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Speaker 1: From the Berke Shears to the sound from wherever you

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: Fame voter number eighty three, Rob Parker. Welcome into the podcast.

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

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Speaker 1: have for you today. Pull up a chair, get ready.

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Speaker 1: We have Pip Roberts, the former Major League All Star

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Speaker 1: infielder and outfielder. He will break down the shrieking Oakland.

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Speaker 1: A's also Robert Ford, who is the lead radio announcer

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Speaker 1: for the Houston Astros. That and much more. Let's go

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

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Speaker 1: Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major

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Speaker 1: League Baseball. Number one. I don't know about you, but

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Speaker 1: today is a special day on the Major League Baseball

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Speaker 1: calendar because the White Sox are quote unquote hosting the

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Speaker 1: Yankees for a Field of Dreams game in Iowa. Dryersville,

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Speaker 1: Iowa at an eight thousand seats stadium with corn uh

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Speaker 1: rows of corn backing the outfield fence. I mean it's

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Speaker 1: in the corn field. Are you kidding me? This is

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Speaker 1: like gues Feel the Dreams. This is unbelievable. They're flying

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Speaker 1: these two teams in to play this game. It will

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Speaker 1: be broadcast on Fox in a small ballpark built in

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Speaker 1: a corn field. I mean, this is incredible. I just

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Speaker 1: can't wait to see what this is like. And this

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Speaker 1: is uh, you know, this is not easy. They gotta

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Speaker 1: rough it. They fly in, take a two or three

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Speaker 1: hour bus trip to get into where the stadium is uh,

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Speaker 1: and then play this game and of course get out

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Speaker 1: this His Field of Dreams was that hit movie that

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Speaker 1: I loved, the nineteen nine you know, and and I remember,

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Speaker 1: you know, the big building and they will come. You

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Speaker 1: remember that you're building and they will come. And they

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Speaker 1: built this uh field in the middle of a corn field.

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Speaker 1: So there it is. Uh. This will be very very

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Speaker 1: interesting to watch baseball, a major league game that counts

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Speaker 1: in Iowa in the middle of a corn field. I

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Speaker 1: just can't wait. Is it cool to have popcorn while

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Speaker 1: watching this or not? Number two say it isn't so.

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Speaker 1: Are the Padres really gonna move Fernando Tattoos Jr. To

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Speaker 1: center field? The All Star shortstop has never played the

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Speaker 1: outfield in his life, or at least I should say,

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Speaker 1: in the pros. But the Padres, you know, they're thinking

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Speaker 1: about it. They're trying to save you know, he's been

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Speaker 1: injured his shoulder. You know maybe uh, you know, not

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Speaker 1: having him play shortstop this will help him. Also, he

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Speaker 1: has made a lot of errors of playing short so

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Speaker 1: I'm mostly throwing the ball. But this is weird. You know,

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Speaker 1: you don't do that that often. We do remember the

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Speaker 1: time that Robin Youll with the Milwaukee Brewers. Do you

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Speaker 1: remember that Robin Youll would switch from shortstop to center

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Speaker 1: field after eleven years and yes, that was because of

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Speaker 1: his shoulder injury as well. Uh Ian Desmond also did it.

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Speaker 1: It's been done before, but you don't You just wonder

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Speaker 1: about a guy who's the All star shortstop starting shortstop

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Speaker 1: now changing positions. If this can help him and keep

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Speaker 1: them healthy at least until he gets healthy fully healthy again.

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be against it if that's the move.

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Speaker 1: I'm not so sure I want him in center field forever,

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Speaker 1: but this could help the Padres, and the Reds are

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Speaker 1: on their heels for the Wild Cards, so they need

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Speaker 1: to keep winning and get him back in the lineup

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Speaker 1: or three. I know base running is not in the

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Speaker 1: analytics and people don't do it that much, but I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: Trey Turner, who's now the Dodgers second baseman, is a speedster,

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Speaker 1: and we've seen his speed, you know, since he joined

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers from the Naturals in that trade with Max Scherzer.

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Speaker 1: But did you see Tuesday night? The pop up slide

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Speaker 1: he had at home plate might be the coolest slide

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Speaker 1: I've ever seen. He looked like he was on ice.

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Speaker 1: You gotta go see this. Google it, go to YouTube.

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Speaker 1: You have to watch this slide. It is so cool.

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Speaker 1: He scores everyone in Philadelphia. But the way he gets

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Speaker 1: in and pops right back up, it doesn't look real.

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Speaker 1: It looks like he's on ice or or something slick

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Speaker 1: or whatever. It's an incredible slide. It might be the

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Speaker 1: coolest slide in baseball history. Check it out. Here comes

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Speaker 1: the big interview. Listen, Hendler, it's so good. All right, now,

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Speaker 1: let's welcome in one of my favorite people, Bip Roberts,

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Speaker 1: the former All Star outfielder infielder man still carrying around

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Speaker 1: that lifetime to ninety four batting average and a baseball

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Speaker 1: analysts for NBC Sports Bay Area. What's happening, Bip? How

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Speaker 1: are you? Man? I'm doing great? Rob? How you bad?

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Speaker 1: My brother doing great? And I know that All Star

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Speaker 1: year in Nino very well because you were on the

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Speaker 1: Cincinnati Reds and I covered that All Star game with

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Speaker 1: you in San Diego. You remember it, right, I do, Man.

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Speaker 1: We were right there at the clubhouse. We took a

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Speaker 1: couple of pitches together, man, and uh, it was it

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Speaker 1: was fun because I had you there with me, and

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Speaker 1: I would tell, like, you know, Finty was with me

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Speaker 1: that whole time, and we had a good time. Man.

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Speaker 1: I really appreciate you being there for me. No doubt

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Speaker 1: that was a good time. I do remember those acts

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Speaker 1: as well. But let's talk about the team. You cover

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Speaker 1: the Oakland A's and they are streaking. You know, the

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Speaker 1: Astros have hit some speed bumps. This draw scuffling a

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Speaker 1: little bit, but the age of eight and two in

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Speaker 1: their last ten and going into uh Wednesday night they

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Speaker 1: play uh played the Indians in the game, but there

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Speaker 1: ain't doing their last ten coming into Wednesday? Why are

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Speaker 1: they playing so well? What's going on with the A's, man, Rob?

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Speaker 1: They've got some new found life and energy. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's like Billy Bean and David Forest went out and

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Speaker 1: got Stalin Marte, Josh Harrison, beyond gone and Safean from

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Speaker 1: the Cubs, and these guys have made it instant instant success.

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Speaker 1: They made instant things happen, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 1: this team is exciting to watch. They have a way

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Speaker 1: of winning now, and they can find different ways of

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Speaker 1: winning other than the home run. And they can now

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Speaker 1: beat you with their legs, which is exciting. Baseball something

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Speaker 1: we have a chage. It's probably the nineties. I know

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Speaker 1: we're not right. Basically, the legs were out of staling baseball. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I don't. When you move a long time, you've seen

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Speaker 1: a pitch out. But Starving Marte has been incredible. I mean,

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Speaker 1: this guy's ever since he's been he's in about six hundreds,

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Speaker 1: but he finds ways to get on and use the

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Speaker 1: whole steal. But when he gets on, he steals basis

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Speaker 1: and he scores runs. And that to go with guys

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Speaker 1: like Matt Olsen who has been here all year, and

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Speaker 1: then you bring in Yacht Gomes and then you bring

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Speaker 1: in Josh Harrison and all of a sudden, you got

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Speaker 1: a team that you know, I know, Houston's beat three A's, uh,

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Speaker 1: I think it's six or Flour or something like that.

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Speaker 1: This year pretty much only A's. But right now you're

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Speaker 1: looking at a formidable team that can compete with the

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Speaker 1: ass And how about those trades? I mean, was that

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Speaker 1: unlike the age? You know, they've always done stuff on

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Speaker 1: a shoestring budget and kind of you know, doing stuff

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Speaker 1: with the players they have. How surprised were you that

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Speaker 1: they were very active and they went out and made moves,

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Speaker 1: very very very surprised the first trade when they got

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Speaker 1: Chasing or I think it was, yeah, I think it

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Speaker 1: was Chasing. You know, he said kath in the bullpen,

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Speaker 1: he can help because he's a he's a left and

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Speaker 1: he's got a nasty slider, and you're thinking, how did

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Speaker 1: the Cubs give him up? But then you look up

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Speaker 1: and the Cubs gave up everybody. So he got all

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Speaker 1: the great players and we got Chase, and Chasing has

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Speaker 1: been tremendous. And then you got Scott and Marte and

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Speaker 1: you're like, how did you get Scott and Marte? You

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Speaker 1: gave up? He pay Sue Razardo, who's gonna be a

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Speaker 1: great young pitcher. He left betros Hard with great slider too.

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Speaker 1: But when Marte hit to fit the ground, he took

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Speaker 1: off running instantly, this team became a different team. And

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Speaker 1: he said, in that second spot behind Mark Canada, and

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Speaker 1: he's just been a great table setter. He's on base,

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Speaker 1: whether he's still second, he'll turn around, he'll still third.

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Speaker 1: But each time he's on base, he's running. And so

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Speaker 1: you're like, wow, this is exciting. And then Josh Harrison

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Speaker 1: and Yon Domes come over from the Nationals and got

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Speaker 1: here a murder later than Marche Martet Art hit the

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Speaker 1: ground running and when they hit the ground, Yon gone

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Speaker 1: simply run home and help the A's win. Josh Harrison

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Speaker 1: is moving from second to left field to third base,

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Speaker 1: and he is just making playoff to play in his starts.

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Speaker 1: Home run other day, you know, double yesterday. He's off

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Speaker 1: to a great start. So you add these three guys

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Speaker 1: who have different types of talents that we've seen with Oakland,

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Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, you have a nucleus that's

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Speaker 1: totally different than what it was three weeks ago. And

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Speaker 1: it's a team that now believes that they can compete,

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Speaker 1: but not only compete they believe they can win. Now.

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Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in

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Speaker 1: the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports

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Speaker 1: Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app

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Speaker 1: search f s R to listen live. Our guest is

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Speaker 1: Big Roberts, the former Major League All Star and NBC

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Speaker 1: Sports Bay Area baseball analysts. What about the pitching? Do

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Speaker 1: the A's have enough pitching uh to make a playoff run?

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Speaker 1: You know, I'd say maybe four weeks ago, we were

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Speaker 1: doubting the bullpen. You know, these guys that got out

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Speaker 1: to a great star and then all of a sudden

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Speaker 1: they got that loll in there. But then he brought

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Speaker 1: Chasing in and all of a sudden he secured the bullpen.

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Speaker 1: Now everybody's starting to pitch well. The starting pitching has

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Speaker 1: just been outstanding. Then Adam pitched well his last outing

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Speaker 1: because he has been pitching well. He was also I

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Speaker 1: think he was a Picture of the Month there for

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Speaker 1: a minute. And then we got these other guys who

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Speaker 1: have just been great basketballs, an All Star, he's been tremendous,

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Speaker 1: you know. And then you look at you know, Kaprillion.

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Speaker 1: He was a young rookie kid who's got the heart

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Speaker 1: of a lion and goes out and compete every night.

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Speaker 1: And he was he missed his last he missed the start,

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Speaker 1: but then he came back the other day and he

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Speaker 1: killed six six innings, and he had a quality start.

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Speaker 1: And you just look around and go, Okay, they have

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Speaker 1: all the fastest that if planned on the same page,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be tough to be And I just think

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Speaker 1: the pitching has been strong enough to carry these guys,

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Speaker 1: which would had to be because the offense at one

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Speaker 1: time was just a memic. I mean, there're guys are

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Speaker 1: hit two h thirty and so he didn't have much

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Speaker 1: of an offense. But I'll tell you, with the injection

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Speaker 1: of these four guys in this trade, this is a

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Speaker 1: totally different team. They believe they can win now, bip.

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Speaker 1: They won the division last year in the shortened sixty

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Speaker 1: game up COVID season. But again, the problem with the

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Speaker 1: ages that they had an early playoff exit. Right, people

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Speaker 1: keep expecting them. You know, they've won a lot of

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Speaker 1: games regular season games over the last four or five years.

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Speaker 1: They've been four hormitable, but it doesn't translate to the postseason.

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Speaker 1: How important is it this year? You know, to a

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Speaker 1: when the division again, because you don't want to get

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Speaker 1: in a wild card right when you play one game

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Speaker 1: in your season could be over, but be make a

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Speaker 1: run in the playoffs. Yeah, and you're right. I think

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Speaker 1: they had teams that were kind of one dimension though

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Speaker 1: it was either home run or strikeout. And this year

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Speaker 1: you see now that Marquets here, Olsen, Lowry, Harrison, I

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Speaker 1: mean Andrew's. These guys used the entire field. Yes, they

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Speaker 1: can hit home runs. Olson could still hit home runs,

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Speaker 1: but he's been going the opposite way a lot. He's

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Speaker 1: changed the way guys play him. That shift used to

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Speaker 1: be imminent, but now they have to play him straight up.

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Speaker 1: So now when you have five guys want to stand,

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Speaker 1: how to stay inside the ball and use the entire ballpark,

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Speaker 1: you have to play them straight up, which gives them

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Speaker 1: opportunities now to get the holes like normal. And so

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Speaker 1: I just think that it's a totally different team with speed.

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Speaker 1: The defense has been solid all years, so we're not

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Speaker 1: really worried about that side of the ball. Pitching has

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Speaker 1: been great all year. We were worried about the offensive side,

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Speaker 1: which was like a fan of nemic. But all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden you've got Larry using the whole field. You've

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Speaker 1: got Marque using the whole field. You've got Garms who

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Speaker 1: can get the ball out the yard and use the

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Speaker 1: entire field. And again you've got Marte and Harrison. These

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Speaker 1: guys know how to play, They stay inside the ball,

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Speaker 1: and they make solid contact. So it's a different team

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Speaker 1: that we've seen early end the season. I would have said, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you know, if they get to your wild card, they

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Speaker 1: probably be in and out. But now that what I see,

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Speaker 1: and not collectively six seven guys in that lineup and

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Speaker 1: stretch that lineup out and make the picture work, but

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Speaker 1: now have an idea and approach to where they go

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Speaker 1: up there and understand what they're trying to do. It's

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Speaker 1: a different team. So I'd love to see how they

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Speaker 1: do once they get in the playoffs. But I just

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Speaker 1: believe that what I'm seeing right now that they'll be

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Speaker 1: able to go a little farther than they did in

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Speaker 1: the past. All Right. His name is Big Roberts. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for the insight the former Major league and of course

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Speaker 1: baseball analysts what NBC Sports Bay Area, My buddy man,

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Speaker 1: thank you for joining us, My maam, we'll talk to

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Speaker 1: you soon. Hey, my pleasure man. Thanks for having me,

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Speaker 1: and you'd be paid to take care of yourself. It's

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Speaker 1: time for the pocket Protector Central the analytic numbers. You

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

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Speaker 1: BS analytics is his game. What do you got for me? Anthony?

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Speaker 1: With the first ever Major League Baseball game to be

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Speaker 1: played in the state of Iowa this week the Field

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Speaker 1: of Dream game between the Yankees and White Sox at

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Speaker 1: the site of the Academy Award nominated film in Dyersville,

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Speaker 1: I feel it's appropriate to give the Hawkeye States some love.

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Speaker 1: Did you know that, even though this will be the

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Speaker 1: first regular season game, there was an exhibition there back

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Speaker 1: in nineteen forty two between the White Sox and Cubs

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Speaker 1: that drew a then exhibition record eight thousand people to

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Speaker 1: the small town of Fort Dodge. Six hall famers called

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Speaker 1: Iowa home, including legendary Cub cap Anson, arguably the best

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Speaker 1: players entire career spanned the eighteen hundreds, compiling over thirty

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Speaker 1: four hundred hits and a career average of three thirty four.

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Speaker 1: It also includes the heater from Van Meter Bob Feller,

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Speaker 1: who's fastball is still talked about in legendary ways. He

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Speaker 1: led the league in wins three straight years from one,

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Speaker 1: spent three years serving in the Armed forces in World

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Speaker 1: War Two, then came back and led the league and

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Speaker 1: wins two of the following three seasons for his Hall

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Speaker 1: of Fame career ended in nineteen fifty six. Here are

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Speaker 1: a few Iowans superlatives. Most homers Hal Trotsky to most

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Speaker 1: war wins above replacement. That'd be Hansen point three, one

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Speaker 1: of the highest marks of all time. Most stolen bases

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Speaker 1: Hall of Famer Fred Clark five d and nine. Most

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Speaker 1: strikeouts no surprise Feller two thousand five one. Highest pitcher

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Speaker 1: war not Feller Hall of Famer Red Faber sixty seven

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Speaker 1: point seven. Lowest e r A that would be Tornado

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Speaker 1: Jake Wimer for the cub at Toe mark in the

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Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds. Now Tony Watson and Michael Waka are

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Speaker 1: the two most notable Iowas in the Big Leagues. One

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Speaker 1: but the Hawkeye state and its history will be on

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Speaker 1: full display among the cornfields that it was a big

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Speaker 1: week in the Big Leagues. Who's Who's Is it foul

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Speaker 1: or is it fair? And now from MLB bro dot Com,

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Speaker 1: here's Jr. Gamble j R. The Mets recruising along all

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Speaker 1: season on the strength of their starting pitching, but the

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Speaker 1: hitting was suspect, and most people outside of New York

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Speaker 1: knew that team would eventually fall out of first place

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Speaker 1: in the NL East. Is it foul or is it

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Speaker 1: fair to say that, at two and a half games

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Speaker 1: out of first place behind the Phillies and the Braves

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Speaker 1: and no sign of help coming, that the Mets probably

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Speaker 1: won't even make the playoffs. Fair It's been a great

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Speaker 1: run for the Mets, led by the unlikely lit production

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Speaker 1: of Marcus Stroman and Taiwan Walker, who are filled in

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Speaker 1: like aces in the absence of Jacob de gran. But

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Speaker 1: it wouldn't matter if this team had Maddox, Glavin and Smokes.

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Speaker 1: The fact of the matter is they can't hit. They

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Speaker 1: had an opportunity to bring in Chris Bryant and instead

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Speaker 1: went for the strikeout prone Harvey Bias. Let's be honest,

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Speaker 1: Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith. They've been disappointments and Lindor

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Speaker 1: has been a disaster. He's had one of the worst

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Speaker 1: first years in New York by a big time free

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Speaker 1: agent that I can remember every move they make and

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Speaker 1: spell disaster. With this offense, Philly has a chance to

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Speaker 1: do the playoffs dance for the first time with Bryce Harper.

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Speaker 1: I doubt they will relinquish that opportunit unity to this

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Speaker 1: Mets lineup, who doesn't even have anyone who can hit

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Speaker 1: as consistently as old man Andrew McCutcheon. Atlanta was everyone's

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Speaker 1: preseason pick to win that division, and even without superstars

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Speaker 1: of Couna who toys right a c el in July,

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Speaker 1: they have enough talent to overtake a division which in

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Speaker 1: all honesty is one of the weakest in baseball. The

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Speaker 1: Mets need a miracle or Barry Bonds in his prime

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Speaker 1: and that this is happening. This ship be sinking thurn

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Speaker 1: money into more money. Now it's time for betting on

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Speaker 1: the basis with Dave Gascott Robert bouncing all the way

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Speaker 1: around the diamond here last week a little choppy, but

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Speaker 1: I promise we will rebound today. Dodgers and Mets from Queens.

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Speaker 1: Of taking l A juliill Reus third teo in three

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Speaker 1: you already of three forty one. It seems like when

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Speaker 1: l A goes out so the Nation League West, they

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Speaker 1: don't have many problems. So I'm taking l A in

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Speaker 1: that affair San Francisco and Colaraw. This is from the

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Speaker 1: Bay Area. That's a nightcap. Doesn't seem like San Francisco

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Speaker 1: wants to lose any time this season. They're the pace

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Speaker 1: set a right down the National League West, I'm taking

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Speaker 1: the home team in that affair. And then from the

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Speaker 1: American League set of things, I'm taking Tampa Bay at Minnesota.

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Speaker 1: Raised right now in a dog fight in the American

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Speaker 1: League East standings, it seems like everyone is chopping at

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Speaker 1: the bit. If the Yankees had the Red Sox and

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Speaker 1: the Toronto Blue Jays have caught fire as of late.

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Speaker 1: I'm taking the road team, and this one Tampa at Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: I'm taking the Rays. Take out the papers in the trash.

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Speaker 1: It's time for trash talk. Twitter twitting your chance to

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

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Speaker 1: trash talking winner is Ray Marcano, my buddy from Cincinnati,

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Speaker 1: and he tweeted me this the Boston Red Sox, as

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Speaker 1: he wrote, they went from playing like Ariano Rivera to

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Speaker 1: Cheetah Rivera. Oh wow, that's right. They have been struggling.

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Speaker 1: The Yankees are right on their heels. They have a

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Speaker 1: chance of catching the Red Sox, who in second place

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Speaker 1: in the A L. E. S. But if you want

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Speaker 1: your tweet red on inside the Parker next week, make

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Speaker 1: sure you hit me up and trash anyone anything in

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Speaker 1: the world of baseball. Hit me up at Rob Parker

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Speaker 1: f S one. When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he

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

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Speaker 1: bring in a writer, a broadcaster, older new All right, now,

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Speaker 1: let's welcome into the podcast Robert Ford, the lead radio

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Speaker 1: play by play man for the Houston Astros. Welcome to

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Speaker 1: the podcast, Robert, my pleasure, Thanks for having me on, Rob. Yes,

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Speaker 1: don't know, most definitely, And let's talk about those Astros.

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Speaker 1: They have been struggling a little bit. I know they

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Speaker 1: won on Wednesday five to one over to Rockies, but

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Speaker 1: four and six in the last ten and the A's

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Speaker 1: of hoever, and what's going on. I know the offense

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Speaker 1: has been struggling somewhat. Yeah, you know, the the offense

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Speaker 1: had been down a little bit, and you know, Julia

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Speaker 1: Guriel went on the interlist that certainly didn't help. Uh.

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Speaker 1: And also you know the starters weren't as consistent as

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Speaker 1: they've been for for much of the year, but UH

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Speaker 1: lay a lot better over their last three or four games.

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Speaker 1: Had a pretty good series against Colorado, taking both games,

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Speaker 1: and that that quick two games set UH and and

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Speaker 1: got good starting pitching UH and both of those games

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Speaker 1: as well. So, you know, every team, obviously over a

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Speaker 1: hundred sixty two games are gonna have some rolls, but

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Speaker 1: UH astro seemed like they're in pretty good shape right now.

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Speaker 1: Robert also, Carlos Korea was struggling. I know, it was

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Speaker 1: two for five on Wednesday. What's been the deal with

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Speaker 1: him and what's happened? Well, I think with with Karea,

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Speaker 1: you know, it really started before the All Star break.

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Speaker 1: He had an illness UH, and they put him on

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Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen nil. It turned out he didn't have

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Speaker 1: COVID nineteen but they had to do all the testing

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Speaker 1: and everything, and so he came back after the break,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I think it took him a little

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Speaker 1: bit to to kind of get his strength back, UM

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Speaker 1: and so, and even before UH he was sick. UH

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Speaker 1: the handful of games before that, he you know, didn't

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Speaker 1: didn't look quite as sharp as as we're used to

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Speaker 1: seeing Carlos Crea looking. So I think it may just

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Speaker 1: be a matter of of him just you know, getting

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Speaker 1: back to and I think he's he's pretty close to that.

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Speaker 1: But but that's that's what I really think led to

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Speaker 1: the slump that he had. Let's talk about Dusty Baker,

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Speaker 1: the manager. I think when he was first hired, people

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Speaker 1: looked at him and thought of a stop gap measure,

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Speaker 1: you know, after the cheating scandal with the Astros, and

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Speaker 1: he led them to the playoffs last year. They were

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Speaker 1: in first place in the A L West this year.

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Speaker 1: Talk about the job Dusty's done in Houston, Well, he

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Speaker 1: was a real stabilizing four, particularly when you think about

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Speaker 1: when he came aboard last year. Uh and you know

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Speaker 1: the firestorm around the Astros after the illegal science stealing scandal.

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Speaker 1: Really was a stabilizing force and someone who had instant

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Speaker 1: credibility because of everything that he's done, the track record

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Speaker 1: that he's had, the success he's had everywhere he's been

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Speaker 1: with multiple teams. So I think that really helped. I

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Speaker 1: think the other thing that's been key for Dusty is

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Speaker 1: you know, he kind of realized, hey, this team has

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Speaker 1: a really good thing going. They have a really good culture.

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Speaker 1: No need to to rock the boat or try and

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Speaker 1: change a bunch of things, just kind of let this

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Speaker 1: these guys be themselves. Uh. And and he's really he's

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Speaker 1: really done that. Um. And I think that's a testament

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Speaker 1: to him because I mean I think you know, that's

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Speaker 1: probably you know, uh, that can be you know, getting

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Speaker 1: rid of a little bit of your ego to to

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Speaker 1: to come in and say, all right, I'm not going

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Speaker 1: to come in here and try and do all these

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Speaker 1: things differently. Let's just let things roll the way they've

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Speaker 1: been rolling, and it's worked out well for for Dusty

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Speaker 1: and the Astros. Our guest is Robert Ford, the lead

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Speaker 1: played by lay Man for the Houston Astros, joining us

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Speaker 1: here on inside the Parker. Let's talk about you brought

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Speaker 1: up the pitching for Houston. When you lose Garrett Cole

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Speaker 1: of free agency and Justin Verlanda to an injury, I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's hard to stabilize that. Who's been the stabilizing force

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Speaker 1: for the Astros. Well, I think you know Lant mccollos Jr.

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Speaker 1: Certainly has pitched very well for for the Astros and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, his last outing wasn't uh all that great,

426
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: but for the most part, he's been He's been pitching

427
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: very very well. I think Luis Garcia has kind of

428
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: surprised a lot of people. I don't think the Astros

429
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,520
Speaker 1: expected him to contribute as much as he has, but

430
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: he's certainly been a stabilizing force in the rotation. And

431
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 1: you know, the Astros also it's signed jacod Or Rizzy

432
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,720
Speaker 1: during spring training and uh kind of took a while

433
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 1: for him to get going because he got a late

434
00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,000
Speaker 1: start to camp and then he got hurt. Uh, and uh,

435
00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 1: you know, he's catched very well, five shutout innings the

436
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 1: other day against Colorado, and seems like maybe he's getting

437
00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,879
Speaker 1: back track. And I think Josie or Katie also before

438
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: he got hurt, he's you know, they're hoping to have

439
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 1: him back here maybe in a few weeks. Uh. He's

440
00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: another guy who they had an idea of what they

441
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,160
Speaker 1: had with her Katie. He just hadn't you know, been

442
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,200
Speaker 1: able to pitch over a full season. So I think

443
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,440
Speaker 1: they've been really pleased with what they've gotten from their

444
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,680
Speaker 1: starting pitching. And uh, you know, that's that's obviously that's

445
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:22,159
Speaker 1: always the name of the game. And you know you

446
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:23,919
Speaker 1: want to go deep in the playoffs, You're gonna need that,

447
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:28,359
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Last thing, Robert, obviously you know

448
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 1: there were no fans in twenty A lot of fans

449
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 1: obviously met at the Astros for the whole cheating scandal,

450
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:39,200
Speaker 1: and they've gotten this year a booze all across the country.

451
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: There was a big one when they came to l

452
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 1: A and the Dodgers felt like they had the World

453
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: Series stolen from them. Is it dying down at all,

454
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 1: like fans and the and the hostility towards the Astros

455
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: and the booing as you go around uh MLB America. No,

456
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,160
Speaker 1: not really, Um, it's about the same. I mean, obviously

457
00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 1: certain places you it's gonna be worse, Like you mentioned

458
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: l A, New York, uh when they were there to

459
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 1: play the Yankees, another team who feel like they were

460
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: robbed by the Astros of appearing in the World Series.

461
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,879
Speaker 1: But I think that at this point for this ball club,

462
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,680
Speaker 1: it's become uh, not much of a factor because there

463
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,080
Speaker 1: they hear it everywhere they go. I mean, again, it's

464
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:20,919
Speaker 1: more intense in certain places as opposed to others. But

465
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,360
Speaker 1: I think at this point it's just like just part

466
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 1: of the crowd noise when they're on the road. Um.

467
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: And i'd imagine, you know, the Astros are about to

468
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,280
Speaker 1: go to Anaheim, not too far from l A. I'm

469
00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: sure they're gonna be some Dodgers fans there that are

470
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 1: gonna want to show the Astros how they feel about things. Um.

471
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think this group is used to it

472
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: by now, and I don't think it really affects them

473
00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:43,200
Speaker 1: very much. All Right. His name is Robert Ford, the

474
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 1: Houston Astro's uh lead radio broadcaster, and Robert were appreciated.

475
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,640
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining the podcast. All right, thanks for having

476
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: me on BET. It's Jones in for baseball fans take

477
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 1: on the game we love. Are Hello everyone, this is

478
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,840
Speaker 1: Jones Whittner. I hope everybody's doing well. In my opinion,

479
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 1: we are currently in my favorite part of the season.

480
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: Every game is crucial and has serious implications or who

481
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: we're making into the playoffs. As I look at the

482
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: standards in the a L the White Sox raised Astros

483
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 1: are in the playoffs with the A's Red Sox, Blue Jays,

484
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,160
Speaker 1: and Yankees fighting for the wild card. Are the four

485
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 1: teams I mentioned. I would say the Blue Jays have

486
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,320
Speaker 1: the easiest remaining schedule. I didn't remain in eighteen games.

487
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: They get the tighter six times, both NASA Orioles twice

488
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 1: a piece. The Red Sox, who have been trending in

489
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,119
Speaker 1: the wrong direction, played two games versus the Orioles on

490
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,440
Speaker 1: Friday Saturday. Then they head to the X to face

491
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,439
Speaker 1: the Yankees. That series is setting up to have my

492
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: umental impact on the Wild Cars standings. I mean, it

493
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 1: wouldn't be right any other way, you feel me speaking

494
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 1: of hiving to come to the Bronx. The a's last

495
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 1: series of the season is a Yankee Stadium. I'm looking

496
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: at that almost like an early playoff series, because being

497
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 1: so close to the end, in theory, it could potentially

498
00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,880
Speaker 1: all come down to that final result. If I'm the Yankees,

499
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,520
Speaker 1: I could take solace in the fact that they get

500
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 1: to at least play the teams in front of them

501
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: in the standards. Being in the in that position, that's

502
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,919
Speaker 1: all you can really ask for, because at least you

503
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: get to have some control over your destiny, as opposed

504
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 1: to just hoping the teams above you lose. When you win,

505
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:28,520
Speaker 1: you get to have some influence on that situation. In

506
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,720
Speaker 1: the National League. As it stands today, we have the Brewers, Giants,

507
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,920
Speaker 1: and the n at least is still up for grabs.

508
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 1: But right now the Phillies all leading that division, Dodgers

509
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:43,440
Speaker 1: in the wild card game with Verse the Padres, and

510
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, I hope it stays like

511
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 1: that because that's the matchup we've all been wanting to

512
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:53,080
Speaker 1: see since the off season. However, I would prefer an

513
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,600
Speaker 1: actual series. I take what I can get. These teams

514
00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: have one more meeting, by the way, starting August four.

515
00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 1: With that being said, everybody, market calendars, buckle up because

516
00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,400
Speaker 1: we're in for a wild ride to the finale. Now

517
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:15,719
Speaker 1: bringing the closer. Here's why MLB is better than the

518
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:23,240
Speaker 1: NFL or NBA, and it isn't even close. Reason number

519
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 1: one thousand, five hundred and forty one why baseball is

520
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: better than the NBA and the NFL. It's because, you know,

521
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: we talked earlier in the podcast about Field of Dreams,

522
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 1: one of the all time great baseball movies. Baseball has

523
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: better movies. We know they're great football movies. We know

524
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 1: that they're great boxing movies. I don't know if there's

525
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,560
Speaker 1: been that many great NBA or basketball movies. Yeah, maybe

526
00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:56,400
Speaker 1: Hoosier's right, Rocky Brian Piccolo. Yeah, you know, there's some

527
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 1: great movies out there, but baseball is a ton of them,

528
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 1: and loluding Field of Dreams forty two prior to the Yankees.

529
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: I mean, there's just so many great baseball movies. Major League,

530
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: a great comedy, uh, The Bad News Bears, another comedy,

531
00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 1: kids movie. They're just so many great movies. But my

532
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:25,480
Speaker 1: all time favorite Nobody remembers this movie from nineteen seventy three,

533
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:33,040
Speaker 1: Bang the Drums Slowly, Michael Moriarty and Robert de Niro,

534
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 1: a young actor at that point, and it was about

535
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: a star pitcher who had a friend who had UH

536
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,040
Speaker 1: Hodgkins disease was going to die, and he took Robert

537
00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,480
Speaker 1: de Niro and made him his personal catcher, and he

538
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 1: signed a new contract. And the only way he would

539
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: sign a new contract is if the team kept uh

540
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,640
Speaker 1: de Niro as his catcher uh the entire time, whether

541
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,360
Speaker 1: he was sent down to the minor leagues, whether he

542
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 1: was traded, no matter what happened. It's a heart wrenching story.

543
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: You should check it out. Nineteen seventy three, Bang the

544
00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:22,080
Speaker 1: Drums Slowly in the words of New York TV legend

545
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,160
Speaker 1: the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this

546
00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 1: time until next time. Rob Parker out. He can't get it.

547
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 1: This could be an inside the Parker to see you

548
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 1: next week. Sad time, Same Man station,