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Speaker 1: From the Burke Shears to the South, from wherever you

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: Fame voter number one oh three, Rob Parker. All right,

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Speaker 1: welcome into Inside the Parker. I'm your host, Rob Parker.

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Speaker 1: And coming up on the program, we'll talk with former

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Speaker 1: Major League outfielder Bernard Gilkie and his former team, now

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Speaker 1: streaking St. Louis Cardinals. Plus we'll talk with author Alex Fire.

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Speaker 1: He has a new book about the Red Sox and

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Speaker 1: their homegrown talent. That plus so much more. Let's go

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

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

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Speaker 1: League Baseball. Number one. Dave Dombrowski is out as president

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Speaker 1: of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox only ten

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Speaker 1: months after winning three consecutive American League East titles and

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Speaker 1: the eighteen World Series championship. We're talking about less than

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Speaker 1: ten months from winning a title for Boston. They say

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Speaker 1: the farm system is depleted. They say he spent too

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Speaker 1: much money, that he shouldn't have rushed to sign Chris

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Speaker 1: Sale to that big contract. They say that the Yankees

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Speaker 1: on the Red Sox this year, winning fourteen times, and

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Speaker 1: is that really the reason that Dave Dombrowski is out.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I can't buy it. There's gotta be more

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Speaker 1: than that. There's gotta be some other story we're waiting

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Speaker 1: to break and develop and to ooze to the urface.

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Speaker 1: It can't be because the Red Sox are having a

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Speaker 1: bad year and because the Yankees have dominated them. The

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Speaker 1: Red Sox ran away with the World Series a year ago.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember what they did to the Yankees, to

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Speaker 1: the Astros, to the Dodgers. Yes, Dave Dombrowski's out in Boston,

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Speaker 1: but I can't believe it has anything to do with

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Speaker 1: Baseball number two. On Monday Night at Fenway Park in Boston,

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Speaker 1: Red Sox fans were delighted when former Red Sox slugger

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Speaker 1: David Ortiz throughout the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees.

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Speaker 1: Red Sox game fans were surprised to see him. The

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Speaker 1: forty three year old or Tease, was released from the

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Speaker 1: hospital in July and he's rehabilitating at home. When you

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Speaker 1: talk about what this guy's been through. It was his

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Speaker 1: first major appearance since the shooting in which he was

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Speaker 1: shot back in his home of the Dominican Republic back

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Speaker 1: in June. What a great site, what a great scene.

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Speaker 1: The three time World Series Winner winner, known affectionately as

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Speaker 1: Big Poppy, was a met with a thunderous ovation from

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Speaker 1: the fans. It was great to see, and ortiz Uh

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Speaker 1: told the fans quote, first of all, I want to

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Speaker 1: thank God for giving me a second opportunity in my

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Speaker 1: life to be able to be here with all of you.

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Speaker 1: I want to thank the Red Sox, my real family.

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Speaker 1: They have always been there for me, supporting me. They

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Speaker 1: were aware of what happened to me, and they were

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Speaker 1: the first ones they're supporting me. Welcome home, Big Poppy.

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Speaker 1: It was great to see you ac up and around.

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Speaker 1: Major League Baseball could breathe a sigh of relief. Number

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Speaker 1: three Bad news for the Minnesota Twins, who are having

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Speaker 1: a magical season Byron Buxton. Yes, their star outfielder will

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Speaker 1: likely not return in October. On Tuesday, Buxton was placed

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Speaker 1: on the sixty day injured list on account of his

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Speaker 1: left shoulder. Buxton was set to go undergo surgery on Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: and the timetable for him to be able to bounce

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Speaker 1: back is expected to be between five and six months.

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Speaker 1: More details were expected once the surgery is complete. The

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Speaker 1: five year old had not locked a plate appearance since

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Speaker 1: August one, when he crashed into the outfield wall in

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Speaker 1: Miami and suffered the soldier injury and uh Buckston finished

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Speaker 1: is the nineteen season with a career high and batting

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Speaker 1: average at two sixty two, slugging five o ps doubles

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Speaker 1: with thirty and instead of being able to make it

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Speaker 1: to the playoffs and we join his team, he is out.

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Speaker 1: Buxton is out for the season. It is a blow

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Speaker 1: for the Minnesota Twins. Here comes the big interview listener,

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Speaker 1: so good now joining the podcast. Former Major league outfield

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Speaker 1: and one of my favorites, Bernard Gilki, who of course

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Speaker 1: played for the Cardinals, the Mets, the Diamondbacks, the Red

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Speaker 1: Sox in the Atlanta Braves. Bernard, what's happening? What's going

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Speaker 1: on with my friend around? Man? Doing great? Great? Great

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Speaker 1: to catch up with you. What is Bernard Gilki doing now?

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Speaker 1: People want to know? Wow, Well, actually I'm on the road,

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Speaker 1: just coming back from playing in the golf tournament up

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Speaker 1: in Chicago. I had the pleasure of playing Olympia Field,

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Speaker 1: and so I'm trying to learn the game of golf

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Speaker 1: a little bit and also still a part of the

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Speaker 1: Cardinals organization. Um, I am a Cardinals uh core coach,

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Speaker 1: and we do uh like mentoring the minor leagues. All right, Well,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about the Cardinals who are atop the u

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Speaker 1: NL Central and you know that's a tough division with

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee and with the clubs of course. Tell me about

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Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Why are they in first place? Bernard? Well,

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Speaker 1: I think the persistence. Um, they stuck with it. You know,

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Speaker 1: they had a rough start. Well, they really got off

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Speaker 1: to a really good start, and they fell into uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, a little little up, a little slow start there,

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Speaker 1: you know. But I think they just stuck to their guns,

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Speaker 1: you know, and they believe in themselves and and they

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Speaker 1: just kept being persistent. The locker room seemed like it

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Speaker 1: turned around really well. They seem like a really tight group,

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Speaker 1: tightened group of guys right now. And the management is

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Speaker 1: doing well and and the ball players are playing. That's

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Speaker 1: what it takes that they are. It's gonna be a

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Speaker 1: tight race. Some good team is not gonna make the

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Speaker 1: playoffs when you think about uh as I brought up

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Speaker 1: the Cubs and the Brewers. Um, but of course you

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Speaker 1: are from St. Louis and and I don't think this

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Speaker 1: is you you being a Homer, but I've said this,

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Speaker 1: and you played in some great talents. You played in

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Speaker 1: New York, you played in Boston, you played in Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: But I think that St. Louis fans and I think St.

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Speaker 1: Louis has the best baseball fans in the country. I've

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Speaker 1: always said that, what do you think about St. Louis

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Speaker 1: and the crowds, Well, well, it is outstanding, you know,

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Speaker 1: you you you must look at it. They always come out,

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Speaker 1: they support no matter what. And you know, once you

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Speaker 1: look at different fan bases in different cities and you

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Speaker 1: see how the St. Louis crowd even how receptive they

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Speaker 1: are to the baseball fair in general, even the visitors.

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Speaker 1: They come out and they recognize and they're very knowledgeable

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Speaker 1: about the game and how it should be played. And

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Speaker 1: they are just um. St. Louis Cardinal fans. But they

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Speaker 1: are great baseball fans in general, not no doubt about it.

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Speaker 1: I've always said that. And like I said, there's so

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Speaker 1: many great towns, but there's something about St. Louis and

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Speaker 1: all that read. When I used to go there to

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Speaker 1: cover games, it was amazing. Uh. Talk about the home

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Speaker 1: runs in baseball? Are you do you like it? Don't

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Speaker 1: like it? Too many ships? What? What do you like

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Speaker 1: about baseball right now? And what don't you like about baseball?

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Speaker 1: You know what? Baseball is fun right now? I do believe,

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Speaker 1: you know, even with the home runs and and the

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Speaker 1: numbers these guys are putting up. Um, I think the

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Speaker 1: whole run makes it fun. The shift makes it very interesting.

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Speaker 1: I think the shift really makes the player become a

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Speaker 1: overall player, not just a one dimensional player or pool hitter.

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Speaker 1: You know. To beat the shift, you have to use

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Speaker 1: the whole field, you know, so it takes the hitter.

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Speaker 1: From a hitter's perspective, they have to use the whole field.

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Speaker 1: So it makes them, even though they hit a lot

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Speaker 1: of whole runs. To be exciting baseball player, you have

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Speaker 1: to use the opposite field, get on base, you know, uh,

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Speaker 1: steal some bases and make things happen. I think baseball

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Speaker 1: is inciting right now. Another thing that makes it exciting

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Speaker 1: and is all of the players and their sons playing

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Speaker 1: and made in the major leagues? Can you can you

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Speaker 1: get over like, how many players we just saw Blad

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Speaker 1: Guerrero Jr. Right, he's up uh with Toronto. Um, we've

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Speaker 1: seen a number of other players, Uh all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden start to play in the major leagues. Why do

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Speaker 1: you think that is? And why there are so many

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Speaker 1: players now in baseball? And their dad's uh pud Gerard

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Speaker 1: re gets his son as a picture. I could go

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Speaker 1: on and on and on about how many players. Why

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Speaker 1: do you think that as Tattoos Junior is another guy?

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Speaker 1: Uh the line the shields, right, we could go on

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Speaker 1: and on on about the list. Why is that? I

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Speaker 1: think we came up and in an era uh where

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Speaker 1: the kids, like the teams I played on, Uh, the

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Speaker 1: kids were always allowed to be around the ballpark. So

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Speaker 1: these kids, they were groom from from birth in the ballpark,

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Speaker 1: you know, And so they got so accustomed to being

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Speaker 1: around it, and then they fall in love with the

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Speaker 1: passion of the game, you know, And and they get

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Speaker 1: a head start. They get to see uh major league players,

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Speaker 1: They get to see how the game really um at

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Speaker 1: his best at his high as level, how it's played,

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Speaker 1: and you know they got a uh sense of that

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Speaker 1: at an early age. I think it just really rubbed

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Speaker 1: off and the organizations they accepted that, they invited that,

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Speaker 1: they let him in the club houses, and the kids

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Speaker 1: grew up in the club houses. Yeah, I think that's

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Speaker 1: been good for baseball. Um. When you see like a

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Speaker 1: Cody Bellinger, what kind of player he is? And you know,

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Speaker 1: remember his dad was a utility player played Bellinger. When

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Speaker 1: you see a guy like that, what do you think

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Speaker 1: of Cody Bellinger? Uh, big time home run hitter for

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers. Um, And and I don't. He's a star.

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Speaker 1: He is an outstanding ball so he's fun to watch. Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know when my dad we used to sit down

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Speaker 1: and watch baseball. If if he was here today, he

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Speaker 1: would see a baseball player like Cody Bellinger and he

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Speaker 1: would say that man is dangerous. He is dangerous. He's

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Speaker 1: a dangerous baseball player offensively, defensively, had a strong warm

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Speaker 1: so he's always making something happen for the good of

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Speaker 1: the team. Alright. His name is Bernard Gilki, of course,

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Speaker 1: uh St. Louis born and bred and wound up playing

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Speaker 1: for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. Bernard great catching up

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Speaker 1: with you man. Thank you so much, he Rob. It's

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Speaker 1: always a pleasure any time. I'll be here for you.

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Speaker 1: All right, stay well, it's time for the pocket protector centrol.

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Speaker 1: The analytic numbers you need to know? Well, maybe FS ones.

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Speaker 1: Anthony Masterson is his name, BS analytics is his game.

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Speaker 1: What you got for s Anthony? All right, Robert. One

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Speaker 1: of the beauties of baseball is that no park is

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Speaker 1: the same. In hockey, basketball, or football, there are rules

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Speaker 1: that make the playings feel the same, but not so

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Speaker 1: in the national pastime. However, that individuality can certainly skew stats. Now,

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Speaker 1: FOT five ball in your Yankee stadium, rob is a

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Speaker 1: home run. In every every other park, it's usually a flyout. Now,

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Speaker 1: how do we factor this in when comparing players. Well,

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Speaker 1: they're appropriately called parks factors. Now, park factors take into

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Speaker 1: account more than dimensions. They also consider weather, air densities,

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Speaker 1: and even air quality. Now Petco Park has a denser

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Speaker 1: marine layer that makes it tougher to hit home runs.

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Speaker 1: Then say this in air of course field in Denver.

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Speaker 1: The league average park factors one so a part with

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Speaker 1: a factor of one oh five means the run scoring

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Speaker 1: is ten percent higher than average. It's actually one ten,

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Speaker 1: but it's cutting half since half the games per year

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Speaker 1: are played at the same park. Now, so we see

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Speaker 1: on these stats leaderboards any met that ends in a

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Speaker 1: plus or minus, like weighted runs created plus or e

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Speaker 1: r a minus. Therefore, the Rockies No. One Arnado, who's

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Speaker 1: sitting three ten with thirty seven home runs this season,

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Speaker 1: has a weighted runs created plus of one two. Since

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Speaker 1: Coors Fields park factor of one twelve assumes his home

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Speaker 1: park will give him an offensive boost. But a guy

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Speaker 1: like the Mets Pete Alonzo, who's sitting two seventy but

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Speaker 1: with forty seven home runs at the moment at the

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Speaker 1: more cavernous City Field, has a waiter runs created plus

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Speaker 1: of over one. Now city Fields park factor of eighty

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Speaker 1: seven last year was the lowest in baseball, by the way,

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Speaker 1: thus giving Pete Alonzo a boost for the park factor.

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Speaker 1: It's all about leveling the playing field, Rob, You just

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Speaker 1: hit it out to park. Thanks Anthony. It was a

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Speaker 1: big week in the Big League. Who's it foul or

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Speaker 1: is it fair? And now here's shadow League dot Com

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Speaker 1: MLB insider j our gambo. They say the farm system

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Speaker 1: is depleted. He spent too much money on free agents.

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Speaker 1: The Yankees kicked the Red Sox but all year, and

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Speaker 1: Dave Dombrowski has been fired as GM jr. Is it

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Speaker 1: foul or fair to fire Dave Dombrowski ten months after

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Speaker 1: winning a World Series? Foul? That is all. That's totally foul.

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Speaker 1: I mean it brings cities last year and you have

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Speaker 1: a little songs this year, which is you know, totally

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Speaker 1: likely after having such a great year that Boston that

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Speaker 1: last year, you're gonna have a little bit of a letdown. Um,

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Speaker 1: everything felled correctly for them, from the pitching to Ruki

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Speaker 1: Betton's MVP seasons to Zachie Bradley's clutch homers in the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: It was unlikely that that was going to happen again.

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Speaker 1: Now it's more embarrassing because the Yankees seem to be

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Speaker 1: back for the ball at full strength and then ran

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Speaker 1: away with the division and then we don't know about

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Speaker 1: the internal relationships that I happened in within the team,

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Speaker 1: the relationship with the general managers and the manager who

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Speaker 1: have more power, who's more popular after winning that World

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Speaker 1: Series last year? So it's embarrassment, and Dave Brasti, unfortunately

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Speaker 1: is the one that has to suffer a year off

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Speaker 1: World Series is his job is to safi off. Nobody's

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Speaker 1: job is safe. So the things that he will be

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Speaker 1: fired after one year in which they still competed most

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Speaker 1: of the year is just sound all right, there we go,

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Speaker 1: fasten your seat back, give me. Here comes Parker's top

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Speaker 1: three MLB teams this week. Number three the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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Speaker 1: They were red hot most of the year ninety three

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Speaker 1: and fifty two coming into Tuesday, and yes, they nearly

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Speaker 1: got swept over the weekend by the Giants. The they're

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Speaker 1: struggling right now. Starting pitching is not good. The Dodgers

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Speaker 1: have a little issue. The bullpen has bounced back, but

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Speaker 1: right now, going into the playoffs, the Dodgers aren't as

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Speaker 1: hot and look as tough as they did earlier in

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Speaker 1: the season. This reason for concern the way they're playing

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Speaker 1: right now. Number two the Houston Astros. Yes, yes, we

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Speaker 1: saw how crazy it was on Sunday when the Astros

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Speaker 1: exploded for one to one victory over the hapless Mariners. Yes,

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Speaker 1: and we know that there was also that fifteen and

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Speaker 1: nothing blowout over the Athletics on Monday. And yes, the

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Speaker 1: Astros have set numerous team and personal records in a

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Speaker 1: short stretch. They've been unbelievable with the bats. They entered

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Speaker 1: Tuesday and fifty forty five games over, but they still

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Speaker 1: are the second best team in baseball. Number one the

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Speaker 1: New York freaking Yankees. I've been saying it almost all year, somehow,

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Speaker 1: some way. Coming into Tuesday, the Yankees have a ninety

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Speaker 1: five and fifty record, forty five games over five hundred.

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Speaker 1: They were the first team to get the ninety wins.

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Speaker 1: They've had a slew of injuries, and yet they continue

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Speaker 1: to win. They went to Boston this past weekend won

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Speaker 1: three out of four. And the real big key is

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Speaker 1: James Paxton. The pitcher struggle most of the first half.

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Speaker 1: He's now eight no in his last eight starts. He's

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Speaker 1: been incredible. These the eighth the Yankees have been looking for.

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Speaker 1: If he continues to pitch at this level, the Yankees

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Speaker 1: will be in great shape as they enter the postseason.

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Speaker 1: Right now, the Yankees are the best team in baseball.

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Speaker 1: Take out the favor. It's time for trash Talk Twitter,

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Speaker 1: Twitter with your chance to trash anyone or anything in

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Speaker 1: Major League Baseball. This week's winner is justus underscore what

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Speaker 1: a camp three and he writes this, the Red Sox

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Speaker 1: have been awful all year long. This series was no different.

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Speaker 1: Good riddens, we beat you fourteen out of nineteen. Wow,

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Speaker 1: Yankees put it on them. If you want a chance

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Speaker 1: to win a new era snapback cap, you send your

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Speaker 1: trash to add Rob Parker FS one on Twitter. When

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Speaker 1: Rob was a newsp for columnists, he lived by this motto.

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Speaker 1: If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer,

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Speaker 1: a broadcaster, older new All right, let's welcome to the

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Speaker 1: podcast Alex Speer. He has a brand new book called

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Speaker 1: home Grown, How the Red Sox Built a Championship from

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Speaker 1: the ground up. Alex, welcome, how are you. Thanks? I'm great, Rob,

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Speaker 1: thanks so much for having me on. Really appreciate it.

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Speaker 1: No problem. And let's let people know that you've covered

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Speaker 1: the Red Sox for the Boston Globe since yes and

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Speaker 1: covered the Red Sox dating back to two thousand too,

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Speaker 1: so you know, seen a franchise transform a few different

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Speaker 1: times over the course of the last few years. But

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Speaker 1: talk about this team and what they were able to

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Speaker 1: do and how they were able to dominate and winning

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Speaker 1: World Series championship. What was the big first move that

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Speaker 1: they made. Well, there was this kind of extraordinary day

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Speaker 1: that occurred in the Red Sox front office on August eleven.

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Speaker 1: The rules of how Major League Baseball, it seems to

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Speaker 1: draft and signed players were different. Then you basically had

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Speaker 1: an open wall you you it was you could spend

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Speaker 1: as much as you wanted to add prospects to your system.

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Speaker 1: And it looked like at that point it was going

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Speaker 1: to be the last time that teams had a chance

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Speaker 1: to do that. So the Red Sox were taking one

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Speaker 1: last really big spring it defenses and uh. In that

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Speaker 1: last kind of frenzied hour, literally the minutes and seconds

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Speaker 1: leading up to midnight, they signed a number of players

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Speaker 1: who ended up being core contributors to the eighteen championship.

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Speaker 1: Among those guys were signed between eleven PM and midnight

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Speaker 1: on August fifteen, two thousand eleven, while the Red Sox

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Speaker 1: front office was kind of freaking out, were Jackie Bradley Jr.

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Speaker 1: And Matt Barnes, a couple of their first round picks,

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Speaker 1: and also skinny one pound kid who was about five

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Speaker 1: foot eight out of Tennessee named Mookie Betts, who was

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Speaker 1: the fifth round selection that year and obviously turned into

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Speaker 1: a transformative figure in the history of the franchise. Um

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Speaker 1: so that that was kind of the beginning point. The

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Speaker 1: Red Sox seized an opportunity that existed a closing window

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Speaker 1: to add as much immature challenges they could, and that

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Speaker 1: that obviously paid a lot of dividends. But it took

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Speaker 1: a long time for them to get there. How about

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Speaker 1: Mookie Betts. I mean, we'll talk about uh coming out

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Speaker 1: of nowhere and being this impactful player, uh m v P.

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Speaker 1: I mean, that's quite a story. It's extraordinary when you

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Speaker 1: think about exactly what I was talking about a few

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Speaker 1: moments ago, coming out of high school, of this this

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Speaker 1: small kid who really didn't stand out at all on

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Speaker 1: the baseball field, the type of guy who often ends

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Speaker 1: up going to college and then maybe asserting himself against

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Speaker 1: really good competition there. But the Red Sox took a

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Speaker 1: chance on him. They had a scout who really who

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Speaker 1: really was drawn to just the ease with which he

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Speaker 1: seemed to be moving around the field and the athleticism

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Speaker 1: and you know, even though he didn't have real power

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Speaker 1: at that point, just saw some great hand eye coordination.

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Speaker 1: But over the course of the time, Mookie Betts went

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Speaker 1: through serious self dallas early in his professional career. At

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Speaker 1: one point in his minor league career, he was ready

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Speaker 1: to quit. He was talking to uh talking to basketball

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Speaker 1: programs about the possibility of going to school, but instead

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Speaker 1: he ended up kind of sticking it out through this,

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Speaker 1: through this period and making just a couple of small adjustments,

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Speaker 1: having the right coach come along at the right time

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Speaker 1: for him, in made some adjustments and all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden got on this kind of rocket ship to being

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest prospects in baseball and then ultimately

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Speaker 1: one of the best players in baseball. But it's it's

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Speaker 1: not the type of guy who when you're passing him

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Speaker 1: on the street you say, oh, that's a guy who's

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Speaker 1: going to be a superstar athlete, because he's five ft

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Speaker 1: nine and you know, just kind of undersized. So it

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Speaker 1: took a little bit of it took a pretty interesting

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Speaker 1: crystal ball to discover the talent that he might be.

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Speaker 1: And we say this to to add for all the

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Speaker 1: joy of Ten months later, Dave Dombrowski, the president of

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Speaker 1: Baseball Operations, is out How stunning is that to you?

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Speaker 1: On the surface, it looks crazy that you know, it's

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Speaker 1: it's the type of thing that induces whiplash when you

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Speaker 1: think about it, you know. I mean, this was a

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Speaker 1: guy who less sit in a year ago had had

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Speaker 1: been the architect overseeing the final touches of the most

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Speaker 1: successful Red Sox team in French his history. On the

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Speaker 1: other hand, the team that Dombrowski built from the time

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Speaker 1: that he became that he came on board as President

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Speaker 1: of Baseball Operations in ten through through twenty nineteen, his

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Speaker 1: mission was to add to a really good core. The

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Speaker 1: Red Sox are getting to a very strange place where

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Speaker 1: the mandate isn't going to be one of adding. Instead,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be quote unquote reshaping the core. They're

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Speaker 1: going to be having to watch some of these guys

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Speaker 1: walk away or trade them. So a player like Booky Betts,

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Speaker 1: the Red Sox based a significant decision coming up on

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Speaker 1: this offseason or the following one about whether or not

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Speaker 1: they're going to be able to retain Mookie Betts and

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Speaker 1: if not, if they should trade him. Uh. And Dave

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Speaker 1: Dombrowski has been you know, his m O with the

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Speaker 1: Red Sox was to add and add an ad and

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Speaker 1: uh and so at a time when they're going to

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Speaker 1: need to start subtracting key cornerstone players, uh, and thinking

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Speaker 1: a little bit more about balancing short term and future interests,

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Speaker 1: they decided that they were going to go with a

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Speaker 1: different leader for that, for that next phase of the franchise.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, on the surface and stunning, but when you

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Speaker 1: think about the particular circumstances of the franchise, I guess

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Speaker 1: it's slightly list. I mean, but only slightly. His name

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Speaker 1: is Alex Fire. He has a new book, Home Grown,

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Speaker 1: How the Red Sox Built the Champion from the ground up.

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Speaker 1: Where can people get the book? Uh? Anyway? You know,

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Speaker 1: any online outlet you know, or your local bookstore Barnes

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Speaker 1: and Noble, Amazon or hopefully your local bookstores carrying into

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Speaker 1: all right, Alex, thank you so much for joining the podcast.

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Speaker 1: Now bringing the clothes there. Here's why MLB is better

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Speaker 1: than the NFL or NBA, and it isn't even close.

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Speaker 1: This is why baseball is better than the NBA and

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Speaker 1: the NFL. We've seeing a lot of generosi in the

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Speaker 1: crowd at a lot of it. A lot of those

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Speaker 1: baseball's going to kids. That's what's that's what it's all

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Speaker 1: about very sweet and a Yankee kid. It looks emotional

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Speaker 1: about the scene that unfold Monday night at Fenway Park

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Speaker 1: was unbelievable. There was a foul ball in the stands.

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Speaker 1: Somebody grabbed the foul ball from the bat of Aaron Judge.

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Speaker 1: The guy who got the ball handed it to a kid,

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Speaker 1: and the kid, who's wearing Yankee stuff is brought to

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Speaker 1: emotional tears. He cannot believe he got a ball from

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Speaker 1: one of his favorite players at the ball game. He

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Speaker 1: didn't catch it, it was handed to him, but it

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Speaker 1: still moved him like that. There's no other game you

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Speaker 1: go to. If an NBA ball goes into the crowd,

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Speaker 1: you throw it back. It's not a big deal. They

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Speaker 1: put up the nets when they kicked the extra points

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Speaker 1: or the field goals, so I can't go into the crowd.

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Speaker 1: Same thing. If the ball goes into the crowd, nobody

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Speaker 1: expects to take it home or the security guard takes

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Speaker 1: it from you. In baseball, when the ball comes into

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Speaker 1: the stands, it belongs to the fans. Fans treasure getting

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Speaker 1: a foul ball. It makes a moment. Monday night, we

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Speaker 1: saw what a foul ball can do to a kid

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Speaker 1: and give him a lasting moment. That's why baseball is

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Speaker 1: better than the NBA, better than the NFL, and it

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Speaker 1: ain't even close. In the words of New York TV

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Speaker 1: legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time

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Speaker 1: this time until next time. Rob Parker out. This could

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Speaker 1: be an inside the Parker Studio