Speaker 1: Welcome everyone to the Thursday edition of Fair Territory. I'm
Speaker 1: Ken Rosenthal here with Alana Rizzo. I am in New York.
Speaker 1: Fox has the Yankees Red Sox series opener tonight. But
Speaker 1: we're not just going to talk about the Yankees in
Speaker 1: Red Sox. We've got realignment, We've got Kyle Tucker, We've
Speaker 1: got dudes in dorks. We've got your questions as well.
Speaker 1: So Alana, greetings, I hope you're doing well.
Speaker 2: It's good to see you.
Speaker 3: You're in New York, I'm in Boston. Do we have
Speaker 3: a rivalry? I am not sure, but Ken, the rivalry returns.
Speaker 3: How much juice is there with this series beginning?
Speaker 1: Alana, It's a really good question, and I like the
Speaker 1: way Chris Kirshner put it in The Athletic this morning.
Speaker 1: In his mailbag. He thinks that this is the most
Speaker 1: meaningful meeting between the Yankees and Red Sox since the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one Wildcard game, and I would tend to agree.
Speaker 1: Both currently in wildcard position, Yankees at the top of
Speaker 1: the standings based on their recent run, and the Yankees
Speaker 1: have closed by winning seven of eight too, with a
Speaker 1: four games of the Toronto Blue Jays in the Al East,
Speaker 1: so things are heating up. The Red Sox need to
Speaker 1: kind of start getting going again. They're three to seven
Speaker 1: in the last ten, have not played well of late.
Speaker 1: They've made some moves in advance of this series, some
Speaker 1: pretty interesting moves. They send down Isaiah Campbell, bringing Richard Fitz. Now,
Speaker 1: Richard Fitz has been a starter his whole career, but
Speaker 1: it appears for now the Socks are going to use
Speaker 1: him out of the bullpen at least in this series.
Speaker 1: And then just today it was reported that the Socks
Speaker 1: also have designated Abraham Toro for assignment. He gave them
Speaker 1: some good playing time at first base until kind of
Speaker 1: fading after the All Star break, and they've brought back
Speaker 1: David Hamilton. Now, David Hamilton gives them additional speed for
Speaker 1: this series so they can pressure the Yankees. And David
Speaker 1: Hamilton also plays second base, and perhaps that will enable
Speaker 1: the Socks to move to Don Rafaela playing more in
Speaker 1: center field, where he is so brilliant. Rafaela has struggled offensively.
Speaker 1: Perhaps it's related to moving back to the infield. I
Speaker 1: don't know, but this is going to be a really
Speaker 1: interesting series for sure. Alana.
Speaker 3: Does it solve their issue?
Speaker 2: Though?
Speaker 3: At first base, Ken we're talking about the Boston Red Sox.
Speaker 3: Obviously there was a platoon situation there between Abraham Toro
Speaker 3: and romy Gonzalez, especially when you know there was a
Speaker 3: left hander on the hill. Romey Gonzalez, though, is starting
Speaker 3: to play against right handers as well. Rob Refsnyder is
Speaker 3: on the il. What is the plan for the Socks
Speaker 3: at first Well.
Speaker 1: The signing of Nathaniel Low changes everything for the Red Sox,
Speaker 1: and that really is what led to the move with Toro.
Speaker 1: So the other night, Low at the game tying home
Speaker 1: run in the ninth inning, it would have been a
Speaker 1: huge moment if the Red Sox had won that game.
Speaker 1: They did not, So now going forward, they've got Low,
Speaker 1: They've got Rome Gonzalez in the mixed. Roman Gonzalez also
Speaker 1: play second. Once ref Schneyder is healthy, he'll be in
Speaker 1: the equation as well. What they are clearly trying to
Speaker 1: do here as we enter the final six weeks of
Speaker 1: the season is put their best team on the field,
Speaker 1: and that is the goal here and with these moves,
Speaker 1: that is clearly the intention, and it's going to be
Speaker 1: interesting to see the lineup tonight. It's going to be
Speaker 1: interesting to see how this plays out going forward, both
Speaker 1: at first base, at second base, and in center field.
Speaker 1: There shouldn't be a both there. There's three positions, all
Speaker 1: three of those positions, and.
Speaker 3: You know Roman Anthony ken is going to be in
Speaker 3: that lineup for the Red Sox, a big extension for him.
Speaker 3: He wrote about it currently in the Athletic This kid
Speaker 3: is way beyond his years in terms of maturity and
Speaker 3: specifically played discipline.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what I wrote about Alana. And it's interesting
Speaker 1: to me that this kid just turned twenty one in
Speaker 1: May and is unphased by everything that he has encountered
Speaker 1: so far. And I am sure quite certain he will
Speaker 1: be unphased by playing at Yankee Stadium. He's going to
Speaker 1: be a centerpiece of this rivalry for the next eight
Speaker 1: or nine years at least, and Yankee fans, I'm sure
Speaker 1: are going to come to dislike him. But it's hard
Speaker 1: to dislike this guy. He's kind of quiet on the field,
Speaker 1: doesn't show much emotion at all, just plays really well
Speaker 1: a really high level and yes, play discipline. In this column,
Speaker 1: I wrote Alex Cora compared him, Wait didn compare him
Speaker 1: to Barry Bonds. He said, I can't compare him to
Speaker 1: Barry Bonds, but he kind of thought maybe like an
Speaker 1: early Wan Soto. And that's high praise obviously for Roman Anthony.
Speaker 3: And I love the fact that you talked to Alex
Speaker 3: kra about this, and he said that when they told
Speaker 3: Roman Anthony Ken that he was going to start the
Speaker 3: season in Triple A, he shook Alex Korra's hand. He said,
Speaker 3: I'll see you soon, and Alex Corr was like, I'm
Speaker 3: sure you will, and sure enough, Roman Anthony had to
Speaker 3: wait until June. But it's been a good change ever since.
Speaker 3: Aaron Boone and Aaron Judge, what more can you tell
Speaker 3: us about the disagreement, if you will, in the throwing
Speaker 3: ability of Aaron Judge right now?
Speaker 1: Well, it seems that Aaron Boom when he said that
Speaker 1: Judge might not throw the way he normally throws for
Speaker 1: the rest of the season, was kind of getting ahead
Speaker 1: of himself, and Judge quickly corrected him. I don't know
Speaker 1: that this is going to be any issue. Those two
Speaker 1: are very close. But the real question is when does
Speaker 1: Aaron Judge get back into the out field. And I
Speaker 1: don't know that it will happen this series. I would
Speaker 1: not be surprised if it did. He has been throwing,
Speaker 1: and clearly, when you're playing with some kind of elbow issue,
Speaker 1: it's going to be a little bit dicey at times.
Speaker 1: But fully, the full expectation of the Yankees, I should say,
Speaker 1: is that he will be back in right field. Then
Speaker 1: you have judge and right Grisham and center, Bellinger and left.
Speaker 1: That's a really good defensive outfield. And that's where the
Speaker 1: Yankees are heading with this.
Speaker 3: All right, let's talk about the New York Yankees a
Speaker 3: little bit more. Can their schedule stiffens beginning this weekend? Obviously,
Speaker 3: the Red Socks are trying to make the postseason team.
Speaker 3: The Yankees obviously are doing the same. It's not going
Speaker 3: to get much easier for them going forward.
Speaker 1: It won't for this particular period, but going forward totally.
Speaker 1: When you look at Fangrafts and the remaining strength of schedule,
Speaker 1: they actually have the Yankees as the easiest remaining strength
Speaker 1: of schedule based on a couple of different factors. Now,
Speaker 1: other websites Alana don't have them with the easiest, but
Speaker 1: it's not that bad. And they end the season with
Speaker 1: a pretty easy schedule with a number of non contenders.
Speaker 1: So the Red Sox after this series, play I believe,
Speaker 1: five straight series against non contenders and they're going to
Speaker 1: have some different teams that they play to that are
Speaker 1: more competitive. So well the Yankees. The Yankees play each
Speaker 1: of the division leaders one series each remaining this season.
Speaker 1: So it's funny we talk about schedule all the time.
Speaker 1: I talk about it constantly, but it really depends on
Speaker 1: which teams are playing the best at that particular time. Now,
Speaker 1: it certainly helped the Yankees to beat up on these
Speaker 1: three sellers as they did in these last three series,
Speaker 1: but they've got to play well to win games. We
Speaker 1: know that. We've seen that with them, So that really
Speaker 1: is their challenge here to play at a high crisp level,
Speaker 1: something that they haven't always done, regardless of who the
Speaker 1: opponent is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question about that. It's going to be interesting
Speaker 3: to see how many teams in the Al East can
Speaker 3: get into the postseason. As far as that picture is concerned,
Speaker 3: Let's talk about another topic here, unfair territory with Ken Rosenthal,
Speaker 3: where there is a lot to unpack, and that is
Speaker 3: realignment and a lot of folks have been talking about
Speaker 3: this ken for a long time.
Speaker 1: What is the latest. The latest day is Rob Manford
Speaker 1: went on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball and of course talked
Speaker 1: about the possibility of expansion, which would lead to realignment.
Speaker 1: Now it's important to note as Jason Starke did this
Speaker 1: morning in The Athletic in a really good article that
Speaker 1: gave a lot of context to the situation. Basically, Jason
Speaker 1: starts by saying this isn't close. None of it is close,
Speaker 1: not expansion, not realignment, and not, as he mentions here,
Speaker 1: the possibility of the schedule shrinking. And Jason makes some
Speaker 1: very good points in that article about why the schedule
Speaker 1: could shrink if the sport indeed goes to thirty two teams,
Speaker 1: That too, is a discussion to come. But the realignment
Speaker 1: conversation is one that got fans really excited or I
Speaker 1: would say intrigued, because obviously it would lead to major implations.
Speaker 1: It might lead to the sport looking unlike the way
Speaker 1: it has looked for quite some time now. So there
Speaker 1: have been a couple of proposals thrown out there. Let's
Speaker 1: get into them, all right.
Speaker 3: So if you think about the proposal from Jim Bowden,
Speaker 3: two years ago. Let's look at that one first, because again,
Speaker 3: this has been talked about for quite some time, and
Speaker 3: there's a bunch of realignment when it comes to where
Speaker 3: teams are going. But moreover, where are the new teams going.
Speaker 1: To be housed? Right?
Speaker 3: Is it going to be Nashville? Is it going to
Speaker 3: be Charlotte? Like, that's a whole other picture too, in
Speaker 3: terms of another piece of this puzzle.
Speaker 1: Can a lot? It sure is, And you make a
Speaker 1: great point, we don't even know who the expansion teams
Speaker 1: are yet. Is it Charlotte? Is at Nashville in the east?
Speaker 1: Is it Salt Lake City? Is it Portland in the west?
Speaker 1: Are there other cities that are perhaps in the mix
Speaker 1: that we don't even think about or haven't even considered yet.
Speaker 1: I don't believe so. But all of this will depend
Speaker 1: on where those expansion teams end up. Games proposal, what
Speaker 1: he brought about a couple of years ago, basically is
Speaker 1: done purely on geography and natural rivalries. So you see,
Speaker 1: the Midwest division would have the Cubs, White Sox, Brewers,
Speaker 1: and the Twins. They're all rivals. Even the Brewers and
Speaker 1: the Twins have a rivalry. Southwest Astros Royals, Cardinals, Rangers,
Speaker 1: Pacific Coast down that Rockies don't belong on this Pacific coast,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't always work perfectly. Colorado, the Athletics wherever
Speaker 1: they might be, Seattle, San Francisco. Then the Western Division Arizona,
Speaker 1: the Angels, the Dodgers, and the Padres. That makes a
Speaker 1: ton of sense. And then you go to the East.
Speaker 1: This would be an amazing division. The Red Sox, Mets, Yankees,
Speaker 1: and Phillies, the North Reds, Guardians, Tigers, Blue Jays, and
Speaker 1: you see the others as well. Mid Atlantic with the Orioles, Charlotte.
Speaker 1: Perhaps maybe it's Nashville, Pittsburgh and Washington, and the Southeast Atlanta, Nashville,
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay and Miami. Another one that makes a lot
Speaker 1: of geographic sense. Now that's that's an interesting proposal, no
Speaker 1: question about it. But what I liked a little bit
Speaker 1: better because it kept the leagues kind of more intact,
Speaker 1: was what Stephen Nesbit suggested in the Athletics the other day. Now,
Speaker 1: what Stephen doesn't have that Jim does are the Mets
Speaker 1: and Yankees and the Dodgers and Angels and all those
Speaker 1: teams necessarily in the same divisions. He did it more
Speaker 1: like the way the leagues are currently constructed. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to read all the names here, but you can
Speaker 1: see them. And in the East, for example, he doesn't
Speaker 1: have the Mets and Yankees together, but he has the Mets, Phillies, Pirates,
Speaker 1: and Nationals. And then another example for him that would
Speaker 1: be interesting would be in the West the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres,
Speaker 1: and Giants. No Angels, but you have the four natural
Speaker 1: remaining n L West rivals. It's sort of the same
Speaker 1: in the American League the way Steven has it laid
Speaker 1: out East kind of preserved the way it is now
Speaker 1: without Tampa Bay, every other team is in there. And
Speaker 1: in the West it's a little bit different. The A's
Speaker 1: wherever they might be, the Angels, saw Lake City or Portland,
Speaker 1: plus the Mariners, and you can see the North and
Speaker 1: South divisions there too. Now the question is going to
Speaker 1: be if this all comes to pass, and again we're
Speaker 1: not close yet. We're not close to expansion, we're not
Speaker 1: close to realignment. But if it does come to pass,
Speaker 1: then at that point Rob Manford, whoever is Commissioner of
Speaker 1: Baseball at that point, will have to decide, Okay, do
Speaker 1: we want to sort of preserve the leagues or do
Speaker 1: we want to go just pure geography and natural rivalries.
Speaker 1: That's the decision. But again, we're talking about something that
Speaker 1: is years away. A lot of fun for us to
Speaker 1: talk about, no question, but we're not there yet.
Speaker 3: Okay, do you have a different opinion or different solution?
Speaker 3: Do you or do you have a preference and how
Speaker 3: important is it to you, Ken Rosenthal to preserve the rivalries.
Speaker 1: I don't have a preference. I would lean a little
Speaker 1: bit toward Nesbitz, but I understand Boden's And I understand
Speaker 1: Bodens because if you're a met Yankee fan, if you're
Speaker 1: a White Sox Cubs fan, if you're a Dodgers Angels fan,
Speaker 1: you want to see those teams and you want to
Speaker 1: see them in the same division. I assume not everyone
Speaker 1: would agree. No one ever agrees entirely on anything, but
Speaker 1: that would be the appeal of Jim's proposal. I kind
Speaker 1: of lean towards Stevens a little bit, and that's where
Speaker 1: I am with it. I don't have my own proposal.
Speaker 1: I've not sat around thinking about this too much, but
Speaker 1: it is cool to imagine what might be and then
Speaker 1: of course, if you have a reduced schedule, as Jason
Speaker 1: suggests this morning, what would be the point of that, Well,
Speaker 1: mathematically it might work better with thirty two teams, and
Speaker 1: the other point would be more playoffs. I don't know
Speaker 1: that we need more playoffs. I don't know that Baseball
Speaker 1: agrees with me on that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're going to have to find a way to
Speaker 3: make up the revenue if it is only one hundred
Speaker 3: and fifty four game regular season, so perhaps expanded playoffs
Speaker 3: are the play I do think it's funny, though, that
Speaker 3: Colorado would be in the Pacific Coast Division if it
Speaker 3: were to be new divisions, because some would argue Ken Rosenthal,
Speaker 3: me not you, that Colorado doesn't even belong in Major
Speaker 3: League Baseball.
Speaker 1: Okay, boom boom, we don't have relegations. If we ever
Speaker 1: get your relation.
Speaker 3: Maybe yeah, although they have taken two of three so
Speaker 3: far from the Los Angeles Dodgers, but that's for another conversation.
Speaker 3: All right, get your questions in for Grill and Ken.
Speaker 3: It's fair territory continues here on all of our different networks.
Speaker 3: We appreciate it. We're going to take a quick break
Speaker 3: and we'll be right back ft FAM.
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Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 3: Time now for Grill and Ken, the first one comes
Speaker 3: from Armand. We always appreciate the conversation and the questions,
Speaker 3: which National League team do you trust? Believe in more
Speaker 3: Ken to clinch the third wildcard spot. He's putting you
Speaker 3: on the spot, either the Mets or the Reds. I
Speaker 3: don't trust and believe in my Mets. Armond is obviously
Speaker 3: a big Met fan.
Speaker 1: Armand might have a point. Now. The Mets lead the
Speaker 1: Reds by one game for the final wildcard spot. If
Speaker 1: you had to pick this based on starting pitching, you
Speaker 1: would pick the Reds Winter Green, Lindolo, everything that they
Speaker 1: have Andrew Abbott. That's a stronger rotation than the Mets
Speaker 1: are offering right now. Single last night again not great,
Speaker 1: and David Peterson really has been their only consistent starter. Now,
Speaker 1: perhaps Norm McClain, will Nolan McClain not Norm, will give
Speaker 1: them something that they've been looking for, and perhaps they'll
Speaker 1: bring up some of their younger prospects as well in
Speaker 1: addition to McLain to kind of fortify themselves. But they
Speaker 1: still have the lead. They don't have as good a
Speaker 1: run differential as the Reds. For whatever that is worth.
Speaker 1: I just trust that their players, their position players. In
Speaker 1: the end will carry them, but I'm not convinced of that.
Speaker 1: And the Reds rotation is dangerous, and if the Reds
Speaker 1: get in, they're dangerous for that reason. And their offense
Speaker 1: has been a little bit better of late, so armand
Speaker 1: I would say that I cannot give you words of
Speaker 1: comfort here. I'm not so sure this is going to
Speaker 1: go exactly the way the Mets want it.
Speaker 3: Is that the biggest collapse in your opinion of the season,
Speaker 3: ken considering if they don't make the postseason, considering all
Speaker 3: that was put into in the offseason, obviously Wan Soo,
Speaker 3: all of the different things. I mean, that would be
Speaker 3: an epic fail, would it not?
Speaker 1: It would? And in fact, my friend Joel Sherman and
Speaker 1: your friend as well, Alana, wrote a column recently basically
Speaker 1: asking the question, would this be the most disappointing Mets
Speaker 1: season in history? Now there's some competition there for most
Speaker 1: disappointing season in Met's history, but the mere fact that
Speaker 1: Joel would be asking that question in Juan Soto's first
Speaker 1: year with the team and a year when they've resigned
Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo, that is troubling alone. And we'll see what
Speaker 1: happens here. I still expect the Mets big players Alonzo, Sodo, Lindor,
Speaker 1: et cetera, to step up, and certainly the loss of
Speaker 1: Alvarez for however long it is behind the plate, hurts them.
Speaker 1: I just see their position club as being stronger than
Speaker 1: the Reds, and that's the question I have with the Reds.
Speaker 1: Will they score enough to support that rotation? Now?
Speaker 3: The fact that the Reds are even in the conversation
Speaker 3: is fun. I'm not certain that I would have put
Speaker 3: the Reds in the postseason picture. Good for Cincinnati. Another
Speaker 3: question on Grill and Ken in regards to realignment. Of course,
Speaker 3: a lot of folks want to talk about this because
Speaker 3: it's been a topic of conversation for some time. Bernie Suarez,
Speaker 3: in what world would it make sense to have the
Speaker 3: Dodgers and Giants in different divisions, preserving those rivalries? Bernie
Speaker 3: wants to.
Speaker 1: Know, Bernie, not my world that I don't believe in
Speaker 1: Alana's world either would that makes sense. So I don't
Speaker 1: know which proposal had that, but I hear you, man,
Speaker 1: and certainly the balance here. The trick here, if we
Speaker 1: ever get to this point, will be for major League
Speaker 1: Baseball to preserve what is good Dodgers, Giants, Dodgers Padres
Speaker 1: for that matter, while still doing this realignment, which basically
Speaker 1: is all revolving around geography anyway, So why would you
Speaker 1: not have the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, and Diamondbacks all playing
Speaker 1: each other. I would rather have that than Dodgers' Angels,
Speaker 1: for instance, in the same division. So I'm with you
Speaker 1: on that. Put it that way, I agree.
Speaker 3: I think the rivalries are important for the sport and
Speaker 3: obviously just for the history of this great game of ours.
Speaker 3: Next question on Grill and Ken is from Craig Osterberg.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, Craig, Well, pitching or decide these divisional races.
Speaker 1: That's a good one, asking a general question here, and
Speaker 1: it's a good one. I'm not exactly sure how you
Speaker 1: can break down each one along these lines, because I'm
Speaker 1: sure pitching will decide some. It may decide the NL
Speaker 1: wild Card, for instance, as we just discussed, and I
Speaker 1: would imagine hitting will decide some others. For instance, if
Speaker 1: the Yankees slug their way to the Aleast title and
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays don't start playing better again, that could happen.
Speaker 1: A lot of things gonna happen, So I'm not exactly
Speaker 1: sure how to answer that, but basically, put it this way,
Speaker 1: the team with the best combination is going to be
Speaker 1: a really good shape.
Speaker 3: Who do you think has the best combination?
Speaker 1: Milwaukee has had a good combination, There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 1: And they're pitching, in my view from a national standpoint,
Speaker 1: gets a little overlooked at times because we all dwell
Speaker 1: on their offense and the cool things that they do,
Speaker 1: the way they generate and manufacture runs. But if they
Speaker 1: get mis going again and he struggled a little litle
Speaker 1: bit yesterday again, then there will be a formidable combination
Speaker 1: for sure. And then you look at the Phillies as well.
Speaker 1: The Phillies had an incredible offensive series against Seattle. Trey
Speaker 1: Turner is ridiculously hot, seven straight three hit games. Match
Speaker 1: Gel wrote about that today in The Athletic and the Phillies,
Speaker 1: even without Wheeler, if Ranger Suarez pitches the way he
Speaker 1: did the other night, if Christopher Sanchez keeps it up,
Speaker 1: you have the makings of a dynamic playoff rotation with Lozardo,
Speaker 1: with Aaron Nola possibly getting back in things too. So
Speaker 1: they've got some possibilities there. They're going to be an
Speaker 1: interesting team in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Man, the National League is so interesting because there's so
Speaker 3: many good teams. You just don't know which way it's
Speaker 3: going to go. I think a definite easier path is
Speaker 3: in the junior circuit. All right, much more to come
Speaker 3: here on Fair Territory with Ken Rosenthal. We appreciate the
Speaker 3: questions on Grill and Ken, but next we are talking
Speaker 3: dude and dork of the week.
Speaker 2: Right after this, Okay, Kratz. I opened up Arena Club,
Speaker 2: put my own money in there, and I wasn't gonna
Speaker 2: go big.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 2: We went over the Ruby pack a week ago. This
Speaker 2: time I just went for the low level pack, where
Speaker 2: it's an easy entry point twenty five bucks. You can
Speaker 2: get yourself a big boy card. The Grail has many
Speaker 2: good options. I slice open the pack. We're looking at
Speaker 2: it if you're watching us right now, and I pull
Speaker 2: a card from the nineteen fifties. Super cool. I enjoyed
Speaker 2: the experience looking at it. It's Jim Gilliam, It's the
Speaker 2: top set from the mid fifties.
Speaker 1: It's cool.
Speaker 2: It's a Brooklyn Dodger. But it's worth more than the card.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I'm going to sell it back.
Speaker 2: I got twenty eight bucks instantly, so I can buy
Speaker 2: another one of those packs and try and get what
Speaker 2: I want.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, the excitement I heard Kip say before. The excitement's
Speaker 4: in the chase. You sold it back. Now you get
Speaker 4: to open another one. I enjoy when you slide it
Speaker 4: across the screen there and the pack opens.
Speaker 2: You know where to go. Arenaclub dot com slash foul
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Speaker 2: after it, dude, dude, dude.
Speaker 3: All right, where You're nearing the end of the month
Speaker 3: of August, almost to September. The tide is turning, the
Speaker 3: calendar is turning, the leaves are changing a little bit.
Speaker 3: Who is your dude of the week this week.
Speaker 1: Holana, It's going to be the Yankees for hitting nine
Speaker 1: home runs against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.
Speaker 1: They came within one of the major League record. But really,
Speaker 1: I'm only naming the Yankees dudes so I can get
Speaker 1: into another story. And the other story is the record
Speaker 1: that actually was set in nineteen eighty seven, in my
Speaker 1: first year on the beat at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium by
Speaker 1: the Blue Jays against the Orioles ten Homers and Hank Peters,
Speaker 1: and the Oils general manager later made an instructional video
Speaker 1: out of that night for the Oriols minor leaguers. He
Speaker 1: called it the Barrage. He said, this is the lesson
Speaker 1: on not how to pitch, on how not to pitch.
Speaker 1: So that is a very distinct memory for me. The
Speaker 1: next day, I'm twenty four years old. I'm on the
Speaker 1: beat against Tim Kirkhi and Richard Justice, two of the
Speaker 1: great beat writers in the country. Tim, of course, still
Speaker 1: one of the most formidable baseball experts in our game.
Speaker 1: And I walk into cal Rican Senior's office. He's the
Speaker 1: manager at the time. I was terrified and I asked him, Cal,
Speaker 1: after last night, the team's on its way to ninety
Speaker 1: five loss, as it turns out, are you worried about
Speaker 1: getting fired? I was terrified of what he might say,
Speaker 1: and he said, we just put on one of the
Speaker 1: most embarrassing displays in Major league history. Of course, I'm
Speaker 1: worried about getting fired. That record still stands. The Yankees
Speaker 1: challengehip but didn't get there. But they're the dudes of
Speaker 1: the week.
Speaker 3: I'm glad that Cal Ripken Senior was kind to you
Speaker 3: in that moment, He's like, of course, I'm worried about
Speaker 3: getting fired. What a story, Ken, And you've been doing
Speaker 3: it at the highest level ever since. Okay, my dude
Speaker 3: of the week is another journalist to have a tremendous
Speaker 3: amount of respect for Nick Pikoro, who of course writes
Speaker 3: for the Arizona Republic. He has covered the Diamondbacks for
Speaker 3: two decades, you know, doing all of the necessary dirty work,
Speaker 3: and unfortunately he's getting dragged in the process a little bit.
Speaker 3: He recently had an article in the Arizona Republic on
Speaker 3: Katel Marte about how there was a little bit of
Speaker 3: discourse perhaps and seemingly katel Marte asking for some time
Speaker 3: off in a various in certain times of the season
Speaker 3: where perhaps there was a little bit of discord amongst
Speaker 3: his teammates. Obviously, Ken, I don't think a story like
Speaker 3: this comes out without basis, and certainly with a tremendous
Speaker 3: amount of research and the need for it to come out.
Speaker 3: This is not something that Nick, I would imagine, just
Speaker 3: heard about in terms of rumblings or without legitimate sources.
Speaker 3: This is something that I'm sure he's worked on for
Speaker 3: a period of time. But of course fans are now
Speaker 3: upset about the story and perhaps wondering if katel Marte
Speaker 3: is going to be traded, if Tory Lavello is too
Speaker 3: easy on him, you know, just starting some negative conversations.
Speaker 3: I guess about the Diamondbacks clubhouse. But that is Nick's
Speaker 3: job as a reporter, and he has earned the right
Speaker 3: and has the resume to write something like this, perhaps
Speaker 3: without being questioned about the integrity of the article. I'm
Speaker 3: interested because you, as as a beat writer and someone
Speaker 3: that is a baseball columnist for a long time, knows
Speaker 3: how difficult it is to be in the clubhouse day
Speaker 3: in and day out. What is your take on this?
Speaker 1: Well, I said this on a foul territory the other day.
Speaker 1: I'm with you a lot of one thousand percent on this.
Speaker 1: And here's a message to fans. You say you want
Speaker 1: to know about your teams, Well, you can't only know
Speaker 1: about the good things about your teams. We're not out
Speaker 1: there to be cheerleaders. If you want a certain kind
Speaker 1: of reporting positive for the team all the time, I
Speaker 1: can direct you to certain websites that will do that
Speaker 1: for you. That is not the job of a journalist.
Speaker 1: The job of a journalist is to tell you what's
Speaker 1: going on, good or bad. So you can't say I
Speaker 1: want to know as much as possible about my team,
Speaker 1: but then say, well, I'd rather not know this or that.
Speaker 1: And you know what, what Nick wrote is not going
Speaker 1: to destroy the Diamondbacks. What could tell Marte was doing
Speaker 1: at the Diamondbacks and he apologized for it so or
Speaker 1: at least some of it. So when he apologizes for it, that,
Speaker 1: as I said on FT, further legitimize the story. And
Speaker 1: it's a really good choice for due to the week.
Speaker 1: Nick took too much crap for this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Nick is a very good journalist and he's a
Speaker 3: colleague of ours, and I stand behind that when I
Speaker 3: say that he is an unbelievable professional. Okay, time now
Speaker 3: for dork of the week. All right, Ken, who do
Speaker 3: you have for your dork?
Speaker 1: This troubles me a little bit because I like this guy.
Speaker 1: I know him a little bit, Victor Roblos, and he's
Speaker 1: dork of the week for throwing the bat and getting
Speaker 1: the ten game suspension. Now, there were extenuating circumstances, as
Speaker 1: he pointed out in his statement of apology. He's coming
Speaker 1: off a left shoulder separation, he's missed most of the year.
Speaker 1: He's been very frustrated about that. He recently lost his mom,
Speaker 1: and he was hit in three of his first four games.
Speaker 1: And he also had a history with the pitcher Joey Estes,
Speaker 1: who had hit him in the So all of these
Speaker 1: things are true, and all of these things help explain
Speaker 1: why you see Robust reacting the way he did. There
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. He still can't throw a bat. And I
Speaker 1: don't know that Victor Robos would disagree with me naming
Speaker 1: him dork of the Week.
Speaker 3: Okay, Mine is a guy that decided that he couldn't
Speaker 3: get enough either fantasy football or he really needed to
Speaker 3: make sure that his boss could reach him at all time.
Speaker 3: Mine man at the game at Wrigley bringing his laptop,
Speaker 3: and not only can did he bring his laptop, he
Speaker 3: brought his mouse. Do you not have a computer that
Speaker 3: at least has a mouse on the keyboard itself? What
Speaker 3: are we doing? I mean again, if he's working on
Speaker 3: his fantasy baseball league or getting ready for his football draft,
Speaker 3: no problem. But if you're actually working, maybe you should
Speaker 3: not be in a place where your boss can find
Speaker 3: you on the JumboTron. It's like going to a cold
Speaker 3: play concert.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 3: Thank you everybody for being a part of Fair Territory
Speaker 3: with Ken Rosenthal.
Speaker 2: We appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening, Thanks for watching.
Speaker 4: Ken.
Speaker 3: We'll be back on Sunday night with the brand new episode.
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