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Speaker 1: Welcome up the line to this week's edition of their

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Speaker 1: territory and guess what we are getting. Close Dodgers Pictures

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Speaker 1: and Catchers report on Friday, Padre's Pictures and Catchers report

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Speaker 1: on Sunday. Why the early report dates for those teams

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Speaker 1: because they'll be playing in Korea in mid March. But

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Speaker 1: I want to start off this show talking about the

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Speaker 1: biggest events of last week, and they both involved the

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Speaker 1: same team, the Baltimore Orioles. What a monumental week for

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Speaker 1: the Orioles. It was a week that probably their fans

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Speaker 1: will remember for quite some time. It started, of course,

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Speaker 1: with the news that the Angelo's family will be selling

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Speaker 1: a controlling stake of the club to a group led

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Speaker 1: by a private equity investor named David Rubinstein. The guy

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Speaker 1: is a native of Baltimore. He's someone who has done

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Speaker 1: a lot in his career. He's been involved in philanthropy,

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Speaker 1: obviously someone with deep pockets. Forbes valued him at three

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Speaker 1: point six billion. That was pretty good news for the

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Speaker 1: Orioles fans, of course, But as I wrote in The Athletic,

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Speaker 1: it took me back to nineteen ninety three, back when

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Speaker 1: I was at the Baltimore Sun and the auction that

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Speaker 1: took place when the Oriols were sold the last time

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Speaker 1: to Peter Angelos. This was a bankruptcy auction. It took

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Speaker 1: place in a sweltering New York City courtroom. It was

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Speaker 1: quite an electric moment. It was Angelos with Bil DeWitt,

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Speaker 1: owner of the Cardinals, against Jeffrey Laurier, who of course

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Speaker 1: would later go on to own the Marlins. Angelos won

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Speaker 1: with a bid of one hundred and seventy three million.

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Speaker 1: It was at the time a record for a sports franchise.

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Speaker 1: Think about that, and now, all of these years later,

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Speaker 1: we have a very similar scenario. Local guy deep Pockets,

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Speaker 1: the seeming savior of the franchise. Obviously, Angelo's had his

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Speaker 1: good points and a lot of bad points as well,

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Speaker 1: So you never know what you're quite getting with an owner.

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Speaker 1: But my goodness, could it be any worse than it

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Speaker 1: has been the last few years under Peter Angelos's son,

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Speaker 1: John Angelos. Peter of course has been incapacitated since twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 1: so John has been running the club, and John, well,

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Speaker 1: it's not just the low payrolls that have gotten everyone.

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Speaker 1: Its conduct unbecoming of a steward of a franchise. What

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Speaker 1: am I talking about? Oh, let's see the suspension of

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Speaker 1: Kevin Brown, the broadcaster who was immensely popular and gifted

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Speaker 1: the confrontation. Then with the athletics Dan Connolly, the lecture

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Speaker 1: he gave him when Dan asked a question about, oh,

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Speaker 1: maybe one day selling the team. Good question, it turned out.

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Speaker 1: And of course the coupdi grau of this whole thing.

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Speaker 1: You saw the reaction prepsure didn't from Maryland state officials

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Speaker 1: when this news was announced last week. They felt that

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Speaker 1: they were at best misled and at worst lie to

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Speaker 1: during the least negotiations for Camden Yards. They just signed

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Speaker 1: the least recently, so it can't get worse, and in fact,

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Speaker 1: with the Rubinstein group, it should get a lot better,

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Speaker 1: simply with the momentum the franchise has right now and

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Speaker 1: the momentum taking place in the city of Baltimore right now.

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Speaker 1: Now with the franchise, we all know what's going on there.

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Speaker 1: When one hundred and one games last year they just

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Speaker 1: added Corbin Burns. We'll get to that in a second.

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Speaker 1: They are in a great, great place. Team is on

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Speaker 1: the rise. It's the perfect time for a new owner.

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Speaker 1: They have a new lease, as I just mentioned, it's

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Speaker 1: going to be for at least fifteen years and most

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Speaker 1: likely for thirty years. That lease includes six hundred million

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Speaker 1: dollars in improvements to one of the game's great gems already,

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Speaker 1: Camden Yards. And finally you have what seems to be

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Speaker 1: happening in Baltimore, place where I live for a long time,

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Speaker 1: a coming revival of downtown. There are plans to reimagine

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Speaker 1: and redo Harbor Place, that of course is the centerpiece

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Speaker 1: of downtown Baltimore. So a lot of good things are

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Speaker 1: happening there. And again for the Rubinstein group coming in

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Speaker 1: at this time, Wow, you're taking something that is really

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Speaker 1: good already and could get a lot better. Obviously, fans

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Speaker 1: are gonna be looking forward to this team spending more money,

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Speaker 1: can't spend any less, and that too, will be a

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Speaker 1: good thing. The other thing with the Orioles last week,

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Speaker 1: and of course this was the bigger on field development,

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Speaker 1: the trade for Corbyn Burns seemed to come out of

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Speaker 1: nowhere because there hadn't been a lot of talk about

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Speaker 1: Corbyn Burns in the last I don't know, month to

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Speaker 1: six weeks, but the Brewers ultimately decided to make the

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Speaker 1: move finally, and actually the Orioles gave up a lot

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Speaker 1: considering what they were getting. It's not just the quality

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Speaker 1: of Corbyn Burns. We all know how good he is

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one side young Winner. It's more that he's

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Speaker 1: under club control for only one year, and generally for

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Speaker 1: players of that type, no matter how good they are,

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Speaker 1: the price is depressed. But the Brewers acquired two guys

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Speaker 1: who have been top hundred prospects and are major league ready.

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Speaker 1: Dale Hall was in the majors last year and was

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Speaker 1: pretty darn good. Joey Ortiz made his debut as well.

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Speaker 1: These guys can step into the Brewers and really be

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Speaker 1: significant players for them, perhaps as early as this season,

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Speaker 1: most likely as early as this season. Brewers also received

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Speaker 1: the thirty fourth pick in the upcoming draft, so that

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Speaker 1: was a good haul. But if you're the Orioles, you

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Speaker 1: do this. You do this every day of the week,

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Speaker 1: and you do it because your team, as we have

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Speaker 1: talked about all off season, was missing a top of

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Speaker 1: the rotation starter, and some Oriols fans were saying, well,

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Speaker 1: we're good. We've got Bratish, We've got Raising Rodriguez, John Nana,

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Speaker 1: You're good. But now you're a lot better. Corbyn Burns

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Speaker 1: makes this rotation look deep. He makes it look just

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Speaker 1: much different than it would without him. He's going to

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Speaker 1: be someone that can give them a presence every fifth

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Speaker 1: day that frankly, Grayson Rodriguez is not ready to be

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Speaker 1: just yet, and even Bradish these guys are good, two

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Speaker 1: of the best pitchers in baseball in the second half,

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Speaker 1: and maybe they'll become more Burns like this season, but

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Speaker 1: they're not Corbyn Burns just yet. So for the Oriols,

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Speaker 1: really good stuff all week and we all look forward

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Speaker 1: to seeing them play this year, and we all look

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Speaker 1: forward to seeing what this new ownership is going to bring.

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Speaker 1: If you miss the details, the Rubinstein group takes forty

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Speaker 1: percent now and then they have the option to get

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Speaker 1: the final sixty percent later. This is of course all

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Speaker 1: pending Major League approval, but that is expected. Also over

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Speaker 1: the weekend, kind of on the other coast, we had

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Speaker 1: something that I thought was pretty striking, Dodger Fest. It

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Speaker 1: used to be called Dodgers fan Fest, but now it's

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Speaker 1: called Dodger Fest. That took place at Dodger Stadium, the

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Speaker 1: first time they ever sold tickets for this event and

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Speaker 1: they drew thirty five thousand people, thirty five thousand for

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Speaker 1: a fan fest. Essentially, well, the excitement around this team

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Speaker 1: rarely has been matched, if at all, in recent memory.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember, and I'm sure it's kind of happened.

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Speaker 1: A fan base so electrified by the team's offseason as

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Speaker 1: we're seeing now with the Dodgers, and rightly so. Now,

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Speaker 1: obviously not all teams can afford to do what the

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Speaker 1: Dodgers do, and obviously not all teams play in a

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Speaker 1: place like Los Angeles, a place where players seem to

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Speaker 1: want to be. But this excitement, this energy you saw

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Speaker 1: at Dodgers Stadium over the weekend, it shows the value

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Speaker 1: of investing in your team and building frankly, an entertainment

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Speaker 1: product that people want to see. And let's hear what

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Speaker 1: some of the players were saying, some of the biggest

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Speaker 1: stars in the game were saying about what they saw

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Speaker 1: at Dodger Stadium this weekend.

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Speaker 2: I mean, look at the excitement around. I think that's

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Speaker 2: all because show is here and all our other editions,

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Speaker 2: But for fifty five thousand people ever single night to watch,

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Speaker 2: probably a person that our grandkids are gonna be talking about,

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Speaker 2: just like we talked about baby Ruth. That's who show

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Speaker 2: hey is.

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Speaker 3: And this is this is super cool and it just

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Speaker 3: shows you what it's like to be a Dodger and

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 4: And as far as the Dollger fans, I was always

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Speaker 4: facing the Dodger fans and I could feel their pressure

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Speaker 4: and it wasn't fun like having to play against their cheers.

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Speaker 4: So now they're gonna be They're gonna have my back,

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Speaker 4: so it's gonna be a lot easier and excited.

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Speaker 1: If you're listening on a podcast and not watching on YouTube,

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Speaker 1: that was if you don't recognize the voices Freddie Freeman,

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Speaker 1: Mookie Betts and of course Shoho Tani talking about the

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Speaker 1: excitement they felt this weekend. Now with that excitement, with

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Speaker 1: the money they've spent, their billion dollar off season that

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Speaker 1: Fabi and already writes about in The Athletic on Monday,

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Speaker 1: with all of that comes pressure that I cannot recall

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Speaker 1: being matched in recent memory entering a season for a team,

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Speaker 1: and Mookie Bets talked about that as well. Because this

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Speaker 1: is going to be perhaps the number one storyline of

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Speaker 1: the season. Are the Dodgers as good as we all

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Speaker 1: think they should be? It's going to be something that

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Speaker 1: they're going to have to live up to. And here's Mookie.

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Speaker 3: I mean, we just go out and we play our

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Speaker 3: play our game. Obviously, we're trying to win a world series.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's World series or nothing. You know, we're

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Speaker 3: all trying to do the same thing. And so but

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Speaker 3: we can't add extra pressure to do it. You know,

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Speaker 3: I think adding extra pressure only does more harm than good.

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Speaker 3: I think we just got to play the same game

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Speaker 3: we're gonna play. You know, it's gonna be tough. I mean,

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Speaker 3: every every game is gonna be the other team's World Series.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it is what it is. It's what we

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Speaker 3: signed up for, you know, and so we have to

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Speaker 3: embrace that, and then we got to go attack and

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Speaker 3: be who we on paper are.

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Speaker 1: Rookie is absolutely right. They are going to be a

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Speaker 1: target for every team they play. They're going to be

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Speaker 1: a measuring stick, a team that people want to see,

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Speaker 1: a team that people in other places want to beat.

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Speaker 1: So it's going to be a crazy fun season for

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers one way or the other. They're going to

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Speaker 1: be fascinating and of course everyone will be paying attention. Finally,

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Speaker 1: the biggest news of the day. One of the biggest

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Speaker 1: stories of the offseason the Bobby wit extension with the

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Speaker 1: Kansas City Royals. It's eleven years, with a club option

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Speaker 1: of three years that could make the deal grow to

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Speaker 1: fourteen years, three hundred and seventy seven point seven million.

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Speaker 1: There are opt outs as well after years seven, eight,

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Speaker 1: nine to ten. This is a monster deal for a

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Speaker 1: low revenue franchise. Kind of shows that other teams can

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Speaker 1: do this too if they have the ownership commitment, and

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Speaker 1: it comes at a very interesting time for the Royals

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Speaker 1: for two reasons. One, this is a team that is

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Speaker 1: trying to get a new stadium built with public financing.

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Speaker 1: Signing Bobby Witt long term is a clear commitment of

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Speaker 1: the team to this particular player, who is their best player,

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Speaker 1: one of the top young players in the game. And

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Speaker 1: it shows a commitment going forward that the owner, John Sherman,

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Speaker 1: is going to invest in the franchise. So with the

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Speaker 1: vote coming up, obviously a great move for the Royals

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Speaker 1: to do this now, it times out really well. A

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Speaker 1: couple of other things too. The Royals are a team

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Speaker 1: with only one Hall of Famer George Brett, and I've

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Speaker 1: spoken with club officials in recent weeks about the idea

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Speaker 1: that they might not have another Hall of Famer if

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Speaker 1: they trade Bobby Wit, if he rejects an extension, they

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Speaker 1: trade him. If all that had happened, then who are

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Speaker 1: they looking at? Maybe sal Perez borderline candidate at best,

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Speaker 1: but who knows if there'll be another one anytime soon

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Speaker 1: for the Royals. So they felt that locking up Witt

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Speaker 1: for that reason as well was really important to understand

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Speaker 1: just how important franchise billers can be. All they need

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Speaker 1: to do is look across the street and see what

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Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes has done for the Kansas City Chiefs. Witt

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Speaker 1: will now be the Royals version of Mahomes, and this

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Speaker 1: is a team that is intent on getting better. They've

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Speaker 1: spent some money this winter. We'll talk about that later

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Speaker 1: in the show as well, with Waka and Lugo and

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Speaker 1: Will Smith. They are trying to a more competitive team.

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Speaker 1: Great message that they send by signing went, great commitment

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Speaker 1: by him as well to the franchise and to the

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Speaker 1: city just to win, win all around. I know these

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Speaker 1: deals of course come with risk, but much less risky

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Speaker 1: with position players of Bobby WIT's caliber than they are

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Speaker 1: for starting pictures or pictures of any kind. So good

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Speaker 1: news for Kansas City, good news for Bobby Witt, and

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Speaker 1: good news for the Royals. Time now for the inside dish.

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Speaker 1: This is the part of the show where I go

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Speaker 1: inside something I've written inside, perhaps a trend in the game,

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Speaker 1: maybe I riff on something else entirely. But this week

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Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about a column I wrote after

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Speaker 1: the Corbyn Burns trade, a column about the Brewers, and

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Speaker 1: you see the headline right there if you're watching, why

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Speaker 1: the Brewers had to trade Corbyn Burns. Now, I wanted

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Speaker 1: to go a little deeper about this. Wanted to explain

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Speaker 1: my thinking because judging from some of the comments to

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Speaker 1: the column you see at the bottom, some people didn't

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Speaker 1: quite follow what I was saying. This is a common

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Speaker 1: affliction and reading comprehension America, and some people, well they disagree,

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Speaker 1: which is fine, and some people wanted to pick an

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Speaker 1: entirely different fight. Here's the deal, here's my thinking. So

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Speaker 1: the Brewers non tendered Brandon Woodroff earlier this offseason. They

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Speaker 1: non tended him because they didn't want to pay him

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Speaker 1: eleven million dollars plus while he recovered basically all season

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Speaker 1: from shoulder surgery. Perfectly understandable decision, but what it meant

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Speaker 1: was that they were going to get nothing back for

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Speaker 1: Brandon Woodriff, who was eligible, like Corbyn Burns for free

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Speaker 1: agency at the end of the season. So nothing for

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Speaker 1: Brandon Woodroff, and my concern with the Brewers was that

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Speaker 1: if they did the same thing with Corbyn Burns, they

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Speaker 1: would get nothing back for him as well, except a

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Speaker 1: draft pick if they made him a qualifying offer, which

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Speaker 1: they almost certainly would do. Now, obviously they could have

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Speaker 1: taken Corbyn Burns into the season, could have taken another

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Speaker 1: shot with this group, which also includes another big potential

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Speaker 1: free agent, will Adamis, but there is risk in that,

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Speaker 1: and the risk in that is if Corbyn Burns gets hurt. Frankly,

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Speaker 1: it's the same problem that the White Sox are facing

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Speaker 1: with Dylan Cees. They can take him into the season

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Speaker 1: and they'll have great value at the deadline cease will

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Speaker 1: but if he gets hurt, that value could be shot.

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Speaker 1: It's a risk. It's not maybe a huge risk, but

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Speaker 1: it's something that is there. Now. The other thing here

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Speaker 1: is if the team is good, if the Brewers are competitive,

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Speaker 1: as they've been for quite some time. You run the

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Speaker 1: risk of another Josh Hater situation if you decide to

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Speaker 1: trade Corbyn Bruns at the deadline then and most likely

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Speaker 1: you're not going to do that. You're not going to

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Speaker 1: risk disrupting the team the way you did with that

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Speaker 1: Hater trade. Now that trade, people don't realize this, A

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Speaker 1: lot of people don't anyway, really turned out okay for

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Speaker 1: the Brewers. Didn't help that season at all. In fact,

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Speaker 1: it disrupted it and might have crushed it, no doubt,

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Speaker 1: but it ultimately landed the Brewers through another series of manumers,

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Speaker 1: Will Contrarasts and Joel Piams, two guys who are pretty

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Speaker 1: critical or were pretty critical last year to what they

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Speaker 1: did and will be pretty critical to what they do

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Speaker 1: going forward. Now you can argue that the Burns trade

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Speaker 1: will wreck this season before it even starts. I don't agree.

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Speaker 1: I talked about the players that they got back in

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Speaker 1: the trade who will help them this season, and they've

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Speaker 1: also added Reys Hoskins. They've got Jackson Churio making his debut.

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Speaker 1: You don't know how it will go, but it's an

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Speaker 1: exciting thing going on with the team, and they've got

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Speaker 1: a lot of good players. Won the division by nine

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Speaker 1: games last year, so I don't know that they're necessarily

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Speaker 1: in a horrible place. Still have Freddie Perolt, still have

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Speaker 1: Wade Miley, you have some other prospects coming, You've got

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Speaker 1: some young outfielders that are really exciting, a position club

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Speaker 1: that is still decent at the very least. So within

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Speaker 1: the framework we're dealing with, within the economic structure of

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Speaker 1: this sport, what the Brewers did, in my opinion, yes,

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Speaker 1: it will set them back for twenty twenty four. I

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Speaker 1: don't know that there's any question about that. You'd rather

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Speaker 1: have Corbyn Burns on your team than not. But it

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Speaker 1: will also enable them to continue what they've done over

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Speaker 1: the last I don't know, six seven years, and that's

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Speaker 1: continue being a sustainable team, a contender year after year.

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Speaker 1: They might not be the team that they were going

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Speaker 1: to be with Burns this year, but I still expect

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Speaker 1: them to contend in the NL Central. Now you can say,

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Speaker 1: as some of you did in response to this column

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Speaker 1: and in response to other columns that I've written this offseason,

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Speaker 1: can we need a salary cap? It's time? Certainly this

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Speaker 1: is a fair discussion. Baseball is the only major professional

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Speaker 1: sport without a salary cap in the United States anyway,

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Speaker 1: And I can understand the discussion. That's a discussion for

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Speaker 1: a separate time, perhaps, but it's not a realistic one

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Speaker 1: for baseball at this particular time. One CBA liver in

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Speaker 1: year two of a five year agreement, and number two

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Speaker 1: are more important. The Baseball Union historically has fought tooth

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Speaker 1: and nail against a salary cap, to the point where

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Speaker 1: the league does not even propose it in CBA negotiations.

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Speaker 1: They might propose some things that kind of look like

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Speaker 1: a salary cap. The luxury tax is not a salary cap,

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Speaker 1: but it's a way to drag or slow down salaries

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Speaker 1: at the top of the scale. But they will not

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Speaker 1: propose a pure salary cap. But I don't expect they

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Speaker 1: will do that in the next set of negotiations either.

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Speaker 1: And frankly, I don't know that the sport needs a

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Speaker 1: salary cap. I believe there are other ways to fix

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Speaker 1: the problem the disparity between the big markets and small

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Speaker 1: markets without imposing a cap. Because you don't want to

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Speaker 1: impose a cap, or try to impose a cap because

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Speaker 1: it's going to lead to a work stoppage. You can

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Speaker 1: enhance revenue sharing. You can make more stringent requirements for

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Speaker 1: teams that are receiving revenue sharing to spend money on

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Speaker 1: major league payroll, can maybe certainly increase the number of

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Speaker 1: draft picks that small market teams get. There are all

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Speaker 1: kinds of ways to perhaps restore or make better the

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Speaker 1: competitive imbalance in the sport. Now continue this conversation. You

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Speaker 1: can also say, in response to this column, Hey, hey,

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Speaker 1: Mark anton Asio, the Brewers' owner, he should be spending

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Speaker 1: more money. He should be signing Corbyn Burns and not

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Speaker 1: trading him. Now, I'm never opposed to the idea of

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Speaker 1: an owner spending more money. Frankly, they all should, right,

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Speaker 1: But on what planet does anyone seriously think that the Brewers,

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Speaker 1: smallest media market in Major League Baseball, are going to

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Speaker 1: give Corbyn Burns the kind of contract that Scott Borris

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Speaker 1: is going to seek for him as a free agent.

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Speaker 1: It's probably going to be up around Gary Cole territory

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Speaker 1: based on the way Burns has performed. He might not

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Speaker 1: get what Cole gets, but he's gonna watch that Scott

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Speaker 1: Boris will for Burns as a free agent. That's not happening.

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Speaker 1: The Brewers are not signing Corbyn Burns. I'm sorry they're

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Speaker 1: not doing it. So this idea Atonazio should just spend

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Speaker 1: money and keep Corbyn Buruns signed them to an extension,

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Speaker 1: which Scott Wors never does. No, that's not realistic either.

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Speaker 1: So when I wrote this, I tried to deal with

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Speaker 1: the reality of the Brewers' situation and not what could

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Speaker 1: be if the sport had a salary cap, if Mark

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Speaker 1: Attanasio would spend more money. Those aren't realistic things within

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Speaker 1: the context of what we're talking about. Now, you guys

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Speaker 1: know this. I talk about it all the time. I

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Speaker 1: never mind people disagreeing with me. I never mind civil discussion,

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Speaker 1: civil debate. Hey, this is why we all love baseball.

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Speaker 1: We all love talking about baseball, we all love arguing

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Speaker 1: about baseball. Now, I know Brewers fans didn't like it

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Speaker 1: last summer when I wrote that Craig Council might lead

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Speaker 1: he left. I know Brewers fans didn't like early in

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Speaker 1: the off season when I wrote precisely that this kind

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Speaker 1: of trade might happen and it did. Hey, I have

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Speaker 1: no problem with the fans who were ticked off at

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Speaker 1: that time because they didn't want to entertain those concepts.

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Speaker 1: Thought those things might not happen. Fair game all, fair

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Speaker 1: game always. But at the same.

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Speaker 5: Time, if you're going to call me names, as some

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Speaker 5: of you did, if you're going to call me a

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Speaker 5: boot lickuer for the owners, a shill, I would suggest that.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you read me more frequently, and I would say

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Speaker 1: that maybe you should remember why I'm appearing on fair

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Speaker 1: Territory and Foul Territory in the first place, rather than

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Speaker 1: on MLB network. I don't think it was because I'm

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Speaker 1: a shill for the owners, a boot licker. Time now

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Speaker 1: for dude and dork of the week, dude to the week.

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Speaker 1: It's pretty obvious this week who the dude of the

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Speaker 1: week should be. It's the guy who pulled off the

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Speaker 1: trade for Corbyn Burns. That would be Orioles general manager

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Speaker 1: Mike Alia. Now I questioned Elias. A lot of people

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Speaker 1: had wondered if this team was ever going to make

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Speaker 1: this kind of move. They certainly had the prospects to

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Speaker 1: do it. They had duplicates all over the place, but

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Speaker 1: they had not done it. And it's like anything else

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Speaker 1: in sports or in life. Until you prove you can

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Speaker 1: do something, no one should necessarily expect that you will

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Speaker 1: do it. But Mike Elias pulled this off at a

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Speaker 1: time when people were not expecting it. As I said

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Speaker 1: last week on Foul Territory, the talks actually started in December,

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Speaker 1: seems to me. I don't know for sure that the

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Speaker 1: Oriols were ready to do it then, but the Brewers

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Speaker 1: were not quite on board. They just could not wrap

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Speaker 1: their arms around trading Burns. Then they added Rehys Hoskins.

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Speaker 1: Later they had already signed Jackson Churio to the long

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Speaker 1: term deal, and maybe they felt more comfortable doing it

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Speaker 1: at this particular time. I'm not sure how the timing worked.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it took all off season to convince owner Mark

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Speaker 1: at Analysio to do this. Whatever, Mike Elias got it done.

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Speaker 1: He made the move that shook up the Ale East,

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Speaker 1: that put his team in prime position to be not

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Speaker 1: just a playoff team in twenty twenty four, but perhaps

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Speaker 1: a World Series team as well. Michael eyas oriels GM

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Speaker 1: Dude of the Week now dork of the Week. Usually

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Speaker 1: this is a somewhat humorous category. We have a little

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Speaker 1: fun with it, but this week, with the Jackie Robinson

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Speaker 1: statue getting stolen from Wichita Baseball League and then getting

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Speaker 1: charred and left in pieces. There's nothing humorous to say

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Speaker 1: about that. I long for a day when we're no

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Speaker 1: longer talking about this kind of thing, when these kinds

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Speaker 1: of things don't happen, When, as doctor Martin Luther King said,

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Speaker 1: people are judged not by the color of their skin,

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Speaker 1: but by the content of their character. And if you

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Speaker 1: don't think this was a racist act, you've got another

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Speaker 1: thing coming. So dork of the week, the people who

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Speaker 1: did this, I'm tired of this kind of crap man,

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Speaker 1: and I hope you are too. All right, time now

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Speaker 1: for grilling can This is the part of the show

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Speaker 1: where you guys asked me questions about stuff going on

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Speaker 1: in the sport. So let's get right to it. Let's

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Speaker 1: get to the first question. This one comes from Paul asked,

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Speaker 1: does the ross stripling trade open a potential rotation spot

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Speaker 1: for the Giants and do they utilize their farm to

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Speaker 1: fill the void? Paul, this is an interesting question and

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Speaker 1: it speaks to a larger issue with the Giants. Right now,

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Speaker 1: we've been talking about whether they will sign a hitter,

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Speaker 1: Matt Chapman. Perhaps JD. Martinez is another candidate. As Andrew

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Speaker 1: Baggerley wrote in the athletic but actually they need a

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Speaker 1: starting pitcher, perhaps more than anything else, and I want

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Speaker 1: to show you why. Let's look at their rotation and

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00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,840
Speaker 1: go through it, because right now it's awfully inexperienced Logan

430
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 1: Web at the top, Jordan Hicks converting from being a

431
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,520
Speaker 1: bullpen arm, Kyle Harrison one of the game's better prospects,

432
00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 1: Keaton Win and Tristan Beck. That's a rather inexperienced group.

433
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: But that's your opening day group because you're waiting for

434
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,719
Speaker 1: Alex and Robbie Ray to come back from injuries, and

435
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,359
Speaker 1: that's not going to happen until the second half of

436
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: the season. So even before trading Ross Stripling, the Giants

437
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: needed a starting pitcher who could be ready to go

438
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,840
Speaker 1: opening day. They still need one, and I'm not quite

439
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 1: sure how they're going to get one. Maybe it's one

440
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 1: of the remaining free agents, Michael Lorenzen, Mike Clevenger, maybe

441
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,879
Speaker 1: they trade for someone. But they need help in that

442
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,199
Speaker 1: rotation as much, if not more than they need a

443
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,040
Speaker 1: Matt Chapman or a JD. Martinez. Next question comes from

444
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,280
Speaker 1: JP sixty seven, who asks what team do you think

445
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: will surprise everyone to be much more competitive? Than expected.

446
00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: I talked about this team in the opening segment. This

447
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 1: team is the Kansas City Royals, and that's true, or

448
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,119
Speaker 1: it was true even before the Bobbywood extension. The Bobby

449
00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 1: Wood extension doesn't really change anything what was going to

450
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: be there either way. But the signings of Michael Waka

451
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,919
Speaker 1: and Seth Lugo and Will Smith and Hunter Renfro all

452
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,400
Speaker 1: all the things that they've done this offseason have pointed

453
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,040
Speaker 1: toward a more competitive team going forward. And that's a division,

454
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,680
Speaker 1: let's face it, that is kind of weak, right maybe

455
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 1: the weakest in baseball. The Twins are starting to make

456
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,720
Speaker 1: some moves now, trying to get a little bit better,

457
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,159
Speaker 1: but they haven't done much this offseason. The Guardians are

458
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: kind of spinning their wheels. The White Sox are still building,

459
00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 1: and the Tigers too. They're starting to come but they're

460
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,919
Speaker 1: in a building mode as well. So this is a

461
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: time for Kansas City to maybe take a step forward.

462
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 1: And we saw what Cole Reagan's did after they acquired

463
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,639
Speaker 1: him for rold As Chapman. They want Waka and Lugo

464
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 1: to stabilize the rotation. A lot's going to have to

465
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,719
Speaker 1: happen for this team. To be good. We all know that.

466
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,640
Speaker 1: But yes, if you're asking which team I believe might surprise,

467
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: it's Kansas City. Final question from Garnett Shire. I don't

468
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 1: know if that's his name, but here we go. I

469
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:53,879
Speaker 1: was wondering if in your career you have seen either

470
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,119
Speaker 1: a no hitter or a perfect game. If you haven't,

471
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 1: have you seen any that were close or decided to

472
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 1: not go to the park? And this one loved the

473
00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: podcast that my first game was Dave Stewart's no hitter.

474
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:08,080
Speaker 1: All right, good question. Now I've been a baseball writer

475
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,479
Speaker 1: since nineteen eighty seven, so this will be my thirty

476
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: eighth year coming up. And I have seen a few

477
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 1: no hitters. Not a perfect game, but I've seen a

478
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,359
Speaker 1: few no hitters, and they've all been of course, like

479
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,720
Speaker 1: all no hitters are rather memorable. The first no hitter

480
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,080
Speaker 1: I witnessed was in the ninth game I ever covered

481
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:30,160
Speaker 1: for the Late Baltimore Evening Sun April of nineteen eighty seven,

482
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 1: Juan Nievis at the Old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The

483
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:38,120
Speaker 1: game ended The no hitter ended with Robin you Out

484
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,160
Speaker 1: making a diving catch in center field on a screaming

485
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: line drive by Eddie Murray. Two Hall of famers there.

486
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 1: So that was the ninth game I ever covered. Needless

487
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,760
Speaker 1: to say, I was overmatched and didn't cover it particularly well.

488
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,919
Speaker 1: Now I did miss one in nineteen ninety one that

489
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,159
Speaker 1: was also at Memorial Stadium, Wilson Alvarez for the Chicago

490
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,200
Speaker 1: White Sox against the Orioles. I remember watching the game

491
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 1: holding my baby son. He was I think three or

492
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,679
Speaker 1: four months old at the time. This is nineteen ninety one.

493
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,520
Speaker 1: He's now thirty two. And yeah, I was off that day.

494
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 1: It was a Sunday and I missed that game in

495
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,919
Speaker 1: Camden Yards still with the Baltimore Sun, Hideo Nomo's no

496
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 1: hitter in the first game he ever pitched for the

497
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,160
Speaker 1: Red Sox. That was a game memorable because John Hirschbeck

498
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 1: strike zone ranged from roughly Washington, DC to Baltimore. It

499
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: was quite wide, and I love John, we're friends, but

500
00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,239
Speaker 1: that was what really defined that no hitter. And then

501
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,080
Speaker 1: the really two most memorable no hitters I've covered are

502
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 1: the two most recent, and one of them was one

503
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: I'll never forget for a lot of reasons. Roy Howiday

504
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 1: game one of the twenty ten Division Series I covered

505
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,399
Speaker 1: that game for MLB Network as well as for Foxsports

506
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 1: dot Com, and at the end of the no hitter,

507
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,199
Speaker 1: I interviewed Holiday for the network, and this is a

508
00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:00,200
Speaker 1: scene I will never forget. As the interview started, photographers

509
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,479
Speaker 1: just swarmed around us. They kind of formed a semi circle.

510
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 1: We'll show you a photograph now of that moment. I'm

511
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 1: not sure that the photograph completely captures the way that

512
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 1: all developed, but it was a really cool night, right

513
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 1: how a tragic figure in the game for what happened

514
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: later the way we lost him, But that was a

515
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: hugely memorable night. And then my most recent no hitter,

516
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 1: Game four of the twenty twenty two World Series, the

517
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: combined no hitter started by Christian Javier of the Astros,

518
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 1: and that, of course was a great night. And I

519
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:37,639
Speaker 1: remember interviewing Javier for Fox afterward and asking him about it,

520
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 1: and he said, yeah, I was with my parents today

521
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: and they said, you're gonna throw a no hitter. They

522
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: did him throw a nine inning no hitter. I know

523
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,560
Speaker 1: there were relievers involved, but that was kind of a

524
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,719
Speaker 1: stunning comment. And it was just an amazing night to

525
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,240
Speaker 1: be at the ballpark. All no hitters are and it's

526
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: been a privilege to witness quite a few of them

527
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,760
Speaker 1: as I have. Want to thank everyone for their questions.

528
00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:59,880
Speaker 1: I want to thank everyone for listening and watching. You

529
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 1: know where to find us, YouTube, Apple, Spotify, like us,

530
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 1: subscribe to us. Will be back in one week, Spring

531
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 1: training will be on and maybe, just maybe a couple

532
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,000
Speaker 1: of free agents will actually have signed.

533
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,920
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