Speaker 1: Boom. If you've thought more hours a day, minutes a
Speaker 1: week was enough, think again. He's the last remnants of
Speaker 1: the old republic a sole fashion of fairness. He treats
Speaker 1: crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the rich
Speaker 1: pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
Speaker 1: break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
Speaker 1: Maller starts right now. That it does. We are in
Speaker 1: the air everywhere. The weekend is underway. This a spinoff
Speaker 1: of the Ben Mother Show overnights during the week. We
Speaker 1: actually get to talk to people on the weekends because
Speaker 1: it's a it's a it's a podcast you can hang
Speaker 1: out and it's a conversation podcast. We chat with friends
Speaker 1: of the show and people that we know, people that
Speaker 1: we like, and we do this eight days a week
Speaker 1: because obviously four hours a night on the overnight are
Speaker 1: not enough. We thank you for downloading, some scribing and
Speaker 1: obviously listening what you're doing right now, David gascon yet
Speaker 1: again back this week good unfortually very years like there.
Speaker 1: So it's nice salvation, I guess it's it's nice. Isn't
Speaker 1: it so wonderful that you get to drop inside the
Speaker 1: Magic Radio Box and on your podcasts, you have a
Speaker 1: world class colleague that not only books guests, but presidents
Speaker 1: and CEOs and doctors and lawyers. I give you the
Speaker 1: Rose Royce of guests. You know well from your Money
Speaker 1: through Friday show. Take a little bit of advantage of
Speaker 1: the fact that there's some people that I know that
Speaker 1: actually went on and became very successful. Not that I have,
Speaker 1: but these people have become very successful. So you've taken
Speaker 1: advantage of that. And I'd like to let the court
Speaker 1: record report show that I I actually know several of
Speaker 1: these individuals that we've had on in recent days and
Speaker 1: times and years. Now it's going on what two years
Speaker 1: now with this stupid little podcast. Yes, and you wanted
Speaker 1: to cancel the podcast after a month, I think you, well,
Speaker 1: I think it's just tradition over the last couple of
Speaker 1: years we cancel everything, so I cancel this. Well, let's
Speaker 1: not waste time. This is very important. This man. We
Speaker 1: actually have one of the longest tenured CEOs in Major
Speaker 1: League Baseball, the guy who runs the show for the
Speaker 1: Arizona Diamondbacks. He's been doing it for over fifteen years.
Speaker 1: His name is Derek Hall. Now Derek Hall has a
Speaker 1: very interesting story that's somewhat connected to me a little
Speaker 1: bit now. He was he was when I first met Derek.
Speaker 1: He was in the PR office for the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Dodgers in the early nineties, and he rose up the
Speaker 1: ranks with the Dodgers and then left. He left the
Speaker 1: Dodgers and got into sports talk radio at a station
Speaker 1: I were that he was the morning guy. I was
Speaker 1: doing the midday show at Extra Sports eleven fifty in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles, which no longer exists, and he also did
Speaker 1: the Dodger pregame stuff. I was doing Dodger postgame at
Speaker 1: the time, and so we we were around each other
Speaker 1: quite a bit in those days. And Derek he had
Speaker 1: left that He'd done TV in l A as well.
Speaker 1: He left that and then went into private business briefly
Speaker 1: and then ended up as the executive with the years
Speaker 1: on the Diamondbacks. And he's been running that team for many,
Speaker 1: many years, as we pointed out, And so we're excited
Speaker 1: to have Derek call on the fifth Hour with Ben
Speaker 1: Maller and David Gascon and so Derek, why don't we
Speaker 1: start with this? Is there ever a day that you
Speaker 1: do not regret leaving the lavish lifestyle of sports talk
Speaker 1: radio to become a CEO in professional baseball. Fox Sports
Speaker 1: Radio has the best sports talk line up in the nation.
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. Right, you know, Ben, I
Speaker 1: had a lot of fun, But I think if I
Speaker 1: had stuck to media or or a personality on radio,
Speaker 1: I'd probably be unemployed because I wasn't very good at it.
Speaker 1: So it's good to leave it up the pros lift
Speaker 1: yourself well. And I mean you did it for a
Speaker 1: few years. Obviously you started in baseball and then you
Speaker 1: went into sports radio. And I don't think I've told you.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's ever been a transformation like that.
Speaker 1: You were on TV in l A and you did
Speaker 1: this sports stuff in the morning and all that, and
Speaker 1: you making us all look bad. What is the secret?
Speaker 1: What is the secret to success here? Well, you got
Speaker 1: a hit and run. You can't stay somewhere too long, right,
Speaker 1: and they figure you out. It was It was a
Speaker 1: lot of fun because I had been with the Dodgers
Speaker 1: for for many years and we had a few ownership changes,
Speaker 1: and then I had the opportunity to go to you know,
Speaker 1: the flagship radio station, UM Morning Show. We had a
Speaker 1: ton of fun. We had a blast in the morning show,
Speaker 1: and I out to do as you said, some uh
Speaker 1: some TV. I did some weekend uh sports anchoring so
Speaker 1: in and then I did some pregame shows for the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: both radio, I got to do a few on TV.
Speaker 1: So for me it was great. I still stayed involved
Speaker 1: with sports and with with with the Dodgers, but I
Speaker 1: really missed baseball. So when I had the opportunity to
Speaker 1: go back to the Dodgers and then and then out
Speaker 1: here at Arizona, ultimately it's been it's been a nice
Speaker 1: mix of both worlds. And to know both sides I
Speaker 1: think is important too. Yeah, as gonna say, because I'm
Speaker 1: guessing most of the other CEOs in baseball they have
Speaker 1: not lived that life. And none of them have you know,
Speaker 1: both TV and radio from your experience, So when you
Speaker 1: when you see crazy stories on on on in the
Speaker 1: on the internet and on radio and whatnot in Phoenix
Speaker 1: and around the country, You're like, hey, I kind of
Speaker 1: know wh I know the other side, right, You're familiar
Speaker 1: with it. I do, And I also understand the importance
Speaker 1: of you guys having to do your jobs. You know,
Speaker 1: that's that's really important to know too. I mean too
Speaker 1: often people may may get upset or they have sam skin.
Speaker 1: You can't. I mean you have to know that. You know,
Speaker 1: everyone has a job to do. And you know I
Speaker 1: I did it as well, right sitting in your in
Speaker 1: your chair h for for quite some time. So I
Speaker 1: do think it helps. I definitely think it helps. But
Speaker 1: I think most of the folks in my jobs have
Speaker 1: been they may not have gone up with the ranks
Speaker 1: either in media or or on the pr communication side.
Speaker 1: Most of them have either been the legal side or
Speaker 1: accounting side. Some actually did a few actually did some
Speaker 1: play by play, but for the most part, no, no
Speaker 1: one's had the luxury of being on there as well.
Speaker 1: That's been It was great for me. Yeah. And now
Speaker 1: fun fact here that when you you were doing stuff
Speaker 1: with the Dodges, but when you were named as the
Speaker 1: morning guy at Extra Sports eleven fifty, I think it
Speaker 1: was because like Steve Mason and got to New York,
Speaker 1: somethody they needed, they were looking for someone they and
Speaker 1: you were the guy that they went with John Ireland,
Speaker 1: as I remember and we we were myself and Dave Smith,
Speaker 1: we were on there. We found out about this and
Speaker 1: we talked about it on the air and we got
Speaker 1: in so much trouble, Derek for for spilling the beans
Speaker 1: on that before it was like generally jumped the gun.
Speaker 1: You went out to early on it. Yeah, we were,
Speaker 1: we were like filling in on the morning show and uh,
Speaker 1: and we were like this is interesting, you know because
Speaker 1: we we've both known you and then uh and then
Speaker 1: we talked about it. Oh my, the management, Oh they
Speaker 1: came down. They were very upset with this Terry, but
Speaker 1: we were. We were very happy before you. I do
Speaker 1: recall that. And it was with John Ireland, who's obviously
Speaker 1: a very good friend, and then and then he left
Speaker 1: for a while I was alone, and then it was
Speaker 1: with you know A and then um, you know, there
Speaker 1: was a time where where I was also with Terry Bradshaw.
Speaker 1: He was coming in. He had like the show after me,
Speaker 1: so he and I had this crossover show and yeah,
Speaker 1: he's still I don't think he ever said my name
Speaker 1: right for the few weeks or months that we were
Speaker 1: on together because they didn't know who I was, but
Speaker 1: still doesn't to this day. The guy that you got
Speaker 1: Terry Bradshaws, because I did the show after Terry. The
Speaker 1: benetib Show was after Terry for a little bit. Uh,
Speaker 1: and and Terry did not really want to talk about
Speaker 1: sports very much. It was it was odd. It was
Speaker 1: like he wanted like there was one I love Terry.
Speaker 1: There was one day he came in and just read
Speaker 1: like a Jeff Foxworthy book because he was friends with
Speaker 1: Jeff Foxworthy the comedian back in the day. And uh,
Speaker 1: it was. It was tremendous. But the amazing thing about
Speaker 1: that is that that station there, which you worked out
Speaker 1: for a few years, and now you've obviously gone everyone
Speaker 1: who worked there, almost everyone has gone on and done uh,
Speaker 1: pretty cool things, either still in the media business or elsewhere.
Speaker 1: You with the Diamondbacks, and you know, we had a
Speaker 1: guy that was like a producer, board op intern, guy
Speaker 1: that went on to coach Texas college football. Of all.
Speaker 1: I mean, there were a lot of people from that
Speaker 1: that kind of a small sports station that went on
Speaker 1: and did pretty cool things. I can't believe it's been
Speaker 1: that long though. And what what was also great about
Speaker 1: that is, you know it doesn't always happen, but I
Speaker 1: think we were a pretty good family. It was like
Speaker 1: everyone got along and you know, still to this day
Speaker 1: we're all good friends and stay in touch. It was
Speaker 1: very unique, you know, for for that setting, for all
Speaker 1: of us to have started something and took pride in
Speaker 1: it and still get along to this day. It was
Speaker 1: very cool. Yeah, absolutely, And now I also must address
Speaker 1: now having you on here today, it's very important. All right.
Speaker 1: So when you were working with the Dodgers in the
Speaker 1: PR department, with the great Jay Lucas, you both more
Speaker 1: lighted as umpires in the media baseball game. Now, this
Speaker 1: was a big event for me. I was morbidly obese
Speaker 1: at the time, but one of my great athletic accomplishments.
Speaker 1: And I don't you probably don't remember because you've got
Speaker 1: much more important things. But I, for some reason, everything
Speaker 1: lined up for me, All the plans lined up, and
Speaker 1: I connected. I was using unfortunately a wooden bat, not
Speaker 1: a metal bat. Uh, And it was like, actually, I
Speaker 1: remember a Corey Snyder bats or nineties six or something,
Speaker 1: but I used a Corey Snyder bat and I hit
Speaker 1: a ball that somehow went off the wall at Dodger Stadium.
Speaker 1: Now you were the umpire and because of my rather large,
Speaker 1: oversized body. I thought the ball was going out, and
Speaker 1: then I of course didn't run, and there was a
Speaker 1: play at second. Now I was clearly safe there. You
Speaker 1: called me out when you admit, now after all these years,
Speaker 1: that if there had been instant replay, I would have
Speaker 1: been safe. You no, no, you you were You were
Speaker 1: out that and you were showboating it. I mean you
Speaker 1: were watching it. You thought it was gone, and I
Speaker 1: do remember it like it was yesterday, and I could
Speaker 1: not believe that you wouldn't run the basis. And then
Speaker 1: once you realized that wasn't gone, you tried to high
Speaker 1: tail it and you were out. You were clearly out.
Speaker 1: It was I was safe. I I snuck in there.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, I still can't to this day. I
Speaker 1: had the option member because you guys they brought out
Speaker 1: they had wooden bats and they had metal bats, and
Speaker 1: I was like, well, I'm in the major league ballpark.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna use a wooden bat because I wanna. I wanna,
Speaker 1: you know, be like a big league I do. Hopefully
Speaker 1: if you had used the limitum, it was clearly over
Speaker 1: the wall, it would have been gone. And I think
Speaker 1: you still thought you connected you thought you had it.
Speaker 1: I did. I did. I mean, that's a big you know.
Speaker 1: I I'm used to playing literally fields up until that point,
Speaker 1: but it was pretty cool. Now I have some fun
Speaker 1: memories of those those media games. Do you guys do
Speaker 1: that in Arizona? Do you have some kind of setup
Speaker 1: like that or is that kind of archaic at this point?
Speaker 1: You know it is. It's somewhat our kid, but we
Speaker 1: could do it now. We never did it in the
Speaker 1: past because we were so worried about our grass. Now
Speaker 1: we don't have grass, you know, We've got our our
Speaker 1: synthetic grass, so we probably could bring that back. We
Speaker 1: ended up doing it with some legislators here this year.
Speaker 1: We used to have an owner's clinic where we let
Speaker 1: people play, but the grass just got chewed up. I
Speaker 1: think we should we should bring it here. It is
Speaker 1: a fun event and lots of you know, guys like
Speaker 1: to get out there and play, and we're just always
Speaker 1: worried about the injuries. Yeah, I know, especially a long
Speaker 1: time well back in those days. Uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: can't believe it's been as long. But remember the late
Speaker 1: great Student Nahan would manage the media game and Stu.
Speaker 1: This was so serious that he would bring in ringers
Speaker 1: to beat the writers. He had. Remember one year he
Speaker 1: had a kid from Long Beach State that was like
Speaker 1: a player at Long Beach State that somehow snuck finagle
Speaker 1: his way way in there and we were trailing late
Speaker 1: and then one of the media games and Stu tried
Speaker 1: to have the guy changed jersey so he could bat again. Uh,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of shenanigans going on. He was.
Speaker 1: I missed Stu a lot. And he actually would try
Speaker 1: and get our BP pictures to go in and face
Speaker 1: you guys. He tried to get players to go in disguise. Um,
Speaker 1: and he would usually because it's with Tommy too, as
Speaker 1: you recall, yes exactly. And I also remember yeah, because yeah,
Speaker 1: Stu felt we had an advantage because there were so
Speaker 1: many former players that were working in the media, so
Speaker 1: he wanted to get there. Yeah. Yeah. He always want
Speaker 1: to get Rick Monday to play. And uh, and then
Speaker 1: you brought Fernando back and that whole thing. But crazy,
Speaker 1: it's all right. So now now you are you are
Speaker 1: the CEO of a major League baseball I've been doing
Speaker 1: this a long time, and congratulations on your success and
Speaker 1: all as we said, but the day to day grind,
Speaker 1: like running the Arizona Diamondbacks. How many fires are you
Speaker 1: putting out on a on a daily basis? There too many,
Speaker 1: that's really these days, you know, with what we're facing. Um.
Speaker 1: But but it just depends on what the what that
Speaker 1: fire is for the day because there's so many different
Speaker 1: areas that we're focused on. I never had to them
Speaker 1: in the past when I was there in l A.
Speaker 1: But now, I mean, one day it could be government
Speaker 1: affairs issue. The next day it could be a pr issue,
Speaker 1: the day after that, it could be a community issue.
Speaker 1: There's so much and when you have three and fifty
Speaker 1: full time employees and and uh, you know, it's it's
Speaker 1: a full time organization. Most people wonder, well, what do
Speaker 1: you do in the off season, which we call our
Speaker 1: season without games? As you know, um, but it's NonStop
Speaker 1: and you have a number of people who who wants
Speaker 1: or need your attention, and and uh that I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Speaker 1: I absolutely love it. But it's stressful, and especially in
Speaker 1: a division like like this one where the Dodgers have
Speaker 1: just dominated you know, us and every team really for
Speaker 1: that matter, for so long. Um, but it's a it's
Speaker 1: a it's a fun division and everything that I learned
Speaker 1: with the Dodgers, trying to bring that mentality over here,
Speaker 1: having worked large market and now a smaller market and
Speaker 1: having ownership when I first began at the Dodgers, it's
Speaker 1: very similar to ownership here where it's a family and um,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of emphasis on culture. It's been
Speaker 1: it's been great. Yeah. And it's been about a year
Speaker 1: since everything went haywire in the world, not just the
Speaker 1: sports world shutting down. You guys were in spring training, Um,
Speaker 1: you know a year ago at this time when the
Speaker 1: news came down that they were shutting everything down. What
Speaker 1: what was that like at the time and nobody knew anything,
Speaker 1: but you were there and you had to make decisions
Speaker 1: and whatnot along with the people of baseball. But what
Speaker 1: what was that experience like a year ago? I remember
Speaker 1: watching when you know, the NBA shut down, and I thought, Wow,
Speaker 1: that is crazier. They're going too far with this thing.
Speaker 1: And I think it was probably two days later because
Speaker 1: that was the eleventh, I believe in on the thirteenth,
Speaker 1: we we shut down and and send everybody home. And
Speaker 1: I thought it was gonna be a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I sent a note to all of my staff at
Speaker 1: night saying, hang in there, be safe. We'll see in
Speaker 1: a week or two when we feel like we can
Speaker 1: open back up. You know, it was a year. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was a year that we weren't in the office
Speaker 1: that either Chase Shield or saw River Fields, which is
Speaker 1: where our spring training home is. And uh, it was bizarre.
Speaker 1: And then to have the the abbreviated season like we
Speaker 1: did with no fans and the piped in sound, it
Speaker 1: just was sterile. It wasn't real. And I still can't
Speaker 1: believe what we've gone through. Yet we've learned so much
Speaker 1: from it, and I think, you know, hopefully we never
Speaker 1: encounter anything like this again, but if we do, we're
Speaker 1: all going to be better prepared for it for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there no fan thing. I know fans are gonna be
Speaker 1: coming back now at least a little bit. But you
Speaker 1: know what, you got to go to those games. I mean,
Speaker 1: you were obviously the CEO the team. What was it
Speaker 1: like why I didn't go to any I know in
Speaker 1: the media I could have gone here in l A,
Speaker 1: but I didn't go. What was it like watching the
Speaker 1: Big League game without any any It must have been
Speaker 1: just bizarre, right, It's crazy. It was. That's a that's
Speaker 1: a great, great word. It was bizarre. And I sat
Speaker 1: there for these games and just I didn't enjoy it.
Speaker 1: I mean you could hear, you know, foul balls rattling
Speaker 1: off chairs and uh, you know, you could hear every
Speaker 1: word said in each dugout. It just it didn't feel right.
Speaker 1: It wasn't right because it's you know, our games are
Speaker 1: made for fans. But I think our our crews and
Speaker 1: our our stabs did a really nice job of trying
Speaker 1: to make it seem like it was normal and like
Speaker 1: it was natural. To make sure that the endgame entertainment
Speaker 1: was still somewhat there, and they're in our case we
Speaker 1: call it dB t V, but your your video board
Speaker 1: was still you know, interactive and engaged, and everything became
Speaker 1: more virtual. It was it was bizarre, but they did
Speaker 1: a nice job making it seem as if nothing was different.
Speaker 1: Is that there were fans there, but you knew better
Speaker 1: when you were there in the in the ballparking. You
Speaker 1: just couldn't wait until the day to get fans back
Speaker 1: through the turnstiles, which fortunately we're going to have this year, Derek,
Speaker 1: I gotta jump into the fray here with what happened
Speaker 1: last year with Major League Baseball of the adjustments to
Speaker 1: some of the rules, and you being around the game
Speaker 1: so long, did you like any of the implementation? You know, runners,
Speaker 1: obviously a doubleheaders things. Did you like any of that?
Speaker 1: That's a great question. And I'm a traditionalist and I'm
Speaker 1: a Nation League guy, so I never liked the d H.
Speaker 1: I don't like to change the game or mess with
Speaker 1: the game. And I have to tell you I liked
Speaker 1: every every experimental rule we had, I really did. I
Speaker 1: like the expanded playoffs, I like the extra hitting rule,
Speaker 1: and I liked the d H. UM. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: surprised that that we don't have one so far for
Speaker 1: this upcoming season, but I actually did, and I know
Speaker 1: that we're going to try some experimental rules when it
Speaker 1: comes to minor league baseball. I believe in triple A.
Speaker 1: I think that's a good thing. You know that if
Speaker 1: we just say we can never change this game, you
Speaker 1: know we're we're we're not being We're not being wise.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think every sport tends to to look
Speaker 1: at ways to improve their sport. And ways to protect
Speaker 1: their players from injury. And if all that can be
Speaker 1: done in a way that's going to speed it up,
Speaker 1: create more interest, more interaction, uh, and more of a following,
Speaker 1: we should do it. And I think I think they
Speaker 1: worked pretty well. But do you think the game is
Speaker 1: better because it feels like from from a certain standpoint
Speaker 1: that in any league, whether it's Major League Baseball, the
Speaker 1: n b A, NHL, and maybe a little bit in
Speaker 1: the NFL, but everyone's drunk on saber metric launch angles,
Speaker 1: eggs of velocity as opposed to making contact and going
Speaker 1: the opposite way. No, No, that's and that's different, and
Speaker 1: I think we'll address that, you know, whether it's uh,
Speaker 1: if we're going to address the shifts, or we're gonna
Speaker 1: address you know, the way the baseball has made or
Speaker 1: the dimensions of the ballpark, all of that does need
Speaker 1: to be looked at because I think our fans, if
Speaker 1: it's just strikeout a home run, you're exactly right, not
Speaker 1: as um not as good as as more action in
Speaker 1: the game. And I think all that will be looked
Speaker 1: at because we do want more people following the game,
Speaker 1: more people excited about the game, and more you know,
Speaker 1: youngsters that are able to play the game and for
Speaker 1: a longer period of time. Now day, the samer metrics thing,
Speaker 1: this is fascinating because it seems like everyone in baseball
Speaker 1: is doing it to one degree or another. But is
Speaker 1: it possible? And you're the perfect guy ask because you
Speaker 1: run a baseball team, is it possible if you had
Speaker 1: a team approached things old school too? You know, you
Speaker 1: don't come leately forget about saber metrics, but you you
Speaker 1: choke up with two strikes and you you know, hit
Speaker 1: behind the runner, the things, some of the small stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe occasionally bunt. You know, is it possible that by
Speaker 1: playing the what many would say is an outdated style
Speaker 1: of baseball that you would actually have some kind of
Speaker 1: advantage as opposed to the team's many of them today
Speaker 1: they just try to go up and it's like Beer
Speaker 1: League softball. You're trying to hit home runs and all that.
Speaker 1: I wonder if it what do you think? Do you
Speaker 1: think that a team that plays the old school approach
Speaker 1: could actually have success in the modern baseball world. You
Speaker 1: could definitely make an argument for that, which is why
Speaker 1: ben people say that there should be a balance and
Speaker 1: and I know it sounds like, you know a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of words, but it's true. You really
Speaker 1: need to balance it out. And I can tell there's
Speaker 1: now more of an embrace from the old school guys
Speaker 1: that are sitting in the room or the old school Scouts.
Speaker 1: They embrace more of the analytics now and they they
Speaker 1: intertwine it in their work. And by first thing, you
Speaker 1: hear these individuals that are maybe shout of college and
Speaker 1: that are so into the analytics, but they're listening and
Speaker 1: learning and embracing what you know. The Scouts are treating
Speaker 1: or teaching them as well, and some of the older
Speaker 1: instructors and coaches. I think you have to have a balance,
Speaker 1: and I can tell you, um, you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: as much into the analytics, and that's why we hire
Speaker 1: people to do so. And we have an entire department,
Speaker 1: which we never had when I first came here. Um.
Speaker 1: In fact, you know, when I left the Doctors, we
Speaker 1: really didn't have an analytics department either. But now you
Speaker 1: have to and it's got to be a part of
Speaker 1: your game. And you know, I think instincts take over
Speaker 1: and and so you know, style takes over at some point.
Speaker 1: I sit there like you probably and with the question
Speaker 1: alone and the way we were taught how to play
Speaker 1: baseball and the way we grew up playing baseball, I'll
Speaker 1: sit there saying, why are we not? Why are we
Speaker 1: not bumming right here? Right? I mean, it's it's it
Speaker 1: seems like common sense to me because that's why I
Speaker 1: came up through the game. But enough people will tell you, no,
Speaker 1: you don't here, and here's why they think differently, And
Speaker 1: it's fun to have those debates, and it's to here
Speaker 1: why not? But I think there needs to be a balance,
Speaker 1: and I think we have enough people in every organization
Speaker 1: now that that do balance it out. The days of
Speaker 1: either one way or the other, I don't think we're
Speaker 1: seeing that really anymore, Derrek. Do you think it hinders
Speaker 1: major League Baseball with a little bit of the stripping
Speaker 1: from the minor league clubs just because of where we
Speaker 1: were to where we are now? Do you think that
Speaker 1: hinders the game and the sport as a whole with
Speaker 1: with the consolidation? Um? I think you know. I think
Speaker 1: what they're what the attempt was is right. Um, when
Speaker 1: we looked at the quality of ballparks, of the travel involved,
Speaker 1: the number of players that never made it I think
Speaker 1: the intentions are right on. It's trying to make sure
Speaker 1: that there certain levels of quality that we expect that
Speaker 1: each of the ballparks now where our players are going
Speaker 1: off to when it comes to an affiliate. In addition
Speaker 1: to that, you want to make sure that these players
Speaker 1: that that inner professional baseball actually have a chance to
Speaker 1: make it to the big leagues and that they're not
Speaker 1: just spending so much time, you know, in buses on
Speaker 1: airplanes with their travel. So for all those reasons that
Speaker 1: they did that, I'm you know, I agree with that,
Speaker 1: I really do. And um it's I'm excited because we've
Speaker 1: got so many affiliates now close to close to us.
Speaker 1: We didn't have a an affiliate in Texas before, which
Speaker 1: we do now and and with you know, Hillsborough and
Speaker 1: Baselia and Reno, it makes a lot of sense for
Speaker 1: us to have have those teams so close now, Derek,
Speaker 1: I do need to give you the heads up since
Speaker 1: you mentioned Vicelia. UM, I'm gonna put it on the
Speaker 1: record here for you. Ben Maller did direct me back
Speaker 1: in two thousand and sixteen to leave to leave Fox
Speaker 1: Sports Radio and joined the Bakersfield Blaze. So I worked
Speaker 1: in High a affiliate ball there for a year, and
Speaker 1: I invited him and his entire lame show out for
Speaker 1: a night of the ballpark and and and Derek, hand
Speaker 1: to god, he throughout the first pitch, and then a
Speaker 1: month later Bakersfield Blaze were closed down. He closed down
Speaker 1: a minor league ball club that was in existence for
Speaker 1: sixty five years. Yeah, we're putting We're putting it on
Speaker 1: bed Dave. That's good. Did he throw a strike though
Speaker 1: he locked it in. I don't know if it would
Speaker 1: have gotten to the place. I was a lollipop. It
Speaker 1: was a lollipop itch. But that's a strike there, because
Speaker 1: you know that can be a strike. You can throw
Speaker 1: a high Yeah, it's all about location, not velocity. I
Speaker 1: found that my you know, year, year and a half,
Speaker 1: two years in minor league baseball is huge for me.
Speaker 1: So I'm sure you had the same experience, but but
Speaker 1: for me to get to know each and every fan
Speaker 1: and and do everything from you know, pulling the tarp
Speaker 1: when it rains, the stock in the shelves, to you know,
Speaker 1: doing the promotions. I had a blast in minor league baseball.
Speaker 1: And I tell a lot of young um students who
Speaker 1: are asking for advice that it's not such a bad
Speaker 1: direction to go to to get started in a minor
Speaker 1: league baseball. Now, when you shut down a franchise, that's
Speaker 1: not good. And I will put that on Mallard too, Yes, clearly. Uh,
Speaker 1: well I gotta also, I mean there you talking about
Speaker 1: you know, minor league baseball, all that you worked at
Speaker 1: that world. But one thing about you that and you
Speaker 1: still and you've done it in Arizona. I've read stories
Speaker 1: and people have talked and told me things with the
Speaker 1: fans like, you're so good about that. So many of
Speaker 1: these CEOs just want nothing to do as far as
Speaker 1: the interaction, but you make it a priority. And it's
Speaker 1: so smart because my experience with listeners, I don't it's
Speaker 1: obviously not the same thing. But people that are upset
Speaker 1: something I say, normally, if you just respond to them,
Speaker 1: they're kind of are happy about it and they're willing to,
Speaker 1: you know, calm down a little bit. But what's it
Speaker 1: been like in relation you you make it a priority
Speaker 1: to interact with the Diamondback fans and and uh and
Speaker 1: how's that going for you? That's yeah, you said a
Speaker 1: couple of things that really resonated. First Off, when I
Speaker 1: was on radio and we were just starting to get
Speaker 1: you know, email back then. And after after the morning show,
Speaker 1: I would go home and I would just get blistered
Speaker 1: by by some fans and and it it It hurt, right,
Speaker 1: And so I decided I was going to respond to
Speaker 1: each and every one of them, and I would write
Speaker 1: them back and tell them, you know, with the reasoning
Speaker 1: for what I said. And and I think you're exactly right.
Speaker 1: My experience, as I recall, was they just wanted to
Speaker 1: hear it, and you responded, they felt great, they became
Speaker 1: a fan of the show. Uh And and you started
Speaker 1: talking with those folks, you had a relationship. It's no
Speaker 1: different with the fans. And for us, it's every fan counts.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not as if we could just open
Speaker 1: up our gates and get two to three million fans
Speaker 1: every year. We gotta work hard in the market like this.
Speaker 1: So it's it's one fan at a time, and we
Speaker 1: answer every email, every voicemail, every text, um, you know,
Speaker 1: and that that relationship is important. So I I do
Speaker 1: communicate regularly with with fans. I have chats once a
Speaker 1: month with the fans, um, you know, just walking around
Speaker 1: talking to them, hearing what's important to them having roundtables
Speaker 1: and town halls. That's really vital, and especially in a
Speaker 1: market like this where we we have to hold on
Speaker 1: to every single fan we get. We have to earn everyone. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and uh and Derek, just before we we wrap up here,
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys didn't have a very active offseason.
Speaker 1: But people listening that found this podcast that are curious
Speaker 1: and what are the reasons to be optimistic for the
Speaker 1: one Arizona Diamondbacks. Well, yeah, as far as active, you know,
Speaker 1: the Dodgers were extremely active. The Padres were active obviously,
Speaker 1: and so we've been asked, you know, why weren't we
Speaker 1: so so active? We really were the last couple of
Speaker 1: years before that, and we felt like we had the
Speaker 1: team in place that that we thought was going to
Speaker 1: compete and perform um. You know, take last year out.
Speaker 1: It was. It was an awful season for us. We
Speaker 1: did not play well, We had a lot of injuries.
Speaker 1: We moved a couple of players at the trade deadline,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, that team is still there.
Speaker 1: So for us to fill a few holes this offseason,
Speaker 1: but try and keep that team together and see if
Speaker 1: they can compete. Maybe we put the wrong team together.
Speaker 1: But we'll see, you know, hopefully in a hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty two games season. But but for us to compete
Speaker 1: more consistently and sustain a model of success, we're going
Speaker 1: to have to do it a different way, the right way.
Speaker 1: We can't compete necessarily in the free agent market. We're
Speaker 1: going to have to scout, properly, develop those players, retain
Speaker 1: them through arbitration years in some of their early free
Speaker 1: agency years, and make sure that we have a pipeline
Speaker 1: of talent in our farm system ready to So we've
Speaker 1: taken our farm system from the top three or bottom three,
Speaker 1: absolutely worst in baseball to the top five now in baseball.
Speaker 1: That's who we need to be. And I would just
Speaker 1: tell you know, fans or people interested in baseball to
Speaker 1: hopefully watch a team here that's going to compete. For
Speaker 1: us to have been in the playoffs in oh seven,
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven, two thousand seventeen, way too sporadic, too
Speaker 1: many years of not getting there in between. Well, Derek,
Speaker 1: thanks for coming on, ma and I look forward to
Speaker 1: the day of the Diamondbacks when the World Series with
Speaker 1: you as the CEO. So I can more, I can
Speaker 1: brag more about you, Derek and I. That'd be great.
Speaker 1: I brag about I brag about you guys as well,
Speaker 1: and uh, I look forward to seeing you. Thanks for
Speaker 1: having me on I would love to do it in person.
Speaker 1: Sometimes too, I miss you. Fox Sports Radio has the
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Speaker 1: listen live.