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Speaker 1: Hello, ESP Nation, and welcome to your SB Nation World

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Speaker 1: Series Preview presented by T Mobile. I'm your host, John

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Speaker 1: Stoleness from the Phillies website, The Good Fight Phillies, of course,

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Speaker 1: nowhere near the playoffs, and yet I'm here to talk

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Speaker 1: to you ahead of the Fall Classic coming up this week.

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Speaker 1: You can follow me on Twitter at John Stoleness. But

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Speaker 1: I've got one guy on the program who's very, very

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Speaker 1: happy to get this Fall Classic underway. Chris Willis is

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Speaker 1: joining us from Talking Chop. You can follow him on

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Speaker 1: Twitter at Chris Underscore Willis. We're gonna be breaking this

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Speaker 1: thing down. And also Ashley mcclennan at ninety Feet from

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Speaker 1: Home is the Twitter handle there. She writes for d

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Speaker 1: Ray's Bay Bleed, Cubbies Blue and bless you boys. Chris, Ashley,

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Speaker 1: how's it going?

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Speaker 2: Doing good? John?

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Speaker 1: How are you doing? Chris? I imagine you're doing better

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Speaker 1: than I am. Imagine you're doing better than Ashley and me.

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Speaker 3: Right, yeah, yeah, I've overcome sadness from the the Alds

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Speaker 3: and I'm kind of just accepting life as it is

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Speaker 3: after the Rays lost there, Chris has got to be.

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Speaker 1: On cloud nin well, so much of life as acceptance, right.

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Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, yeah, it's been It's been a heck

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Speaker 2: of a rod, that's for sure. I wasn't sure i'd

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Speaker 2: be sitting back in this for this podcast. You know

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Speaker 2: when we did this week ago.

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Speaker 1: Well, if you guys will remember at the beginning when

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Speaker 1: we did our previews, this is the World Series pick.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Ashley, you didn't hear me make my NL pick,

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Speaker 1: but I picked the Braves. As Chris, I'm sure we'll remember,

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Speaker 1: because I'm sure he was shocked as a Phillies fan

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Speaker 1: that I would pick the Atlanta Braves to win the

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Speaker 1: World Series. I mean, to go to the World Series,

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Speaker 1: and that I picked the Houston Astros to win because

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Speaker 1: it felt like it felt like as a as a

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Speaker 1: Philly sports fan, the confluence of events to make me

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Speaker 1: saddest would come true. And I'm not you know, I

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Speaker 1: do love this Atlanta Braves team as as a baseball fan,

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Speaker 1: because I think it's actually a really fun team and

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Speaker 1: it's a team full of winners. And that's one of

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Speaker 1: the reasons why I had problems with them all year,

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Speaker 1: because they did figure out a way to pull out

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Speaker 1: of kind of the malays that they were in and

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Speaker 1: as far as the Astros go, I think most of

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Speaker 1: the country sees them as villains, and we're going to

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Speaker 1: talk about that coming up here in just a minute.

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Speaker 1: We'll run down the schedule, we'll talk about how both

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Speaker 1: teams got here, we'll talk about who has the edge,

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Speaker 1: and we'll make some predictions here at the end of

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Speaker 1: the podcast. But it's a really fascinating matchup between these

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Speaker 1: two teams. Tyler Kepner of The New York Times noted

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Speaker 1: this fun fact. The twenty twenty one World Series is

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Speaker 1: the first ever to feature teams that lost in the

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Speaker 1: league championship series the previous season. So both these teams

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Speaker 1: came up one step short last year, and both teams

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Speaker 1: took the next step forward. I think this is a

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Speaker 1: really interesting battle between two teams that both used to

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Speaker 1: be in the National League. This is the sixth time,

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Speaker 1: actually that the Braves and the Astros are meeting in

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Speaker 1: the postseason, but it's their first time meeting in the

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Speaker 1: playoffs since Houston moved to the AL in twenty thirteen.

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Speaker 1: The Braves eliminated the Astros in ninety seven, ninety nine,

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Speaker 1: and two thousand and one. It wasn't in the four

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Speaker 1: NLDS where the Astros eliminated the Braves in five games.

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Speaker 1: And then there was that of course two thousand and

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Speaker 1: five NLDS that was epic, that Game four that went

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Speaker 1: what was.

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Speaker 4: It eighteen innings?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and Chris Burke hit the dramatic home run. So

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Speaker 1: let's just start off here, Chris. I just want to

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Speaker 1: get your your initial thoughts. Your Atlanta Braves are playing

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Speaker 1: in the Fall Classic for the first time since nineteen

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Speaker 1: ninety nine, the first time this century.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's pretty surreal. You know, I can't say

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Speaker 2: that any of us really expected this, especially I mean

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Speaker 2: middle of Jude, you know, middle of July, Ronald Counya

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Speaker 2: goes down with the season ending injury, and you know

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Speaker 2: we were talking about whether they needed to sell or not.

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Speaker 2: You know, obviously they didn't do that. You know, it's

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Speaker 2: just another it's just another example of that it's not

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Speaker 2: necessarily the best roster that it wins at baseball. It's

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Speaker 2: the team that's playing the best baseball at the end

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Speaker 2: of the season. And the Braves are in that conversation.

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Speaker 2: They've been really good since the middle of August. On

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Speaker 2: made some great moves. That's the trade deadline picked up

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Speaker 2: a lot of key players there, completely remade their outfield,

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Speaker 2: and you know, they've played really well in the postseason.

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Speaker 2: They've done what they needed to do. They've got I

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Speaker 2: would say, you know, when you look at it overall,

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Speaker 2: I'd say they're starting pitching has has for the most

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Speaker 2: part carried them, and their bullpens done the job as well.

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Speaker 2: Mix in a little bit of timely hitting and here

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Speaker 2: we are.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. We do find Ashley that in these playoff series,

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Speaker 1: the teams that pile up all the wins during the

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Speaker 1: regular season doesn't necessarily that doesn't necessarily equate to playoff success.

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Speaker 1: Ask Billy Bean, you know how many times has he

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Speaker 1: had tremendous regular seasons and fallen short in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: We say it all the time. The post season really

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Speaker 1: is a crapshoot.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I know we talked about the AL preview.

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Speaker 3: I said that the postseason is such a huge kind

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Speaker 3: of luck of the draw, like it really is. You

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Speaker 3: look at that Houston Astros Boston Red Sox series. The

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Speaker 3: Red Sox hit three Grand Slams in two days. There

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Speaker 3: were twenty five runs over those first two games, and

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Speaker 3: they looked like an absolutely unstoppable horse. They had just

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Speaker 3: taken down the Rays, who were really the strongest team

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Speaker 3: in all of the American League, and they just obliterated

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Speaker 3: them in the Alds, much to my chagrin, and then

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Speaker 3: they went up against the Astros and it was just

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Speaker 3: those first two games really looked like the Astros were

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Speaker 3: done for and it just turned around like they figured

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Speaker 3: themselves out.

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Speaker 4: And I think that's a.

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Speaker 3: Real testament to the Astro's ability to kind of balance

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Speaker 3: themselves out in the postseason. They had a really strong

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Speaker 3: team going through the entirety of the twenty twenty one season.

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Speaker 3: Really like in a fairly decent Al West, they were

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Speaker 3: fairly competitive.

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Speaker 4: I mean, it was kind of down to the wire.

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Speaker 4: The Mariners had.

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Speaker 3: A pretty good run there towards the end, and the

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Speaker 3: A's had a strong kind of middle of the season.

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Speaker 3: But the Astros, really, I don't think we're in much

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Speaker 3: doubt of their ability to kind of finish out the

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Speaker 3: year strong. They've had that strong core that has remained

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Speaker 3: the same since twenty sixteen twenty seventeen, and I think

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Speaker 3: that they've really proven why they deserve to be here

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Speaker 3: because they've made those adjustments and they were able to

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Speaker 3: kind of balance things out. I think it's going to

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Speaker 3: be really interesting to see them go up against the Braves, though,

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Speaker 3: because the Braves were a team where it was a

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Speaker 3: very uncertain year for them. They were sub five hundred

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Speaker 3: for the first half of the season. A Kuna Junior

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Speaker 3: went down, obviously, that was a real bummer for not

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Speaker 3: just Braves fans, but anybody who likes young talented players,

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Speaker 3: because he was having such a good year. I think

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Speaker 3: he still ended up in top three war for the

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Speaker 3: entire team even though he only played half the year.

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Speaker 1: I think that's exactly right. Yeah, he was.

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Speaker 3: Having just a tremendous season. But I think it's really

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Speaker 3: going to come down to the Astros are one of

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Speaker 3: the best offensive teams in baseball bar none, and the

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Speaker 3: Braves are one of the best pitching teams this postseason.

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Speaker 3: So they bested the Dodgers, and the Dodgers were a

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Speaker 3: team that went out and spent on pitch and I

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Speaker 3: won one hundred and six games in the regular season

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Speaker 3: or whatever it was, one hundred and three hundred and

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Speaker 3: six something ludicrous like that, and I think that shows

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Speaker 3: that mean they went out and picked up Charlie Morton

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Speaker 3: at the beginning of the year when the Rais didn't

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Speaker 3: want to pay the fifteen.

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Speaker 4: Million or whatever it was.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it's I think it's really going to

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Speaker 3: come down to pitching versus hitting for these guys.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and you mentioned Houston figured it out in those

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Speaker 1: last three games. Momentum is only as good as the

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Speaker 1: next day starter, and Houston proved that in those last

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Speaker 1: three games of the series, especially the last two with

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Speaker 1: Franber Valdez and Luis Garcia just dominating the Red Sox

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Speaker 1: in those games. I want to lay out the schedule

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Speaker 1: for everybody for this week so to get World Series.

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Speaker 1: We'll start on Tuesday night in Houston. Games one and

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Speaker 1: two will be in Houston. Atlanta host games three, four,

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Speaker 1: and five on Friday, Saturday Sunday, and then of course

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Speaker 1: Game five is if needed on Sunday Halloween Night, and

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Speaker 1: Game six and seven, if needed in Houston on Tuesday

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Speaker 1: and Wednesday of next week. We've talked about you talking

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Speaker 1: about the Ashos just a second there, Ashley, and you

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Speaker 1: know they were kind of a silent assassins the whole season.

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Speaker 1: No one was talking about the Astros, nobody, I mean

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Speaker 1: the White Sox where the fun team with all of

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Speaker 1: the flashy stars, and you know, you had the the

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Speaker 1: Al East battle going on all year there are the

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Speaker 1: Yankees were up and then the Rankies were down and

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Speaker 1: the Red Sox were up in the Red Sox and

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Speaker 1: he had to raise just plodding along but doing their

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Speaker 1: small market thing. Why where they went over ninety games

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Speaker 1: and no one was talking about the Astros all season long,

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Speaker 1: mostly because I don't think people want to talk about

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Speaker 1: the Astros for the most part. But Dusty Baker comes in,

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Speaker 1: seems to settle everything down and does what he does.

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Speaker 1: You know, Dusty Baker is a winning manager, always has been,

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Speaker 1: but amazingly, this is his first ever. This is he

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Speaker 1: has a chance to win his first ever World Series.

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Speaker 1: Of course, he got there with the Giants back in

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Speaker 1: two thousand and two when he lost to the Angels

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Speaker 1: with Barry Bonds. But he's the first manager in Big

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Speaker 1: League history to lead five different teams to division titles.

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Speaker 1: He's the ninth manager to win both an AL and

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Speaker 1: an NL pennant. From from twenty three to twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 1: Baker managed teams lost ten straight postseason closeout games where

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Speaker 1: they had an opportunity to move to the next round

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Speaker 1: of the playoffs, which is just a crazy number. He's

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Speaker 1: back in the World Series for the first time since

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Speaker 1: the Giants lost to the Angels. That's the longest span

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Speaker 1: between World Series appearances since Bucky Harris was a player

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Speaker 1: manager for the Washington Senators in nineteen twenty five and

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Speaker 1: then the manager for the Yankees in nineteen forty seven.

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Speaker 1: He has managed over thirty seven hundred regular season baseball games.

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Speaker 1: So my question to you, Chris, let me start off

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Speaker 1: with you on this one. Does he need to win

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Speaker 1: the World Series to get into the Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 2: I think so. I think that's the one piece that's

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Speaker 2: missing from his resume. You know, I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: I think he is the he is the kind of

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Speaker 2: the story here for the Astros too. Is just the

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Speaker 2: way he kind of came in and a tough, tough

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Speaker 2: time and you know, went to war with those guys,

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Speaker 2: took up for them and solidified him. You know, I

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Speaker 2: think he's had a Hall of Fame career, but I

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Speaker 2: think he does need that World Series win to just

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Speaker 2: completely validate him as a Hall of Fame candidate.

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Speaker 1: You agree, Ashley, Yeah, I'd agree.

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Speaker 3: I think what we've seen time and time again with

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Speaker 3: the world with the Hall of Fame, is that they

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Speaker 3: really do like those titles. They like to see things

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Speaker 3: like World Series Winner. The ring really does make a

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Speaker 3: huge difference in terms of, you know, getting past that

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Speaker 3: gait and into the Hall. I think Dusty's been a

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Speaker 3: really tremendous story for the Astros because he's such a

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Speaker 3: likable guy, and I think people want to root for

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Speaker 3: Dusty even when they don't want to root for the Astros,

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Speaker 3: which you really want to see him succeed. And I think,

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Speaker 3: like Chris said, he's really kind of stood up for

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Speaker 3: that team, but not just in terms of how he's

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Speaker 3: led them on the field. He has proven, I think

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Speaker 3: time and time again throughout the season to really stand

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Speaker 3: up for them in press conferences when people are saying

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Speaker 3: kind of snide remarks about, oh, maybe they're hitting so

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Speaker 3: well in this game because they're cheating again, or you know,

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Speaker 3: maybe this or that. I don't stand for it. He's

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Speaker 3: just like, you know, we're here because we're good. My

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Speaker 3: guys are good players. We're not going to listen to that.

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Speaker 3: And I think that that's really shown that, you know,

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Speaker 3: even though the Astros have kind of become the villain

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Speaker 3: of MLB. They have a manager behind them who's coming

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Speaker 3: after the fact and is willing to kind of stand

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Speaker 3: up for those guys. And I think that speaks hugely

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Speaker 3: of Dusty himself, and I unfortunately do agree that I

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Speaker 3: think he does need to have that ring to get

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Speaker 3: them to the Hall of Fame.

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Speaker 1: I would agree with you, guys, but he was really

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Speaker 1: the manager they had to have following that scandal. I

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Speaker 1: mean he because you, like you said, he is so likable.

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Speaker 1: He's like the friendliest, nicest guy in Major League Baseball.

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Speaker 1: Everybody universally loves Dusty Baker and it's almost impossible to

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Speaker 1: root for him, and so by extension, you have to

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Speaker 1: for the Astros if you're rooting for Dusty Baker here

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Speaker 1: and so let's talk about how the Astros got here.

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Speaker 1: They beat the Red Sox in six games to reach

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Speaker 1: their first World Series since way back in twenty nineteen.

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Speaker 1: Most of us were gosh, I don't know, still adults

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Speaker 1: when it happened. They were down two to one in

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Speaker 1: the series before winning the last three games. As we mentioned,

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Speaker 1: Boston scored twenty five runs in the first three games

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Speaker 1: of that series and then Astro's pitching shut them down

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Speaker 1: to three runs over the last three games. I saw

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Speaker 1: an interesting stat I don't remember if it was from

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Speaker 1: MLB stats. I think that's the Twitter handle. They were

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Speaker 1: comparing Houston's core to the Yankees' core of the two thousands.

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Speaker 1: Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams played seventy

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Speaker 1: one games together. Houston's force, some of Altuve, Alex Bregman,

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Speaker 1: Carlos Korea, and Julie Gariel have comblined for sixty seven

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Speaker 1: postseason games together, second most all time, which, Ashley to you,

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Speaker 1: is the better the better force him there.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god, that's tough because I hate the Yankees.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's really hard to speak ill of a

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Speaker 3: team that really accomplished what those guys did. But recency

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Speaker 3: bias kind of has to tilt me towards the Astros

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Speaker 3: because they've been consistently good, not only in the regular season,

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Speaker 3: but those guys maintain in the postseason. And they've proven

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Speaker 3: that time and time again because they've been in the

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Speaker 3: postseason so much, which is kind of ridiculous actually, just

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Speaker 3: how much they've made it into postseason baseball over the past.

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Speaker 4: Four or five years. I gotta go.

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Speaker 3: I had Oh god, it pains me. This whole thing

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Speaker 3: hurts me. It got to go with the Astros, I think.

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Speaker 3: And there's probably if I go and look at the stats,

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Speaker 3: somebody's gonna punch me on Twitter and.

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Speaker 4: Be like, are you serious? But no, I'll go with

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Speaker 4: the Astros on this one.

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Speaker 1: Chris, what do you think?

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Speaker 2: Well, I'm no fan of the Yankees either, and you know,

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Speaker 2: the Braves were victims of some of those teams, so

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Speaker 2: but uh, you know, it's a different are the numbers

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Speaker 2: are elevated now for the Astros. But you know, I've

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Speaker 2: got to go with that Yankees group just because the rings.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they won that Cord, won a lot of championships,

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Speaker 2: and uh, you know, they weren't my favorite team and

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Speaker 2: I got tired of seeing them there, but you know

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Speaker 2: they were They set the bar pretty high for for

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Speaker 2: what I considered like a dynasty, a group of guys

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Speaker 2: that's stuck together. One year in you're out.

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Speaker 1: Well, and that's the thing is I agree with you.

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Speaker 1: I think the Yankees for me are the are the

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Speaker 1: more dynamic forces, assumably because they did win more World

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Speaker 1: Series together, but that you know, we all look at

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Speaker 1: that Yankees group as a dynasty, and I think that

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Speaker 1: begs the question, are the Astros a dynasty? You know,

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Speaker 1: even if they lose this World Series? Are are they

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Speaker 1: a dynasty? And if they win it, is it a

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Speaker 1: lock for sure?

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Speaker 4: I don't think so.

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Speaker 3: I think what it comes down to is I think

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Speaker 3: it's been a sensational team, and like I said, they've

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Speaker 3: accomplished so much, especially over the last five years, especially

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Speaker 3: when you think of the projection they've gone on from

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Speaker 3: coming to the Ale and you know, starting out kind

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Speaker 3: of as the.

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Speaker 4: Underdogs that you would kind of tease like, oh.

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Speaker 3: Someday an Astro's Cubs World Series, uhha, And I made

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Speaker 3: that joke constantly, and then both of them won the

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Speaker 3: World Series back to back years. But I think to win,

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Speaker 3: or to have that kind of concept of a dynasty,

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Speaker 3: to be a dynasty, you have to do what the

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Speaker 3: Yankees did. You have to win and win and win

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Speaker 3: and win. And I don't think we'll I don't know

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Speaker 3: that we'll ever see that in baseball again, the way

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Speaker 3: that that kind of like late nineties, you know, Yankees

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Speaker 3: team really just dominated everything. I think the Yankees fans

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Speaker 3: are still coasting off of that twenty years later. So

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Speaker 3: I think without the wins, people will forget how good

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Speaker 3: these astros were season after season because they didn't get

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Speaker 3: the rings season after season.

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Speaker 1: But if they get it this year, that'll be two

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Speaker 1: rings in the span of what is it, five years.

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Speaker 3: Do we consider the Giants to be a dynasty because

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Speaker 3: they have I mean, nobody really talks Giants dynasty, and

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Speaker 3: I think you'd have to have them in the same conversation.

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Speaker 3: But they kind of flux in between seasons where they're

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Speaker 3: not as good, and I think if it's just a

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Speaker 3: matter of the rings in you know, five years apart,

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Speaker 3: I don't know.

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Speaker 4: To me, that's not a dynasty, see Chris.

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Speaker 1: To me, I think it is because when we think

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Speaker 1: back to that big red machine of the Cincinnati Reds

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Speaker 1: in the seventies, I think we think of them as

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Speaker 1: as a dynasty and they won two titles. I think

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Speaker 1: if Houston gets a second title here and they will

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Speaker 1: have played in I get the four three World Series

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Speaker 1: during during the span of the last five years. To me,

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Speaker 1: that to me, that does it. But this is such

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Speaker 1: a subjective question, Uh, it really really is. No right

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Speaker 1: or wrong answer. But Chris, what do you think?

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Speaker 2: I agree with you. I think they're on the right

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Speaker 2: path to be called, uh a dynasty. I think you've

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Speaker 2: got to get They've got to get to win this year.

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Speaker 2: That'll give them two. You know, you can look back

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Speaker 2: at those the nineties Braves. I mean, they're still in

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Speaker 2: an argument whether you consider that a dynasty. And they

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Speaker 2: just didn't have enough. They didn't win the World Series enough.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they were there a lot, but you know,

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Speaker 2: I think at the end of the day, you know,

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Speaker 2: it's you've got to you've got to be in the

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Speaker 2: postseason consistently, and you've got to win in even if

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Speaker 2: there is you've got to be in World serieses and

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Speaker 2: and be successful. And I think that's you know, for me,

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Speaker 2: the Yankees team is probably the last true dynasty we've

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Speaker 2: seen and now, but I do think the Astros would

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Speaker 2: be on their way if they if they are able

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Speaker 2: to pull this out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think that's fair. And you're really you're

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Speaker 1: right that Yankees team was the last dynasty that we've

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Speaker 1: seen in Major League Baseball. And it just it depends on,

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Speaker 1: you know, what kind of criteria that you want to use.

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Speaker 1: To me, dynasty is just kind of a feel thing.

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Speaker 1: You know. The Giants don't feel like a dynasty despite

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Speaker 1: three World series and five seasons, I think because so

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Speaker 1: much of those different teams were so different from one another.

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Speaker 1: I think the thing you get about a dynasty is

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Speaker 1: it's kind of the same players year in and year out.

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Speaker 1: Whereas That's why I would lean towards yes with the Astros,

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Speaker 1: especially if they win this year, because of the core

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Speaker 1: that's been there. It's been a lot of those same guys.

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Speaker 1: But I wonder too if the cheating scandal factors into that,

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Speaker 1: because I know there's a strong, a large segment of

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Speaker 1: the population that doesn't really feel like the twenty seventeen

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Speaker 1: World Series was legitimate. So what actually what does a

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Speaker 1: World Series win for the Astros this year mean for

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Speaker 1: the whole scandal? Does it change anything, does it make

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Speaker 1: any comments, does it legitimize any feeling Astros fans have had.

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Speaker 3: I think for Astros fans it would very much feel

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Speaker 3: like a ye, see, they are good enough. They are

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Speaker 3: that good of a team, because I don't think the

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Speaker 3: core Astros fans ever felt any differently. I think when

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Speaker 3: things came out in twenty seventeen, they were like, look,

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Speaker 3: it was something that happened, and yeah, that sucks, let's

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Speaker 3: never talk about it again. And obviously we've continued to

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Speaker 3: talk about it for four years and it is still definitely,

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Speaker 3: I think, on the back of most people's minds when

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Speaker 3: they talk about the Astros, because it is that same

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Speaker 3: core group of guys, and none of those guys received

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Speaker 3: any kind of punishment aside from you know, kind of

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Speaker 3: public sentiment surrounding.

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Speaker 1: Them, like the shame going through the courtyard, yeaing of

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Speaker 1: the bell.

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Speaker 3: Inflatable garbage cans getting tossed onto the field, and to

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Speaker 3: this day would still love to know how people got

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Speaker 3: those into the stadiums.

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Speaker 4: But I digress.

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Speaker 3: I think that for anybody who isn't an Astros fan,

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Speaker 3: that is still lurk at the back of the minds

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Speaker 3: of everybody. I don't think that that's not saying they're

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Speaker 3: doing anything this season. I want to make that really clear.

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Speaker 3: There's nothing going on. Obviously, there's a lot of things

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Speaker 3: in place to keep that from happening now, no matter

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Speaker 3: what people want to say. I think the other thing

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Speaker 3: we have to remember is that while the Astros got

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Speaker 3: caught and they were doing it in a really dumb way.

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Speaker 3: It's pretty much common knowledge that cheating and science dealing

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Speaker 3: is something that happens across the board. The Red Sox

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Speaker 3: had it kind of their own version of it and

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Speaker 3: had to like, you know, pay their dividends, And nobody

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Speaker 3: talks about the Red Sox scandal whatsoever, and it was

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Speaker 3: almost the same thing on a lesser scale. But I

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Speaker 3: think that the Houston's going to have to work to

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Speaker 3: get out from under that. And I think that anybody

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Speaker 3: that would say that this isn't a legitimate win if

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Speaker 3: they win is just kind of sour grapesing it. But

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Speaker 3: I think there's no way to get away from discussion

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Speaker 3: of that twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 4: And I don't think it was an invalid win.

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Speaker 3: I think, yeah, they did kind of a shady thing

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Speaker 3: during the season, and I haven't liked them much since,

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Speaker 3: even though I really cheered for them that season because

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Speaker 3: I'm wanted Verlander to get his ring. I think what

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Speaker 3: they've done, though, is set out to prove themselves consistently

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Speaker 3: since then, to be like, yeah, okay, so we did

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Speaker 3: this and it wasn't great, but we are still great

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Speaker 3: baseball players, and we played great, great games, and they've

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Speaker 3: won and won and won since then, just not at

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Speaker 3: the World Series level. So yeah, I mean, it's not

434
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 3: to say, and I'm so sorry for doing this to Chris,

435
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 3: it's not to say that the Braves aren't without their

436
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 3: own scandals, right. I mean, there was the international signing issue.

437
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 3: There's obviously, you know, NonStop discussion of the chop and

438
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,600
Speaker 3: why that's still a thing. So neither team is really

439
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 3: without kind of the slightest bit of bad, you know,

440
00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,240
Speaker 3: history on their side.

441
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 4: But yeah, it's it's.

442
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,120
Speaker 3: Interesting for the Astros because they deserve to be where

443
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,800
Speaker 3: they are, but their history is kind of going to

444
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:52,760
Speaker 3: taint them no matter what.

445
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,080
Speaker 1: Chris, what do you think? I mean, does does it

446
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,679
Speaker 1: change anything about twenty seventeen the cheating scandal if they

447
00:20:58,680 --> 00:20:59,960
Speaker 1: do go on to win this year.

448
00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,640
Speaker 2: I think it helps validate that core a little bit

449
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 2: because there were a lot of people, there was a

450
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,720
Speaker 2: lot of talk like these guys aren't going to be good,

451
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,680
Speaker 2: and then they struggled a little bit. Coming out right after,

452
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,000
Speaker 2: right after it all came out, made you made it

453
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,080
Speaker 2: look like, maybe you know, they were relying on it heavily.

454
00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,080
Speaker 2: But I think it validates them, but I do think

455
00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,359
Speaker 2: it hurts them in that dynasty talk we we we

456
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,159
Speaker 2: had just had, because there's a lot of people that

457
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,280
Speaker 2: will never look at, never accept that World Series result,

458
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,760
Speaker 2: and we'll will never you know it, will never consider

459
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,840
Speaker 2: It'll we won't be part of the equation when they're

460
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,320
Speaker 2: talking about, you know, how this roster performed over those years.

461
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 2: But uh, you know, I'm tired of hearing about it. Honestly,

462
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,560
Speaker 2: I didn't like it. I think they took it and ran.

463
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 2: I think they were you know, I mean, you're banging

464
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,520
Speaker 2: on trash cans where everybody can hear it. That's one thing,

465
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,000
Speaker 2: But I do feel like they weren't the only team.

466
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,400
Speaker 2: They're probably still not the only team. You know, they're

467
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,800
Speaker 2: still if these guys, these teams are going to push

468
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 2: the envelope always, and you know, I think they were.

469
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 2: Obviously they were. The League made an example out of

470
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 2: them to discourage this future. So you know, I'm that's

471
00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,920
Speaker 2: something I really hope we don't hear a whole lot

472
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 2: about in this series, but I'm sure we will.

473
00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 1: So we'll step away, take a quick break, and when

474
00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:18,880
Speaker 1: we come back, we'll talk about how the Braves got

475
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 1: here because it's a very interesting path that the Braves

476
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 1: took and lots of storylines from that. Plus we will

477
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 1: give our predictions for the Fall Classic coming up this week,

478
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,840
Speaker 1: so stick around. We'll be right back with more of

479
00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,679
Speaker 1: the ESP Nation World Series Preview presented by T Mobile.

480
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,879
Speaker 1: And welcome back to the ESP Nation World Series Preview

481
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: presented by T Mobile. I'm John Stone is joined by

482
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,440
Speaker 1: Chris Willis of Talking Chop and Ashley mcclennan from d

483
00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,359
Speaker 1: Ray's Bay Bleed Cubbies Blue Bless you boys. We are

484
00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 1: breaking down the Fall Classic, which gets underway this week,

485
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about how the Atlanta Braves

486
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 1: got to the Fall Classic again, beating the Dodgers in

487
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 1: six games to reach their first World Series since nineteen

488
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 1: ninety nine. They went eighty eight and seventy three and

489
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,719
Speaker 1: won the National League East this year, and like Chris mentioned,

490
00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 1: it was important to remember that the Braves did not

491
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,239
Speaker 1: have a winning record until August of this year. This

492
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:09,719
Speaker 1: is an incredible stat They went their first one hundred

493
00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: eleven games this year before crossing the five hundred mark.

494
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,239
Speaker 1: That is by far the most of any team who

495
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,880
Speaker 1: has ever won the Pennant. The nineteen fourteen Braves are

496
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 1: the next closest at ninety one games, and then you've

497
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,040
Speaker 1: got the seventy nine Pirates at forty three and the

498
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: eighty five Cardinals at forty one. So pretty incredible late

499
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,879
Speaker 1: season run that the Atlanta Braves went on, and they

500
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,400
Speaker 1: played in a division where they didn't have a whole

501
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,960
Speaker 1: lot of really strong competition there at the end of

502
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,399
Speaker 1: the season. But Chris, as you mentioned, really caught fire

503
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,160
Speaker 1: towards the end of the season here. And how did

504
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,679
Speaker 1: they do it? I guess that's the big question. How

505
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 1: did they catch fire? For folks who are not, you know,

506
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: fans of teams that played them a lot this year,

507
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,680
Speaker 1: Unlike me, I know how they did it. But how

508
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 1: did the Atlanta Braves manage to really right the ship

509
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 1: without Ronald Acune Junior?

510
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 2: Well, I think the trade deadline was obviously huge, but

511
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 2: that was just a part of it too. Freddy Freeman

512
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:07,719
Speaker 2: got off to a really slow start, Ozzy Alby's a

513
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 2: lot of the team, a lot of the regulars, you know,

514
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 2: were off to slow starts. Once the trade deadline passed,

515
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,159
Speaker 2: they got Jack Peterson, they got Jorgees Solaire, Adam Duvall

516
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,840
Speaker 2: added those guys to the mix, got Travis Darno back

517
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 2: from injury he missed three months with a with a

518
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,120
Speaker 2: thumb injury. You know, once they got those guys back

519
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 2: in there and that lineup started being more consistent, they

520
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,160
Speaker 2: all started performing and they got they got red hot,

521
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 2: the pitching came around, the bullpen count uh solidified and

522
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 2: and they got on a roll. There was that road

523
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:43,920
Speaker 2: trip I think it was in August, late August or

524
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,119
Speaker 2: early September, where they went on the road and they

525
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,359
Speaker 2: played they played the Orioles, the Marlins and the Nationals,

526
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:51,960
Speaker 2: and it was one of those trips where they just

527
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:55,360
Speaker 2: absolutely had to win. And you know those are even

528
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 2: though you're playing lesser competition, it's hard to go out

529
00:24:57,640 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 2: and win every single day. And they they won nine

530
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 2: straight after you know, not being able to string anything together,

531
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 2: and that just kind of set them on their way,

532
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 2: and they really haven't looked back a whole lot. They

533
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:12,320
Speaker 2: had a two difficult West Coast trips down over the

534
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 2: final two months. You know, they pretty much held that

535
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,479
Speaker 2: up with playing the Giants Padres especially, and you know,

536
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,440
Speaker 2: they just kind of rolled theirself into the end of

537
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 2: the postseason. I think one good thing is in the

538
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,360
Speaker 2: past for a lot of these Braves teams, we've seen

539
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,280
Speaker 2: them clinch early and spend the last two weeks just

540
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 2: kind of fumbling around and going through the motions. This

541
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,800
Speaker 2: team had to play all the way to the final week.

542
00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 2: They had that key series with the Phillies where they clinched.

543
00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 2: They had one, you know one I think it was

544
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 2: three games with the Mats that didn't mean anything to

545
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 2: get ready, and then they rolled straight into the postseason.

546
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 2: And I think that's that's played a huge part in there,

547
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,120
Speaker 2: in the momentum they've built up.

548
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Ashley, how surprised were you that the Braves

549
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,480
Speaker 1: were actually able to take that momentum and really take

550
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 1: it to the Dodgers in that NLCS. I mean, I

551
00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 1: know that Dodgers had some issues with injuries, but I

552
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 1: mean that's still a one hundred and six win team

553
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,439
Speaker 1: that the Atlanta Braves and eighty eight win team took out.

554
00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 1: It's a huge upset.

555
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,120
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I was kind of shocked.

556
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 3: I think what we saw was some surprising struggles from

557
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,800
Speaker 3: the Dodgers pitching. I really think that that just nobody

558
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:23,240
Speaker 3: could have expected kind of that implosion of the pitching

559
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 3: that went on with the Dodgers, and obviously the Braves

560
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 3: were able to really take advantage of that that they

561
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,919
Speaker 3: had strong pitching of their own to balance it out,

562
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:33,160
Speaker 3: which I think had they not, then the Dodgers really

563
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,560
Speaker 3: could have kind of taken them to town because obviously

564
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 3: they're very offensively strong team. So I think it was

565
00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,040
Speaker 3: just like we've said before, like small series and everything

566
00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 3: going right for one team and everything kind of going

567
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,360
Speaker 3: wrong for another, And that is something that you see

568
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 3: in the postseason, Like it's just one of those things

569
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 3: that I don't think. I don't think most people predicting

570
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,400
Speaker 3: the World Series what it would come down to, would

571
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,919
Speaker 3: have said that the Braves would get past the Giants

572
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 3: or the Dodgers, right Like, however that one went, You're like, no, no,

573
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 3: that's not going to be how that works, and lo

574
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 3: and behold, they're surprising everybody. And I think that that's

575
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,639
Speaker 3: just kind of the beauty of postseason baseball is that

576
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,919
Speaker 3: it's kind of stopped being what it was originally. Like

577
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 3: back in the day it was best record versus best record.

578
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,160
Speaker 3: There's a World Series, whoever wins is the best team

579
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,119
Speaker 3: in baseball? And now it's really like how adaptable is

580
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 3: your team and how can you learn to play in

581
00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 3: different scenarios and how good are you over the short term.

582
00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 3: And I think we're seeing teams that are great over

583
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,959
Speaker 3: the long run getting crushed. Like every team that had

584
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,000
Speaker 3: over one hundred wins this season is no longer here.

585
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,480
Speaker 3: And I think that that kind of speaks to the

586
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,880
Speaker 3: resilience of the teams that are left. And the Braves

587
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 3: have kind of proven themselves to be that over the

588
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 3: course of the entire season, coming back from really serious

589
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 3: injury and like really building themselves up in unexpected ways.

590
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 3: While I am surprised that they are the ones here

591
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 3: for the World Series, I'm not surprised.

592
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 4: As to why.

593
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 1: And I do want to talk about that trade deadline, Chris,

594
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,320
Speaker 1: because really, what Alex Anthopolis did I thought was was

595
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'd say he pushed his chips

596
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 1: into the middle. You know, he didn't go out and

597
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: add the Superstars, but he he he went to he

598
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:21,159
Speaker 1: went to Walmart, and he he did some bulk purchase,

599
00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like he went and he

600
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: got he went and got Jack Peterson, Jorge Solaier, Eddie Rosario.

601
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,000
Speaker 1: I'm blanking on the fourth guy now that the Adam

602
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:34,120
Speaker 1: do Bal thank you and Eddie and Eddie Rosario has

603
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:36,920
Speaker 1: an NLCS for the Ages. I mean, he he set

604
00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 1: the tie the record for for most hits in his

605
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 1: series UH, set the record for batting average on base

606
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 1: percentage UH, slugging percentage OPS for for for a National

607
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 1: Championship Series. I mean, just what an unbelievable series that

608
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,560
Speaker 1: he had. But there's no way that Anthopolis could have

609
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 1: known that those guys, especially Rosario here in the postseason,

610
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 1: and I know, you know, a couple other guys had

611
00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: some really big moments as well. Jack Peterson in the

612
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,360
Speaker 1: NLD against the Brewers had some big home runs. He

613
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,600
Speaker 1: couldn't he couldn't have predicted that he would get that

614
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:05,920
Speaker 1: kind of production out of those guys.

615
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 2: No, I think you're right, and you know, and I've

616
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 2: got my own suspicions about kind of what the plan

617
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 2: was when he acquired them, but I think he just

618
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 2: looked at his team and they needed depth as much

619
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 2: as anything. He went out and got four guys and

620
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,640
Speaker 2: they were going to play the three that were playing well,

621
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:24,960
Speaker 2: and the fourth guy was going to make their bench better.

622
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 2: I mean, this was a team, you know, no offense

623
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 2: to any of the guys that were trying to fill

624
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,560
Speaker 2: in after after the Braves, the outfit was decimated, but

625
00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,480
Speaker 2: you know, they just weren't they were running out major

626
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 2: league caliber options in the corners, and especially after a

627
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 2: Canue left, you know. I mean, so it was it

628
00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:49,120
Speaker 2: was amazing. And Eddie Rosario was kind of the afterthought.

629
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 2: He was on the injured lest when they acquired him.

630
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:55,280
Speaker 2: There wasn't even they weren't even certain that how much

631
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,520
Speaker 2: of an impact he would have at the at the

632
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 2: when he was acquired and when he first was activated,

633
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 2: you know, it looked like he was going to be

634
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 2: the bench guy. And you know, a week later he's starting,

635
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 2: and John Peterson's John Peterson's now the bench guy, and

636
00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 2: Rosarios he started hitting and he's never stopped. And that's

637
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 2: kind of where it's kind of where we're at, you know,

638
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, that's one thing about the

639
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:21,400
Speaker 2: World Series with the DH coming back, the Brads are

640
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:22,800
Speaker 2: going to be able to put all four of these

641
00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,520
Speaker 2: guys in the lineup, you know, which should should help them.

642
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 2: So it's been it was crazy and the most I

643
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 2: think the most unbelievable thing out of all of it

644
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 2: is Alison Tooples didn't pushing any of his prospects in

645
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:40,440
Speaker 2: and trade him. I mean, you know, I think the

646
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,600
Speaker 2: highest ranked prospect might have been Bryce Ball who went

647
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 2: to the Cubs, and he was back in top thirty

648
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,360
Speaker 2: for some publications, So you know, it wasn't like he

649
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 2: was going out and trading his best prospects for you know,

650
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 2: a shot in the dark that they would get hot

651
00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 2: and get to the postseason. You know, but he he

652
00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:04,720
Speaker 2: did a good job supplement in the roster and everybody

653
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 2: else got to rolling.

654
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,280
Speaker 1: It's incredible. He had a six eighty five OPS in

655
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,040
Speaker 1: seventy eight games with Cleveland before the trade, and then

656
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: a nine to zero three OPS with Atlanta in the

657
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,640
Speaker 1: regular season after the trade, and then of course we

658
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 1: see what he's done in the postseason here, and you know, Ashley,

659
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:22,640
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we're looking too at a Braves

660
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: team here that also has a little bit of demons

661
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 1: to exercise. Getting back to the World Series is obviously huge,

662
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 1: you know, the first time back since since nineteen ninety nine.

663
00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:31,560
Speaker 1: They hadn't been to a World Series with the two

664
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,520
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year, yeah, so it's a

665
00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 1: pretty big deal. But you know, they had even going

666
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: back further than that, thirteen straight NIS titles in the

667
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: nineties and two thousands. They won the World Series in

668
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 1: ninety five, after losing in ninety one and ninety two,

669
00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 1: falling short in the NLCS and ninety three. Since ninety five,

670
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 1: they've been to the playoffs sixteen times without winning another title,

671
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,320
Speaker 1: so it's not like they haven't had their chances. How

672
00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,040
Speaker 1: much would a title this year erase those past failures.

673
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 3: I think it would be huge for them this year,

674
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 3: especially after coming so close last year. And I think

675
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:05,960
Speaker 3: you know that we talk about kind of wins with

676
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 3: asterixes on them, and I think a lot of people

677
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 3: thought twenty twenty was going to be one of those seasons.

678
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,760
Speaker 3: But I don't think anybody has taken the win that

679
00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 3: the Dodgers had away. I think it feels valid that

680
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 3: was a crazy World Series, and you know that the

681
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,840
Speaker 3: Braves would have wanted to be there, And I think

682
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,400
Speaker 3: for a team that hasn't won since nineteen ninety five,

683
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 3: hasn't been since nineteen ninety nine, I think there's a

684
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,440
Speaker 3: level of hunger there that probably doesn't exist for the

685
00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 3: astros who have definitely won it, but they've been in

686
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 3: the postseason so consistently. They've been to the World Series

687
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:42,640
Speaker 3: twice before this in the last you know, five years.

688
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,000
Speaker 3: I think that the Braves are really gung ho to

689
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 3: prove themselves and to prove that they are a team

690
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 3: that deserves wins because they've been so close so often.

691
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 3: It'll be like when we finally get to see the

692
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,160
Speaker 3: Pirates in a postseason, like a real postseason push, Like

693
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 3: you just know that they're just going to like call

694
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:02,720
Speaker 3: for it, kind of the way the Cubs did in

695
00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,880
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen. Obviously not that long of a drought, but

696
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 3: there's teams where you really feel that they really they're

697
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 3: just hungry for it. And I think that that's what

698
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 3: this Braves team is because you've got those guys that

699
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,720
Speaker 3: have been around for a while. Like I mean, Freddy

700
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 3: Freeman still feels young to me because I feel like

701
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 3: relatively old in comparison, but he's been around for a

702
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 3: long time. I think for Freeman, who's had such a

703
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 3: sensational career, this would just be like that icing to

704
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,160
Speaker 3: really prove that he's you know, accomplished as much as

705
00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 3: he has in his career, and I think he could

706
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 3: kind of like feel good about himself at at that point.

707
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 3: And I think that that's really I think where his

708
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 3: career has been pushing for him. So yeah, I think

709
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,160
Speaker 3: this really would be a great moment for them.

710
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:52,280
Speaker 1: And Chris as a Braves fan, I got to throw

711
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: that question your way because you, obviously, as a Braves fan,

712
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:56,920
Speaker 1: have all of those all of those times in the

713
00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 1: playoffs where they've come up short, and to have that

714
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:04,040
Speaker 1: really there, that Brave's run was a dynasty just without

715
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 1: without the World Series, I would imagine it might feel

716
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,359
Speaker 1: a little weird to have like a like a pop

717
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:11,920
Speaker 1: up World Series as opposed to missing it after all

718
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:13,799
Speaker 1: those years in a row of making the postseason.

719
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. You know, I kind of considered this group.

720
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 2: I look at them independently of that those teams of

721
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:25,520
Speaker 2: the nineties, you know, Brace fans went through a brutal rebuild,

722
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:28,520
Speaker 2: you know, and it was something they weren't used to

723
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,040
Speaker 2: at all. And and this team, they've watched this team

724
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 2: come up through the minor leagues. You know, Freddie Freeman's

725
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 2: kind of been the rock of that group, but you know,

726
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 2: everybody else is pretty much young, the young core that

727
00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,359
Speaker 2: they've touted through this, throughout the rebuild, and they've been

728
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,080
Speaker 2: to the postseason four times. They've moved set the bar

729
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 2: a little bit higher every time. Got to the NLCS.

730
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,839
Speaker 2: Last year, blew a three one lead, you know, broke

731
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:56,160
Speaker 2: through that this year. Now they're in the World Series.

732
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 2: I saw more excitement at Trust Art the other night

733
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,000
Speaker 2: that I had seen since the early nineties, since ninety five,

734
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,799
Speaker 2: even even may have been ninety one ninety two, when

735
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 2: it was just they took everybody, everybody by storm, you

736
00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 2: know it. It's such a great feeling. I hadn't felt

737
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 2: that in a long time. And you know, I feel like,

738
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,200
Speaker 2: you know, they that's kind of what they expect. They

739
00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:20,879
Speaker 2: think this is that new group, nineties group, the one

740
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 2: that's gonna be in the playoffs year after year. And

741
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:25,640
Speaker 2: they're built, you know, they're built for that in a

742
00:35:25,680 --> 00:35:28,360
Speaker 2: lot of ways. So you know, it would be huge

743
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,759
Speaker 2: for this for them to cash it in this this

744
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 2: year when nobody, everybody had pretty much written them off.

745
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 2: You know, I still think they're playing with no pressure,

746
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,000
Speaker 2: they're having fun, and that's not something that I think

747
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,759
Speaker 2: when you go to the playoffs as many times as

748
00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:43,840
Speaker 2: the Braves did in the nineties. That was an underrated

749
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 2: part of it. There was pressure on them to win.

750
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,560
Speaker 2: Everybody expected them to win, and then they didn't, and

751
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 2: you know, it kind of it was I don't know,

752
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,879
Speaker 2: it kind of got normal and the narrative was set

753
00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,360
Speaker 2: and so you know, this Brace teams kind of surprised

754
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,400
Speaker 2: everybody with that. From that aspect.

755
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,600
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, and we forget four straight National League's

756
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:09,200
Speaker 1: titles for the Braves. This is quite This is not

757
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,400
Speaker 1: a I said, a pop up world series. This has

758
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,360
Speaker 1: been a build, right, I mean, this has been we

759
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,280
Speaker 1: went from a rebuild and you win four straight division titles.

760
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:18,840
Speaker 1: They've been progressing pretty much each and every year, and

761
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,040
Speaker 1: now they've reached the Fall Classic. So it is a

762
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:24,719
Speaker 1: you know, these were steps that were taken to get here.

763
00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,360
Speaker 1: This wasn't kind of just a I think it feels

764
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 1: more like a pop up because they did struggle for

765
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,160
Speaker 1: so much of the season and then went on that

766
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 1: late season run. In a little at the time we

767
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:36,160
Speaker 1: have left here, let's just kind of talk about who

768
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,120
Speaker 1: has the edge in this series. Let's quickly look at

769
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 1: the rotation for both teams. For the Astros, Lance mccullors

770
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: will not pitch in the World Series, so they're gonna

771
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:47,840
Speaker 1: have Charlie Morton, I'm sorry, nothing of Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia,

772
00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:51,600
Speaker 1: Jose Orkeaty, and maybe Zach Greenkee bullpen game when it

773
00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 1: comes down to it, that's not necessarily the order they're

774
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,000
Speaker 1: going to go into. We do know Framber Valdez will

775
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 1: start Game one, but after that, we're not sure. The

776
00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:02,440
Speaker 1: Atlanta Braves have Charlie Morton obviously in an incredible postseason

777
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:06,360
Speaker 1: pedigree going against the team that he pitched the last

778
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 1: out for for their last World Series title, Max Fried

779
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:12,120
Speaker 1: who is a great left young left hander for Atlanta

780
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: Ian Anderson. And then really they have just three starters, right, Chris,

781
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 1: I mean they're they're really gonna they're struggling to kind

782
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 1: of come up with a fourth starter. You're looking at

783
00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,959
Speaker 1: a bullpen game, probably in Game four, correct.

784
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt it'll be a bullpen game. Drew Smiley

785
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,880
Speaker 2: may throw multiple innings. But with Wascar, you Noah getting

786
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,200
Speaker 2: injured in the n l c S, you know he's

787
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 2: not he won't be on He's not eligible for the

788
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 2: World Series roster, so you know it'll be a bullpen

789
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:39,239
Speaker 2: game in uh in Game four, and you know, the

790
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,479
Speaker 2: Brazen made it work. Three starters, you know, and they've

791
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,960
Speaker 2: seen some short outings from even from uh Ian Anderson

792
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 2: and Max Freed, and they still made it work. So yeah,

793
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:52,520
Speaker 2: that's a it's been a it's it's weird seeing that

794
00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:55,160
Speaker 2: bullpen game listed up there, and it's not just one

795
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,400
Speaker 2: team doing it anymore. It's like every team. Uh, you know,

796
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,919
Speaker 2: you kind of wonder where else dart and pitchers went.

797
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:04,880
Speaker 2: But I think it's just a new way of looking

798
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:05,400
Speaker 2: at things.

799
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:07,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think too the innings jump from last

800
00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:09,960
Speaker 1: year to this year may have had some kind of factor,

801
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:11,920
Speaker 1: but it is amazing how many teams have had to

802
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:13,960
Speaker 1: go to bullpen games or chosen to go to bullpen

803
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,680
Speaker 1: games because there's just no confidence in your number four

804
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,399
Speaker 1: starter to pitch well for you in a postseason game.

805
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:23,040
Speaker 1: Ashley starting rotation edge at Houston or Atlanta.

806
00:38:23,640 --> 00:38:25,880
Speaker 3: Oh, I gotta say, I think Atlanta's got the pitching

807
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 3: edge here. I think, you know, Houston's had a reliable

808
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:31,400
Speaker 3: core of pitchers and most of those guys, with the

809
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 3: exception of mc colors, are obviously making it in the

810
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:38,680
Speaker 3: you know, their World Series appearances. But I think generally speaking,

811
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,440
Speaker 3: the leg up here across the postseason has been the

812
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:42,240
Speaker 3: Braves pitching.

813
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,400
Speaker 1: And so when now we look at the bullpens, and obviously,

814
00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,120
Speaker 1: like you just mentioned, Chris and we were just talking

815
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: about bullpen games are all the rage now in the

816
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,960
Speaker 1: Major League postseason, but really, these two teams have relied

817
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,160
Speaker 1: on their bullpens tremendously to get this far. And I know,

818
00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 1: for Atlanta, Tyler matsik is just been an absolute workhorse

819
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:03,839
Speaker 1: for them, but you've also got guys like AJ Minter

820
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:08,680
Speaker 1: and Will Smith. I mean, Ashley is there. I don't

821
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,000
Speaker 1: even know how can is there a favorite as far

822
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,120
Speaker 1: as bullpens go here, they both just seem like they're

823
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:13,719
Speaker 1: so deep.

824
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 3: I think they're like, it's going to be pretty close.

825
00:39:16,719 --> 00:39:17,359
Speaker 4: I think that the.

826
00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:20,640
Speaker 3: Braves bullpen has really like proven their worth so far

827
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:22,880
Speaker 3: and just done sensational things.

828
00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 4: And I mean, I hate to.

829
00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 3: Keep hyping the Braves pitching because I'm supposed to be

830
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,880
Speaker 3: on here rep in the AL in some capacity, but

831
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,640
Speaker 3: I've just been really impressed with what they've accomplished. And

832
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 3: that's not to say that the Astros have kind of fumbled.

833
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 3: They have really strong relievers who have served them very well,

834
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,319
Speaker 3: especially through that series with the Red Sox. I think

835
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 3: we talk a lot about the idea of bullpen games

836
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:49,319
Speaker 3: kind of being this new thing, and I don't know

837
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 3: that in the postseason it really is. I think in

838
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:54,920
Speaker 3: the postseason, what we've seen time and time again is

839
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,120
Speaker 3: teams willing to do just about anything in terms of

840
00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,120
Speaker 3: what they do with their pitchers, and especially when you

841
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,399
Speaker 3: know you get into the series and you're at Game four,

842
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,080
Speaker 3: Game five, anybody is fair game to pitch in those

843
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:09,800
Speaker 3: particular kind of circumstances. And I think teams have often

844
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 3: pulled very unique things in the postseason in terms of

845
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 3: what they're willing to do with their pitching staff. And

846
00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:19,719
Speaker 3: I think we'll see some standard bullpen use, but I

847
00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:20,680
Speaker 3: think we're going to see.

848
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:21,439
Speaker 4: Some weird stuff too.

849
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,839
Speaker 3: I feel like, just generally speaking, but I feel like

850
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,160
Speaker 3: the Braves have the edge in terms of pitching.

851
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:32,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, Chris, I feel like in the past, the pitching

852
00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 1: decisions have always been, you know, you do have the

853
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,520
Speaker 1: occasional bullpen game, but a lot of times it was

854
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:39,640
Speaker 1: do I start my game one starter on short rest

855
00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:41,719
Speaker 1: in Game four, or do I use my game four

856
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: starter and cross my fingers, you know, And now they're

857
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: just I think we're seeing teams not willing to have

858
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,319
Speaker 1: to make that choice because bullpen pitchers are so much

859
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,600
Speaker 1: more effective right now. They throw harder, their stuff's nastier.

860
00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,120
Speaker 1: And so I know both of those things are true

861
00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:57,640
Speaker 1: for Houston and for Atlanta. Who has the bullpen edge?

862
00:40:57,680 --> 00:40:57,840
Speaker 1: For you?

863
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,319
Speaker 2: I can't believe them saying it, but I'm gonna tell

864
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 2: you I would say Atlanta right now just because of

865
00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:06,920
Speaker 2: how they've pitched in the postseason. The bullpen was up

866
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 2: and down all season. But you know Tyler Matzik, I mean,

867
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,320
Speaker 2: you guys mentioned him. He just goes out. He pitches

868
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:17,320
Speaker 2: every day. He strikes everybody out that he faces, just about.

869
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,879
Speaker 2: I mean that spot he got out of in Game

870
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,759
Speaker 2: six in LCS. He comes in second, third, nobody out

871
00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 2: Tye and run at second, go ahead run at home.

872
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:29,640
Speaker 2: It strikes out the side. Mookie Betts is the third out,

873
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,359
Speaker 2: you know, only and did it in eleven pitches. I mean,

874
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:35,879
Speaker 2: he is just he is in a groove right now

875
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,880
Speaker 2: that we haven't seen. He's been good last two seasons,

876
00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:40,759
Speaker 2: but he's at another level right now. And I think

877
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:42,799
Speaker 2: aj Minner is a guy that Braves need to lean

878
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,360
Speaker 2: on a little bit more. I just think they've got

879
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 2: a lot of good options down there in the in

880
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 2: the back end of that bullpen right now, Will Smith's

881
00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:52,640
Speaker 2: probably throw him as best as good as he has

882
00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:56,799
Speaker 2: all season in the postseason too. So I think it's

883
00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:58,920
Speaker 2: a slim edge. But I think the Braids have the

884
00:41:59,040 --> 00:41:59,920
Speaker 2: edge right now.

885
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:01,759
Speaker 1: Because let me throw the lineups at you. Who has

886
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:03,880
Speaker 1: the better lineup right now? Atlanta or Houston.

887
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,200
Speaker 2: You gotta go with Houston. I mean, they're scoring a

888
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:10,719
Speaker 2: ton of runs, you know. I think the Braves bray

889
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 2: score runs when they have to. It's kind of the

890
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,759
Speaker 2: way I look at it. But this Astros line up

891
00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,879
Speaker 2: scary and or down Jordan Alvarez, Altuve, Alex Bragman, There's

892
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,880
Speaker 2: all kinds of people up and down that can beat you.

893
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:27,440
Speaker 2: You know they I was looking today, I mean, Yuli Guriel.

894
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 2: You know those are guys you don't want to see

895
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,759
Speaker 2: coming up with men on base. So, you know, I

896
00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,440
Speaker 2: think they've got the scary offense and and the Braves

897
00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:37,719
Speaker 2: have the have the edge and pitching, and it's just

898
00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:40,240
Speaker 2: going to come down the which which wins.

899
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,120
Speaker 1: Ashley, how about you oh, I got.

900
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:42,680
Speaker 4: To go the same.

901
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:47,400
Speaker 3: The Astros have one of the scariest offensive lineups, and

902
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 3: it's that's where it balances out really interesting because, like

903
00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,480
Speaker 3: like we said, the Ostros have You're Michael Brantley's You're

904
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,200
Speaker 3: Carlos Correaz and when Carlos Korea is and even the

905
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:58,360
Speaker 3: one hitting the best in the postseason, I think that

906
00:42:58,400 --> 00:43:00,640
Speaker 3: that's really an intimidating thing to look at, like he's

907
00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,800
Speaker 3: still doing tremendously well, Like you have lots of guys

908
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 3: here that have had ten eleven hits over the course

909
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,880
Speaker 3: of the postseason. But I think that's what makes us

910
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 3: such an interesting matchup, is that you have this really

911
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:16,799
Speaker 3: offensively heavy team and a really strong pitching corps. And

912
00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 3: I think rather than like you know, the classic, you know,

913
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,000
Speaker 3: pitcher's duel that we might end up seeing, it's really

914
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:24,960
Speaker 3: going to turn out to be just like who's pitching

915
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:28,680
Speaker 3: is like pitching versus hitting, and who kind of does

916
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 3: it better? And I think that makes us such a

917
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:31,760
Speaker 3: really interesting matchup.

918
00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 1: And real quickly, let's go over the managers. We talked

919
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:36,239
Speaker 1: a lot about Dusty Baker. We have not said a

920
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,400
Speaker 1: word about Brian Snicker. What a job he's done for

921
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:41,320
Speaker 1: straight NL's title. He's almost an afterthought in this series.

922
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,799
Speaker 1: But two old school guys. These are not like the

923
00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:47,480
Speaker 1: new school sabermetrically inclining guys. These are these are like

924
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,719
Speaker 1: two old school guys who are meeting in the Fall Classic.

925
00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:53,759
Speaker 1: Is there actually a managerial edge one way or the

926
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:55,240
Speaker 1: other from from where you sit.

927
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,040
Speaker 4: I don't know. I don't think so.

928
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,480
Speaker 3: Really. I think these are guys that manage the teams

929
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:03,680
Speaker 3: in a way that has led them to success. I

930
00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:06,719
Speaker 3: don't think that Dusty is going to be like having

931
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:08,399
Speaker 3: a leg up just because he really wants that ring.

932
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:09,879
Speaker 4: I think Brian wants one to.

933
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 3: I think that the drive and the motivation for them

934
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 3: is the same. I think the only edge I can

935
00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:20,840
Speaker 3: see is that Brian knows his team longer and probably

936
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:22,560
Speaker 3: better in the long run, and kind of knows the

937
00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:24,759
Speaker 3: ins and outs of those core guys maybe a little

938
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:29,040
Speaker 3: bit better because he's been around, and Dusty's this first season,

939
00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 3: you know, kind of doing things that Dusty does.

940
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:36,960
Speaker 4: Isn't his first season? Do I feel like season two,

941
00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:37,279
Speaker 4: thank you?

942
00:44:37,360 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 3: Yeah? Twenty twenty just doesn't feel like it was a year.

943
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,239
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, this isn't his first season, but you know,

944
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,960
Speaker 3: sixty game season plus a regular But I don't know

945
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,839
Speaker 3: that that's long enough to have that same established kind

946
00:44:49,880 --> 00:44:52,400
Speaker 3: of core understanding of what you can get out of

947
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:54,960
Speaker 3: guys in a pinch. That's the only place I can

948
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:57,000
Speaker 3: see there being any kind of real edge.

949
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 2: How about you, Chris, Yeah, I see two very similar managers, honestly.

950
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 2: I mean at times there they've both been questioned for,

951
00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:12,440
Speaker 2: you know, tactics in games, but both of them have

952
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,319
Speaker 2: the respect to their players they you know, and that's

953
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 2: one that's a that's a very valuable trait for any

954
00:45:18,560 --> 00:45:21,520
Speaker 2: manager to have. I will say this, you know, neither

955
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,239
Speaker 2: come off as as being very analytically minded. But I've

956
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:28,560
Speaker 2: been really surprised by Brian Snicker over the last few years,

957
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:32,239
Speaker 2: especially since Alexanthopolis took over. The Brave shift a ton.

958
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,759
Speaker 2: Now they went from a team that didn't shift at all.

959
00:45:35,320 --> 00:45:37,759
Speaker 2: You know, you will see him point a little bit

960
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,840
Speaker 2: more to the analytics. He's not just going to go

961
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:43,520
Speaker 2: out and and he will go with his gut. But

962
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:46,120
Speaker 2: I do think the numbers play apart. I think the

963
00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,719
Speaker 2: Braves have done a good job of melding the to

964
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:52,520
Speaker 2: the analytics side and you know, the more traditional side,

965
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 2: and to a combination that has worked really well for them.

966
00:45:57,400 --> 00:45:59,520
Speaker 2: But you know, I think both managers, you know, they

967
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:03,480
Speaker 2: they they're both very well respected and you know, and

968
00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:07,120
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, I don't think there's an edge either way.

969
00:46:07,239 --> 00:46:09,200
Speaker 1: All right, well, listen, it's that time in the podcast

970
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:12,080
Speaker 1: where we break it all down and give you some predictions. Here.

971
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,759
Speaker 1: So Chris as as a writer for the for one

972
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:18,320
Speaker 1: of the franchises that are playing in this fall Classic,

973
00:46:18,360 --> 00:46:20,880
Speaker 1: I will turn to you first. Who wins the twenty

974
00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:22,000
Speaker 1: twenty one World Series.

975
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say the same thing I said in the NLC, Yes,

976
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:27,480
Speaker 2: the Brave. I'm gonna go with the Braves in six,

977
00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:29,359
Speaker 2: and I don't know how in the world they get there.

978
00:46:29,719 --> 00:46:32,440
Speaker 2: I said, Braves in seven against the Dodgers, and I

979
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,680
Speaker 2: don't know. I didn't have a real good reason for

980
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:40,359
Speaker 2: that other than just this team won't quit. You know,

981
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:43,960
Speaker 2: they've overcome every obstacle that's been placed before them. They're

982
00:46:44,000 --> 00:46:48,239
Speaker 2: having fun. You know, most teams would would shrink in

983
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:50,399
Speaker 2: the moment, but you know this team, I think they

984
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:54,480
Speaker 2: love the spotlight and I think is the preyer. They'll

985
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,360
Speaker 2: put the pressure on the Astros, and you know they'll

986
00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,479
Speaker 2: they'll come out on top. But I'll say Braves in six.

987
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,960
Speaker 2: I think they'll win it on the road, which you know,

988
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:04,680
Speaker 2: probably untraditional.

989
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,680
Speaker 1: Why not, though, why not? Baseball is untraditional nowadays, Ashley,

990
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:09,320
Speaker 1: your prediction.

991
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 3: I'm gonna go Braves in seven, just because I want

992
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,040
Speaker 3: the max amount of baseball humanly possible, but also picking

993
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:16,160
Speaker 3: them to win it on the road.

994
00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:20,080
Speaker 1: So I am surprised. I'm very surprised you. I'm not surprised.

995
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:22,160
Speaker 1: Chris went with the Braids just because he's gotten a

996
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:24,200
Speaker 1: chance to see them all season long and has understood

997
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:27,160
Speaker 1: kind of the specialness of the season. I'm going with Houston.

998
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 1: I'm taking Houston in six. This is nothing against the

999
00:47:30,120 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 1: thing about me being a Phillies fan rooting against the

1000
00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,000
Speaker 1: Atlanta Braids. I think Houston is just on such a

1001
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:37,680
Speaker 1: role offensively right now, and I do. I actually think

1002
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:41,440
Speaker 1: Houston has the has a decent chance to match up

1003
00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:43,960
Speaker 1: really well, starting pitching wise, against Atlanta's offense. And I

1004
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:45,879
Speaker 1: think the experience of having been in so many Fall

1005
00:47:45,880 --> 00:47:48,240
Speaker 1: Classics before is really going to help Houston in this series.

1006
00:47:48,280 --> 00:47:50,359
Speaker 1: And so I think Houston will win it at Home

1007
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:52,239
Speaker 1: in Game six. But I do think it'll be a

1008
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:55,160
Speaker 1: really good series. It should be a lot of fun. Folks. Listen,

1009
00:47:55,280 --> 00:47:57,200
Speaker 1: make sure that you are following all of us on

1010
00:47:57,239 --> 00:47:58,880
Speaker 1: Twitter during the course of the next week and a

1011
00:47:58,920 --> 00:48:01,239
Speaker 1: half as we will take you through the Fall Classic again.

1012
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:04,040
Speaker 1: Chris Willis. Read everything that he's doing over at Talking

1013
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:07,320
Speaker 1: Chop and follow him on Twitter at Chris Underscore Willis.

1014
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:11,440
Speaker 1: And follow Ashley mcleannan at ninety Feet from Home on Twitter.

1015
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:14,440
Speaker 1: She writes for Dray's Bay Bleed Cubbies Blue Bless you boys,

1016
00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:16,359
Speaker 1: and of course you can follow me on Twitter at

1017
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:18,600
Speaker 1: John Stoleness and we'll be covering it for you at

1018
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:22,480
Speaker 1: The Good Fight as well. Folks, enjoy the Fall Classic

1019
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,560
Speaker 1: this week. Oh and I should probably mention make sure

1020
00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:28,080
Speaker 1: to check out all the Houston Astros content you could

1021
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:32,160
Speaker 1: possibly want on the Astros espienation site, the Crawfish Boxes.

1022
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:35,880
Speaker 1: So thanks everybody for tuning into the esp Nation World

1023
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:38,320
Speaker 1: Series Preview presented by Team Obile