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Speaker 1: Welcome to this week's edition of Fair Territory. This is

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Speaker 1: my favorite time of year, even i'd say ahead of

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Speaker 1: the postseason. This is when the six month regular season

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Speaker 1: comes to a climactic end. You see great things almost

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Speaker 1: every day. You see drama, you see teams clawing trying

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Speaker 1: to get into the postseason, and we've got it all

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Speaker 1: going right now. This week, I want to start off

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Speaker 1: with a team that really is the envy of baseball,

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Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of their tenth division title

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Speaker 1: in the last eleven years. And if you recall the

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Speaker 1: one year they did not win the division title, that

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Speaker 1: was twenty twenty one, they won a mere one hundred

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Speaker 1: and six games, finished second to the Giants. The Dodgers

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Speaker 1: need to go nine and five for their third hundred

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Speaker 1: win season in the last four years. What these guys

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Speaker 1: do in the regular season is absolutely remarkable, and I

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Speaker 1: would suggest that this particular regular season is perhaps that's

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Speaker 1: the most remarkable of all. Now, I know what the

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Speaker 1: naysayers are saying right now as I continue and I

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Speaker 1: go on here, ken, They've only won one World Series

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Speaker 1: in this entire run, and it was in the pandemic year.

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Speaker 1: I get it. We all get it. The Dodgers get

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Speaker 1: it more than anyone. But the true test of an

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Speaker 1: organization's strength is the way it performs in the regular

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Speaker 1: season and the postseason. While, of course, something that every

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Speaker 1: club wants to win is something that is more random.

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Speaker 1: There's no question about it. Billy Bean famously called it

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Speaker 1: a crapshoot. So you have to look at the Dodgers

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Speaker 1: and what happened to them this season to really appreciate

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Speaker 1: where they are and what they have achieved. Think back

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Speaker 1: to their opening rotation, Julio Udias, Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw,

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Speaker 1: of course, Noah Cinderguard, and Michael Grove. Cinderguard was awful.

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Speaker 1: As a one year, thirteen million dollar signing. He flopped,

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Speaker 1: he got traded, he got released by the Guardians after

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Speaker 1: they acquired him. He basically contributed very little, and they've

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Speaker 1: had one injury after another, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin season

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Speaker 1: ending surgeries, Walker Buehler never came back from Tommy John.

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Speaker 1: All of these things happened. Oh and to add literal

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Speaker 1: insult to injury, as I wrote in the wind up

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Speaker 1: last week, Edward Rodriguez, their big trade target, blocked the

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Speaker 1: trade to the Dodgers and stayed with the Tigers instead.

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Speaker 1: So the Dodgers had all this happen, and yet they

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Speaker 1: still are winning this division by double digits. If you're

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Speaker 1: the Diamondbacks, if you're the Giants, and especially if you're

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Speaker 1: the Padres, it's almost embarrassing that you couldn't make more

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Speaker 1: of a fight out of this. This was the year

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Speaker 1: to get the Dodgers. Now. I know their offense is

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Speaker 1: the second best in the Majors, only to the Braves.

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Speaker 1: They're brilliant, Freeman bets, the whole gang. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, their pitching was in shambles. And here they are.

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Speaker 1: It's pretty much Zillan Shampbell's going into the postseason. They've

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Speaker 1: got Lance Lynn the trade acquisition. They've got Bobby Miller,

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Speaker 1: who's been a revelation as a rookie, and they've got

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Speaker 1: Clayton Kershaw, who is physically compromised. And I want to

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Speaker 1: show you something he said last week to Fabi and

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Speaker 1: Ardia of the Athletic and it was kind of a

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Speaker 1: telling quote from Kershaw. Let's take a look at it

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Speaker 1: right now. He said. Right now, it's basically Bobby Miller

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Speaker 1: and an open tryout to see who can be on

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Speaker 1: the postseason roster. From the pitching side, I have to

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Speaker 1: prove it. Lance has to prove it. We all have

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Speaker 1: to prove that we deserve to be in October. Now,

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Speaker 1: we all know Kershaw is going to be in the

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Speaker 1: postseason rotation along with Lynn. Maybe he is trying to

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Speaker 1: motivate himself by saying that, knowing he isn't right physically.

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Speaker 1: Maybe he's trying to send a message to his younger

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Speaker 1: teammates that you still have to keep pushing. Either way,

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Speaker 1: this is going to be an uphill climb now. The

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Speaker 1: Dodgers have still a ton of young pitchers in reserve. Here.

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Speaker 1: Ryan Pepio, Michael Grove, and Mit sheen Oe. Club official

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Speaker 1: told me last week, we'll be in the eightieth percentile

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Speaker 1: for stuff and maybe the first percentile for experience. In

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Speaker 1: other words, a lot of talent, not a lot of experience. Well,

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Speaker 1: as I concluded in what I wrote for the wind

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Speaker 1: Up last week, who knows, maybe after all their postseason failures,

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Speaker 1: this is the year when the Dodgers finally break through.

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Speaker 1: All Right, Elsewhere in Los Angeles over the weekend, we

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Speaker 1: had the latest in the show, Hey Otani saga. It

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Speaker 1: ended at least the twenty twenty three edition with a

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Speaker 1: classic Angels like turn. Otani cleans out his locker. Otani

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Speaker 1: gets shut down for the season with an oblique injury,

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Speaker 1: and Otani is going to undergo what will be a

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Speaker 1: UCL repair. We don't know the exact nature of it,

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Speaker 1: but he will have surgery. Whether it's pure Tommy John

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Speaker 1: Tommy John with an internal brace, all that remains to

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Speaker 1: be seen. But that was what was expected all along.

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Speaker 1: It gets accelerated a little bit by the oblique. So

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Speaker 1: the immediate question for me is not where he's going

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Speaker 1: to be playing next season. That's a question we'll entertain,

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Speaker 1: of course in the offseason. The more immedia question is

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Speaker 1: is he still the American League MVP Now? The obvious

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Speaker 1: answer is yes, but Cory Seger has had a brilliant

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Speaker 1: year at shortstop for a team that is still in contention,

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Speaker 1: the Texas Rangers now Corey Seeger also missed significant time

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Speaker 1: this year, more than a month with a strained left

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Speaker 1: hamstring early in the season, another ten days around the

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Speaker 1: trade deadline with a right thumb spring, so he's mounted

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Speaker 1: a charge here. He's had a really outstanding historic type

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Speaker 1: season for a shortstop offensively, and yet Otani, I would say,

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Speaker 1: is still the favorite, even though he hasn't pitched since

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Speaker 1: August ninth. For the most part, he pitched one third

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Speaker 1: innings or something when he came back and tried again,

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Speaker 1: and he last played in a game player on September third.

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Speaker 1: So let's look at their respective statistics offensively and defensively,

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Speaker 1: and you'll see kind of where this thing stands plate appearances,

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Speaker 1: Otani is still more than one hundred ahead. Seaga should

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Speaker 1: get a back, I don't know, fifty more or so,

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Speaker 1: maybe sixty. In his last thirteen games, Segar has him

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Speaker 1: an average. Otani has the higher number of home runs,

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Speaker 1: of course, forty four to thirty one. On base Otani

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Speaker 1: four twelve, Segar three ninety nine, slugging a bear edge

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Speaker 1: slight edge for Otani six fifty four to six point

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Speaker 1: fifty one. So certainly their offensive numbers are comparable. Otani

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Speaker 1: still rates a little bit of an edge now on

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Speaker 1: the defensive side, and you might say, well, what is

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Speaker 1: Otani's defense. His defense is he's a pitcher. That is

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Speaker 1: his contribution to run prevention, And let's take a look

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Speaker 1: at that as well. This too is interesting. Otani, of course,

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Speaker 1: brilliant season as a pitcher before he got hurt. One

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Speaker 1: hundred and thirty two innings, three point one four ERA,

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Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty seven strikeouts, sigur at shortstop he

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Speaker 1: rates okay metrically, it depends what you look at. He's

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Speaker 1: a good defensive shortstop tenth in defensive run saved, twentieth

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Speaker 1: in outs, above average. He's not embarrassing anybody out there.

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Speaker 1: He is an above average plus defender. So can Sieger

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Speaker 1: steal this thing in the last two weeks. My guess

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Speaker 1: is probably no. If he hadn't missed so much time,

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Speaker 1: I think he would have bigger numbers perhaps, and maybe

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Speaker 1: then he would be a stronger candidate. Games played is

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Speaker 1: actually part of the criteria for MVP, But this year

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Speaker 1: those two guys are the two clear standouts. Julio Rodriguez

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Speaker 1: not quite there, and their games played are roughly comparable,

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Speaker 1: or at least they've missed time, both of them, and

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Speaker 1: that's where this thing is. I still see o TOWNI

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Speaker 1: is a favorite, but Sieger mounting a strong push for sure. Finally,

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about what I covered last Thursday,

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Speaker 1: both on television and in print the Orioles Raise series,

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Speaker 1: which was a great four games of baseball. Actually two

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Speaker 1: of the four games were great, the first one and

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Speaker 1: the last one. Both teams clinch postseason berths yesterday because well,

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Speaker 1: once the Rangers lost to the Guardians, it was sealed

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Speaker 1: that they were going to both be in the postseason,

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Speaker 1: but that was late in the game and the game

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Speaker 1: was still continuing. Yesterday's game, I would suggest, was one

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Speaker 1: of the top five games of the year. Now, I

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Speaker 1: don't have a all in front of me, and I

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Speaker 1: can't rank them, but that game was absolutely magnificent. I'll

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Speaker 1: go through it a little bit for those who might

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Speaker 1: have missed it. Orioles down three to one. In the eighth,

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Speaker 1: Adlee Rushman hits a home run to make it three

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Speaker 1: to two. Top of the ninth, Rays seemed to score

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Speaker 1: a run safe call at home play with Josh Low

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Speaker 1: sliding across, and yet the call is overturned, so instead

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Speaker 1: of four to two, it's still three to two. Oriole's

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Speaker 1: bottom of the ninth down to their last strike RBI

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Speaker 1: double from Adam Fraser Raise take the lead. In the tenth,

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Speaker 1: Orioles tie bottom half on a Rutchman single, and then

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Speaker 1: in the eleventh after the Rays failed to score, Ryan

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Speaker 1: O'Hearn with his first sacrifice bunt of the year maybe

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Speaker 1: his career that starts it off with the ghost runner

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Speaker 1: on second and then Cedric Mullens the game winning sacrifice fly.

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Speaker 1: The Orioles celebrate great day in Baltimore because not only

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Speaker 1: do they clinch the postseason birth, they did it at

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Speaker 1: home in a big way to really almost seal this division.

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Speaker 1: At this point, Oriols lead by two games with roughly

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Speaker 1: two weeks to play, and again they hold the tiebreaker,

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Speaker 1: so by holding the tiebreaker, it's effectively a three game lead.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a look at their respective schedules the rest

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Speaker 1: of the way. To me, they're fairly even, all right.

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Speaker 1: Here's the Orioles remaining schedule. Three at the Astros, four

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Speaker 1: at the Guardians, not easy, two against the Nationals at home,

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Speaker 1: actually the Nationals have played fairly well in the second half,

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Speaker 1: and then four at Camden Yards with the Red Sox

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Speaker 1: to close it. Their odds of winning the division as

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Speaker 1: of right now to Fangrafts eighty percent. The Tampa Bay Rays,

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Speaker 1: they've got three with the Angels, three with the Blue Jays,

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Speaker 1: both at home. They begin a six game homestand and

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Speaker 1: then they end with two in Boston and three in Toronto.

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Speaker 1: So that's six games against the Blue Jays team that

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Speaker 1: is desperate to get into the postseason. Raise odds of

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Speaker 1: winning the division twenty percent. Now, these are the two

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Speaker 1: best teams in the American League. It's really cool to

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Speaker 1: say that. Actually, the Orioles and Rays, not the Astros,

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Speaker 1: not the Red Sox, not the Yankees. The Oriols and

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Speaker 1: Rays are the two best teams in the American League.

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Speaker 1: They could meet again, quite possibly in the division series,

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Speaker 1: and that would be a tremendous division series. And more

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Speaker 1: good news Monday morning for the Rays. Mark Topkin of

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Speaker 1: the Saint Petersburg Times reporting that the Rays have a

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Speaker 1: stadium deal in Saint Petersburg downtown Saint Petersburg that they

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Speaker 1: are set to announce Tuesday. That would mean the Rays

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Speaker 1: are set in Tampa Bay and in Saint Pete for

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Speaker 1: years to come. Time now for the Inside Dish. This

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Speaker 1: is the part of the show in which I go

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Speaker 1: inside every week a story I've either written or perhaps

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Speaker 1: a story going on in the game that is worthy

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Speaker 1: of a deeper look. This week, I'm going to change

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Speaker 1: it up a little bit. Tuesday is my birthday. I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to tell you how old I am. You

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Speaker 1: can look that up on Wikipedia now. Actually, I will

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Speaker 1: tell you I'm sixty one on Tuesday. I've been doing

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Speaker 1: this job a long time, almost forty years professionally, so

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Speaker 1: I figured this week, in honor of my birthday, I

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Speaker 1: would go through the top five highlights of my career. Now.

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Speaker 1: I thought about this. I tried to figure out which

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Speaker 1: ones were the best, and really, there have been so

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Speaker 1: many highlights it's hard to pick them out. Now. I'm

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Speaker 1: not going to write about this because I don't want

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Speaker 1: people commenting and telling me, Ken, these are not the

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Speaker 1: highlights of your career. I think these are the highlight

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Speaker 1: of your career. No, no, we're not doing that. These are

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Speaker 1: my highlights. I get to pick, and I'm going to

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Speaker 1: start with my number five highlight. We'll go through them

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Speaker 1: one by one. Number five would be the nineteen eighty

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Speaker 1: seven Fiesta Bowl. That's right, not baseball. The nineteen eighty

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Speaker 1: seven Fiestaval was the first major event I covered professionally.

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Speaker 1: I was working at the time for the Courier Post

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Speaker 1: in South Jersey, right outside of Philadelphia. I had covered

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Speaker 1: a big event in college as a freshman, the nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty Final Four in Philadelphia at the Spectrum Indiana versus

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Speaker 1: North Carolina championship game. I was working for Penn's sports

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Speaker 1: information department at the time, and somehow I had wangled

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Speaker 1: press credential for the nineteen eighty Final four. Don't ask

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Speaker 1: how I did it, I don't even remember. But nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty seven Fiestaval. That was my first big step professionally,

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Speaker 1: first big event. I don't know why the Courier Post

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Speaker 1: sent me. Maybe it was because of the holiday of

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Speaker 1: New Years, and nobody else on the staff wanted to go,

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Speaker 1: but I was privileged to go. And originally I was

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Speaker 1: supposed to watch the game at Arizona State's campus in

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Speaker 1: the basketball arena. That was the overflow setting for writers

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Speaker 1: who did not get placed or seated in the stadium

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Speaker 1: Sun Devil Stadium, and that was fine with me. I

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Speaker 1: was thrilled to be there. It was a cool matchup.

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Speaker 1: Remember Penn State at the time, Testa Verdi Paterno Miami.

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Speaker 1: They were the bad guys. They were the black hats

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Speaker 1: and all that stuff. Jerome Brown. They walked out of

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Speaker 1: the steak fry that week. They arrived in Phoenix in

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Speaker 1: military garb. It was a great, great scene and Miami

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Speaker 1: was heavy favorites. They had Vinny Testaverdi Heisman Trophy winner.

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Speaker 1: They were unbeaten, as was Penn State, but Miami had

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Speaker 1: been more dominant. So I'm ready to cover this game

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Speaker 1: in the arena, and moments before, maybe ten minutes before,

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Speaker 1: I got a tap on my shoulder someone from the

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Speaker 1: fiestaval said, Hey, we've got to see fore in the

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Speaker 1: press box, and boy did they ever. My seat in

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Speaker 1: the press box it turns out, was on like the

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Speaker 1: fifty yard line. I was so ecstatic and so excited,

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Speaker 1: thrilled to cover the game. It was an game Penn

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Speaker 1: State brilliant upset Testa Verity, I believe through five interceptions.

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Speaker 1: And I wrote my story about Testa Verdi saan essentially,

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Speaker 1: Hey man, this guy he didn't rise to the occasion.

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Speaker 1: I'm twenty three years old at the time. I go

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Speaker 1: back home to New Jersey, sort of proud of the job.

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Speaker 1: I did get called into the principal's office, specifically the

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Speaker 1: sports editor's office, and he says to me, a not

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Speaker 1: a good game story there, Buddy, and I was like,

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Speaker 1: why he said the story was Penn State. We are

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Speaker 1: in a Penn State coverage area South Jersey, and people

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Speaker 1: here wanted to read about Penn State and how great

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Speaker 1: they were defensively not testa verity throwing the five interceptions.

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Speaker 1: Well learned the lesson that day, but at the same time,

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Speaker 1: it was still a career highlight, all right. Number four

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Speaker 1: on the list. Nineteen ninety two Olympics in Barcelona, Spain,

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Speaker 1: first Olympics I covered. I'm working for the Baltimore Sun

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Speaker 1: now and we actually sent four people to Barcelona. These

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Speaker 1: were the days when newspapers actually did things like that.

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Speaker 1: Four people Mike Preston still comments to the Baltimore Sun,

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Speaker 1: Mike Litlin, one of the great Calumnists ever as a

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Speaker 1: sports writer. And Bill Glober, who at the time, in

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Speaker 1: my mind, was the best Olympics writer in the country.

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Speaker 1: All four of us sharing an apartment, a big apartment

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Speaker 1: in Barcelona. How cool was that? It was really cool?

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Speaker 1: And I remember the opening ceremonies, same kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't supposed to get in and I got a

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Speaker 1: ticket at the last minute. They had only a certain

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Speaker 1: number reserved for the US writers. That was great. But

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Speaker 1: what I remember most was an assignment given to me

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Speaker 1: by Bill Glaber. Now he was, like I said, one

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Speaker 1: of the top Olympics writers. He was also a little crazy,

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Speaker 1: like a lot of us are. And he said, Ken,

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Speaker 1: why don't you do a story on what it's like

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Speaker 1: to go to as many events in a day as

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Speaker 1: you can call it a day at the Games. Just

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Speaker 1: pop in different events, see as many as you can. Well,

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Speaker 1: I did this. It was hot in Barcelona. I went

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Speaker 1: to I don't know fifteen eighteen events. I wasn't any

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Speaker 1: of them for very long. And at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, I'm trudging up this hill. It's hot still,

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Speaker 1: I'm sweaty, I stink, and I'm going to this judo match.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna be the last thing I cover. So I

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Speaker 1: go up this big hill, fight in the crowd, Finally

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Speaker 1: get to my seat in the arena, or take a

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Speaker 1: seat in the media area, sit down, kind of take

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Speaker 1: a deep breath. Look to my right and there is

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Speaker 1: the King of Spain watching this judo event because a

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Speaker 1: Spanish woman was competing. It was incredible and that is

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Speaker 1: why the Olympics are on my list of highlights. Actually,

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Speaker 1: any Olympics would be. I covered two others, nineteen ninety

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Speaker 1: six Atlanta and nineteen ninety eight Nagano, but they weren't

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Speaker 1: nearly what the nineteen ninety two Olympics were, all right,

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Speaker 1: number three on my list. Nineteen ninety one World Series.

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Speaker 1: Braves and Twins cover this for the Baltimore Evening Sun

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Speaker 1: no longer with us, and that was a World Series

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Speaker 1: that still for me is number one. Five one run

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Speaker 1: games three in extra innings. Couldn't wait to get to

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Speaker 1: the ballpark each day. Now. The Baltimore Evening Sun was

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Speaker 1: a paper that published five days a week, Monday to Friday.

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Speaker 1: So at the end of Game five, I came home

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Speaker 1: because there was a possibility that the series would end

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Speaker 1: on Saturday, Game six, and I wouldn't need to go back.

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Speaker 1: They didn't want to send me back for an event

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Speaker 1: that would take place Saturday, and I wouldn't be writing

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Speaker 1: until Monday. Fair enough, so I go home. What happens

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Speaker 1: Saturday night? In Game six, Kirby Pucket walk off Homer

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Speaker 1: Jack Buck the famous call We'll see you tomorrow night.

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Speaker 1: I get on a plane to Minnesota. The next day.

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Speaker 1: Game seven, Smoltz and Jack Morris, one of the great

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Speaker 1: duels in World Series history. Jack Morris ten scoreless innings,

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Speaker 1: the Twins win on the Gene Larkin single, and I

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Speaker 1: remember this vividly. This is one of my highlights. Postgame

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Speaker 1: press conference, I asked Tom Kelly a question, and my

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Speaker 1: question was this, what would it have taken to get

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Speaker 1: Jack Morris out of that game? And Tom Kelly, who

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Speaker 1: didn't smile much, very serious guy, but a great baseball person,

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Speaker 1: he said, what would it take? Would have taken a shotgun?

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Speaker 1: Nineteen ninety one World Series number three on my list,

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Speaker 1: number two of my lists, the two thousand eleven World Series,

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Speaker 1: specifically Game six. Now, there have been some other great

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Speaker 1: World Series I've covered two thousand and one, certainly after

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Speaker 1: nine to eleven with the Yankees that was really emotional.

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Speaker 1: Twenty sixteen the Cubs beating then the Indians, that was

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Speaker 1: an amazing World Series too, But twenty eleven stands out

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Speaker 1: for me because of Game six, and I look back.

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Speaker 1: Game six was a game that wasn't the best played

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Speaker 1: game ever. There were five errors in this game committed

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Speaker 1: but the Cardinals and Rangers. It was just one of

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Speaker 1: these nights that seemed like it would never end, and

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00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,119
Speaker 1: there was so much drama. You remember the Cardinals comeback.

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Speaker 1: Of course, the Rangers had a three run lead in

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Speaker 1: the seventh. They were one out away in the ninth

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Speaker 1: David freeze, the RBI triple passed the leaping Nelson cruise,

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Speaker 1: one of the more famous plays in recent memory, that

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Speaker 1: tied it. Josh Hamilton to run Homer in the tenth.

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Speaker 1: This was when Josh Hamilton was Josh Hamilton. And then

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Speaker 1: the Rangers are one strike away again in the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the tenth when Lance Berkman tied it with an

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Speaker 1: RBI single freeze, then the walk off in the eleventh,

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Speaker 1: and Joe Buck, Jack Buck's son, one I'm working with

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Speaker 1: on the Fox broadcast, has his own immortal call which

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Speaker 1: was the same as his dad's twenty years before. We'll

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Speaker 1: see it tomorrow night. Game seven was a little bit

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Speaker 1: anticlimactic the Cardinals one, of course, but that Game six,

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Speaker 1: anyone who saw it will never forget it. Finally, number

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Speaker 1: one on my list. I've talked about this a lot,

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Speaker 1: and it will always be number one in my mind

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Speaker 1: no matter what happens. Whip breaking the consecutive games record

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Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety five at Camden Yards. Now it's number

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Speaker 1: one for me because I was working in Baltimore at

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Speaker 1: the time. I was a columnist for The Sign at

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Speaker 1: this point, passed a beat writer. I'd graduated to columnists,

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Speaker 1: and I was still pretty young. I was not yet

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Speaker 1: thirty three, just about to turn thirty three, and back

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Speaker 1: then before the Internet, before you can read anything you

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Speaker 1: wanted pretty much online, there wasn't an opportunity for sports

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Speaker 1: writers to read each other's work unless they were in

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Speaker 1: the same town. So I knew going into that game,

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Speaker 1: the record breaker, we were all counting down to it,

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Speaker 1: that sports writers would be flying in from all over

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Speaker 1: the country. This was a big event. President Clinton was there,

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Speaker 1: Vice President Gore was there. Both both guys were there,

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Speaker 1: Joe DiMaggio was there, and a host of other dignitaries.

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Speaker 1: So I knew that my fellow sports writers would be

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Speaker 1: seeing my work the next day, and I wanted to

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Speaker 1: be as good as I could be. And Mike Litwin

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Speaker 1: I mentioned him before I talked to him that day.

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Speaker 1: He kind of guided me through maybe how to go

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Speaker 1: about writing the column that night. I did not know

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Speaker 1: what would happen. Of course, no one did. Remember the

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Speaker 1: victory lap and all the things that happened. It was

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Speaker 1: just a beautiful occasion. And the next day my column

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Speaker 1: was on the front page of the Baltimore Sun. And

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Speaker 1: people say all the time, ah, you guys, you're always

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Speaker 1: looking for headlines, you're always looking to sell papers. Well

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Speaker 1: they don't say that so much anymore, but back then

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Speaker 1: they said it a lot. And the truth of the

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00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,359
Speaker 1: matter is the newspaper the day after cal Ripton broke

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Speaker 1: the consecutive games record was the best selling newspaper in

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Speaker 1: the history of the Baltimore Sun. And I would say

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Speaker 1: it was a pretty positive event. So that remains the

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Speaker 1: highlight of my career. And I've even got this column

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Speaker 1: framed to this day because it's something that just stands

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Speaker 1: out to me so vividly. And the last thing I'll

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Speaker 1: say about it was that night when I came home

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Speaker 1: in Baltimore, my wife was waiting for me, and she

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Speaker 1: had watched the game. Not really a sports fan, but

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Speaker 1: she had watched the game, and she said, you know something,

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Speaker 1: I was really glad you got to cover that. That

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Speaker 1: was really cool. You have to write about so many

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Speaker 1: negative things and so many bad things that are happening

401
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Speaker 1: all the time, and this was a positive thing. This

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00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 1: was something really great. I don't know that it was

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Speaker 1: my best column that night, but it was my best

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Speaker 1: shot and something I'm really proud of to this day.

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Speaker 1: It's a night I will never forget. Number one on

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Speaker 1: my list of highlights. Dude and dork of the week

407
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Speaker 1: do this week? A little bit of a difficult decision

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Speaker 1: for me. Royce Lewis of the Twins, with four Grand

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Speaker 1: Slams this season, five in his career, kind of tough

410
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Speaker 1: to go against him. He's had an amazing run for

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Speaker 1: the Twins, who could be a surprise team in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: But I'm gonna give Royce honorable mention and I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: go with Matt Olson. Matt Olson fifty two runs and

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Speaker 1: Atlanta Braves franchise record fifty two. He beats Andrew Jones,

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Speaker 1: who of course had fifty one. And this is a franchise,

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Speaker 1: of course, with some great Hall of famers in their history,

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Speaker 1: Chipper Jones, Hank Aaron, some others as well. And for

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Speaker 1: Matt Olsen to set that record to become the worthy

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Speaker 1: heir to Freddie Freeman. This is his second year with

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Speaker 1: the team since replacing Freeman. What an accomplishment for him.

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Speaker 1: And that Freeman Olsen comparison. We're going to make it

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Speaker 1: as they go along, but my goodness, both of them

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Speaker 1: this year are going to be top four MVP candidates.

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Speaker 1: And Matt Olsen, hometown guy, has just performed at an

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Speaker 1: extremely high level all season long, fifty two home runs.

426
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,600
Speaker 1: Congratulations to him. He's due to the week talk of

427
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,359
Speaker 1: the week. Well, we haven't even in this show mentioned

428
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 1: the Red Sox dismissal of their chief baseball officer, Heim Bloom.

429
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,960
Speaker 1: And I a little bit tired each week of naming

430
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: an owner as a different dork of the Week, and

431
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: yet it seems like I'm left with no choice red

432
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 1: Sox ownership dorks to the Week. Now. I'm not saying

433
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,639
Speaker 1: Hein Bloom was blameless for what has happened with the

434
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: Red Sox this season and beat for that. He certainly

435
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,119
Speaker 1: has made his mistakes, There's no question about it. He

436
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:26,959
Speaker 1: largely followed the mandate that ownership gave him when they

437
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: hired him after the twenty nineteen season. The mandate was

438
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,639
Speaker 1: to rebuild the organization, rebuild the infrastructure, rebuild the farm system.

439
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 1: That happened now, heine Bloom at the major league level

440
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 1: was not as effective as he would have liked to

441
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: have been, of course, outside of twenty one when they

442
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,920
Speaker 1: reached the ALCS. But at the same time, it's ownership

443
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: that ordered the trade of Mookie Bets, or at least

444
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:52,159
Speaker 1: did not sign Rookie Bets and then were forced to

445
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:57,119
Speaker 1: trade him. Its ownership that has not made huge investment

446
00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,960
Speaker 1: in free agency the last few years. That's running this

447
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,879
Speaker 1: show now, not at the deadline, and the deadline, in

448
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,640
Speaker 1: my view, was him's downfall as chief Baseball officer both

449
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,120
Speaker 1: of the last two years. But the Red Sox are

450
00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 1: on their way. They're gonna be okay. It's gonna take

451
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: some work. They're gonna have to rebuild the pitching staff.

452
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:21,119
Speaker 1: But here is their next President of Baseball Operations, general manager,

453
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: chief baseball officer, whatever you wanna call it. It's gonna

454
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:30,640
Speaker 1: be their fourth in the last thirteen years. Fourth Ben Sherrington,

455
00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski, hein Bloom. Next. That speaks volumes, and that

456
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: tells you where the problem is. Yes, there are problems

457
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,480
Speaker 1: and were problems with hein Bloom's stewardship, but it all

458
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 1: starts at the top. Red Sox owners. Dorks of the

459
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 1: Week Summer is coming to an end, but it's still

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481
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Speaker 1: ahead this week on Fox, We've got another Thursday night broadcast.

482
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: It's going to be Mets at Phillies from Citizens Bank

483
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 1: Park in Philadelphia. Obviously, postseason implications here for only one team.

484
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 1: The Phillies all but have locked up the fourth seed

485
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 1: in the National League, the highest wildcard seed, and they

486
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 1: could be on a collision course with the Braves in

487
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,240
Speaker 1: a division series rematch from last year. Obviously, they're gonna

488
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 1: have to get through the wildcard round to get there,

489
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: but the Phillies remain quite an interesting team. I'm a

490
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: little worried about their starting pitching right now. Aaron Nola inconsistent,

491
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 1: Taiwan Walker okay not great. Zach Wielder really is the

492
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:50,400
Speaker 1: only one that is performing at an extremely high level,

493
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 1: though Ranger Suarez is on his way back. But Mets

494
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,919
Speaker 1: Phillies should be interesting to take a look at the

495
00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 1: Phillies right before we get to the postseason. Okay, I'm

496
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 1: now for grilling Ken. These are your questions. We're going

497
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,360
Speaker 1: to go to them, and let's take a look at

498
00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:08,960
Speaker 1: what we have this week from you. Guys starting with

499
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:15,640
Speaker 1: Htown Wheelhouse trademark two times World serious Champs seventeen twenty two. Okay,

500
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: the Astros are struggling to be consistent in the final stretch.

501
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 1: Could the fact that they've played more games than any

502
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: team in the last three to five years have something

503
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,639
Speaker 1: to do with it? Some say it's attributed to Dusty Baker.

504
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:31,159
Speaker 1: What's missing in that clubhouse? Htown Wheelhouse are panicking a

505
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 1: little bit too much for my liking here. Yeah, the

506
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,720
Speaker 1: Astros didn't have two good series against two of the

507
00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:40,880
Speaker 1: worst teams in baseball, Oakland and Kansas City. In fact,

508
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: they lost both series, but I chucked that up more

509
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 1: to a team just kind of getting ready for the postseason,

510
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 1: maybe letting down their guard a little bit. The one

511
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: thing that worries me about the Astros is not that

512
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: they've played more games than any one in the last

513
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: few years. But that's a good point, But they're starting.

514
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: Pitching is not where you would want it to be.

515
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 1: Ferlander good, not the same as he was last year,

516
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 1: although he wasn't great in the postseason. From bar Valdez

517
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: brilliant again on Sunday. He looks like a guy. Of course,

518
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,320
Speaker 1: you can't count on. And then you've got Hunter Brown

519
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 1: and you've got Christian Hoveer, both with five plus ERA

520
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: since the All Star breaks. So Brown was better in

521
00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 1: his last start against the A's. That's the part of

522
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 1: the team that has always been so strong and now

523
00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 1: it's a bit of a weakness. And maybe you can

524
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 1: attribute that to going so deep in the postseason and

525
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: wearing down some of their pitchers. Remember they've got some

526
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 1: injured too, the Colors and Josea Kidi didn't really come

527
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,400
Speaker 1: back fully okay, But at the same time, they still

528
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: thought they'd be pretty well set, and it doesn't look

529
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: like they are as well set as in the past.

530
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 1: Let's go to the next one. This next question comes

531
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,440
Speaker 1: from Tyler Milliken. Tyler asked, who do you consider to

532
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 1: be the number one candidate to lead the Red Sox

533
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,600
Speaker 1: front office moving forward? Depends what ownership wants, Tyler, and

534
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,080
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what they're going to want at this point.

535
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: They kind of bounce all over the place. They went

536
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 1: from Ben Sherrington, who is sort of a homegrown executive,

537
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 1: to Dave Dobrowski, the ultimate free agent executive, to Hey

538
00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 1: and Bloom, who came from Tampa Bay, which is why

539
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: they were so focused on efficiency, and he seemed to

540
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 1: be the perfect fit for that. It would seem to

541
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 1: me they'd go to somebody experienced, quite obviously. A few

542
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,240
Speaker 1: names have been mentioned already. Samfold, who is the general

543
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, is one, but the leading

544
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: candidate in my mind might be Mike Hasen of the

545
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 1: Arizona Diamondbacks if he wants to leave Arizona and go

546
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,360
Speaker 1: back to Boston. Mike Hazen has run the Diamondbacks for

547
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,640
Speaker 1: a few years now, and keep in mind he started

548
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 1: his career with the Red Sox. He's done a pretty

549
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 1: terrific job this season, especially with this team. They've built

550
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,880
Speaker 1: their farm system up, They've supplemented, made a good trade

551
00:30:55,920 --> 00:31:00,760
Speaker 1: for Guriel and Gabriel Moreno, they're in a good spot Diamondbacks,

552
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 1: so I would expect the Red Sox will at least

553
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: talk to Mike Kazin, and there are other candidates as well.

554
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 1: I don't want to give anybody short shrift. Don't start

555
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,400
Speaker 1: writing and texting me and saying I left you out.

556
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:14,120
Speaker 1: I'm sure I'm missing a few, but Hazen stands out

557
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: to me as we look at this right now. All right,

558
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 1: let's go to our final question, and this one comes

559
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 1: from the approach Shot. The approach shot asked. MLB dot

560
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 1: com just posted an article saying the Twins could be

561
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: World Series contenders due to their starting pitching. How far

562
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 1: fetched or not do you think this is? I would

563
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,920
Speaker 1: say not far fetched, and the Twins are kind of

564
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 1: a dark horse team here. Their starting pitching is better

565
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: than it has been in recent years. It should be

566
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: good enough to help them win their first postseason series

567
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 1: since I don't know when, since I was a young child.

568
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,480
Speaker 1: And with Pablo Lopez, Sonny Gray and Joe Ryant, you

569
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: can actually dream a little bit. They'll probably get the

570
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 1: Rangers or Mariners in the first round, the wildcard round.

571
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 1: That's how it looks right now, and forget Also, the Twins'

572
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 1: offense has really come on in the second half due

573
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 1: to some younger players like Edwardo, Julianne and Matt Wallner

574
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,120
Speaker 1: dude to Max Kepler coming around. A lot of good

575
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: things happening offensively. They're fifth in the majors in runs

576
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 1: scored per game in the second half. The Astros, we

577
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,320
Speaker 1: just talked about them. The fan was worried about them. Well,

578
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 1: they're second in the majors and run scored since the break,

579
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: second only to the Braves. So the Twins have the offense,

580
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: they have. Their starting pitching the bullpen is going to

581
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 1: be a question, but yes, I can see them making

582
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 1: a run here. I don't know to the World Series,

583
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 1: but certainly they should be more of a force than

584
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: they have been in the past. I want to thank

585
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 1: everyone for their questions, Thank you for listening, Thank you

586
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 1: for watching on YouTube. You know where to find us,

587
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,240
Speaker 1: not only on YouTube, but also on Apple and Spotify.

588
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 1: Wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to us like us,

589
00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: do whatever you have to do. One programming note next week,

590
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 1: we are not going to do a show on Monday

591
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 1: because of the holiday kipor We will come back on Tuesdays,

592
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: so we will see you guys in eight days. Have

593
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: a great week to everyone.

594
00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:11,040
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