WEBVTT - James Wood and Ted Williams, You Won't Believe This Comparison 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:09.240 Welcome back to another episode of Is This a Great Game? 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:11.639 Or What with the Hall of Famer Tim Kirkshin. I'm 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.440 his son, Jeff Kirkshin. Dad, I had a late night 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:16.680 last night, even though I have a two week old 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.360 I was out at a concert for my country music 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:25.320 radio job. We had an artist, Hardy, who you don't 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:27.600 need to know who he is. It's okay, he's a 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:29.960 country artist, he's rock artist. He kind of does it all, 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:36.120 but Dad, we hosted a lookalike contest, so listeners all 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.080 across the concert dressing as him, kids, adults, men, women, 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.640 everybody to try to meet him. So whoever looked the 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.960 most like him on voting got to meet him. And 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:51.240 I too, did a lookalike contest with him, and quite frankly, 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:53.600 I got to say I looked I looked pretty good. 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:54.680 I looked pretty good. 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.640 You looked a little bit like him, is what you're saying. 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.520 Oh yeah. I I decided that if we're gonna do 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.959 a Hearty lookalike contest, I myself need to try to 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.400 look like him, and so I'm gonna put a picture 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:10.559 up if you follow us on YouTube. I'm also gonna 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:12.840 put it on our social media, but Dad, just so 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:14.760 you can kind of see it's it's it's tough with 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.520 the lighting. But he's clearly eight inches taller than me. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.240 But I dressed like. 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.640 I'm just gonna say, is is he five feet tall? 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:26.440 Because that's the only way you could look like him. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.039 There's a guy who's two three inches shorter than you. 0:01:30.240 --> 0:01:34.000 He's probably six even, maybe five ten, five eleven. But uh, 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.440 it's just you know, it was just funny, and I'm 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.880 sure that kind of stuff has happening across Major League Baseball. 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.280 Maybe a giveaway they did in a stadium where you 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.639 got to dress like, you know, Steve Carlton or something 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:46.960 like that. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.360 Right, well, yeah, they've done all sorts of things. One 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:55.760 of my favorite things evolves Tito Francona. Of course, almost 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.880 everything involves Tito Francona. But he wanted to pope fun 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:04.520 at Dustin Pedroia, his great second baseman, because they were 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.600 absolute best friends when Tito was the manager and Dustin 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:14.080 Pedroia was the second baseman. So Tito arranged for John Clayton, 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.920 the late great John Clayton, one of the great football 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:23.040 guys ever. And he arranged for John Clayton, who looks 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.600 a little bit like Dustin Pedroia. I don't see I 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.679 don't see it. But he arranged to have John Clayton 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:35.360 like do a little video of Dustin Pedroia, like pretending 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:39.440 to be Dustin Pedroia. And then they played it throughout 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:44.160 the clubhouse, and apparently the whole place went crazy. They 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:49.080 were laughing so loud. It was so typical of Tito 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.200 to take you know, John Clayton, one of my favorite 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:58.359 people ever, but a non athletic looking football writer, was 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:02.160 playing the part of Dustin and pretending to be him. 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.120 And Jeff, when you're playing baseball, the game is this 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:09.200 hard to play. It's it's okay to have a little 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:12.480 fun and poke fun, especially in people like Pedroia who 0:03:12.480 --> 0:03:13.040 could take it. 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:17.919 Yeah. Absolutely that. And and Tito is known for his 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:22.520 clubhouse being a place of baseball, yes, of course, but 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.240 also of fun. I mean he made those runs with 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:30.040 those Red Sox teams and those Guardians teams and now 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.840 that Red team who did not look like a playoff 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:34.520 team for most of the year. You have to give 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.360 a lot of credit to him and the clubhouse that 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:38.920 he keeps. And we love him and he's a former 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.280 guest of the show. We caught him in his retirement 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.720 era that one year he took off, which was so 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.080 much fun. That was a great interview, right. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:51.840 And and Brent Souter, who can picture for the Angels? Now? 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.360 Who can impersonate like anyone does? The greatest Jim Carrey ever. 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.400 I told you this that he can do a great 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:03.240 Tito francona personation when he was with the Reds last year. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.640 And Tito told us his spring he said, you know, 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.200 Suitor used to just come into my office and want 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:12.040 to talk to me about things and everything. I don't 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.960 think he ever really wanted to talk to me. I 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.400 think he was just trying to work on his impression 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:21.200 on my manners. So he would just stop in and say, hey, Skip, 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.200 like what are we doing in the bullpen tomorrow or 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:26.600 something like that. He was like working on his impersonation. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.280 I that's so brent Suitor to do that, because he's 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:34.039 wicked smart and really funny and a great teammate guy. 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.680 And Tito, of course, anyone can make fun of him 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:39.920 and he will take it better than anybody. 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:43.600 Well. I remember years ago spring training, Jonathan Papplebond did 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.320 an impression of Tito Francona on Baseball Tonight with you guys. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:50.680 Right. Yeah, I was standing right next to him, and it. 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:56.159 Was like eight thousand seeds, right, because that's what he's like, 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.680 spitting him out while he's talking like Tito. 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.599 It was his It's derekally funny. It was so so good. 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:04.719 And again, gotta have a good sense of humor to 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:06.919 play this game, because the game will tear you to 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:10.200 pieces if you don't. I Jeff's speaking of a good 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.159 sense of humor. I need one this week. You'll need 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.799 one every day for the next twenty five years until 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.839 your children are grown up. Okay, but I'm doing a 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.440 lot of traveling here, Jeff, And I don't know why 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.240 I found this kind of amusing, but I checked in 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:26.000 the airport the other day and I had to show 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.359 my ID and all this, and the lady behind that 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:32.760 counter looks at my license, which my driver's license, which 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.960 expires in twenty thirty three, which I didn't even know that, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.760 But she looks at me and says, just checking a 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.599 few things. You're born in nineteen thirty three, correct, that's 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:46.920 what she said. No, she read my license wrong, So 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.919 I just I just looked at her because she really 0:05:49.960 --> 0:05:52.520 wasn't looking at me three years old. I said, I'm 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.520 not yet. I said, yes, I am ninety three years old, 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.400 and she, I guess, got a little bit of a 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:01.600 kick out of that, but she was She apologized. I said, 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.159 don't worry, I'm not ninety three years old. But that's 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:07.600 what she said, born in nineteen thirty three. Yes, ma'am, 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.240 I'm ninety three years old. That was really, really. 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:12.280 That is hilarious. 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:12.520 You know. 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.159 I remember a friend of mine's a bartender, and he said, 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.839 you know when I can't remember well, I mean, obviously 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.880 it's by the time twenty twenty hit. When he would 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.840 check IDs, he said, I would just have to look 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.240 at the nineteen for the and that was it. You 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:27.680 didn't even need to look at the rest of the 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.680 year because if you were born in nineteen something. And 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.599 then it made me feel dad Like when I'm a 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:37.120 grandfather and we're talking, like when it's twenty seventy and 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:41.240 I'm seventy odds some years old, right, my grandkids are 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.320 going to look at me and say, you were born 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.760 in nineteen insert year here, and yeah, I was born 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.280 in a different generation, a different decade, different millennium. I mean, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.640 my goodness, I'm gonna feel I'm ninety three, so nineteen 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.280 ninety three not ninety three years old, and I'll be 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.520 able to, you know, wear that until the end of 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:05.120 the twenty first century, probably. 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:10.120 Right, Jeff. A lot of travel this week for me, 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.680 A lot of trips to Bristol for baseball, Tonight's Sports Center, 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.000 a bunch of things, all good, no complaints here, But 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:19.920 never forget what my dear friend Alex Wolf. I worked 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.480 with him at Sports Illustrated, one of the great writers 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.960 ever and one of the great basketball minds that I've 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.000 ever seen. We were talking about all the terrible travel 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.680 we've had, and I've used this a million times with you, Jeff, 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:34.400 stealing it, of course from Alex Wolf. He looked at 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.560 me once and he goes, Tim, Never forget traveling is 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.040 a violation, and boy is it ever There's no telling 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.280 what could happen when you're traveling. You might be mistaken 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.920 for someone who is ninety three years old. How about that, Dad? 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.440 Top three things you quoted when I was a kid. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:55.840 Traveling is a violation, Pumba, you are a pig and holgad. 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.400 If I had to make three, you've quoted more than anything. 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:02.239 It's those three. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.440 Yeah, Jeff, I was such a good teacher teaching. We 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.520 use so many good lessons in life. Oh my gosh. 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.080 Well, I knew who's on first before I knew my alphabet. 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:17.280 So when I went to kindergarten, people said, well, what's 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.680 on second? And they said, ABC, I have no idea, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:22.200 but I don't know. He's on third base? 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.600 Right right? Teacher would say I don't know, and you 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.600 would say third base idea? All right? 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.920 Why because we're not getting into him. He's our picture, 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:37.080 all right, Dad, before we jump into the takeaways. Tomorrow's 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:41.880 guest is gonna be iconic, so funny. I'm so excited 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:43.360 to bring it to members of the family. 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.760 Yeah, my dear friend rich Donley will be our guest tomorrow. 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:53.080 Rich is the greatest batting practice pitcher ever, and I 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.760 don't think we've ever talked about great BP pictures on 0:08:56.840 --> 0:09:00.800 this podcast. He's also maybe one of the greatest third 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.200 base coaches of all time. There is an art and 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.680 a skill to being a third base coach. Uh. He 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.840 tells the greatest stories ever. I've known him for almost 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.960 fifty years, and few people make me laugh as loud 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.959 as Rich Donley does, so tune in tomorrow. He'll tell 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:24.080 you a bunch of stories about BP and about coach 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.240 at third and you know he worked with Doug Raider 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.520 and Jim Leland and he's seen but he was on 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.680 the same team as Barry Bonds. Some great, great stories 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:34.319 from Rich. 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.240 Plus some Home Run Derby stories. You know, we're coming 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:39.520 up on the All Star break and he, I mean, 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.600 he is the OG, as we would say, you know 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:43.360 what that means. 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:48.120 Dad, offensive guard? Right, that's it. 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:50.760 You nailed it. He is the offensive guard of the 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:54.680 Home Run Derby. Nailed it, Dad, And so we're going 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:55.199 to talk a lot. 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.280 What is an OG? Jeah? What is it going to it? There? 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:04.080 So technically means original gangster, but like it's just become 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.760 like the original, like the first, the most important. Right 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:09.839 when you think of the Home Run Derby, you can 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:11.920 think of rich Donnelly because he was known as the 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.319 guy who who was throwing VP for the Home Run 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.400 Derby before it got to the way it is today. 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:20.800 So that's what the OG means. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.800 Og original Gangster. Was there any reason, I. 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.720 Take thousands of things, I didn't think Tim Kirschen would 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.439 ever say original gangster? 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.280 Yea, if it doesn't make any sense, how can that 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.400 be a thing. If it doesn't make any. 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.280 Sense, it does make that it's well, it's from you know, 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:41.480 hip hop and rap culture. I'm sure it's from a 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:43.800 song that I can't even quote at this point, but 0:10:44.280 --> 0:10:46.920 it basically means the first right, He's an original gangster. 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:48.040 I got it. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:55.400 People, dehydration sucks. Quint's electrolyte stick packs to the rescue. 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.200 I order them, I use them all of the time. 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:02.320 Somebody who may or may not have had some adult 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:04.400 beverages in their life. The next day, you know what flavor? 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.680 I like watermelon, and I don't like watermelon. 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So the only season in it 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.320 was in two thousand and five in which there were 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:23.440 more ten run innings before the month of July was 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.400 in two thousand and five when there were eight. So, Jeff, 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:31.120 it's odd to me. I'm confused and I'm intrigued that 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.000 I say every week on this podcast, how does anyone 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.600 get a hit anymore? But once guys start to get hits, 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:42.840 that just seems to snowball. And they scored ten runs 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.400 in an inning seventh time this year that a team 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.360 has scored ten runs an inning. Do you have any 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.800 thoughts on this, Like, why does this happen? Teams can't 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.840 score any runs these days. It's so hard to get 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.760 a hit, and then all of a sudden they're thrown 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:58.560 up ten in an inning. What is that? 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.080 Well, it's all or nothing. And I also feel like 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:04.320 in the element of keeping our pitchers safe, I don't 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.560 have the stats to back this up, but I do 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:10.480 have what I believe to be kind of an opinion. 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:14.120 When it comes to pitchers, you're staying in longer when 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.920 it comes to not starters per se, but like relievers, 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.040 like just leave him out there, he'll give up a 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.120 couple more runs, because at that point, when you're giving 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.280 up five runs, the teams are saying, we're gonna lose 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.600 this game anyway, right, because we're not going to come 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:28.600 back because it's so hard to get a hit. So 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.200 I feel like these relievers are taking more and more 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.520 damage out there before they get changed out to prevent 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:37.480 injury and running too many pitchers at one time, right, 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:39.840 I mean, like you're throwing thrown position players. 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.520 That's a good point, right, And position players are giving 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:44.800 up some of these home runs and some of these runs. 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.800 Once you get to a ten run inning, nobody hesitates 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.400 any more to put a position player in. As I 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.320 told you, Jeff, when I first started covering late seventies, 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.120 early eighties, you would see one, maybe two position players 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.880 pitch during a season. Now it's all almost every night 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:03.840 you see a position player pitch in order to keep 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.920 the real pitchers healthy. I understand, and I think this 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.240 next note is, you know, kind of connected. Also helped 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.800 me here. But Hunter Goodman of the Rockies hit three 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.439 homers in a game the other day. So he's the 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.640 sixth guy this year to have a three homer game. 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.560 We've had four of them in the last twelve days. 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.920 Is this the all or nothing thing? Also, do you 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.600 think that we know they're going to the play thinking 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.520 damage where let's hit it in the upper deck as 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:34.280 opposed to a soft single to left field? Do you 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:35.440 think that's where we are. 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.200 On this one thousand percent we're swinging for the fences 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:40.720 or we're striking out and going back to the digout's 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:42.480 that's baseball in twenty twenty six. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.840 It's no doubt, all right. The other thing we've done 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:48.040 on the podcast, Like every week, Jeff, least at least 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.320 about ten weeks, I have asked you to name three 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.280 five hundred home run hitters who never hit three homers 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.840 in a game. I think we did this last week. 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.000 Let's see if you can remember. 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:09.200 Davidez, Yes, definitely one of them. For Thomas No, well, he. 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.760 Might not have, but I don't know that. Gary Sheffield 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:17.880 and Raphael palmerow all hit five hundred homers, never hit 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:20.320 three in a game. And yet we've had four guys 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:25.800 do it in the last twelve days. And speaking of explosions, Jeff, 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:28.960 you're a big Phillies fan because you live in PHILADELPHIAU 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.000 and Emily loved the Phillies. I think it's great. So 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.280 the Phillies became the first team ever, Jeff to hit 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.680 a go ahead Just finish the note, Jeff, first team 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:40.480 ever to do what? 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.640 Hit a go ahead home run in the ninth inning 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:45.920 in three straight games? 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.200 Jeff? That is I mean, this is why I love 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.960 baseball so much. Is that things happen that make you 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.640 slap your forehead, things happen that you've never seen before. Well, 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.000 in this case, no one has ever seen is because 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:02.880 no one has ever done that before. 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:07.680 And here here's the embarrassing part of the note. Every 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.480 single night I went to bed before the ninth inning 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.120 because I have a two week old son sleeping in 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:15.080 the bedroll. 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:18.120 You right, and you have have to get up at 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:19.280 four thirty to go to work. 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.320 Every day I'm up at three thirty. I leave the 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:24.440 house at four thirty. So every morning I open my phone, 0:16:24.440 --> 0:16:26.560 I open the box score, and I go, oh my gosh, 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.440 they won, and I'm happy. Night two, Oh my gosh, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.720 they won, and I'm upset because I didn't watch it. 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.440 Night three. Morning, next note, I go, oh my, I'm apoplectic. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.960 I'm so angry that I didn't stay up at that point. 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:44.240 Come on, So the day after the third game in 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:46.520 which the Phillies hit a go at homer in the 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.720 ninth against the Nationals, of course I saw the Nationals 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.640 against the Orioles in Baltimore, and I saw Blake Butterra, 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.440 thirty three year old manager for the Nats. Really smart guy, 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.720 really good guy, and has done each job with that 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.679 team so far. So I see him, and essentially the 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.320 first thing he asked me, which was right away, was 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:11.879 how many great notes did you get out of that 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.399 our last three games. Now, Look, he was crushed, he 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:20.280 was furious. He was I said, did you even sleep? 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.120 He goes, I haven't slept in three nights. That's how 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:27.600 much those games hurt him. But because he loves baseball, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.280 he is intrigued that we've played for, you know, one 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.679 hundred and fifty years of baseball and what just happened 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.280 in those three games had never happened before. Even though 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:40.160 it happened to his team and nearly killed him, he 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.720 was still intrigued by you do you find that to 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.600 be healthy for a manager? I think it is. 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.320 I think losing sleep is something that we don't talk 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.800 about enough when it comes to our baseball players. I mean, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.600 you know, you've talked about players who say they feel 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:56.080 like they're never going to get a hit again when 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:57.960 they go on to a slump and they're having trouble 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:01.040 sleeping and they're traveling. But if you love the game, 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.840 you got to recognize, like, this is crazy that this 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:07.119 would happen. But yeah, when you blow that many saves, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:08.560 it's a little tough to. 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.800 Be the right And another really healthy thing that that 0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:14.560 happened while I was talking to Blake but Tero and 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:18.280 I had a nice chat with him. After about fifteen minutes, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.040 he looked at me and said, how well do you 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.919 know Buck Showalter? And I said, well, I know it 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.240 better than almost anybody. I talked to him all the time. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.680 And Blake but Terra said, I would love, love, love 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.200 to talk to Buck Showalter. I've never met him before, 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:38.040 but I would just love to pick his brain. And 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:41.520 I found this to be very healthy that a thirty 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:45.200 three year old manager isn't walking around like, hey, I'm 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.240 one of thirty now, I'm smarter than everyone else. He 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:51.359 is saying I need to reach out and talk to 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:55.480 Buck so I can learn more about my craft, about 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:58.040 the game and everything else I don't know. I thought 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:01.679 I was very encouraged that any young person in the 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.639 game today would reach out to someone who's my age, 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.239 sixty nine years old and say, I really need to 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.760 talk to him. So I hope them up. I'm not 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:13.720 sure if they've talked yet, but I thought that was great. 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:14.480 That's just me. 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.719 I mean, that's a sign of maturity for sure. I mean, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:20.760 you can't doubt that he wants to learn and pick 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:22.800 his brain. And that's just the love of the game. 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.480 It's love of baseball. And we've had Buck Showalter on 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:28.480 the podcast twice and every time I learn something, every 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.199 time I'm sponging it up because he's just got a 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.960 wealth of knowledge in such a great perspective and a 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:34.840 great storyteller. 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.000 Oh absolutely, all right, Jeff, we had a rough week 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.480 for defense this week in baseball. Now, look, let's be clear. 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:46.680 These guys are so amazing athletically, you know, they get 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.000 to balls that nobody got to fifty years ago. They 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.639 jump over the fence and make catches, they make diving throws, 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.960 they make throws diving catches, they make throws that you 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.960 can't believe. So let's be clear today's player are They're 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.840 more athletic than they've ever been. But like the Mets, 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:07.040 we'll get to them in a minute. The Mets made 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:11.560 six errors in one game, Jeff, and all four infielders 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.359 made an error. In the same game. The Yankees had 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:20.640 such a terrible game that Cam Schlitzler gave up six runs, 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.479 all of them unearned, so the only runs scored against 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:27.879 the Yankees in that game were unearned runs. The last 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.440 time the Yankees gave up six runs or more, all 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:34.919 of them unearned, was in nineteen thirty one. And then 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.240 the Orioles, who I saw the other night, had a 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:40.919 terrible final inning, had a difficult trip to Anaheim, but 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:44.040 they had a terrible final inning, and a scout friend 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.200 of mine told me it was like watching kids during 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.800 a snowball fight. That's how the ball was being thrown 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:55.040 all over the place. And again a former manager told me, 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:57.919 you know, Tim, just face it. And I don't believe this, 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.639 but he said, face it. Defense what players do in 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.600 between there at bats, And he was trying to say, 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:09.000 we don't concentrate enough on defense today. I think the 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:12.800 defense is really really good, but when you see lapses 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:16.280 mentally and six errors in a game, it makes you wonder, 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:19.040 you know, do we care too much about how far 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:21.960 we can hit it as opposed to how well can 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:24.320 we catch it and throw it? Am I being too 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:25.040