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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: voter number seventy, Rob Parker.

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Speaker 2: Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker. What

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Speaker 2: a show we have for you today. Cleveland Guardians right

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Speaker 2: handed Tristan McKenzie dropped by. We'll talk about him his

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Speaker 2: success with the Guardians. Also Gordon Witmeyer, who is a

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Speaker 2: baseball beat writer for the Cincinnati Reds.

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Speaker 3: He writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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Speaker 4: He'll jump by as well. That and much more.

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Speaker 2: Let's go.

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Speaker 1: Better to lead off, it's getting robbed. Rob's hot take

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

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Speaker 5: Number one, Major League Baseball did something so groundbreaking, so unbelievable.

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Speaker 5: I'm still in a little awe of it, and that

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Speaker 5: is that they're incorporating the Negro League stats into the

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Speaker 5: official Major League Baseball stats and have changed some of

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Speaker 5: the all time records and numbers of some iconic baseball players.

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Speaker 5: Josh Gibson is now the all time batting average leader,

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Speaker 5: eclipsing Ty Cobb. I mean, that's incredible by itself. Josh

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Speaker 5: Gibson will also pass Babe Ruth in a couple of categories,

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Speaker 5: including splugging percentage all time in Major League baseball.

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Speaker 4: And there's some people who are.

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Speaker 2: Gonna frown at this and say, well, they didn't play

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Speaker 2: in the major leagues.

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Speaker 5: But this wasn't because there was a skills barrier. There

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Speaker 5: was just a color barrier. They had nothing to do

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Speaker 5: with skill. These guys are skilled. Are three of the

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Speaker 5: greatest players who ever played in Major League baseball played

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Speaker 5: in the Negro League. Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron

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Speaker 5: all played in the Negro leagues. The players were talented,

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Speaker 5: they just didn't get an opportunity. They were deprived, stripped

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Speaker 5: of a chance of playing major league baseball, and when

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Speaker 5: they got there, they were incredible. Probably the stat of

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Speaker 5: you're still questioning the talent and talking about the place

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Speaker 5: of black players in Major league baseball, go to the

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Speaker 5: National League MVP race and go look at those awards.

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Speaker 5: From nineteen forty eight to nineteen sixty two, fourteen year span,

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Speaker 5: eleven black players won the National League MVP.

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Speaker 2: During that stretch, are you kidding me? In a fourteen

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Speaker 2: year stretch? It told you about the talent that was

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Speaker 2: denied bravo to major League Baseball. There were only three

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Speaker 2: Negro league players left, including Willie Mays who's ninety three.

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Speaker 2: And they could have easily just said, hey, we didn't

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Speaker 2: do this. Here's a check pay off the families put

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Speaker 2: up a plaque.

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Speaker 4: They didn't do that. They decided that we're going to.

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Speaker 2: Do something groundbreaking and earth shattering, and that's what they did,

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Speaker 2: and let me tell you it was impressive.

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Speaker 5: Number two Mets reliever George Lopez was just unprofessional on

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Speaker 5: Wednesday night.

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Speaker 4: I mean, we get it. He said some dumb stuff

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Speaker 4: as well, that the Mets.

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Speaker 2: Were the worst team and he was the worst teammate

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Speaker 2: or whatever kind of got lost in the translation or

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Speaker 2: in the just what he said. It wasn't that clear,

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Speaker 2: but he used the term worse and didn't really apologize

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Speaker 2: about some of the stuff that he said. The Mets

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Speaker 2: on Thursday designated him for assignment, basically.

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Speaker 4: That they're going to give him his release.

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Speaker 5: And you're when the team is as bad as the

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Speaker 5: Mets are bad, and you're a reliever who's pitching just okay,

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Speaker 5: not great. They're not going to bend over backwards to

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Speaker 5: keep you around when you start saying the team is

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Speaker 5: the worst whenever that is going to be thrown out

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Speaker 5: there without taking it back. He threw his glove and

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Speaker 5: the stands. Some other players have done that in history,

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Speaker 5: but they were good players.

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Speaker 2: You can't be a so so player on a bad

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Speaker 2: team and act unprofessional and say.

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Speaker 4: The things that he said. It sounds harsh.

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Speaker 2: Lopez will get another opportunity somewhere because he does have.

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Speaker 4: A good arm. But I understand the Mets in this situation.

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Speaker 2: It just it makes a bad situation worse and it

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Speaker 2: looks bad for the organization.

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Speaker 5: So while it seems rough, I do get it. You

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Speaker 5: got to move on and you got to start to

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Speaker 5: win and turn things around. And Lopez is going to

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Speaker 5: be a casualty on a really bad night that went

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Speaker 5: really really wrong for him. Number three, I know coming

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Speaker 5: into the season it's gonna be a sho hal Tani's

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Speaker 5: another MVP, especially with that lineup and players around him,

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Speaker 5: and all he had to do was go and not

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Speaker 5: pitch this year in DH and he's having a tremendous season.

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Speaker 5: But I'll tell you right now, Aaron Judge is in

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Speaker 5: the lead for.

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Speaker 2: MVP in the American League at least and the talk

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Speaker 2: of baseball.

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Speaker 4: Let's just think about this.

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Speaker 2: He entered play on May fourth, batting two hundred is

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Speaker 2: slash line three thirty six, three ninety two and had

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Speaker 2: just twelve extra base hits in thirty four games. You ready,

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Speaker 2: since then, try this four eight, five, twenty one, one

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Speaker 2: thousand with twenty three extra base hits in twenty two games.

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Speaker 4: Did you hear me?

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Speaker 2: In twenty two games? He has been tremendous and has

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Speaker 2: had an unbelievable month of May, and he's been basically

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Speaker 2: transformed into Babe Ruth.

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Speaker 4: Here we go.

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Speaker 2: Aaron Judge right now is painting the Big leagues slugging

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Speaker 2: percentage six twenty two ops oneenty twenty nine and the

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Speaker 2: WRC plus is one eighty six for you stat head guys.

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Speaker 4: But he has been tremendous.

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Speaker 2: His statistics for the month of May alone, he's betting

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Speaker 2: three seventy six, four ninety five on base percentage, nine

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Speaker 2: h six slugging percentage and the ops of one point

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Speaker 2: four one. I mean just he's been almost impossible to

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Speaker 2: get out he's been tremendous. You know, he started the

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Speaker 2: season terribly and people were already saying, hey, he's struggling

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Speaker 2: mightily and the Yankees are rolling. Aaron Judge is doing great.

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Speaker 2: But this looks like he could be another year where

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Speaker 2: Aaron Judge has a real shot at being the MVP

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Speaker 2: in the American League. And who knows, Showy could win

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Speaker 2: it in the National League. But Mookie Betts is also

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Speaker 2: having a great year, so it could be Mookie or

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Speaker 2: show Hey. But in the American League right now, it's

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Speaker 2: all about Aaron Judge.

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Speaker 4: Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn.

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Speaker 3: It's so good.

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Speaker 2: Now let's welcome into inside the Parker Cleveland Guardians right

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Speaker 2: hander Tristan Mackenzie.

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Speaker 3: Tristan, thank you for joining us.

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Speaker 4: Thank you for having me on.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that. Let's talk about the early part of

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Speaker 2: the season. Indians are rolling. How good is this team?

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Speaker 6: I mean, I think we've shown it since the beginning

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Speaker 6: of the season. We can go out there and compete

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Speaker 6: with anybody, and I think it goes to show that

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Speaker 6: we're always in games, regardless of we down down the stretch,

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Speaker 6: but especially if we're up. We keep that confidence we

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Speaker 6: keep that energy, and I think we've just been putting

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Speaker 6: in two teams playing our style of baseball.

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Speaker 2: How about the Al Central Kansas City pretty good, you guys?

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Speaker 3: Of course?

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Speaker 2: The division? How tough is this division going to be?

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Speaker 2: I don't think many people thought it was going to

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Speaker 2: be that tough. But the Royals are really playing well

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Speaker 2: and trying to keep up with you. The Twins are

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Speaker 2: always around them in the mix, had like a twelve

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Speaker 2: game winning streak at some point.

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Speaker 3: So how tough will this division be to win?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 6: I mean I think we're not even necessarily worried about

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Speaker 6: winning the division. We're worried about winning each an individual

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Speaker 6: game and staying locked in that in that regard, and

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Speaker 6: I think we've kind of seen the division get better

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Speaker 6: and better as the years have passed here. I think

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Speaker 6: Kansas City was a little young a couple of years ago,

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Speaker 6: but they're definitely coming into their own right now with

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Speaker 6: some leadership via Salvi and you have a wit and

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Speaker 6: some of their superstars over there performing really well. And

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Speaker 6: I think we're really just focused on just taking a

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Speaker 6: one step at a time.

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Speaker 2: And what would you say is the strength of this team? Obviously,

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Speaker 2: you have really good pitching, but you have some matters

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Speaker 2: to what's the strength.

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Speaker 6: I think it's a little combination of both. And I

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Speaker 6: think it's the way we play the game. We're not

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Speaker 6: necessarily relying on the long ball or relying on strong pitching.

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Speaker 6: I think it's a culmination of everything we do, the

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Speaker 6: little things we BoNT, we hit and run, we move

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Speaker 6: guys over, and I think timely hitting has been a

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Speaker 6: big key to our success as well as having a

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Speaker 6: really really good bullpen. I think all those things coming

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Speaker 6: together and to winning ball games, especially close ones and

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Speaker 6: big ones as well.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and especially in October. You got to have a bullpen.

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Speaker 2: Gotta have all the elements, timely hitting, good starting pitching,

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Speaker 2: but a bullpen as well.

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Speaker 3: How important is the bullpen?

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Speaker 6: I mean, I don't think I can I can say

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Speaker 6: enough about them. I think as a starting pitcher, you

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Speaker 6: want people that are going to come in and slam

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Speaker 6: the door for you, and they've been doing just that

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Speaker 6: from day one. So it's good to see them and

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Speaker 6: hopefully keep it rolling.

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Speaker 2: I guess it is Tristan McKenzie right handed picture for

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Speaker 2: the Cleveland Guardians. Let's talk about you. Year four, healthy

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Speaker 2: on the mound, just talk about your season and how.

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Speaker 6: You feeling out Yeah, I mean, it's good to be

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Speaker 6: back out there. I felt like last year I miss

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Speaker 6: a lot of times, So being able to be back

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Speaker 6: out there with the boys has been huge for me.

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Speaker 6: And just going out there and trying to compete and

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Speaker 6: when the guys ball games, or at least keep us

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Speaker 6: in it enough for our or bullpend to come in

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Speaker 6: and slam the door shut and have the bats come

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Speaker 6: around and help me at the end.

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Speaker 2: How about when you sit on the sidelines that much,

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Speaker 2: you know, due to injury, how tough is that?

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Speaker 3: What are you thinking about? Is it itching to get

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Speaker 3: back out there?

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Speaker 2: Do you have to you know, say to yourself, Man,

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Speaker 2: I got to get healthy first, and I can't rush it,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 3: How did you deal with that?

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Speaker 6: I mean, I think the biggest thing is trying to

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Speaker 6: stay present. I think even though I was on the

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Speaker 6: sidelines a lot last year, just trying to be around

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Speaker 6: the clubhouse and be a good teammate as much as

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Speaker 6: I could and impact the game as much as I

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Speaker 6: could when I wasn't able to be out there physically,

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Speaker 6: and then just trying to carry that into this year

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Speaker 6: and as well as being able to go out there

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Speaker 6: and do my part on the field as well.

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Speaker 3: As a picture.

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Speaker 2: What do you need to continue to get better at

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Speaker 2: You're still very young, and what are the things you

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Speaker 2: strive to improve on.

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Speaker 6: I mean, I think just competing with each and every pitch,

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Speaker 6: none as he taking a bats off or taking pitches off,

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Speaker 6: or taking innings off. Just being able to go out

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Speaker 6: there and be myself and put the team in the

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Speaker 6: best position to win from pitch one to pitch ninety.

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Speaker 2: And again year four in the big leagues you've been around,

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Speaker 2: do you talk about the atmosphere of different places that

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Speaker 2: you've been stadiums you like, stadiums that.

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Speaker 3: Are tougher to play.

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Speaker 2: I always like, can get a gauge on you know

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Speaker 2: what places revue up?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I think one of my old times

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Speaker 6: is Fenway, just because of the energy the fans bring.

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Speaker 3: There and the intimacy right is so small.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think it's it's hard to

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Speaker 6: beat stadiums with history like that. I haven't gotten to

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Speaker 6: play Wrigley or or someplace like that, but I mean

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Speaker 6: Progressive is one of the more beautiful ballparks in my

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Speaker 6: opinion too, So I love the home crowd. I love.

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Speaker 6: I love a lot of places in the Central I

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Speaker 6: think my favorite all time ballpark has been Saint Louis.

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Speaker 6: I've only been once, but being able to see a

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Speaker 6: lot of the history that they have in Saint Louis,

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Speaker 6: seeing the arch, seeing like their banish for all their

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Speaker 6: championships and stuff like that is it's everything. It means

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Speaker 6: everything to me as a baseball player to see history

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Speaker 6: of the game.

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Speaker 2: And baseball's of course made changes. Is the second year

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Speaker 2: with the uh the shift the pitch clock. Has a

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Speaker 2: pitch clock affected you in any way or is it

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Speaker 2: not even conscious anymore? You just kind of get it,

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Speaker 2: throw it and not. It doesn't seem like many pictures

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Speaker 2: violated anymore, you know.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean it's I mean, I wouldn't say you're

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Speaker 6: necessarily thinking about it when you're out there competing. I

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Speaker 6: think it still affects the game a little bit from

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Speaker 6: the from the pitching side, there's certain like processes and

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Speaker 6: the game gets gets to sweed up on you a

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Speaker 6: little bit. But I think guys are adjusting a lot

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Speaker 6: quicker than I mean, I think you see it. Guys

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Speaker 6: are adjusting and it's just a part of the game.

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Speaker 7: Now and.

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Speaker 2: When you're how much fun is it just to go

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Speaker 2: out and compete on this level. You love baseball obviously

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Speaker 2: as a kid, but once you make it to the

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Speaker 2: major leagues, it's a job. You get paid well, But

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Speaker 2: how do you still have that fun once you get

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Speaker 2: out there? Do you drop all that the other stuff

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Speaker 2: and you just kind of compete and just have fun

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Speaker 2: playing ball?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 6: I mean this is I think as a kid, this

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Speaker 6: is what you dream of. You want to compete again

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Speaker 6: and the best, And it helps when you have really

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Speaker 6: good players here left into your right and behind you

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Speaker 6: to know that I'm not out there doing it by

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Speaker 6: myself and I'm competing with the best of the best

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Speaker 6: against the best of the best.

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Speaker 2: All right, Tristan mackenzie, Cleveland Guardians, right handed, thanks for

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Speaker 2: joining us.

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Speaker 3: I appreciate you.

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Speaker 6: My pleasure. Thank you.

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

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Speaker 1: you need to know?

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Speaker 2: Well, maybe Anthony Masterson is his name, BS analytics is

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Speaker 2: his game.

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Speaker 4: What do you got for me, Anthony?

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Speaker 7: It's an historic week for Major League Baseball, where after

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Speaker 7: numerous reviews from stats committees and a twenty twenty eedict

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Speaker 7: that seven different Negro leagues would be recognized as major leagues.

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Speaker 7: MLB has now officially absorbed Negro league's numbers into the

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Speaker 7: official historical record for the years from nineteen twenty to

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Speaker 7: nineteen forty eight. Now what does that mean for how

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Speaker 7: we viewed some of the best players in history? Well,

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Speaker 7: the all time leaderboards have been shuffled around, with Josh

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Speaker 7: Gibson aka the Black Babe Ruth getting his due next

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Speaker 7: to his nickname Sake. The two time Triple Crown winner

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Speaker 7: whose stories have approached legend status, now holds the all

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Speaker 7: time career record in batting average at three seventy two,

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Speaker 7: passing Ty Cobb, slugging percentage of seven eighteen, and OPS

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Speaker 7: at eleven seventy seven, passing Babe Ruth in both and

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Speaker 7: also now the single season leader in average.

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Speaker 4: Slugging and OPS.

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Speaker 7: Guys like Oscar Charleston, Buck Leonard, and Turkey Stearns are

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Speaker 7: also now littered around the top ten lists in numerous categories.

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Speaker 7: The legendary statel Page also finds himself on the top

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Speaker 7: of some single season leader boards now with his one

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Speaker 7: point one era with the nineteen forty four Kansas City

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Speaker 7: Monarchs ranking third all time, the year he supposedly turned

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Speaker 7: thirty eight. What's amazing that even though official Negro league

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Speaker 7: seasons were around sixty to eighty games, the now count

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Speaker 7: for single season eight stats records, Barry Bond's six h

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Speaker 7: nine OVP from his MVP two thousand and four season

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Speaker 7: still stands as the best mark all time. There's much

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Speaker 7: more to parse through, but finally the Negro leagues and

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Speaker 7: their stars are getting their due.

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Speaker 8: It's the Gambler here, Vice president of operations for mlbbro

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Speaker 8: dot Com and executive producer of the MLB Bro Show

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Speaker 8: podcast The Mixtape.

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Speaker 4: Every Friday. You heard that right.

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Speaker 8: Every Friday, we bring you the best from the world

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Speaker 8: of Black and Brown baseball. We cover the seven point

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Speaker 8: two percent of melanated Major leaguers from soup to nuts,

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Speaker 8: but with our own cultural flair and unique voice, will

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Speaker 8: take you on a ride reflecting on the accomplishment, clutch moments,

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Speaker 8: and contribution to culture that the Bros continue to breathe

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Speaker 8: into baseball.

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Speaker 4: From Mookie Wilson to Mookie.

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Speaker 8: Bets, Doctor k to Doctor Styx, from Bro Bombs to

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Speaker 8: stolen bases to black Aces, We're live at the ballparks

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Speaker 8: and also bringing you. Segments like Classic Hits with David Gruff,

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Speaker 8: the Black Ace Report, the Rundown, the walk Off, and

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Speaker 8: Going Deep just the name of few of the segments

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Speaker 8: that truly capture the voice of Black baseball. If things

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Speaker 8: get out of hand is the Boss, Rob Parker, He's

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Speaker 8: kicking up dust. We will gladly pay you on Tuesday

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Speaker 8: from an MLB bro doubleheader today. Remember the heart of

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Speaker 8: the game lies in the diversity of the game and

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Speaker 8: the spirit of Black baseball that dates back to.

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Speaker 4: The Negro leagues.

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Speaker 8: I the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood diamond checker, making sure

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Speaker 8: that you stay on top of the game and in

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Speaker 8: touch with.

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Speaker 4: The soul of MLB.

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Speaker 8: Fuckle up for a wild baseball journey, showing respect to

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Speaker 8: the Ogs and highlighting the new breed of melanated malm robins.

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Speaker 8: First thing through MLB's pipelines, all pitching with the sound

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Speaker 8: of Black baseball.

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Speaker 4: We got the best starting five in the business.

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Speaker 8: Listen to the MLB Bro Show podcast the Mixtape on

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Speaker 8: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: How was the newspaper columnist. He lived by this motto.

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Speaker 1: If I'm writing I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer

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Speaker 1: of broadcaster old or new.

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Speaker 2: All right, now, let's welcome in Gordon Wittenmeyer, a longtime

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Speaker 2: baseball writer who now writes for the Cincinnati Enquirer, a

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Speaker 2: place I used to work, and I covered the Reds

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 4: Gordon, welcome to the podcast, my friend.

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Speaker 9: Thanks for having me on. Rob. Hey, what years were

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Speaker 9: you there?

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Speaker 6: So?

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Speaker 5: I was there ninety one and ninety two with Loop

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Speaker 5: Panela Marge, shot, Rob Bibble, My goodness, all those crazy Reds.

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Speaker 5: It was great and shots yesh Shatzi Shazio two. So yeah,

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Speaker 5: let's let's talk about the Cincinnati Reds and where they're going.

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Speaker 2: Let's start there. So after they swept the Dodgers and

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Speaker 2: then they beat the Cardinals the next game, they had

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Speaker 2: won four in a row, maybe things were turning, but

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Speaker 2: maybe not.

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Speaker 4: Gordon, where's this team headed?

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Speaker 9: Probably for you know, their nearest hunting grounds and fishing

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Speaker 9: grounds in October. You know, look, honestly, they had high

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Speaker 9: hopes and a good reason for high hopes, coming in

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Speaker 9: good young cores of position players with a lot of athleticism, speed.

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Speaker 9: They're taking advantage of the new rules, and they bolstered

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Speaker 9: the pitching staff and guys that were hurt last year

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Speaker 9: got healthy and they've pitched, especially the starting rotation, and

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Speaker 9: so they had reason to think that they had a

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Speaker 9: good chance. But man, they had a miserable May and

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Speaker 9: they buried themselves so deep. I mean, it just goes

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Speaker 9: to show you. They were ten games under five hundred

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Speaker 9: before the end of May. Then they win four straight,

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Speaker 9: so you're thinking, Okay, well this is maybe the start

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Speaker 9: of something, and all these division games coming up. Just

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Speaker 9: like that, you lose two straight. Now you're back to

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Speaker 9: eight games under five hundred. I mean, that's how fragile

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Speaker 9: your chance has become once you've dug yourself even that

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Speaker 9: big a hole. And so you know, they don't have

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Speaker 9: a juggernaut type team where I would expect, you know,

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Speaker 9: at eighteen out of twenty five type of run. So

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Speaker 9: we'll see. They got some exciting young guys to watch though.

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Speaker 2: One of those exciting guys, of course, is eleg Dela Cruz,

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Speaker 2: who is on pace to steal ninety nine one hundred bases.

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Speaker 4: Tell us about that.

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Speaker 2: Obviously he's got great tools and whatnot, But still the

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Speaker 2: strikeouts I thought.

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Speaker 4: They were going down. Has that changed? Tell me about that,

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Speaker 4: And it's hitting.

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Speaker 2: I mean we saw last year came out of the

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Speaker 2: gig grade, struck out a lot in the second half

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Speaker 2: of the season, wound up batting two thirty five.

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Speaker 9: Where is he Yeah, he's still very young and the

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Speaker 9: rest of the season is going to be up and

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Speaker 9: down in probably a best case scenario, honestly, and that's

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Speaker 9: what we've seen so far. But the thing about this

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Speaker 9: guy is, and you allude to all the tools that

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Speaker 9: he has. I mean, he's maybe the fastest guy in

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Speaker 9: the game. I mean he was last year, and his

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Speaker 9: sprint speed I think still measures top two, if not

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Speaker 9: the fastest. He's got the strongest arm of any position

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Speaker 9: player in the game. He hits four hundred and fifty

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Speaker 9: foot home runs when he connects and puts the ball

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Speaker 9: in the air. He's got quickness in the field with range.

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Speaker 9: So you combine that with the arm and he can

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Speaker 9: do some special things at shortstop. He's gotten way better

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Speaker 9: at the routine play, but the strikeouts are the things

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Speaker 9: that keep him from being totally five to twol right,

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Speaker 9: and they've come and gone. He's gone through stretches where

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Speaker 9: he hasn't struck out as much, and then he faces

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Speaker 9: a bunch of good pitching like he saw in May,

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Speaker 9: and it makes a difference. But what's funny is man

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Speaker 9: the only reason he's not on one hundred steel pace

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Speaker 9: right now like he was maybe a week ago, is

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Speaker 9: because he hasn't been on base. When he's on base,

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Speaker 9: he's on two bases. Every time a walk is a double,

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Speaker 9: sometimes a triple. This guy got on base four times

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Speaker 9: against the Dodgers in LA and stole four bases, So

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Speaker 9: that's what he does. And then so then he'll be

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Speaker 9: back up to one hundred steel pace again, which is

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Speaker 9: crazy to think that hasn't happened. I mean, I know

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Speaker 9: the bases are bigger in the whole thing.

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Speaker 4: Come on, Gordon to pizza boxes.

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Speaker 2: So I mean Raggy Henderson would have two hundred stolen

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Speaker 2: base I know, I know.

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Speaker 9: That's I've been thinking the same thing as I watching

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Speaker 9: it is how many would Ricky have? How many would

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Speaker 9: Coleman have had? And so yeah, no doubt. But also

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Speaker 9: consider this, there's only one shortstop that's ever done it. Yeah,

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Speaker 9: I mean, that's that's asking a lot. And and by

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Speaker 9: the way, that when Maury Will stole one hundred and

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Speaker 9: four bases in nineteen sixty two, we talk about what

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Speaker 9: do you call it load management and giving all these

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Speaker 9: guys days off and stuff. Elie da la Cruz doesn't

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Speaker 9: want a day off. Well, Maury Will stole one hundred

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Speaker 9: and four bases. He did not play one hundred and sixty

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Speaker 9: two games. He played one hundred and sixty five. Wow,

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Speaker 9: because they tied the Giants and had to have a

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Speaker 9: three game playoff at the end of the season. Those

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Speaker 9: are all regular season games. Mourriy Will's played in every

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Speaker 9: single one of them. And I want to say he

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Speaker 9: stole three bases in the last game.

444
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,639
Speaker 2: That is That is incredible. See, you gave me something

445
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 2: I never knew. I didn't know he played a one

446
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty five regular season games one year.

447
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:34,479
Speaker 9: I thought I was gonna find out it was one

448
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:36,760
Speaker 9: hundred and fifty or something. It was crazy.

449
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 4: I'll Jess.

450
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 2: Gordon Wittenmeyer from the Cincinnati Enquirer Reds Baseball be Wider

451
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:45,840
Speaker 2: covered baseball for a long time.

452
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:46,960
Speaker 4: How many years now, Gordon?

453
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 9: Yeah, man, you're gonna make me go there. It's pushing

454
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 9: thirty so twenty eight, twenty nine, something like that.

455
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, unbelievable, all right, let's go here. Here's a bright

456
00:22:56,320 --> 00:23:00,359
Speaker 2: spot for the Cincinnati Reds. Hunter Green. He's healthy. His

457
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,640
Speaker 2: last five starts, he's been amazing. He's two to zero

458
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 2: with a two point four zero er ray, twenty nine strikeouts.

459
00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 2: I mean, he's been as advertised. This is the guy

460
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,399
Speaker 2: that they were hoping, and he looks great. This is

461
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:16,639
Speaker 2: the guy they paid the money to.

462
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:19,360
Speaker 9: Right he's the one guy in a multi year contract

463
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 9: on that roster, and they gave it to him in

464
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 9: April of last year, fifty three million dollars, six years.

465
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 9: And this was why. This is the guy they saw,

466
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,919
Speaker 9: not necessarily the one hundred mile an hour you a

467
00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:36,159
Speaker 9: triple digit fastball guy, but the guy that was going

468
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 9: to develop into this consistent big league pitcher with that

469
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,679
Speaker 9: stuff when the slider to go with it. And you

470
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,239
Speaker 9: mentioned his last five stars, but you can probably go

471
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:48,520
Speaker 9: back seven or eight. I don't know exactly what it is.

472
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 9: There was a start against maybe it was against Philly

473
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,520
Speaker 9: when he gave up single runs in like the second, third, fourth,

474
00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 9: and fifth inning. You know, there goes the quality start

475
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 9: and you know he's pitch counts getting up there. I

476
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,880
Speaker 9: want to say he pitched seven innings that day save

477
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 9: the bullpen. That was kind of a It was one

478
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 9: of those types of starts that you see veterans when

479
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,440
Speaker 9: they don't quite have it, they get through those into

480
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 9: the late innings, and that was the kind of thing

481
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 9: that you didn't see before in his career. In the

482
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,959
Speaker 9: first couple of years, in addition to being on and

483
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,360
Speaker 9: off the il for various things, he would get into

484
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 9: the high pitch counts, but then he would want to

485
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:28,800
Speaker 9: go four innings, four and two thirds innings. Now he's

486
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 9: given him the innings. He's getting through some of these

487
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,560
Speaker 9: rough spots, and then then you put those together and

488
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 9: sandwich them in with some of these scoreless or one

489
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,320
Speaker 9: run outings, and now you've got a season that's starting

490
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:46,240
Speaker 9: to build and a pitcher instead of a thrower that's

491
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 9: starting to emerge. An ace maybe that's starting to emerge.

492
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 4: And that game was I'd looked it up.

493
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,760
Speaker 2: April twenty second against the Phillies, seven innings, he gave

494
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 2: you four runs, right, but then he comes back against

495
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 2: Rangers seven innings, once hit, no run, So you're right.

496
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,760
Speaker 2: The stretch of him really pitching well has been nice

497
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 2: for the Red It's great to see he's a great

498
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,879
Speaker 2: young guy. He's smart, he's athletic, he's got all of

499
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:17,199
Speaker 2: the tools, and a guy you could market to a

500
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,639
Speaker 2: fan base and people fall in love with it. And

501
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,000
Speaker 2: you know, Gordon, the big thing is when you have

502
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 2: an ace at the top of your rotation, you're not

503
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 2: going to have long losing streaks.

504
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 4: And that's right, because you always have a chance to win.

505
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 9: Gordon, right, it's win day every time that guy pitches, exactly,

506
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,720
Speaker 9: and that's and that that right there is a foundational

507
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,679
Speaker 9: building block in a winning ball club, like a like

508
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 9: a championship ball club. And so yeah, it's really hard

509
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 9: to overstate what his development this season has meant to

510
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,399
Speaker 9: this club. And the other thing, you know, Rob, we

511
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,960
Speaker 9: talked about pitching versus throwing, you know, and it's really

512
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,280
Speaker 9: easy for young guys to fall in love with their

513
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 9: velocity when they have it. And I don't know if

514
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:03,960
Speaker 9: that's what he did. I only started covering the team

515
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,760
Speaker 9: midseason last year. I don't know if that's what he

516
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,919
Speaker 9: was doing early on. I know he didn't have a

517
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,959
Speaker 9: lot of experience and that's part of it. But some

518
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 9: of these really successful starts he's had of late, he

519
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 9: hasn't flashed the hundred as much. He's taking a little off.

520
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 9: The accelerator finds it when he needs it. What's that?

521
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,000
Speaker 9: That's a sign of a veteran pitcher man. And it's

522
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,959
Speaker 9: really been fun to watch, no doubt.

523
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,720
Speaker 2: But right now the Reds coming into Thursday sitting in

524
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,440
Speaker 2: last place, twenty four and thirty two, five and five

525
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 2: in their last ten And this is a month if

526
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,200
Speaker 2: they're ever going to do anything. They can't get buried anymore.

527
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 2: Here is if there's a chance of moving up. And

528
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, they're only eight and a

529
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 2: half games out. It's not impossible here. We are not

530
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:55,040
Speaker 2: hitting June yet. But this is the month Gordon, that

531
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:56,200
Speaker 2: they have to make a move.

532
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:56,639
Speaker 4: Isn't it?

533
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 9: No doubt? And what is it? Three and a half,

534
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,359
Speaker 9: four and a half out of the playoff position, with

535
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 9: all those playoff bursts out there these days. We saw

536
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 9: it went down to the last weekend last year. They

537
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,400
Speaker 9: only won eighty two games last year and they weren't

538
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 9: eliminated until the Saturday before the season ended. So yeah,

539
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,959
Speaker 9: you can make the cases, Chests, but but exactly what

540
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,159
Speaker 9: you said, it's now or never because they've got a

541
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 9: lengthy stretch of division games. You start losing those, that's

542
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 9: like losing two. You're not gaining any ground. You're losing

543
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 9: ground like rapidly. And so you got to win those games.

544
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 9: And if you do, if you win, you know, I

545
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,720
Speaker 9: just win series. You get to the end of this

546
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 9: stretch after about a month and you're right back in

547
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 9: the thick of it. But you can go the other

548
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,480
Speaker 9: way so fast.

549
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 4: Oh, no doubt.

550
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,639
Speaker 2: His name is Gordon Windmeyer, and Gordon is one of

551
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 2: the best guys, one of my favorite guys to mix

552
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 2: it up with in the press box. When I see

553
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 2: them out in the ballparks around the country, it covers

554
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 2: the Reds, check them out at the on the Cincinnati

555
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,679
Speaker 2: Inquirer online and going always a pleasure. Man.

556
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,080
Speaker 4: I'll see you down the road soon, okay, buddy.

557
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 2: Jamee Robin see soon, okay, buddy, Stay well you too.

558
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:16,680
Speaker 1: Now bring in the closer. Here's why MLB is better

559
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,479
Speaker 1: than the NFL or NBA, and it isn't even close.

560
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 2: Reason number four hundred and fifty five why Major League

561
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,840
Speaker 2: Baseball is better than the NBA In the NFL, it's

562
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 2: real simple. On Saturday, June first, I'll be in New

563
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 2: York for the number retirement of Darryl Strawberry and Darryl

564
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 2: Strawberry and I date back forty one years. The first

565
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 2: player I ever interviewed professional athlete was Darryl Strawberry back.

566
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 4: In nineteen eighty three, his rookie year.

567
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,920
Speaker 2: I was nineteen years old in college at Southern Connecticut

568
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 2: State University.

569
00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 4: He was a rookie with the Mets.

570
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: I interviewed him in the dugout at Shae Stadium. And

571
00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 2: here we are forty one years later, and I'm going

572
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 2: to be at his Jersey retirement ceremony in New York.

573
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 2: And I got to know him over the years.

574
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: Darryl Strawberry is ear and we showed you the shot.

575
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 7: So you covered him as a CUB reporter.

576
00:29:22,400 --> 00:29:24,720
Speaker 1: Look at this, Well, give me the story behind this. Now,

577
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 1: when did you interview Darryl?

578
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 4: So this was I was in college. I was nineteen,

579
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 4: Daryl was twenty one. This is his rookie year, nineteen

580
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 4: eighty three.

581
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 5: We're in the dugout, Oh my goodnes at Shae Stadium.

582
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 2: I was a student at Southern Connecticut State University.

583
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 4: I wrote a.

584
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 2: Letter to longtime PR guy Jay Harwich that I wanted

585
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 2: to interview, Darryl.

586
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 4: I got a press pass.

587
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 2: My best friend Fred Royster took the picture.

588
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 4: And it's something that I cherished. I can't believe I

589
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 4: still have it black and white. So good. Daryl and

590
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 4: I go way back. We share life together, you know that.

591
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 2: Come on, man, that was a great pitcher, great interview,

592
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 2: and Rob has always been a good friend. Baseball because

593
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 2: of the amount of time you get to spend around players,

594
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 2: you get to know them more on a personal level

595
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 2: then you do NFL players or even NBA players. NFL

596
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 2: is probably the hardest because there's so few games, so

597
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 2: much interaction really that you can spend time with them

598
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,680
Speaker 2: to get to know them. You probably would have to

599
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 2: do it outside of the realm of covering games. But

600
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 2: baseball players, you show up three four hours before the

601
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:36,720
Speaker 2: game and you spend time with them. You really get

602
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 2: to know them a lot more than you do the

603
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 2: other athletes. And I think that's the fabric of baseball.

604
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 2: That's how you get to write better stuff and know

605
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 2: more about athletes is because we spend way more time

606
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 2: around baseball players than anybody else. In the words of

607
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 2: New York TV legend The Lady Bill Jorgensen, thanking you

608
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 2: for your time this time.

609
00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,280
Speaker 3: Until next time. Rob Parker out.

610
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 4: He can't, Davin. This could be an inside of Parker.

611
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:13,480
Speaker 9: See you next week, same bat time, same Matt station,