WEBVTT - John Smoltz on Pitch Limits, Growth of Women's Golf 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:06.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:10.280 This is Bloomberg Business of Sports. 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:13.239 Business of Sports can be intimidating for hard for a 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:14.240 start to break into. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.239 We really appreciate what our owners are actually there. You 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:18.920 know with us through the journey. 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.080 Teams ours especially have been very intentional to diversify at 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:23.040 all levels of the company. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.560 Whybe We're in the golden years for the NFL and 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:26.360 college football. 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.520 Our demographic reach has continued to expande. 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:33.199 This is going to be really unlocking the streaming platform 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:34.240 for sports fans. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.800 Sports evaluations arising. We'll see when they peak. 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:39.479 You don't have to be the best in your sports 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.360 and make a whole ton of money. 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.199 Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. This is the 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:49.920 Bloomberg Business of Sports show. We explore the big money 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.320 issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr, along 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:56.520 with my colleagues Scarlett Fou and Damian Sassau on the lineup. 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.200 Today we're talking the growth of women's golf with two 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.160 time lp GA champion winner Stacy Lewis and with the 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:08.160 KPMG Women's PGA Championship in play this weekend. We'll also 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:12.440 speak with the chairman and CEO of KPMG, Paul Knop. 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.120 This was the only women's leadership conference affiliated with a 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.440 LPGA tournament that Catalyst has allowed. For now, there are 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:25.920 twenty women's leadership conferences affiliated with LPGA tour events. So 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:29.200 we feel really great about bringing about more change so 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.560 that more women can be elevated to the c suite, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.440 and we're seeing it at many more LPGA tournaments. 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.280 Today, we'll also speak baseball in the role of the 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:41.000 starting pitcher in Today's Game with Hall of Fame pitcher 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:45.560 and current Fox Sports analyst John Smoltz. But first, the 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.320 sports world lost another legend this week. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:59.680 He say hey, sway at the plaid, say Hey. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.920 Yeah, the say hey kid. Baseball legend will Mays died 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.560 this past week at the age of ninety three. A 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:08.240 prolific player on and off the field, May's transcended what 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.000 it meant to be a cultural icon at a complicated time. 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.920 This week, in honor of juneteenth, Major League Baseball played 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.800 a regular season game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:23.280 as a tribute to the Negro leagues. The game was 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:27.280 played between the Saint Louis Cardinals and Willie May's former club, 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:31.600 the San Francisco Giants. During the pregame on Fox Sports, 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:36.200 another baseball legend, Reggie Jackson, spoke about what Mays meant 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:41.239 to him and then emotionally recalled the racism and discrimination 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.840 he experienced while playing in Alabama as a minor league player. 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:47.280 Take a listen, Gush. 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.520 I think Willie Mays meant to me the same thing 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:53.240 that he meant to most people. He was a barishnikoff 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.760 on the baseball field. I think that he had a 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.880 lot of things to say about the game. But at 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:02.280 the time when Willie playing, Hank Aaron was playing. They 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.920 grew up in an era when you had a complain 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:10.960 about the game or a complain about society, you suppressed it. 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.040 Today's player doesn't do that. Coming back here is not easy. 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.600 The racism that I played here. I walked into restaurants 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:21.720 and they would point at me and said, you can't 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.400 eat here. I would go to a hotel and they said, 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.480 can't stay here. At the same time, had it not 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.240 been for my white friends, had it not been for 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:36.160 a white manager and Rudy Fingers and Duncan and Lee Myers, 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:38.160 I would have never made it. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.920 That was baseball great Reggie Jackson during the Fox Sports 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.560 tribute to the Negro League's pregame show. Audio courtesy again 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:51.160 of Fox Sports Network, and it was a very powerful interview. 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.760 We'll talk more baseball later in the show, but first 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.800 we want to pivot to a conversation with another prominent 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.080 name from the New York sports scene. For MDA All 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.640 Star kerb Melo Anthony Knicks fans saw him mad MSG 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.920 cheering on his old team during their playoff run, but 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:12.560 Melo has been busy behind the scenes launching a new 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:17.520 luxury wine called Ode to Soul. Anthony stopped by our 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:20.680 studios here in New York recently along with this business 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.600 partner Asani Swan to talk it through with our colleagues, 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.840 remain Bostic and Scarlet through Let's listen in. 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.360 I actually was just interested, like I just wanted to 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:34.080 learn about the industry. I wanted to learn about what 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:38.000 it takes to actually grow wine and what happens in 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.880 the process. So I just started drinking the wine and 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.359 then I realized, look, I need to stop spending so 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:46.279 much money on consuming this wine and figure out what 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:49.320 is the right business model in this industry. So it 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.520 took me a little bit of time to kind of 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.400 figure the industry out and see where I wanted to 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:54.880 open the door. 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.320 App well, you partnered with Asana and just looking at 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.359 sort of the pedigree of this wine. I mean, this 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.159 is like serious, like old world wine making you're doing. 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.800 You just didn't slap his name on a label and 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:06.760 just try to sell it here, just kind of explain 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.760 exactly the region where these grapes are coming from and 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.320 exactly the process that it went through. 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.279 Yeah, great question. So I think a lot of people 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:17.440 from then the seventh the state were a little shocks 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:21.479 that we decided to partner with Robert Moondabi Winery, But 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:26.600 ultimately we wanted to produce a premium quality wine and 0:05:26.680 --> 0:05:29.400 so we thought what better way to do that than 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:34.040 with one of the best and most traditional wine companies 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.400 in the world. And so we had the opportunity to 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:39.760 partner with them and then get our grapes from the 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:44.320 Tokalon region. The Tokalon region has a great deal of 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.320 dried soil, and the way that the sun hits those 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.159 grapes is able to develop what we get to taste 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:53.760 in the bottle, and so that is one of the 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.120 reasons why the price point is what it is, but 0:05:56.360 --> 0:05:59.800 also the process that we go through in creating what's 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:03.479 in bottle is so specific and it's so specific to 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.359 who we are as winemakers as well. And having the 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:09.320 opportunity to have the guidance of John Viev, who's the 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.120 chief wind maker at Robert Mondavi Winery, was certainly an 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.479 experience in and of itself to learn from one of 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:16.960 the masters in the space. 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:21.120 I think everyone's curious Carmela to understand your level of involvement. 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:22.800 Did you choose the blend? 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.760 Are you a lead taster here, lead tasted? 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.039 Did you zoo in on that pricing of what two 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:30.599 hundred and seventy five dollars a bottle? 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:34.480 So the pricing was out of my jurisdiction. I'm more 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.400 of the you know, bring my bring my palate, you know, 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.960 bring my my smell, bring my my innovation, you know 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:46.040 to the room, whereas I just utilize, you know, the tokalon. 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.880 It is what it is that that portion of nappid 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.680 that venyard is is spectacular. So the reason I could 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.120 just come in and just flow and just because it's 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:58.320 already there, right and having somebody like John Viev alongside, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.840 that's who's on the ground every single day understanding what 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.520 that soilo is, what that region is. For me, I 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.200 could just bring my innovation into the industry. So yes, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.040 I'm heavily involved from the beginning all the way to 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:11.880 the end where we all we always We also had 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.520 a you know, a disagreement about one percent of patite 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.880 verdot that we put actually put into wine. 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:19.000 So so who won? 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:19.520 Did you win? 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:25.640 We all want, we all want it's a great wine. 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:27.200 Well done, well done. 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.440 You mentioned, of course that you were drinking wine and 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:31.880 you thought, you know what, I have to stop spending 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.160 money on this. But I'm curious about your time in 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.760 New York and how that contributed to your education as 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.000 a wine connoisseur. What was it about being in New 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:43.480 York and being and having access to all this great 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:46.520 wine that really deepened your passion for fine wine? 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.240 What I said, I think you hit it right on 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.680 the word, which was access. Right now, in New York, 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:55.560 I had access to people and collectors and people that 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.320 was drinking these crazy wines and these wine clubs. So 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:01.120 I had access to all of those people. So I 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:04.240 always wanted to know, Okay, if I can get into 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.400 this circle, if I can appiece to this circle. If 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:09.080 I can bring wine to the dinner and I can 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.720 make this you know, specific circle be like, h this 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.120 guy know what he's talking about. 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:14.920 He's for real. 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.560 Then I felt like I've proven myself. So it was 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:19.760 just taking my time here in New York. And I 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.680 will say New York actually helped me kind of broaden 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.480 my horizon to think globally as far as the wine 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:26.960 industry and the wine business goes. 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:28.880 So I can talk a little bit about the marketing 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:29.559 of this wine. 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:31.600 Just a minute ago, we referenced the price point, and 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:34.240 it is a higher price point. This is a premium product. Yes, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.040 how did you arrive that this was wherever it's going 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:37.360 to be. 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.840 The wonderful thing about our relationship with Constellation Brands and 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.400 Robert Montdabby Winery specifically is that we were both bringing 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.880 something very unique to the table. You know, we have 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.440 this innovation of tradition with Robert Montdabby Winery, and we 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.920 have this creativity and mellow and I having ability to 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.000 reach people in a different way. I definitely will say 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:04.000 that we have some of them most exciting experiences when 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.160 it comes to releasing our wine. For sure, we have 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.240 a good time. That's part of the wine drinking experience 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.400 is what is the experience that we are bringing to 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.200 the table. So for us, we really have leaned into 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:18.680 the idea that when you drink our wine, we want 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.080 it to be an experience, not just to taste it 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.319 for the sake of having a glass, but what happens. 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.320 And so for us, even in the naming of our wine, 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.360 that was very important Ode to Soul. 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:32.559 Talk about the naming of that wine here. 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.160 I mean this is a reference to a very famous 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:39.640 Haitian general, basically someone responsible for the Haitian Revolution. I mean, 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.160 you're not Haitian, No, you're Puerto Rica, and I'm not 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:43.880 sure what you are. How did you arrive on that? 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:44.880 Why did you choose him? 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:49.920 Well, you're speaking of Oath of Fidelity with Tucson. Oh yes, yes, 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:53.200 So that was our twenty seventeen chateaun of depop which 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:56.280 was exceptional and it was well received by the community. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:56.760 For sure. 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.920 Ode to Soul was really a collaboration of all of us, 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:04.160 both myself and Mellow as well as the Robert Mondavi team. 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:08.480 We decided that we wanted this to be a wine 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:13.480 that paid homage to history and the history that means 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.559 something to you. For us specifically, it's around wine, it's 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:20.960 around our native people, it's around our ancestors, and so 0:10:21.120 --> 0:10:23.520 we are paying homage to those that came before us 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.320 to open the doors for people who were coming next 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.760 for us. And I know, Mellow, you have a very 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:31.400 specific point of view. 0:10:31.880 --> 0:10:33.360 It's right on right. 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:36.200 It's that you know, I'm a music guy, right, I 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:38.360 love music, So you hear old to soul and just 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.520 it dances right, and so it's a lot of similarities 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.520 from you know, the naming process is not something that 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.040 we we actually just come up with a name, like 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.080 we really put thought into it. We really want to 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.960 create content around, we want to tell stories. And then 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.800 I think one of the most important things is the 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:58.120 fact that we're able to engage communities right to create 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.360 these actual experiences where we don't have We don't go 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.560 out there and try to sell wine in a traditional way, 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:04.520 like we don't Bloomberg. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:05.520 It's like it's. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.880 We're doing a different because of the price point, but 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.400 it's it's it's you know, what we do is we 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:15.480 we allow our community to experience those experiences, right, and 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:17.920 we create these taste things and we create these moments 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.960 to where people come in and they want to be 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.800 a part of the story and a part of the community, 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:24.920 and then the wine comes after that. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:27.280 Yeah, you have any friendly competition with some of the 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:29.240 other players, I mean, d Wade's got his own wine, 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:30.240 a few others. 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:32.240 You just call them up and be like, yo, yours 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.200 ain't seven No, no, you know, we. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.160 Don't have those type of conversations. But it's it's more 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.040 so like, how could we create the experience like you 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:42.040 you have yours, you have yours, you have yours. How 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:45.960 could we create an experience where everybody is a part 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.840 of this community and engaging and you get to sell 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.040 your wine. I sell my wine, We get to taste wine, 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:52.360 and we get to have a good time. 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.480 That's former multi time NBA All Star and former New 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.920 York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony, along with his business partner 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:04.319 Asanni Swan, speaking with our Bloomberg TV colleagues Remain Bustic 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.199 and Scarlet Foo about his new venture in luxury wine. 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.000 Here that full conversation on demand now on the Bloomberg 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.920 Talks podcast. Check it out and subscribe on Apple, Spotify 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.440 and anywhere else should get your podcasts. Up next on 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:22.200 the show, he says pitch limits are not helping starting pitchers. 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.920 We'll get more on that with MLB Hall of Famer 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.520 John Smokes. You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:38.120 from Bloomberg Radio around the world. This is Bloomberg Business 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:43.280 of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. This is the Bloomberg Business 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.560 of Sports show where we explore the big money issues 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.880 in the world of sports. I'm Michael Barr and along 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:51.920 with my colleagues Scarlett fou and Damian Sasaur. We're only 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.000 a few weeks out from the Midsummer Classic in baseball. 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:59.440 This year's MLB All Star Game is July sixteenth at 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.720 Globe Live Field in Arlington, Texas. Now that we're inching 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.120 closer to the halfway point, we wanted to check in 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:08.959 on the state of the sport with an old friend 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:11.840 of the show, John Smoltz. He is an eight time 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.080 MLB All Star himself and is now an analyst for 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.000 Fox Sports. We spoke with him earlier this week before 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:21.720 Willie May's passing for his thoughts on the season so far. 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.680 And I'm looking at some teams that are just like 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.440 kicking behind, like the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees. 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.000 Your thoughts, Yeah, we have a a kind of a 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.160 top heavy league right now, meaning there's five teams that 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.240 separate themselves against the rest. That doesn't mean some of 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.000 the other teams that are kind of floundering around five 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:43.760 hundred can't make a move. But you've got the Dodgers 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.400 and unfortunately they've had a couple injuries that don't work 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.880 well for them. The Braves had the two worst injuries 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.079 they could have. The Baltimore Oriols and the New York 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.160 Yankees are head and shoulders above the rest. Philadelphia coming 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:56.400 right in there as well. But I think what you're 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.079 going to see in this year is baseball season is 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.160 you've got a ton of teams kind of all grouped 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:04.960 in the same category trying to fight for those remaining 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:08.160 playoff spots, and the trade deadline is going to be 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.440 huge to determine some of those team's success. And they're 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.560 all got the Arizona Diamondbacks in their vision, meaning what 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.760 Arizona did last year gives a lot of these teams 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.480 hope that they could be this year's version of the 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:22.680 Arizona Diamondbacks. 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.200 Last year well, John, I really like that you mentioned 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:26.760 the injuries, you know, and we had a spade of 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.640 them this year, including your Atlanta Braids losing Spencer Strider. 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.960 We've Scheene Bieber's on the fence, I mean, most recently 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.760 Mookie Betts and Anthony Rizzo. But talk to us a 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:37.200 little bit about what your expectations are as we get 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:39.080 into the second half. Can some of these players actually 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:40.600 come back in time to make a difference. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.960 I think they can. The biggest problem in the game 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.720 is injuries, and no one seems to want to address it. 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.400 They just kind of look the other way and say 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.720 it's part of the game. And unfortunately, for a lot 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:54.200 of these pitchers, the ones you've mentioned are veterans, it 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.120 gives them a better chance to come back. They know 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.880 how to pitch, But young pitchers have no guarantee because 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.480 they have not got in their stripes and learn how 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:03.600 to pitch with the kind of arsenal that they have, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.440 So it's a little more of a crapshoot with them. 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:08.400 It's a little more of a given. With a de 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:10.400 Gram and a sures Aer and a coal and a 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:12.680 Kershaw is going to come back somehow. In the second 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.800 half of the Dodgers. So I think the biggest problem 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.800 that a lot of these guys' face is they're going 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.600 back to really, really good teams and they're going to 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:23.920 want to contribute like they never left. It's going to 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.800 take three to five starts for these guys to get 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.840 well back into the groove and then hopefully there's no 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:31.600 hiccups the rest of the way. 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:33.440 In if we take a step back. I have just 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.200 marveled at how much more I've enjoyed watching baseball these 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.920 last two seasons. With the new rules that reduce the 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.440 amount of time each game takes, there's now so much 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.080 focus John on pitch count, and with the pitch clock, 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.480 there is a lot more management around the starting pitcher's 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.160 time on the mound. I'm curious to get your take 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.360 on what this means for the starting pitcher's role as 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.920 we head into the mid twenty twenties. Is the starting 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.880 pitcher's role being diminished? I mean the San Francisco Giants 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.360 last year often went to the bullpen after two or three. 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:04.000 Yeah, it's the definition of insanity doing the same thing 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.720 over and over again expecting different results. This is the 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:10.240 one area that won't change until there's a rule change, 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:12.760 and it's common. They just can't enforce it right away 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.400 because they just made two great, three great rule changes 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.440 to do exactly what you just said. But the starting 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.840 pitching has been trying to be eliminated by analytics for 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.760 a long time, and then they realized about halfway through, 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.520 oh shoot, this can't happen. We need starting pitching and 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.160 there is none to be found. So that's what everybody's 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.680 looking for. But that's what everything's breaking down. The reward 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:35.960 system is why the players are chasing it, and I 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.680 don't blame them, but the reward system is flawed. You're 0:16:38.720 --> 0:16:41.000 asking pitchers to throw as hard as they can, spin 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.040 it as much as they can, and then, oh, by 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.120 the way, limit what they do once they get near 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.479 one hundred pitches. It's a broke system. It's a broke philosophy. 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.160 You won't hear anybody talk about it. I've been talking 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.160 about it for ten years. But until there's rule changes, 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:57.640 nothing will change because philosophically they think this is the 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.800 way to navigate a season. The end of the season, 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:03.720 you'll have thirty to forty pitchers go through your roster 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:08.239 per team. Think about that. That's impossible to sustain. So 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.600 I hope that we get to the next phase of 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.159 what the game is moving in a great place with 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.040 great talent. These are some of the best pitching prospects 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.440 and arms we have ever seen, but we don't get 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.359 to see them long enough because of the injuries. That's 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.879 what I have been burdened by. That's why I have 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.080 been kind of screaming at the mountaintop. This doesn't work, 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.560 it never will work, and we're asking people to just 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.639 get brainwashed to think that this is the new normal. 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.320 What kind of rule do you think would work and 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.720 how do you think that will change way pitchers are compensated. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.840 Well, much like the rule changes that exist today, nobody 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:48.240 was going to change the way they played baseball. Now 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.800 they have to. You can't stay stuck in the last 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:54.440 seven years and play the analytic kind of stratomatic baseball 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.840 because the rule changes have enhanced you to change your philosophy. 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:01.760 So when a rule change, similar to roster manipulation, you 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.840 limit how many pitchers could be on a roster, You 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:07.000 limit how many times they can come up and down. 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.000 Those are ways to change philosophy of how you ask 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.320 a starter to pitch more innings. I floated an idea 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.040 a long time ago, and they thought I had fell 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:17.080 off a tree and hit my head, because they said, 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.240 that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. But there are 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.080 no such things as dumb things anymore when you want 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.920 to change the course of action, So I said, why 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.600 don't you tie your starting pitcher to the DH And 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.880 they're like, that's terrible. I said, no, it's a competitive advantage. Now. 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.800 If you want your DH in the game longer, then 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.200 your starter will go longer. If you want to pitch 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.360 a guy two innings, then you got to pinch hit 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.359 the rest of the game. Those are the kind of 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.199 ideas you've got to think innovatively if you want to 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.760 change the philosophy of how pitching is being managed, because 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.919 right now, the same thing's going to happen in the 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.520 rest of the time, because this is what they figured out. 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:55.919 I have enough arms. They're not ready, but I have 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.720 enough arms to fulfill a calendar year if some of 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.720 my eyes get hurt or I'm kind of managing the innings. 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.439 See now, and that brings me up to what you 0:19:05.560 --> 0:19:09.919 said to what happened Renaul Blanco, He already pitched a 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.719 no hitter, and he was on his way on a 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:18.080 second no hitter, and the Astros manager then pulled him 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:22.600 after ninety four pitches. Now, and there are both sides 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.040 to this argument here, It's like, all right, wait, first 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.280 of all, he's throwing ninety four pitches, but he's on 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:33.000 a no hitter. And I'm still unclear what side to 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:34.600 fall on about this. 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:39.520 John, Well, imagine how fixated your brain has been the 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.600 last ten years about pitch count. There's no scientific evidence 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:46.639 to pitch counts, none, But we think a guy's going 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.040 to break once he gets to one hundred. I've watched 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.200 games with people and they go, oh my gosh, he's 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:53.520 got ninety eight pitches. I said, don't worry, he's not 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:56.320 going to break. Like we think that they have come 0:19:56.400 --> 0:20:00.960 up with a number that universally transformed a pitcher into 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:04.159 an ridge injury risk. Here's the problem with that. Not 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.399 everybody's the same. You could have a clean game, clean mechanics, 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.359