WEBVTT - Front and Center(Field) 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:07.040 Is this a great game or what with the Hall 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:07.480 of Famer? 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.520 Tim Kirkshin I'm his son, Jeff Kirkschhen delayed by one 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.680 day for this release of this episode because last night 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.520 we got who new Hall of Famers set to be 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:25.200 inducted in July in Cooperstown, Dad. Exciting news last night breaking. 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:30.640 Yes, this is front and center field news because two 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:35.800 center fielders are going in, Carlos Beltron and Andrew Jones. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:38.880 I voted for both of them. I also voted for 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.600 Chase Utley. This is my thirty fifth year voting for 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.440 the Hall of Fame. It's the greatest honor that I 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:50.000 have and I love voting for the Hall. It's a 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:54.120 very difficult job. However, these two guys who got in 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.720 deserve to get in. Were you surprised at all, Jeff, 0:00:57.760 --> 0:00:58.920 from what you saw. 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:02.400 No, not surprised at all. 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:02.720 Dad. 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:07.119 I mean, I think it the power and the importance 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:08.360 of both of these players. 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.280 They both deserve to be in the Hall. 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:14.160 I know, with all due respect that you believe they're 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:14.800 in the Hall. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:16.039 You voted for them to. 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.919 Be in the Hall, and I think it's a deserved class. 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.920 I think it's going to be an excellent one, well deserved. 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.640 It was really cool watching the announcement from the plack room. 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:28.039 They do such a great job there announcing the players, 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:32.560 and soon, in just six short months, they will have 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:36.440 a plaque hanging in that room forever, right. 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:40.200 It's so cool. So Carlos Beltron is one of the 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:43.080 greatest postseason players I've ever seen. But Jeff, when you 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:48.200 look at fifteen hundred run scored and fifteen hundred harbyis 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.840 that's a pretty small group. When you look at he's 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:54.800 one of five players ever with four hundred homers and 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:59.040 three hundred stolen bases. He has the twenty fifth most 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:03.360 extra base hits, tied with Cal Ripken exactly with one 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:08.240 thousand and seventy eight. He was a great offensive player, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:11.840 and yet he won three goal gloves, He made nine 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.520 All Star teams, he won the Rookie of the Year, 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.040 he won the Clemente Award, and he had eight thirty 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.200 seven ops for his career, which is pretty darn good, 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:26.600 especially for a brilliant defensive center fielder. And we don't 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:28.680 have that many center fielders in the Hall of Fame. 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:32.520 But Jeff, when you look at his ops in the postseason, 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.760 one point zero two one. It's almost two hundred points 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.359 higher in the postseason, when the games matter the most. 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:44.960 He had sixteen homers, drove in forty two runs in 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.720 his postseason career. And I'm telling you, Jeff two thousand 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:53.880 and four, especially watching Carlos Beltron, and I saw every 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.320 postseason game he played that year, I said to myself, 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:59.880 at least quietly, this is what it must have been 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:03.160 like to watch Mickey Mantle in his prime. The way 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.440 he hit the ball from both sides of the plate, 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.960 the defense he played in center field, and the way 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.519 he ran the bases. When he tried to steal a base, 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.880 he almost always made it. So that's Carlos Beltron for 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.320 you at Jeff, Are you offended at all? I'm just 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:24.760 asking that he was part of the signs stealing scandaled 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.639 in Houston in twenty seventeen. People think he was the ringleader, 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:34.200 and that kept him from getting even more votes and 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.320 kept him out of the Hall of Fame until this year. 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:39.320 Just wondering you, as a thirty two year old, are 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.000 you offended by what he did? 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:47.640 You know, I think, respectfully, the Hall has missed the 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:51.440 boat at times. You know what happens as a player, 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.600 what happens as a manager. Listen, Like the Pete Rose 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.920 debate will never be the same now that he's passed. 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:04.640 I definitely think there was a lack thereof punishment for 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:06.960 that team. I think there should have been more of 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.160 a punishment. I've said that publicly and I'm not afraid 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:14.520 to stand by it. However, I do think Carlos Beltron 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.480 is a Hall of Famer as a player, and I 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:21.000 think he deserves to be in the Hall. I mean 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:25.000 that wholeheartedly, despite believing that that team and the coaches 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:28.000 on the team didn't get enough coming their way for 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.640 what happened with the signs. Stealing trash can scandal if 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:36.560 you will, but that does not sway me from wanting him. 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:37.320 In the Hall of Fame. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:40.840 Okay, so, Jeff, I have a look. What he did 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.279 was wrong, clearly, and he has been punished for it 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.520 because it took him this long to get in the 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.640 Hall of Fame. Those numbers, to me, at least are 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:52.760 first ballot Hall of Fame numbers. He got to eighty 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.520 four percent this year and he's in. I have a 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.720 slightly different look at stealing science again, the way they 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.800 did it. It was illegal, it was wrong, It should 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:06.880 not have been done. But this thought that and let's 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.839 not be let's not surprise anyone here. When you know 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.680 fastball or off speed's coming, you know which one that 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.120 is a that's a big advantage. If you know in 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:21.120 out way up down, that's a big advantage too. But 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:24.960 it doesn't guarantee that you know if fastball is coming 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.400 and then you're going to hit, you're going to get 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:28.719 a hit, or you're going to hit a home run. 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.560 It doesn't work that way, and I always go back, Jeff. 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.320 This is always troubled me a little bit. Cal Ripken 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.680 and Tony Gwynn are at least two players, and there 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.839 are many more that told me this that they don't 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.200 want to know what is coming. You know, you can 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.880 have any system you want, and they would say, what 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:49.800 if you're wrong? You know, I go up there with 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.960 a plan. Both Cal Junior and Tony Gwynn told me, 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.839 I go to the plate with a plan. I don't 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:59.440 need anybody getting in the way of what I'm thinking 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.000 about going up there. These are teammates who are trying 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.119 to help them, but they say, I don't need any help. 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.800 I've got a plan. Does that make sense to you. 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.520 I hate to make it into a basketball analogy, but 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:14.640 tell me if this is somewhat accurate. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:16.239 It's like when you're. 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:20.440 Going you're driving down the lane and you're expecting contact 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.120 and you don't get it right. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:26.000 Or you're driving down the lane on a. 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:30.160 Fast break and you don't expect contact and you get it. 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:31.119 Does that make sense? 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.159 Like you're not realizing or you go up for a 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.520 jumper and you realize the guy who's taking a step 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:38.440 back instead of coming at you. 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:39.279 You're now kind. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.880 Of in your head about, Oh, that's not what I 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:42.840 was expecting. 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:44.360 So I think you're right, Dad. 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:46.680 I think baseball is hard enough as it is when 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.480 it comes to expecting things going up there with your 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:53.280 own process and your own system of reading the picture 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.520 and how does the ball come off. I think players 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.720 like Tony Gwynn and Cawalpken Jr. Well they didn't need it, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.160 But also I understand their regiment is more important than 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:03.839 anything else. 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.680 Right at Jeff, we have a guy who's part of 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:10.600 a sign stealing scandal now in the Hall of Fame. 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.200 Do you think thirty two year old Jeff Kirchen does 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:18.160 this help Shoeless, Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, guys who bet 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:22.320 on the game while they were playing we're managing. Does 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.680 this help their case at all? Or is this not 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:26.840 connected at all? 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:32.040 You know, I think that Pete Rose is going to 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.160 be in the Hall of Fame at some point, even 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.120 though people make the argument of he's already in the hall. 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.280 He's all over the Hall of Fame. I mean, he 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.240 has more hits than any other player, so he's in 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:46.960 there for that. He's in there because of his gambling 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:48.520 on the game while he was a manager. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.600 He's in there all over the place. Same with the 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:51.400 steroid guys. 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.680 And I know you didn't ask about them, but I 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.840 really think, Dad, Yes, I think this paves a way 0:07:57.320 --> 0:08:01.360 for Pete Rose to posthumously, one of my least favorite words, 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.080 be placed into the Hall of Fame. And same with 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:09.640 shoelas Joe, also posthumously because he played over one hundred 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.360 years ago. But I do think this paves away I 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.920 think the steroid guys are a different conversation. And I'd 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:19.720 be curious Dad to turn it around and ask you 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:24.200 does this sign stealing have anything to do for the 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.480 main culprits of the steroid era. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.240 Well, I think the sign stealing is going to help 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.240 everyone a little bit. That a sign stealing, you know, 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:37.520 guy got in. Okay, but I'm sorry, I just don't 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:41.440 see this as the same as Pete Rose or shoeless 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:44.760 Joe Jackson. Okay, you are trained at a very young 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.320 age to steal signs, no matter what the case. Now, 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.959 they did it illegally, it was wrong. They got punished, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:54.280 they didn't get punished enough according to you. I understand that. 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:58.160 But there isn't a sign when you walk into every 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.959 clubhouse it says you're not allowed to steal signs from 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:05.080 the other team. You are encouraged to steal signs. So 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.199 I just don't think you can compare this to Pete 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.920 Rose and shoeless Show Jackson quite as easily as some 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:14.360 people want to think. And again, Jeff, this is my 0:09:14.480 --> 0:09:17.080 problem with being a voter. Still, I'm asked to be 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:20.880 the moral arbiter here is what is cheating? Is it 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:25.360 stealing signs, using a trash can? Is it, you know, 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:28.640 scuffing a baseball, quirking a bat? Is it using steroids? 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.959 Is it betting on baseball? I mean they're all cheating 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.120 to some degree. And I'm just not comfortable being the 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.520 moral arbiter of what is the bigger cheat and everything else. 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.520 But that's where we are on the Hall of Fame ballot. 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.880 I mean, Manny Ramirez is off the ballot after ten 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:49.080 years because you know, he obviously got caught several times 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.360 after they were you know, checking, and there were punishment, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.400 there were penalties and everything else. So that's a separator. 0:09:57.679 --> 0:10:00.480 That's why the Hall of Fame voting is still still 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.000 the biggest honor I have, the biggest privilege I have, 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:06.200 But it's still really really hard to get it right. 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.000 I don't think you can get it right anymore. You 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.719 just do the best you can. And I know that's 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.000 what I did, and I did that every year. 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:25.679 Well, congratulations to Carlos Beltron being inducted this July into 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.600 the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. But he'll 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:33.320 go in alongside another center fielder, Andrew Jones, will be 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:34.600 a Hall of Famer this year. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:39.000 Right, and I think it's deserving. I voted for him. 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:41.960 He got seventy eight percent of the vote. This was 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:46.600 his ninth year on the ballot. Jeff, after Willie Mays, 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.000 he's the greatest defensive center fielder that I've ever seen, 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:53.480 and I saw Willie Mays. Because I'm almost seventy years old. 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.079 I'll never forget. I did a story for Sports Illustrated 0:10:56.120 --> 0:11:00.640 ones just looking at the play, at each physician that 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.680 is the hardest to make, like the you're charging the 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.520 bunt bare hand for a third baseman, thrown across the 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.920 diamond for a center fielder. I chose the ball that's 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:14.520 hit directly over their head. So I'm in the process 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.760 of trying to figure out who was the best active player. 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.840 This is, you know, thirty years ago, almost the best 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:26.800 active player at getting the ball hit over his head 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:30.720 in center field. And I mentioned one set of one team. 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.080 I went to him and I said, isn't Ken Griffy Junior. 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.080 And I'll I'll be honest with you, it was a 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.920 little exulted because the guy goes what several of the 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:42.320 players goes what. Nobody has ever been better than Andrew 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.280 Jones at that, And again I saw Willie Mays. No 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:48.040 one was better than Willy Mays. I grew up watching 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.880 Paul Blair in Baltimore. He was great. But Andrew Jones 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:56.400 is I repeat, the second greatest defensive center fielder that 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.280 I've ever seen. He won ten Gold Gloves and he 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.360 had four hundred thirty four homers. So the only players 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.480 ever with ten gold gloves and four hundred homers are 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:09.600 Willie Mays, Ken Griffy Junior, Mike Schmidt, and Andrew Jones. 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:12.360 That's why I voted a film. Now, you know, the 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:16.280 downside Jet was even though he started his career at 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.280 nineteen and I was there that night at Yankee Stadium 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.800 when he had two home runs in Game one of 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:25.000 the World Series as a nineteen year old, but his 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:30.040 career really really fell off at age thirty thirty one 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.800 and he wasn't even close to being the same. But 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.560 when you have a ten year prime, and he had 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.720 a ten year prime, to me, that's normally good enough 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:42.800 to get you into the Hall of Fame. So that's 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:45.160 why I voted for Andrew Jones. 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:46.760 Well, I think Andrew Jones dead. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.080 This is so exciting for me because all of these 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.160 guys are from a generation in which I grew up 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.160 watching them play. And I know that sounds crazy, but 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.600 you know, when I was growing up, the first couple 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:02.440 in Ducks I went to, I wasn't even alive when 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:04.920 they were still playing, or at least when they were 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:08.160 in their prime. It wasn't until I hit the years 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.480 of cow Ripken Junior and Tony Gwynn and those inductions 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:14.320 that I started to say, Okay, I saw these guys, 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.920 but I didn't see cal in the eighties, right. I 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.080 saw these guys come up in the league. I saw 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.760 their rise, I saw their World Series performances. 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:26.520 That's really neat, Dad, the. 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.600 Two home runs in Game one of the World Series 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:32.320 as a nineteen year old. But I mean the only 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.679 other one I can think of from a teenage performance 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.240 was it Juan Soto. Was he nineteen or was he 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:38.120 twenty already? 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:42.320 Well, Wan Soto hit cleanup in a World Series at 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:47.120 age twenty, that's right, Ty Cobb, That's Miguel Cabrera, That's 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:49.160 Juan Soto. It's hard to do. 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:53.199 And then I mean, going back to Carlos Peltron, Dad, 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:57.600 when it comes to playoff performance, nobody, nobody did it better. 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.000 I mean, if we had to rename a mister October, 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.520 it would be Carlos Beltrok Right. 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.160 And again, Jeff, he didn't just hit home runs like 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.480 Reggie Jackson did. He ran the bases. He played a 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:12.520 magnificent center field. So I think the two guys who 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.360 were most likely to get in did get in. I 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.959 was struck by a couple other things. Again, I voted 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.760 for Chase Utley. He's up to fifty nine percent of 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.760 the vote. He's made a couple of really nice jumps here, 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.960 and I think this bodes well for him eventually getting 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:33.760 into the Hall of Fame. And I voted for Chase 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.680 Utley because I thought he was the best all round 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.080 player on those great Phillies teams, the team that won 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:42.880 the World Series in two thousand and eight. I mean, 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:46.320 they had great players, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, who's very 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:49.640 much a borderline Hall of Famer. He has a shot 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.800 some days, got to really pick it up from here. 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:56.040 But Udley had every intangible Jeff, That's what I did. 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:58.880 No one played the game harder than Chase Utley, no 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:03.200 one played the game more correctly than Chase Utley. And 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.440 I just always appreciated how important it was for him 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.440 to play the game the right way and to win. 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:13.000 That's all he ever cared about. I'll never forget Jeff. 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.960 When I interviewed him early in his career, just do 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.480 a story just about how great Chase Utley was. He 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.680 gave me the most boring interview of all time. Was 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:31.640 he was. He wasn't rude, certainly, he wasn't dismissive. He 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:36.960 just didn't say anything of any interest. And when we 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.160 were done, I thanked him and he looked at me 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.720 and he said sorry like that, like, I just can't 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.240 give you what you're looking for here because I don't 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:51.160 want to talk about myself. Now. If we talked about 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:54.040 the team, wow, if we talked about how great Jimmy 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:57.800 Rollins was, or how great you know Roy Halliday was, 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.200 or you know any of those guys, well, he's all in. 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.280 He'll talk about them all day. But I always kind 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:07.000 of admired him for looking at me and just not 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.120 giving me anything because he didn't want to make it 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:13.640 about him. Does that mean anything to you, Jeff? 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:19.440 I think it's wonderfully humbling to hear that from a 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.840 guy of his stature and his ability. It's incredible, and 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.200 I think one day he'll make it. So those were 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.800 your three that you only voted for three this year? 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.120 Dad, Yeah, And Jeff, most years I voted for ten, okay, 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.080 And there were years where if I had seventeen that 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.720 I could vote for, I would have voted for seventeen. Now, 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.600 that doesn't mean that today's players aren't as good as 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.160 you know ten years ago or so. I'm not saying that. 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.200 I'm just saying there are ebbs and flows to every 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:49.760 Hall of Fame ballot, and it hurts me to only 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.960 vote for three, but I got to vote with my conscience, 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:58.240 and I voted for Beltron, and Andrew Jones and Chase Obey. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:04.399 You know, my heart, my little second baseman heart was 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.720 really heartbroken to see and I didn't think it was 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.720 going to happen anyway, But I would have loved to 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:13.080 see Chase Utley, Jeff Kent, and Dustin Pedroia all go 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.480 in in the same class. I mean, talk about great 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.600 hands right there, the little guys. 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.840 Yeah, and that'd be great. Yeah. We love Dustin Padroya, 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.320 and nobody played the game harder than him, even though 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.560 I just said the same thing about Chase Utley, but 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:30.959 that's He's a little guy that made a great career, 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.399 but it ended short. He got hurt, not his fault, 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.720 and it's just I just feel terrible not voting for him. 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:40.840 But I looked at the numbers and I just couldn't 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.600 go there. So that's the hard part. But the last thing, Jeff, 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.520 Cole Hamil's got twenty five percent his first year on 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.480 the ballot. Okay, I did not vote for Cole Hammil's. 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.399 I seriously considered him. But I think that's a pretty 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.439 good first year showing for Cole Hammil's. That doesn't mean 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:59.879 he's going to get in one day, but that was 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.879 slightly higher, better than I thought he would do, and 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.840 I think that's a great sign for Cole Hammils. 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.919 Yeah, a lot of Philadelphia Phillies on this ballot, Dad, 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.840 and so you know, not getting Utley in was a 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:19.160 disappointment obviously for fans. But they have Rollins, they have Hammels, 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.720 They've got Utley. There could be some future from those 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.600 great early two thousands teams. 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.280 Right right, Okay. A couple other takeaways Jeff from the 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:32.400 week not related to the Hall of Fame. Ryan Presley retired. 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:37.440 It's you know, he had fourteen Jeff postseason saves. That's 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:41.000 the fifth most of all time. Ryan Presley was a 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.960 really good pitcher for several teams. I really enjoyed watching 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.680 him pitch. He didn't overpower everybody, but he had such 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:53.840 a great combination fastball, slider, curveball, everything else. He was 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.920 really good and also really sad. This week, Jeff wilbur 0:18:56.920 --> 0:19:00.440 Wood died. Wilburwood is way, way, way before your time. 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:04.320 He was a knuckleball pitcher. Nineteen seventy two, Jeff, he 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:09.439 threw three hundred and seventy six innings. Granted, he's a 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.080 knuckleball pitcher three seventy six, Jeff. If you get to 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.840 two hundred today, you are a work course of the 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:21.560 highest order. He threw three hundred and seventy six innings 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:24.639 in nineteen seventy two and in seventy two seventy three, Jeff, 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:29.200 he won a total of forty eight games in back 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:33.960 to back seasons combined. That's unbelievable. And in nineteen seventy three, Jeff, 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.719 he went twenty four and twenty so he Phil Nicro 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:42.480 Walter Johnson, are you a very small group of guys 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:46.320 who've won twenty and lost twenty in the same year? 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:48.320 I ever tell you, I went to Walter Johnson High 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:53.840 School nineteen Yeah, nineteen sixteen, Walter Johnson, get this, went 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.119 twenty five and twenty and he had a one point 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.719 nine oer and he lost twenty games. Think about that 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.320 for a minute. I mean, but that's. 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:06.600 Let's think about this. How many of those games did 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:07.040 he lose? 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.600 Was it one to zero? Probably a lot of them. 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.440 Yeah, Walter Johnson had thirty eight one to nothing losses 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:18.280 in his career. Think about that. First, Well, he was amazing. 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:22.119 So last thing, Wilburwood three point twenty four Era twenty 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:25.600 four shoutouts more than Mike Messina. Well, I only mentioned 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.879 because Mike Messina is a Hall of Famer. He was 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.399 a first ballot Hall of Famer for me. So Wilburwood, 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:33.720 rest in peace. You were a lot of fun to 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.000 watch in your day. And again, Jeff, just another reminder, 0:20:37.119 --> 0:20:40.960 knuckleball pitchers never get to do that. They are owed 0:20:41.080 --> 0:20:44.439 because people think it's just a carnival act and it's not. 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.280 It's a really hard pitch to throw, and he threw 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:49.800 it pretty darn well for a long time. 0:20:56.359 --> 0:21:00.040 On the State in Baseball History, Dad January the twenty. 0:20:59.760 --> 0:21:04.280 Five, Yeah, we had a couple of fun things. Shed long. 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:08.440 I only bring up his name, Jeff, because you left 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:12.160 our house the other day on Martin Luther King Weekend 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.720 you had to go home early because the shed was 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:17.800 being delivered to your house and you had to get 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:21.400 home and shovel the snow. And then what happened. 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:24.440 The shed got canceled. 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:29.640 The shed has already been moved one week. Now it's 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.320 being moved another week. And Dad, I don't know if 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:35.520 you've looked at the weather, but there's going to be 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:39.960 a massive snow storm hitting the entire country on Sunday 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.879 into Monday, and my shed's supposed to come on Monday. 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:44.920 I'm never gonna get this darn thing. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:49.640 Dad, right right Well, on this date in twenty nineteen, 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.080 shed Long Junior. I love that his real first name 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:55.959 is Shedrick. But he was traded from the red to 0:21:56.000 --> 0:22:00.719 the Yankees in the Sunny Gray Deal, and later that 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:04.199 day the Yankees traded him to the Marators. So in 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:08.360 one day this day in twenty nineteen, shed Long got 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:12.000 traded twice. And we will talk a little bit more 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:17.040 about shed Long when we do team tim. Hopefully you 0:22:17.040 --> 0:22:21.119 can figure out where we're headed with that. I have 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:24.960 a good feeling, okay. Also on this date, in nineteen 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.399 fifty two, Mike Kruco was born. Mike Cruco was a 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:32.040 good major League pitcher. He's one of the great broadcasters 0:22:32.040 --> 0:22:36.080 in baseball. He and Dwayne Kuiper do Giants games. They 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:38.639 should both be in the Hall of Fame, and they will, 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:41.760 both of them will be one day. And I always 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.400