 1: time for trash talk. Twitter, Twitter with your chance to

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Speaker 1: trash anyone or anything in Major League baseball. This week's

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Speaker 1: winner is a Lin Comma Ball is life, and he

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Speaker 1: hit me up on Twitter with his trash quote, I'm

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Speaker 1: trash and judge break off. There's absolutely no reason at

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Speaker 1: all to unseal Manford's letter to the Yankees. That investigation

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Speaker 1: is over and done with. The Yankees were fined already

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Speaker 1: for legally using a dugout phone. With everything that's going on,

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Speaker 1: there's no need to bring this up. It's old stuff.

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Speaker 1: Baseball doesn't need any more scandals. We should all just

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Speaker 1: be happy with the fact that we're having a season.

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Speaker 1: If you want to be like a Lin and win

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Speaker 1: a new era snapback hat, make sure you hit me

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Speaker 1: up with your trash all my Twitter at Rob Parker

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Speaker 1: FS one. That's right, trash anyone or anything in the

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Speaker 1: world of base Yet, when Rob was a newspaper columnist,

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Speaker 1: he lived by this motto, if I'm writing, I'm ripping.

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Speaker 1: Let's bring in a writer and broadcaster, older new All right, now,

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Speaker 1: let's welcome into the podcast Anthony Fennick. He's covered the

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Speaker 1: Detroit Tigers for seven seasons for the Detroit Free Press

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Speaker 1: and of course covers baseball. Anthony, Welcome to the podcast, Rob,

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Speaker 1: my man, thanks for having me. Always good to talk

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Speaker 1: to some ball, no doubt. And of course July one,

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Speaker 1: on Wednesday, players started to report to the makeshift spring

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Speaker 1: training or summer training, whatever you wanna call it. Uh,

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Speaker 1: just talk about the anticipation of maybe having baseball in

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Speaker 1: three weeks. I'll tell you what. I think. There's anticipation,

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Speaker 1: But to be honest with you, Rob, I think there's

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Speaker 1: more holding of the breath because I don't think anybody

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Speaker 1: knows for certain that Major League Baseball can get through

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Speaker 1: these next three weeks. With the way that the coronavirus

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Speaker 1: cases are up ticking across the country. I don't think

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Speaker 1: anybody's confident that they can get through these next three weeks,

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Speaker 1: let alone an entire sixty games season. I think that

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Speaker 1: there's still optimism, and they're calling at summer camp. I

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Speaker 1: don't know how I feel about that, but yeah, there's optimism.

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Speaker 1: But is this the baseball everybody wants to see a

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Speaker 1: sixty game season in in the height of uncertainty, So

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Speaker 1: I I think it's kind of tempered, especially with the

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Speaker 1: the bad taste that that that that remains in everybody's

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Speaker 1: mouth from the labor negotiations. I get it, but I

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Speaker 1: think at this point in the pandemic, if you're a

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Speaker 1: baseball fan, Anthony, you're just looking for if we can

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Speaker 1: get a fast and furious season, and I get all

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Speaker 1: the other stuff and what's going on, and you're right,

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Speaker 1: but if we can get a full regular postseason and

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Speaker 1: and some ball in given the circumstances, I think most

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Speaker 1: fans would take it. I think so too, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's it's it's unfortunate the players and the owners

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Speaker 1: weren't able to come to an agreement because I think

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Speaker 1: in this format sixty games, if you would have increased

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Speaker 1: the postseason teams uh to to expand the field, I

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Speaker 1: think it would have been that much more wide open,

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Speaker 1: a team like the Tigers might have an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: sneak in there. Um So I think baseball is better

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Speaker 1: than no baseball sports instead of than no sports. And

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Speaker 1: we'll just see how well. We'll just have to see

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Speaker 1: how they kind of handle it throughout the spring trainings

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Speaker 1: in the summer. Our guess is Anthony Finnicky covers the

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Speaker 1: Detroit Tigers for the Detroit Free Press. Let's talk about

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Speaker 1: some of the things we could see if there is

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Speaker 1: baseball on July three, which which is the scheduled opening day,

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Speaker 1: so all National League games will include the designated hit

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Speaker 1: or where are you on that? You like that? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: I think that's a long time coming. If it wasn't

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Speaker 1: gonna be now, was going to be at the next

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Speaker 1: c b A in a couple of years. I think

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Speaker 1: the the game has just been trending that way, and

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Speaker 1: I think that's Look, it's it's got some flaws right now,

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Speaker 1: especially in the society that has such a short attention

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Speaker 1: span as it does now. Um, I think the game

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Speaker 1: needs to pick up a little bit. And I think

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Speaker 1: that if they substitute a picture for a designated hitter guy,

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Speaker 1: that's just in there for the bat the offense will

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Speaker 1: increase and uh they'll get their goal there, so I think,

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Speaker 1: especially because it adds another high pypewce position to those

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Speaker 1: n L teams. Um, I think it's okay, But you

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Speaker 1: know what, Rob, I'm I'm gonna miss the strategy. And

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Speaker 1: I know people say a thought dated and pictures are

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Speaker 1: getting hurt and that I understand it. But there was

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Speaker 1: something unique about National League Baseball, no doubt. I'm with you.

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Speaker 1: Growing up watching National League Baseball in New York as

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Speaker 1: a kid, That's what I was accustomed to. This one,

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm I hope this is just for but putting

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Speaker 1: an extra innings, putting a runner on second base? Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, to start the inning or you know, where

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Speaker 1: are you on this or and and my my argument, Anthony,

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Speaker 1: is that and on to do want that many extra

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Speaker 1: inning games? My God, that you're making it like it

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Speaker 1: happens every day. Do you like this? No? I also

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Speaker 1: don't like the other rule change, which is the uh

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Speaker 1: you have to have a reliever finished the entire inning,

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Speaker 1: pitch to three batters, etcetera. Um, no, first extra innings?

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Speaker 1: I mean, what's gonna happen? He isn't rob They're gonna

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Speaker 1: They're gonna bund a guy over the third base and

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Speaker 1: then they can try to score with a U with

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Speaker 1: a sacrifice fly. I think that those seventeen eighteen inning games, UM,

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Speaker 1: that's part of the beauty of baseball. But I will

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Speaker 1: say that, look, this isn't a normal baseball season. I

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Speaker 1: think one of those games, if you were to have

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Speaker 1: a sixteen seventeen eighteenning game, I think that could really

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Speaker 1: handicap a team for the next week or two. And

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Speaker 1: given the fact that there's sixty games, I see where

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Speaker 1: they're coming from. I don't think it helps the brand

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Speaker 1: of baseball, the brand of game that it is. UM.

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Speaker 1: And then look at the relievers. It's like, look, is

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Speaker 1: a manager gonna have to sit there if he knows

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Speaker 1: that his reliever isn't he doesn't have it today? Is

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Speaker 1: he gonna have to sit there and watch him below

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Speaker 1: the game because of this new rule? So I don't

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Speaker 1: like either, and I think I do think baseball has

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Speaker 1: a little bit of a problem on their hands because

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Speaker 1: these rules are so new, and it's something that they

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Speaker 1: have to get more life into the game. Because these

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Speaker 1: are the best players that ever played it, but the

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Speaker 1: product is it's very poor at this time. All right,

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Speaker 1: last thing, Uh, as we said, you've covered the Tigers

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Speaker 1: for seven years and the real guy who if it

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Speaker 1: was a regular season could have had a chance to

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Speaker 1: hit his hit. Maybe, Uh, isn't he close enough to

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Speaker 1: hit home runs? Or maybe not? I think he's away.

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Speaker 1: I think I think we're talking about the same guy,

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Speaker 1: Miguel Cabrera. Right, Miguel Cabrera could have done it under

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Speaker 1: normal circumstances. I doubt he's gonna do it this year

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Speaker 1: in sixty games hit. But Miguel Cabrera, what can we expect?

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Speaker 1: Can he bounce back? Is he healthy? Or it's still

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Speaker 1: a question mark. Well, I'll tell you what, Rob, I

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Speaker 1: just got back from watching Miguel Cabrera, who was one

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Speaker 1: of my close, warm, personal friends. I watched him take

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Speaker 1: some batting practice at a local batting cage, and he

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Speaker 1: looks better than I have seen him since I've been

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Speaker 1: covering him. I mean, this guy, he's slimmed down and

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Speaker 1: he's appeared to kind of maintain that shape over the

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Speaker 1: three month layoffs. He was hitting rocket after rocket, and

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Speaker 1: I think that it's really easy to look at Miguel

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Speaker 1: Cabrera as a thirty six thirty seven year old player

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Speaker 1: who has passed his prime, it's harder to look into

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Speaker 1: a deep deeper and you know how this guy was.

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Speaker 1: This is one of the greatest right handed hitters of

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Speaker 1: all time, if not the greatest, and I think he

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Speaker 1: still has something to prove. The sixty game season should

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Speaker 1: do him well. I'm expecting big things from Cabrera in

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Speaker 1: because I think that he's he's really put in the

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Speaker 1: work to us to make his body get get his

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Speaker 1: body in shape, and that should that should help him,

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Speaker 1: especially in the sixty game all Right, his name Anthony

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Speaker 1: Fennick from the Detroit Free US. Thanks for joining us

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Speaker 1: on the podcast, Anthony, And uh, maybe, just maybe this

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Speaker 1: will all work out and we'll have baseball on July hopefully. Man,

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Speaker 1: thanks for thinking to me, Rob appreciate it. Now it's

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Speaker 1: time for some diamond Dust with wish TVs. Phil Sanchez.

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Speaker 1: He played baseball in college. Now Here is MLB knowledge.

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Speaker 1: Baseball might be right around the corner, but COVID nineteen

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Speaker 1: isn't going anywhere anytime soon, and some MLB players have

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Speaker 1: decided not to play this season because of the virus.

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Speaker 1: On Monday, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leak and Washington Nationals

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Speaker 1: first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and asked they are opting out

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Speaker 1: of the shortened season because of the pandemic, and later

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Speaker 1: in the day, Colorado Rocky down Fields are Ian Desmond

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Speaker 1: released a statement saying that he too would not be

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Speaker 1: playing this season. Desmond has four children and a pregnant

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Speaker 1: wife at home, and he said that being home this

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Speaker 1: summer is more important than playing in an In a

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Speaker 1: grand post, Desmond, who is by Raciel, also pointed to

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Speaker 1: the civil unrest as a reason for opting out of

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Speaker 1: the season. Desmond said, quote Home is where I need

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Speaker 1: to be right now. Home for my wife, Home to

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Speaker 1: help and guide, Home to answer my older boys questions

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Speaker 1: about coronavirus and civil rights and life. Home to be

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Speaker 1: their dad. End quote. Hat tip to Ian Desmond for

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Speaker 1: doing what's right for him and his family. Now bringing

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Speaker 1: the closer, Here's why MLB is better than the NFL

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Speaker 1: or NBA, and it isn't even close. Here's why baseball

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Speaker 1: is better than the NBA and the NFL, and it

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Speaker 1: ain't even close. What other sports can celebrate a player Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: July one was Bobby Bonia Day. What you're asking me,

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Speaker 1: Bobby Bonia, the former third baseman and outfielder in the

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Speaker 1: Major League. Yeah, that Bobby bone here. Somehow, some way,

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Speaker 1: the Mets owed hum five point nine million dollars, and

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Speaker 1: instead of paying them the money, they decided to defer

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Speaker 1: the payments for what seems to be Ever, so, Bobby

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Speaker 1: Bonilla on July one of every year get to check

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Speaker 1: for about one point one million dollars from the Mets.

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Speaker 1: And this has been going on. He's last he didn't

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Speaker 1: plays some plates in and he will get that check

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Speaker 1: until twenty thirty five. If you could believe that, you're

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Speaker 1: still fifty more years. So what was supposed to be

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Speaker 1: a five point nine million dollar payout has turned into

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Speaker 1: a thirty five million dollar winfall the New York Mets.

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Speaker 1: What were you thinking? You couldn't have been smart. No

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Speaker 1: other sport has such a kookie story that happens every

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Speaker 1: year on the same day. In the words of New

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Speaker 1: York TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for

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Speaker 1: your time this time until next time. Rob Parker out,

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Speaker 1: he can't get it. This could be an inside the

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Speaker 1: Parker to see you next weekend, same bad time, same

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Speaker 1: mass station h