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Speaker 1: Welcome to is this great game or what? And our

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Speaker 1: special guest today is our dear friend the silver Sword,

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Speaker 1: Steve Phillips. Steve and I were teammates at the ESPN.

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Speaker 1: Of course, he's the former general manager of the New

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Speaker 1: York Mets. Now he does radio for MLB, he does

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Speaker 1: TV for MLB.

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Speaker 2: He's all over the place, Steve. This is my son, Jeff.

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Speaker 3: Jeff, what's going on? I see the apple does not

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Speaker 3: fall far from the tree. Right there?

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Speaker 4: She got that right in voice face ability all of

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Speaker 4: the above, Steve, and.

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Speaker 3: Ste you jump shot? How's your jump shot? You know?

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Speaker 4: I gotta say, Steve, my dad is a much better

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Speaker 4: basketball player than I ever was. And I remember the

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Speaker 4: first time I ever took him to the rack, and

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Speaker 4: he was none too pleased. This man says very few

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Speaker 4: curse words ever in front of his children, especially, and

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Speaker 4: that was one of the few times I ever heard

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Speaker 4: him say an F word with three other letters after all.

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Speaker 3: Wow.

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Speaker 4: And then he crushed me on the court, Steve, let's

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Speaker 4: be honest, and he did not want to be embarrassed

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Speaker 4: by his son.

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Speaker 3: Steve, I love it.

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Speaker 1: He took the ball off of my dribble at half

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Speaker 1: court and went in for a layup. Do you know

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Speaker 1: how embarrassing that is when you're three feet tall like me?

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Speaker 1: Number one rule when you're a point guard at this size,

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Speaker 1: no one is allowed to take it off your dribble.

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Speaker 1: And my own son took it off my dribble.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I listened with four boys. I completely get it.

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Speaker 3: I remember the time that they wanted to race me,

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Speaker 3: and I'm like, I ran a four or five to

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Speaker 3: forty back in the day, like I can, I can fly,

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Speaker 3: and I raced them at about twenty yards into it.

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Speaker 3: I'm like, oh my gosh, they're going to beat me.

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Speaker 3: And it was the worst feeling ever to finally know

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Speaker 3: that my boys could beat me in a race. And

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Speaker 3: it was the end of life.

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Speaker 1: How old were they, Steve when they finally started to

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Speaker 1: pass you in physical activities?

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Speaker 3: All right, so it was about sixteen seventeen. I mean

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Speaker 3: I held off. I mean I actually did okay until then.

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Speaker 3: But then their strides were longer. My strides got shorter.

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Speaker 3: In fact, every time I go to the doctor, I

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Speaker 3: get shorter. And gravity is undefeated is actually the reality

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Speaker 3: of it, right, Gravity is completely undefeated.

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Speaker 2: Steve.

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Speaker 1: You are more self deprecating than I am. And I'm

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Speaker 1: really tired, seriously of you telling us what a terrible

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Speaker 1: baseball player you were when you played six years of

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Speaker 1: pro ball.

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Speaker 2: And you never talk.

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Speaker 1: About what a great football player you were, but you

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Speaker 1: were going to go play Division one football at Northwestern.

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Speaker 1: Would you please just tell people it's okay that I

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Speaker 1: was a ballplayer when I was younger.

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Speaker 3: Yes, I was. I was. I had signed to go

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Speaker 3: to Northwestern to play football, and in fact, I got

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Speaker 3: recruited by Michigan. I'm from Michigan, so tell you how

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Speaker 3: old I am. I went to a Michigan Indiana basketball

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Speaker 3: game and Isaiah Thomas was still playing in Indiana at

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Speaker 3: the time, and both chem Beckler, who I you know,

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Speaker 3: I revered growing up in Michigan as a Michigan fan.

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Speaker 3: You know. He pulled me aside and he said, listen,

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Speaker 3: I understand you're a baseball guy. I want you to

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Speaker 3: promise me you're going to get your degree. And I'm like, yes, coach, yes, coach.

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Speaker 3: Because he had Rick Leach, who was a quarterback, and

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Speaker 3: Rick Leach, you know, left football after his career and

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Speaker 3: then and then signed with the Texas Rangers and actually

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Speaker 3: made it to the Major League for a while, never

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Speaker 3: got his degree and so so yeah, so I ended

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Speaker 3: up signing to go to Northwestern. Danny Green was the

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Speaker 3: coach back then who obviously went on to the NFL

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Speaker 3: in that but would have been his first year at Northwestern. Uh,

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Speaker 3: and he was looking to turn the program around. So

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Speaker 3: they had had some bad losing streaks along the way,

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Speaker 3: uh and uh. And so I ended up getting drafted

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Speaker 3: in the fifth round for baseball, passed up the scholarship

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Speaker 3: to Northwestern, and then signed with the Mets.

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Speaker 1: Did you think did Bo scham Beckler ever talk to

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Speaker 1: you about going to play at Michigan?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? You know, I was recruited by them and they

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Speaker 3: ended up so I was next in line behind a

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Speaker 3: running back named Rick Rogers who ended up signing there.

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Speaker 3: If he hadn't, then I would have been offered the

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Speaker 3: scholarship to play at Michigan. Sou But I you know,

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Speaker 3: all the Big Ten schools. I visited Boston College, Holy Cross, Yale,

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Speaker 3: and Cornell. So I looked at the Ivy League schools too,

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Speaker 3: But you know, I visited Michigan State, which was local

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Speaker 3: there in that But yeah, I was a running back,

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Speaker 3: defensive back. But you know, I realized that I, you know,

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Speaker 3: I had a much safer route in baseball, and looking

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Speaker 3: back on it, I made the right choice. I mean,

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Speaker 3: I made a career out of you know, six years,

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Speaker 3: six seasons, seven seasons of the minor league, minor leagues

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Speaker 3: to sort of get into the front office from there.

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Speaker 1: And what's the most number of yards you gain in

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Speaker 1: a high school football game?

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Speaker 2: Tell the truth?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, two hundred and fifty two. Two hundred and fifty two.

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Speaker 2: Any trouble remember that one?

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Speaker 3: Oh no, my glory days. I mean two hundred and

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Speaker 3: fifty two, give or take a half yard or so.

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Speaker 3: And so my claim to fame in baseball was I

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Speaker 3: got drafted. I had a Roger Clemens by the Mets

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Speaker 3: in nineteen eighty one. I was the fifth round pick.

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Speaker 3: Lenny Diister, by the way, was the sixth round pick

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Speaker 3: that year. Clemens was the twelfth round pick by the

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Speaker 3: Mets that year out of San Jacinto Junior College in Texas,

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Speaker 3: and he wanted thirty five thousand dollars. The Mets had

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Speaker 3: offered him twenty five thousand. Joe McIlvain and the scouting

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Speaker 3: director flew down three times to watch him. Pitts that

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Speaker 3: summer to decide whether to give him the ten thousand.

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Speaker 3: Got rained out all three times, didn't see him pitch.

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Speaker 3: They didn't give him the ten thousand. I held out.

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Speaker 3: I got the ten thousand. It's another reason Mets fans

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Speaker 3: hate me, because I'm the reason they didn't get Roger Clemens.

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Speaker 2: Steve, Mets fans don't hate you.

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Speaker 3: No, you know what, They've come to appreciate me a

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Speaker 3: little bit more at during the time there when the

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Speaker 3: fire Steve Phillips website was created. Uh, and I had

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Speaker 3: death threats from Mets fans and stalkers from Mets fans.

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Speaker 3: They didn't love me a whole lot back then, but

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Speaker 3: they came to appreciate things. You know. You just have

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Speaker 3: to have some separation when they start to look at

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Speaker 3: the good stuff instead of the bad stuff.

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Speaker 4: You know, and aside here, Steve, you don't need to

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Speaker 4: hear it from me. But doing anything in New York

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Speaker 4: is just different when it comes to baseball.

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Speaker 3: Like being the.

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Speaker 4: Manager is a really hard job. Being a manager in

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Speaker 4: New York is much harder. Being a GM in New

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Speaker 4: York is much harder, and it always will be.

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Speaker 2: I don't care what anybody else said. So that and

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Speaker 2: a player too.

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Speaker 3: I will tell you that. And I always wondered, like, like,

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Speaker 3: what is it about me? Like I had literally a

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Speaker 3: psychiatrist call up and say that her patient was a

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Speaker 3: threat to my life, that she's going to breaking the

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Speaker 3: confidentiality because well, he threatened you. And so they, you know,

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Speaker 3: I put Major League security in touch. They got the information,

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Speaker 3: and they followed him for a couple of weeks and

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Speaker 3: came to me and said, he the thing. He's he's

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Speaker 3: a little unstable, but we don't think that he'd hurt you,

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Speaker 3: but he might come here and hurt himself in front

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Speaker 3: of you. And I'm like, and so I had to

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Speaker 3: have an alias on the road, uh, And and I

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Speaker 3: was Sam Adams that I traveled on the road with

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Speaker 3: the team, and I literally so I would call Walt

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Speaker 3: Jocketty's office with the Cardinals and I'd get his assistant

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Speaker 3: and she said, well, I'll have them call you back

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Speaker 3: as well. I'm in a hotel. Remember no cell phones then,

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Speaker 3: believe it or not, you know, I don't know if

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Speaker 3: you know that, Jeff, there was there was no cell phones.

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Speaker 3: So I said, yeah, well what do you call when

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Speaker 3: you call the hotel? You got to asked for Sam Adams.

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Speaker 3: They're like, what, I go, Yeah, I said, I got so. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Whenever I went to Philadelphia Montreal, I could not leave

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Speaker 3: my hotel room. They had a security guard meet me

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Speaker 3: at the bus, walk me to my room, check the

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Speaker 3: room to make sure that people were the guy wasn't

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Speaker 3: in there, and then I couldn't leave the room during

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Speaker 3: the day. They'd walk me to the bus and I'd

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Speaker 3: have to sit and sweet. I couldn't go on the

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Speaker 3: field for batting practic. This, I mean it was. They

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Speaker 3: told me, don't ever take the same route home every day.

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Speaker 3: Take different routes and see if you're being followed. I

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Speaker 3: was the match general manager, and it's like it wasn't like,

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Speaker 3: you know, the head of something controversial, but yeah, it was.

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Speaker 3: It was. It was something. You know, they love you

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Speaker 3: when you're winning, and man, it can get rough when

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Speaker 3: you're losing, and it's just the nature of the beat.

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Speaker 1: See, did you ever find out what deal you made

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Speaker 1: or didn't make that upset this guy to the point.

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Speaker 2: That he wanted to kill you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Melroe hats that I had issues with Melroe Hats.

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Speaker 3: I don't know and so and so, you know, and

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Speaker 3: another guy. So the same deal was we traded Lance

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Speaker 3: Johnson in the deal, so it was Lance Johnson, Mark Clark,

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Speaker 3: and Manny Alexander. It was my first trade, uh, and

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Speaker 3: it was that trade deadline. I didn't get a deal done.

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Speaker 3: I thought I had a deal done to get Swindle,

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Speaker 3: the left handed reliever from the Twins. And then the

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Speaker 3: next thing I know, I think we're going to get

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Speaker 3: a call that it's done, and Terry Ryan called me say,

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Speaker 3: I just signed him to a contract extension. I'm like,

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Speaker 3: I thought we were going to make a trade and

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Speaker 3: you signed the guy on extension. So I didn't get

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Speaker 3: anything done. Is my first year. I got the job

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Speaker 3: like two weeks before the deadline, and so my first

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Speaker 3: trade was a six player waiver trade where all six

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Speaker 3: players had to clear waivers on both sides or we

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Speaker 3: claimed him ourselves. And then we were able to make

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Speaker 3: the deal and I got back Brian McCrae, Turk Wendell

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Speaker 3: who was great for us, and Mel Rojas who wasn't

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Speaker 3: as great. And so the one guy I had one

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Speaker 3: guy who screamed and yell at me outside. In fact,

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Speaker 3: he wrote me a letter, he said, did you get

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Speaker 3: my letter? He goes, I'm so, and so I'm like, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 3: that was the one that was ten pages long, single

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Speaker 3: space handprinted that you finished writing on the outside of

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Speaker 3: the envelope. That letter. Yeah, I got that letter and

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Speaker 3: that guy screamed at me. I had babies in my

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Speaker 3: arm walking out to the and the guy was screaming

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Speaker 3: at me, swearing at me, and I said, listen, let

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Speaker 3: me at least get the babies in the car and

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Speaker 3: then I'll give you a chance to have your say.

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Speaker 3: So he kindly waited, and then he actually had his say,

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Speaker 3: like he actually so. From that point out, I parked

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Speaker 3: in the player parking lot. But even then, fans waited

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Speaker 3: to see what players would drive out and what cars

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Speaker 3: I drive out, and they'd run alongside my car, banging

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Speaker 3: on my car windows, yelling at me. It was I mean,

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Speaker 3: it was crazy being the general manager for the Mets.

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Speaker 1: Steve, did you have dark hair before all of this started?

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Speaker 3: And jet black? Steve?

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Speaker 1: I thought I had heard most of your stories. I

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Speaker 1: didn't know about this, But doesn't this speak to since

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Speaker 1: we just finished with the trade deadline, what you general

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Speaker 1: managers go through. It's different now maybe than back when,

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Speaker 1: but the pressure involved all kidding aside is enormous, correct

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Speaker 1: it is.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in New York, particularly and particularly then when the

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Speaker 3: Yankees were in the heart of their run, right, I

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Speaker 3: was ninety seven through three. Well they went in ninety eight,

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Speaker 3: ninety nine, two thousand, and they beat us in the

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Speaker 3: two thousand World Series. But even you know that, what

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Speaker 3: it was was the expectations. Fans had the same expectations

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Speaker 3: for us with the Mets as they did with the

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Speaker 3: Yankees after their twenty twenty five, twenty six championships at

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Speaker 3: the time, and you know, there were different resources. It

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Speaker 3: was George Steinbreder back then, who you know he spent

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Speaker 3: He didn't have a budget. Brian Caster say, oh, you

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Speaker 3: get a budget. Yeah, I got a budget and said, yes, no,

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Speaker 3: we don't get budgets here. We just get what we want.

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Speaker 3: And I'm like, yeah, that's not how it was for me.

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Speaker 3: And so it was just different, uh, you know, but

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Speaker 3: they were the Yankees made it tough because of their

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Speaker 3: great success.

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Speaker 4: Steve a year after your run with the Mets two

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Speaker 4: thousand and four, and my dad reminded me that we

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Speaker 4: actually met that year on August the ninth, two thousand

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Speaker 4: and four. It was my eleventh birthday, and we were

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Speaker 4: driving from Canada back to Maryland. I thought, and my

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Speaker 4: parents took a left turn and drove all the way

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Speaker 4: to Massachusetts, which you know, when you're eleven, you're not

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Speaker 4: exactly looking at the signs on the highways to see

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Speaker 4: where we're going. And we went to Fenway Park for

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Speaker 4: the very first time. And my grandfather, my dad's dad,

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Speaker 4: was a big Boston Red Sox fan, grew up in

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Speaker 4: Boston but passed away in two thousand and three. He

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Speaker 4: had never seen the Red Sox winner World Series. In fact,

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Speaker 4: he only lived to be eighty four years old. Eighty

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Speaker 4: six year curse you get it here. He passed away

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Speaker 4: in the ALCS and O three. So I kind of

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Speaker 4: embodied his love of the Red Sox because I grew

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Speaker 4: up next door to my grandfather in Maryland, and my

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Speaker 4: poor old dad here never threw a jersey on me

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Speaker 4: and said, son, we live and die by the Orioles

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Speaker 4: or whatever it was. So I was grabbing onto any

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Speaker 4: team I could, and my grandfather and I watched Boston

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Speaker 4: Red Sox games. Anyway, the point is, right before we

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Speaker 4: got on, Dad said, Jeff, you're not going to believe it.

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Speaker 4: Steve was there at arguably the biggest day in your

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Speaker 4: baseball fandom because I got to say playball at Fenway

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Speaker 4: Park on my eleventh birthday and we met that day,

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Speaker 4: which is kidow.

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Speaker 3: Now, was it a Tiger's Red Sox game?

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Speaker 2: What Ray Devil Rays? Right?

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Speaker 3: Double Rays?

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Speaker 1: Jeff met Don Zimmer before the game, which was and

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Speaker 1: Zim of course I covered with the Rangers when he

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Speaker 1: was the manager there the early eighties.

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Speaker 2: Is Zim and I were pretty close.

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Speaker 1: So Zim was then a coach with the Rays, and

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Speaker 1: he and Jeffrey just got along so well.

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Speaker 3: It was.

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Speaker 1: It was a it was a tremendous day at the

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Speaker 1: ballpark for the boy.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, and I love there's this iconic photo Steve and

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Speaker 4: you know Don Zimmer of Don at the top step

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Speaker 4: of the dugout and I'm meeting him on the dugout

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Speaker 4: and he has his hat off and he's pointing to

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Speaker 4: his head and my dad. You can just in the picture,

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Speaker 4: you can hear my dad's laughter because he's losing it

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Speaker 4: because Don saying something about I don't have any hair anymore.

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Speaker 2: I gotta blat in my head or whatever it wants

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Speaker 2: to be.

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Speaker 4: And my dad is losing his mind, and it was

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Speaker 4: you know, every I think every fan has a day

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Speaker 4: that they remember for the rest of their life of

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Speaker 4: walking into a ballpark and having an opening up to them.

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Speaker 2: And that day was mine.

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Speaker 4: So I apologize for making it about me, but you

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Speaker 4: happen to be there too, which is pretty.

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Speaker 3: Un I love it. I love it. I love it,

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Speaker 3: and you know, Fenway Park for me, it's interesting. My dad.

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Speaker 3: So I grew up in Detroit and my dad huge

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Speaker 3: baseball fan, and so he and my mom had planned

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Speaker 3: a trip to go to Boston and my dad said,

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Speaker 3: before I die, I want to go to Fenway Park.

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Speaker 3: So they went to Fenway and the next thing I know,

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Speaker 3: I get a call from my mom and said Dad

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Speaker 3: collapsed in Fenway Park. Now he ended up being okay,

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Speaker 3: he has blood pressure bottomed out, and he went to

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Speaker 3: the hospital. They checked down. He had had heard issues

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Speaker 3: over time, but he had met Dad had changes meds

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Speaker 3: in that. But I'm like, Dad, like, seriously, you didn't

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Speaker 3: have to actually, you know, you know, you know, you

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Speaker 3: could have just said it, like I thought it was

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Speaker 3: like a metaphor or something. And so, yeah, but my

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Speaker 3: dad loved baseball, taught you know us the love of baseball.

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Speaker 3: And I'll never forget growing up in Detroit the old

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Speaker 3: Tiger Stadium and you know, you'd walk through the bowels

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Speaker 3: of the stadium because you know, the concourses aren't like

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Speaker 3: the concourses today, and there was always a ramp that

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Speaker 3: you had to walk up to get to your seat.

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Speaker 3: And I remember at the old Tiger Stateum walking up

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Speaker 3: that ramp and how great, how green the grass was,

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Speaker 3: because in Detroit the grass was not green, certainly not

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Speaker 3: until probably June. And how long it was, because Sparky

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Speaker 3: Anderson always wanted long grass. But but then the way

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Speaker 3: the light would shine on the overhang and right field

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Speaker 3: and all of that. And so like I appreciate you know,

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Speaker 3: your memories and love of the game with your dad,

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Speaker 3: because you know, for me, it was the same thing.

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Speaker 3: In fact, in second grade and the last day of

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Speaker 3: school in second grade, I came home with chicken pox

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Speaker 3: and that weekend we were going to go to free

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Speaker 3: bat Day, and so I couldn't go, And so I

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Speaker 3: had three brothers. One of my brothers took his friend

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Speaker 3: and he kept my bat like the kid went the

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Speaker 3: bat day. He didn't give me the bat. He took

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Speaker 3: the bat for himself and I'm like, wait a minute,

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Speaker 3: so but the good thing is that I gave my

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Speaker 3: brother's chicken pox also, and my dad ended up getting

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Speaker 3: tickets to the nineteen seventy one All Star Game in Detroit.

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Speaker 3: I was sitting in the upper deck in right field

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Speaker 3: with Reggie Jackson hit the light Standard. I got goosebumps

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Speaker 3: right now on it. It was I'll never forget again

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Speaker 3: the way the light was shining on the stadium, the

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Speaker 3: lineup for the introductions. And that was a historic All

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Speaker 3: Star game when you think about all of the Hall

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Speaker 3: of Famers and the whole runs hit by.

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Speaker 1: There were twenty four Hall of Famers in that game.

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Speaker 1: The fifty year anniversary a few years ago of that

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Speaker 1: game because it was so famous. And Johnny Bench, by

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Speaker 1: the way, hit a homer in that game, as you remember,

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Speaker 1: and he told us on the podcast last year that

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Speaker 1: when he went back to the bench, there were guys

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Speaker 1: on the bench saying, that's the hardest hit ball we

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Speaker 1: have ever seen. And then Reggie hit the light Transformer

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Speaker 1: in the same game, and you were there.

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Speaker 3: I was there. I mean I remember like going like, Dad,

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Speaker 3: where did it go? Like? Where did it go like

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Speaker 3: I'm thinking, we got a shot here and a whole

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Speaker 3: running ball. That thing went over our heads onto the roof,

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Speaker 3: to the transformer up top there, and you know it

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Speaker 3: was you know, and I you know, my memories are

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Speaker 3: Mark Fidrich the bird, like he took over Detroit. I

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Speaker 3: was delivering newspapers at the time, and they used to,

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Speaker 3: you know, they put these inserts which were these sort

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Speaker 3: of iron on patches you could put on t shirts.

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Speaker 3: What's the word the bird, and they made him look

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Speaker 3: like big Bird, a little bit his face on Big Bird.

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Speaker 3: But you know, he took over Detroit at the time.

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Speaker 3: And I'll never forget how exciting that was too, watching

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Speaker 3: him and such a person like talking to the baseball

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Speaker 3: patting down the dirt on the mound. What are the

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Speaker 3: characters in the game.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he pitched on Monday Night baseball once, Steve when

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Speaker 1: Monday Night baseball, Jeff was a new deal. And now,

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Speaker 1: my goodness, instead of just having a game on Saturday,

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Speaker 1: we get a game on Monday. It was like the

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Speaker 1: greatest day of my whole life. And then the bird

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Speaker 1: goes out and throws a shutout on Monday Night baseball.

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Speaker 2: It was great. So, Steve, you're younger than me by

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Speaker 2: six years.

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Speaker 1: So you know, Dick mccaulliff, did you try to present

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Speaker 1: his batting stance the strangest thing ever?

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Speaker 2: Right, So, as a Detroit kid, you love Dick mccalloff.

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Speaker 3: Right, I love Dick mccaff But we were al Kayline,

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Speaker 3: of course, mostly because interestingly, when my dad was younger,

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Speaker 3: people thought he resembled Alkylne. So he would go someplace

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Speaker 3: and people go, there's now. My dad was five eight,

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Speaker 3: el Kline was much bigger than that, but he resembled him.

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Speaker 3: And I'm like, you know, my dad would show us

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Speaker 3: the newspaper articles from what he was playing, and it

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Speaker 3: was the he was on the third team, second division

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Speaker 3: All east Side Shoppers, and the article would say, well,

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Speaker 3: little Jerry Phillips, you know, hit a double bloop double,

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Speaker 3: you know. And so like, my dad was not a

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Speaker 3: big man, and el Kayline was a big guy that

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Speaker 3: had these hands that were just amazing. Again, out of

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Speaker 3: Jeff from Baltimore, elk And out of high school to

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Speaker 3: win a batting title, out of high school to the

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Speaker 3: big Leads, to win a bat.

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Speaker 1: Batting title at twenty and he told me he was

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Speaker 1: a better high school basketball player than he was a

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Speaker 1: baseball player, and he won a Major League batting title

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Speaker 1: when he was twenty.

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Speaker 2: So Steve.

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Speaker 1: Last year I did the Astros and Tigers a wild

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Speaker 1: card game on TV. I did the series with Michael

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Speaker 1: k and Todd Frazier. This is just how bad the

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Speaker 1: internet is. So during the game, I take thirty seconds

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Speaker 1: and I mean thirty seconds to say on this date

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Speaker 1: in whatever it was, nineteen seventy four, al Kline announced

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Speaker 1: his retirement, the second greatest Tiger ever.

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Speaker 2: I look at my Twitter feed after the game.

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Speaker 1: Never a good idea to look at Twitter after again,

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Speaker 1: and this guy writes to me, he said, you ruined

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Speaker 1: the entire.

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Speaker 2: Broadcast for me.

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Speaker 1: How why would I possibly care about al Kline's retirement.

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Speaker 1: I don't care about al Caline thirty seconds in a

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Speaker 1: three hour and fifteen minute game. It was it's the

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Speaker 1: Tigers were playing in the games.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it was relevant, and al Kline is iconic

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Speaker 3: and his numbers out on the outfield wall at Comerica Park,

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Speaker 3: and so yeah, but yeah, welcome to the social media world.

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Speaker 3: You know, these young millennials these days. You know what

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Speaker 3: I'm saying there him they're the worst, the worst we

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Speaker 3: had we had a kid. So we're doing the morning show.

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Speaker 3: It's seven thirty AM, and we get a phone call

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Speaker 3: from you know, a fan calling in and he's calling

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Speaker 3: from Seattle, and he calls up and says, you know,

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Speaker 3: I'm a millennial, and like, there's no way you're a millennial.

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Speaker 3: It's three point thirty in Seattle and you're awake, getting

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Speaker 3: ready to go to work already, and there's no chance

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Speaker 3: you should be. If you're a millennial, you should be

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Speaker 3: sleeping in right now.

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Speaker 1: One year, of course, one of your co hosts on

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Speaker 1: the morning radio show is our dear friend Eduardo Perez,

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00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 1: who was the first guest that we had on this

437
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 1: podcast last year, and then this year, our second year,

438
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,639
Speaker 1: he was the first guest again because Eduardo is our

439
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,480
Speaker 1: dear friend and he makes us laugh. But seriously, have

440
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,720
Speaker 1: you ever noticed how small his ears are?

441
00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable. I have have you ever known?

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00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 3: I had not noticed that. Now you know, for you

443
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 3: sort of everybody's ears are a little smaller. I think.

444
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,119
Speaker 3: I mean, we all have no I have rat ears,

445
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 3: so I don't have any ear lobes. So mind connect

446
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,480
Speaker 3: right there, So you know. The good thing is I've

447
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,560
Speaker 3: never tried to wear an ear ring because I don't

448
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,399
Speaker 3: know that it would look right on my ears. But

449
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,639
Speaker 3: Eduardo has small ears, no wonder he has hard at hearings.

450
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,200
Speaker 3: He's hard of hearing it sometimes, yes.

451
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:30,959
Speaker 2: Not hitting a very big target right.

452
00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,320
Speaker 4: And as most us Kirchhon boys, just with these dumbo

453
00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:37,240
Speaker 4: ears over here, thanks for that, man, appreciate it.

454
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,320
Speaker 1: And the nosesn't help with things either, I'll tell you.

455
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 1: And you know ed WARDO got Jeffrey and I in

456
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:45,200
Speaker 1: Montana a couple of years ago.

457
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:50,600
Speaker 2: We got our noses waxed the inside. You remember that story.

458
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 3: I do remember that story, and I was hoping you

459
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,760
Speaker 3: wouldn't remind me of it, quite honestly, because the image

460
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,719
Speaker 3: of that is it's a little overwhelming right now. And

461
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:04,640
Speaker 3: have you ever gone back to get it doney down?

462
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,000
Speaker 1: But I got my ears waxed after that, so I've

463
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 1: had my nose and my ear Eddie gets it done

464
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:11,800
Speaker 1: every two weeks.

465
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:14,439
Speaker 2: I mean, seriously, who does that.

466
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 3: He's he's a diva. I mean, let's be real. I

467
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,960
Speaker 3: mean he is a bit of a diva. And you know,

468
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,640
Speaker 3: I'm sure he's getting Manny's and petties as well as

469
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 3: all that and facial and you name it. But I

470
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,160
Speaker 3: particularly like for him that as he's going gray, it's

471
00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 3: really half his head at a time, right, So he'll

472
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 3: point out that half his head is gray, the other

473
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:41,680
Speaker 3: half is not. And so he's a little conflicted, it seems,

474
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,160
Speaker 3: with his hair because he's not sure which direction that's

475
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 3: gonna end up going.

476
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 4: Yeah, my wife, Emily, when we were at my dad's

477
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 4: Cooperstown induction weekend in twenty twenty two, met Mirba. His

478
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,159
Speaker 4: beautiful wife was just I mean, Emily, my wife just

479
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,119
Speaker 4: chin on the floor like all of us. So I

480
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 4: think if any of us were married to Miraba, we

481
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:04,879
Speaker 4: would be waxing our ears and our nose and getting

482
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:06,679
Speaker 4: manny's and petties just to try to keep on.

483
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:13,360
Speaker 3: We would do whatever Merva. I mean, let's be honest here.

484
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,560
Speaker 3: I mean, she is the boss, no doubt, there's no question. Yeah.

485
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 1: And she's an engineer, and she's a lawyer, and she's

486
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:23,760
Speaker 1: married to Eduardo, which.

487
00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 2: Just makes me laugh out loud.

488
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,119
Speaker 1: So, Steve, you say all the time on the morning

489
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: radio show, if you had a different first name, like

490
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,400
Speaker 1: if you were Dante Phillips, or something really cool like.

491
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:38,080
Speaker 3: That Kipedas might go to.

492
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:40,920
Speaker 2: But but what wait, your go to is what.

493
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 3: Philip? Remember what I mean? My mom and dad did

494
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 3: not get the name game, and Jeff, clearly your parents

495
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,520
Speaker 3: didn't get it either. No, I mean, because there's a

496
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:59,720
Speaker 3: way to like a Xavier's son's name is Xavion Jet,

497
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,320
Speaker 3: Like that kid's going to be fast, he's going to

498
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,160
Speaker 3: be an athlete, He's going to be a pig leaguer,

499
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,439
Speaker 3: There's no question about it. Steve was not going to

500
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 3: lead me to great success in life, you know. But

501
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 3: why would I think otherwise? Because my mom's name is

502
00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,120
Speaker 3: Phillis Phillips, So you would have thought when she met

503
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 3: my dad that, oh yeah, well Jerry, Oh nice meet Jerry.

504
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,119
Speaker 3: What's your last Phillips. She'd be like, I'm out, Like

505
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,960
Speaker 3: I can't go through life Phyllis Phillips. She married him anyway,

506
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:30,160
Speaker 3: I mean, what is she thinking?

507
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,399
Speaker 1: You said out of the air the other day, Steve,

508
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,439
Speaker 1: that your mom called and said, hey, you had a

509
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 1: really get nice suit on the other day, but boy,

510
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: you look tired.

511
00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:38,640
Speaker 2: Did that that upset you?

512
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 3: Right? It did? So she called up she said, you're

513
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,919
Speaker 3: not driving home right now? Back to Connecticut. Are you

514
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 3: I go, well, actually I am. She goes, I'm really

515
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 3: concerned because you looked really tired on TV. And I

516
00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 3: told Eduardo that and I said, oh, thanks, Ma, and

517
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 3: and Wardo said, she just was trying to tell you

518
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 3: looked old. You know, the bags under your You're looking

519
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:05,000
Speaker 3: old right now. And the thing is, I mean when

520
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,199
Speaker 3: my dad turned sixty, I thought he was old. So

521
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 3: when you turn sixty, I'm sixty two. It's hard to

522
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 3: run away from that when you proclaimed the label on

523
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,119
Speaker 3: your dad that you're not old when you turn.

524
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 1: So here's how supportive my mother was. She was the

525
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 1: greatest mom ever. I played in an old dog basketball

526
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,360
Speaker 1: league for years. This is when you're sixty years old,

527
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 1: you're playing with a bunch of old guys. It was

528
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,400
Speaker 1: a really good league, by the way, not important. So

529
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: my mom, who was like ninety three years old, came

530
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 1: to the basketball game with me to watch her sixty

531
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: year old play batht Jeff, I don't even think I

532
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 1: told you this story about Nana what she did. So

533
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,159
Speaker 1: Nna comes to the game and after the game she

534
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 1: says to me, she says, and this, I'm not making

535
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 1: fun of my mother. My mother was the greatest. She goes,

536
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 1: I watched you. You made twenty one shots in a row,

537
00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 1: and I.

538
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 2: Had to say, Nana, I didn't.

539
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 1: I only scored eleven points in the game. I didn't

540
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,200
Speaker 1: make twenty one shots in a row. She was counting

541
00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 1: the layups I made in layup lines. I mean, that's

542
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,879
Speaker 1: how supportive my mother was. Oh my god, cutting me

543
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:14,400
Speaker 1: on layup lines in an old dog line.

544
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 3: I love it. So when I was in the minor leagues,

545
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,240
Speaker 3: i'd go back home to Detroit, and the winter times

546
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:22,560
Speaker 3: can be tough to get workouts and everything else. So

547
00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:25,400
Speaker 3: I used to go to this high school and this

548
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 3: coach there, Jim Teacher would feed me balls in the

549
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 3: machine when he was off between classes in a batting cage.

550
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,400
Speaker 3: And so one day he said, listen, I can't make

551
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 3: it today, but if you can find somebody else, you

552
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,439
Speaker 3: can use the cage. I couldn't find anybody else. My

553
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,000
Speaker 3: mom said, I'll go with you. So my mom comes

554
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 3: with me to the batting cage. Now, she's never been

555
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 3: in a batting cage, she's never put a ball in

556
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,000
Speaker 3: a pitching machine. So so we go in there and

557
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,720
Speaker 3: she grabs a batting helmet and puts it on backwards,

558
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,280
Speaker 3: holds up the ball and goes, hum, baby hum, baby humbady.

559
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:04,159
Speaker 3: Now this is a woman who called uniforms costumes Like

560
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 3: she could say, boys, your costumes are on the line

561
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,280
Speaker 3: in the basement, were like, mom, Mom, Mom, their uniforms.

562
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, right, I forgot that. They're all right, their

563
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 3: uniforms are down there. But yeah, she was. She was

564
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,359
Speaker 3: the one who made, like, you know, eight rounds of

565
00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 3: meals to try to match up with practices and keep

566
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 3: dinner hot and warm for everybody, and certainly supported us

567
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,159
Speaker 3: through our our playing days. Me and my three brothers.

568
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,840
Speaker 4: I God bless your mother, by the way. Four boys,

569
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 4: four athletes.

570
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and I.

571
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 3: Have four boys. I know. I came from a family

572
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 3: of boys and had four boys. So I was like

573
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 3: a walking ex chromosomes the way it works. Yeah.

574
00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 1: The mom that I always think about when it comes

575
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 1: to baseball is Mark Reynolds's mom.

576
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,000
Speaker 2: You remember Mark Renolds.

577
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: Mark Reynolds Jeff was a good player two hundred and

578
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 1: ninety nine homers, really good defensive third basement. His mother

579
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: knew everything about baseball, she really did, and she didn't

580
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,680
Speaker 1: call him costumes. She knew they were uniforms, so he said.

581
00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: He called his mom one day and she's He said

582
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: to him over the phone, how did you miss that

583
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: two oh slider last night?

584
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 3: Yes? Wow, No, that is no baseball now. His summer

585
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 3: league team, as you may know, his summer league team,

586
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 3: Mark Reynolds, was Ryan Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds, BJ Upton, and

587
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 3: David Wright. That was the infield for the summer league

588
00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 3: team in Chesapeake, Virginia. How about that for an infield?

589
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 1: I know that Virginia Beach team, those teams and all

590
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,960
Speaker 1: those guys. We drive right through there on the way

591
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,080
Speaker 1: to the beach. Speaking of that, Steve, did you ever

592
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: go on.

593
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 2: A scouting trip as a general manager and.

594
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 1: You go to see somebody and just like you said,

595
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 1: the game, Clemens got rained out three days in a row.

596
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: Did you ever go see somebody on a scouting trip?

597
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: And because I know there's a story, Joe McIlvaine told

598
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 1: me he went to see a guy on a scouting trip,

599
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: Jeff and the kid. I think it was Jay Gaynor.

600
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: I think it was Jay Gaynor. Not that it's not important,

601
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 1: but the guy was the best player on the team.

602
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:02,240
Speaker 1: He got intentionally walked four times in game, and his pitcher, Jeff,

603
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 1: pitched a perfect game, striking out everyone. So he went

604
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 1: to see a kid who didn't swing the bat. He

605
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,400
Speaker 1: saw him run the bases, but he never caught a

606
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,240
Speaker 1: ball or threw a ball because he had no chances

607
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,800
Speaker 1: and did not get in a bat other than an

608
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:18,640
Speaker 1: intentional walk.

609
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:21,200
Speaker 2: Steve, you know those stories. Did that ever happen to you?

610
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 3: So I went to go watch this my first year

611
00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,800
Speaker 3: in the front office, and they sent me locally in

612
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 3: the New York area to go watch a young man

613
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:33,600
Speaker 3: named Frankie Rodriguez. Now he was a shortstop and a

614
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 3: picker and good end up a first round picking. The

615
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 3: Red Sox took him. They traded him to the Twins later.

616
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 3: But I went there and I came back and I said,

617
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:46,240
Speaker 3: Frankie Rodriguez, I like him. I said, he's going to

618
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,360
Speaker 3: be a first round town. But there's another guy I

619
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 3: saw there, kidnamed Ramirez, Manny Ramirez. I said, that guy,

620
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,800
Speaker 3: that guy is something else like I. That's the guy

621
00:30:56,840 --> 00:30:58,200
Speaker 3: I think we should look at. Now. He was a

622
00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 3: couple of years younger and so and then when Manny

623
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:07,040
Speaker 3: Ramirez was going to be eligible, for the draft. We

624
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 3: used to give this psychological exam with the METS. It

625
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 3: was called the Caliper Test. A gentleman named Herb Greenberg

626
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 3: developed it. It was a sales executive test for salesmen,

627
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 3: and we used it to see about mental toughness, adaptability,

628
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 3: those sorts of things. And we gave Manny Ramirez the test,

629
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 3: and it came back with results that said that he

630
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 3: had low self esteem and that if he got into

631
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 3: a slump, they thought he'd have some difficulty getting out

632
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,480
Speaker 3: of the slump. Now we're in the draft meeting talking

633
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,400
Speaker 3: about Okay, let's see what Herb says about his test. Oh,

634
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 3: he said, if he gets in a slump, he's gonna

635
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:49,479
Speaker 3: have a hard time getting out out of the slump.

636
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 3: And so I'm sitting in the room and I raised

637
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 3: my hand and they're like, Steve, you don't have to

638
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 3: raise your hand. You could just sort of speak up here.

639
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,480
Speaker 3: I said, I don't know, like I saw him, I

640
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 3: don't think he's ever going to go into a slump.

641
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,479
Speaker 3: So you won't have to worry about his confidence because

642
00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,840
Speaker 3: he's like, I don't think you have to worry about it.

643
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 3: We would not have taken him if he was there

644
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 3: in the draft for US. Now, fortunately the Indians at

645
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 3: the time Cleveland drafted him ahead of us, but if

646
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 3: he had been there, we would not have taken him.

647
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 3: I think we took Jeremy Brinets that year, but we

648
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 3: would not have taken Manny Ramirez because of that test.

649
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 3: And so when I took over as general manager years later,

650
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:35,480
Speaker 3: first thing I did is do away with the test.

651
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm like, I mean, look at the guy.

652
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:42,960
Speaker 3: He should be a Hall of Famer. And then we

653
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 3: had another one where another kid took the test. It

654
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 3: was the worst test we've ever seen. The guy said,

655
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 3: worst test I've ever seen, like serial killer bad bad,

656
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 3: I mean really bad. Now, and all of the executives

657
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 3: thought that can't be true. Because in nineteen eighty nine,

658
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 3: we the earthquake hit in California. This young man helped

659
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,400
Speaker 3: the scout get all of our executives out of the

660
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 3: hotel after the earthquake in San Francisco. And so they

661
00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:10,920
Speaker 3: liked him, and they're like, there's no way this kid

662
00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 3: is not And so they said, well he's dyslexic, let's

663
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 3: let him retake the test and we'll have the scout

664
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:20,440
Speaker 3: read the answers and it came back this is the

665
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:25,000
Speaker 3: greatest test result we've ever seen. This kid is amazing,

666
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 3: and so we draft him. Two years later, I'm sitting

667
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 3: in office in Port Saint Lucy, Florida, and after he

668
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 3: handed me the gun, I said, I'm gonna give you

669
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 3: an hour to go check out of the hotel. You're released.

670
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,240
Speaker 3: You go check out of the hotel, but I'm going

671
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:43,760
Speaker 3: to call the police and turn in the gun. So

672
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,960
Speaker 3: you got to go. And so maybe the test was right,

673
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:50,400
Speaker 3: because it was. He was not a great guy. And

674
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 3: and but I'm like, you know, we can't rely upon this.

675
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 3: Let's like, let's find out about the players instead of

676
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 3: like putting a number two pencil in their hand and

677
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 3: letting that be the thing that dictates whether a guy

678
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,400
Speaker 3: is confident or it was a good citizen and that

679
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,560
Speaker 3: sort of thing. So there's a lot of stories.

680
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 1: Wait, Steve, he brought a gun to your office.

681
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:12,919
Speaker 3: Yeah, he had a gun. And he brought a gun

682
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 3: to spring training with him. He had it in the

683
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 3: clubhouse and I heard about it, so I said, go

684
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,719
Speaker 3: get the gun. And then I was like, maybe I

685
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,359
Speaker 3: should actually have somebody in the room with me, just

686
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 3: in case at the time. But yeah, so he actually

687
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 3: brought the hand of me the gun and then I

688
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,719
Speaker 3: released him. I was smart enough to release him after

689
00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 3: I got the gun, though he actually made it to

690
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:35,600
Speaker 3: the big leagues.

691
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:43,799
Speaker 1: Really, but Steve, let's go back to many rivers for

692
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:45,719
Speaker 1: a minute. You mean to tell me that if you

693
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,440
Speaker 1: had stood up at the podium and somebody had asked you,

694
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,120
Speaker 1: why did you not pick Manny Ramirez, you would have

695
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: said low self esteem.

696
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was the I was the administrative assistant for

697
00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 3: minor leagues and scouting, so I was the new guy

698
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 3: in the room, you know, and and and you know,

699
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 3: all the old time scouts were kind of like, you know,

700
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,160
Speaker 3: they give all the reports that rave them being all right,

701
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,560
Speaker 3: let's see what herb says about the player, and then

702
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,720
Speaker 3: the test results really dictated a lot of the decision

703
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 3: making about how we line guys up. And I was like, no,

704
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:21,840
Speaker 3: take the best players, use the information to tell you

705
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 3: how to manage the player, because they're not all milk

706
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 3: drinkers at the major league level. And you know, our

707
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:30,479
Speaker 3: job is to get the most talented players and figure

708
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 3: out how to manage the players together to put a

709
00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:35,400
Speaker 3: team together. We had a lot of really nice guys

710
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,279
Speaker 3: in the organization. Back then, they just couldn't play as much.

711
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:40,839
Speaker 4: Steve, I have a question about the trade deadline. I've

712
00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,920
Speaker 4: always wanted to ask a general manager this question. One

713
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:45,759
Speaker 4: of my favorite movies of all time, like a lot

714
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,640
Speaker 4: of baseball fans, is Moneyball. I think it's one of

715
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,440
Speaker 4: the smartest, most beautifully told stories. It's so incredible, and

716
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,720
Speaker 4: I'm always taken back to the scene of the trade

717
00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 4: deadline and get the twins on the line, get this,

718
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,359
Speaker 4: that and the other putting people on hold. Me called

719
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 4: him really fast, let me see him make a three

720
00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,200
Speaker 4: way deal. Oh, you don't really want that guy? Is

721
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,520
Speaker 4: that really how it goes? Is it that crazy where

722
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,040
Speaker 4: you're on the phone with like four different gms?

723
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was then. Now everybody texts, but back then

724
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,759
Speaker 3: we actually talked to each other. And you know, it

725
00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 3: was so funny because Billy Bean would always call my

726
00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 3: executive at my office. My executive assistant would answer, and

727
00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 3: Billy would go, Hey, it's Billy, your favorite most good

728
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,239
Speaker 3: looking general manager, and so you know, he would sort

729
00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:34,120
Speaker 3: of flirt with her and then he'd get through and

730
00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:37,640
Speaker 3: so like, and so the movie Moneyball what's interesting about

731
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:41,040
Speaker 3: it is it really told one side of the story, right,

732
00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,360
Speaker 3: and so the writer only sat with Billy knowing his motivations,

733
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 3: his interest and so you know Ricardo rincon at the

734
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 3: time left handed reliever. Billy wanted to get him. I

735
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,080
Speaker 3: wanted to get rin Carter Ridcone, and I wanted to

736
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,160
Speaker 3: gauge where Billy was. In the meantime, Billy was trying

737
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,480
Speaker 3: to dump Matt Venafro on me because you wanted to

738
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 3: clear the spot on his roster. So I would listen

739
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 3: on Ventifro, but I was really trying to gather information

740
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:09,239
Speaker 3: about how aggressive he was and going after Rincona at

741
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:11,680
Speaker 3: the time. But the writer doesn't know that side of

742
00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:13,920
Speaker 3: the story, right, And so you know, I would tell

743
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,800
Speaker 3: you that movie. The thing that hurt me the most

744
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,080
Speaker 3: was Art How might be the nice one of the

745
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,359
Speaker 3: nicest people I've ever met my entire life. Art How

746
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 3: is such a gentleman, and it made him out like

747
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,759
Speaker 3: a curmudgeon. That is the furthest thing from who he

748
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,279
Speaker 3: was as a person. He literally is one of the

749
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:31,399
Speaker 3: nicest people I've ever met.

750
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:35,759
Speaker 1: And Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the part of Art How

751
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 1: Jeff Art was a good major league player and played

752
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: quarterback in college.

753
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 2: And we sorry.

754
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 1: That that that that's just that is just ridiculous.

755
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:49,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, it wasn't right now, not at all. No, but

756
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:51,640
Speaker 3: Billy Bean didn't mind how he was cast, Like who

757
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,280
Speaker 3: wouldn't want I mean, tim when they play your life,

758
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:55,880
Speaker 3: you know the story of your life. I mean I

759
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,919
Speaker 3: was assuming Brad Pitt will play the role, won't each

760
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:00,120
Speaker 3: for you?

761
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,440
Speaker 2: Get this? I got asked one day.

762
00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 1: The guy didn't know who I was. I was at

763
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:07,920
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated and he was confused.

764
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,799
Speaker 2: But he came up to me and he said, are

765
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:10,799
Speaker 2: you Jay Horowitz?

766
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:18,520
Speaker 1: That's what he said, the greatest PR man in the

767
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,239
Speaker 1: history of PR man?

768
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:22,760
Speaker 2: How big is his head? Steve?

769
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:26,680
Speaker 1: Is it bigger than Bruce Bochie's head.

770
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:28,360
Speaker 3: Strap?

771
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:30,600
Speaker 2: I got a big kick out of that.

772
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 1: And Ozzie Gean once told me that I look like

773
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:38,440
Speaker 1: h how Howard's Howie Spira, the guy who was like

774
00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:42,400
Speaker 1: the guy who turned Dave Winfield into I had right, So.

775
00:38:42,560 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 2: Jay Horowitz, how We Spira? Those are two people that

776
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:47,440
Speaker 2: people think I look like.

777
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's not true.

778
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,120
Speaker 4: I've got Brad Hey well, Steve on Speaking of Twitter.

779
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 4: On Twitter, one somebody wrote man. If they ever did

780
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,600
Speaker 4: a story about the life of Tim Kirkshin, Steve Carrell

781
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:04,040
Speaker 4: could play Tim Kirkchen, but like a much much older

782
00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:06,960
Speaker 4: version of And we find out Steve Carell is like

783
00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:08,839
Speaker 4: five years younger than my dad.

784
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 1: The exact tweet Steve was, Tim Kirkchen looks like what

785
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,120
Speaker 1: Steve Carrell's gonna look like when.

786
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:18,200
Speaker 2: He gets really, really old.

787
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 1: Thank you Twitter for that. Hey, going back to the

788
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 1: GMS for a minute. You told me once, Jim bow

789
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,440
Speaker 1: what was Jim Boden.

790
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:30,400
Speaker 2: Like to deal with during the winter meetings and trade deadline?

791
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 2: Tell us that story.

792
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim Bowden, I would, I would go home for

793
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 3: the deadline. I'd commit in the morning and I listen

794
00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:41,360
Speaker 3: to my voicemail and at two in the morning, message

795
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,200
Speaker 3: am Steve, Jim Bowden, Steve, call me back. I'm going

796
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 3: to make you Executive of the Year. I got a

797
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:49,279
Speaker 3: deal for you, and you know, and then it was

798
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 3: like three minor leaguers he was going to give me

799
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,040
Speaker 3: for Mike Piazza, And I'm like, how is this going

800
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,439
Speaker 3: to work out for me in this way? But yeah,

801
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,600
Speaker 3: he was. He was. Listen. When you listen to him,

802
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:03,200
Speaker 3: it's real, like there's no He is authentic as authentic

803
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 3: could be. Here's always himself when he does the media stuff.

804
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,360
Speaker 3: You know, he was the same way as a GM

805
00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:10,880
Speaker 3: and a showman for sure.

806
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 1: Jeff, just ask Steve about music for me, please. Jeff

807
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,440
Speaker 1: is a music show host in every morning in Philadelphia.

808
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:22,279
Speaker 1: Country music. I don't call it country western anymore. He

809
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 1: corrected me enough times where now I know it's called

810
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:29,720
Speaker 1: country music. But ask Steve about music for me please.

811
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,520
Speaker 4: Now Dad is teeing me up in a sort of

812
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 4: way where he also told me that I don't know

813
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 4: who knows less about.

814
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,360
Speaker 2: Music, Tim or Steve and so.

815
00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,200
Speaker 4: But when you're this passionate about one thing like my

816
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:45,520
Speaker 4: dad is, we used to say as kids, you know,

817
00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:48,280
Speaker 4: the only things Dad is good at is baseball, mowing

818
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:49,560
Speaker 4: the lawn, and feeding the dogs.

819
00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 2: That was like, that's all Dad could do.

820
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:54,920
Speaker 3: It's all the brain space I have for it. So

821
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,959
Speaker 3: they played a Bruce Now was a Billy Joel song

822
00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:01,240
Speaker 3: coming in today? And they said, oh, you know, playing

823
00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 3: Billy Joey? Like, was that who that was? No? I

824
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,040
Speaker 3: knew it was Billy Joel, but they actually came back

825
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:07,799
Speaker 3: to me later it's like, wait, wait, we just want

826
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 3: to check. You didn't know that was Billy Joel. They're like, yeah,

827
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 3: I know Billy Joe. But they now do not ever

828
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,080
Speaker 3: assume anything from me about my musical knowledge.

829
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:19,719
Speaker 4: That is the last concert you ever went to?

830
00:41:20,040 --> 00:41:23,880
Speaker 3: Oh U. So I actually have been to quite a

831
00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:27,360
Speaker 3: few concerts lately. I saw James Taylor rust year in

832
00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,600
Speaker 3: concert and got my picture taken with him, and and

833
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,840
Speaker 3: and the next day had COVID And I think I

834
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:40,799
Speaker 3: might have given Jake Perrett com I'm sure of it

835
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,160
Speaker 3: because I ended up with it the next day, sick

836
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:45,160
Speaker 3: as could be. So I'm assuming he had to have

837
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 3: gotten sick too somewhere along the webs.

838
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:48,560
Speaker 2: And I've seen rain.

839
00:41:48,800 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Steve, that's terrible. Steve will finish with

840
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 1: this though, At least I'll finish with this. They make

841
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,400
Speaker 1: fun of you all the time on the radio, just

842
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 1: like people make fun of me all day time.

843
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,120
Speaker 2: I'm an easy target. I get it.

844
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 1: But what is it about you that allows you to

845
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:09,880
Speaker 1: accept things like that and have a good chuckle with yourself?

846
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:11,880
Speaker 2: Where did that come from?

847
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:15,760
Speaker 3: You know what? I just you know, in New York,

848
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:17,799
Speaker 3: one of the things I realized is you can't take

849
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:24,719
Speaker 3: yourself too seriously. And you know, I think that that look.

850
00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:27,480
Speaker 3: Eduardo's a brother to me, like he's a brother like

851
00:42:27,520 --> 00:42:30,160
Speaker 3: he is to you. Xavier is a brother to me.

852
00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 3: Our producers are like brothers, and so, you know, we

853
00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,080
Speaker 3: sort of make fun of ourselves. We kind of tease

854
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,960
Speaker 3: each other, and and I think for a morning show,

855
00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:42,359
Speaker 3: that's kind of the way it. You know, people want

856
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:46,040
Speaker 3: to have fun and we'll talk serious baseball, but we

857
00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,560
Speaker 3: just really want people to know we like each other.

858
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:52,120
Speaker 3: And it's really guys hanging around talking, which we would

859
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,400
Speaker 3: be doing if we weren't talking about baseball, because we

860
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,920
Speaker 3: really do like each other. And so yeah, I figured

861
00:42:57,920 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 3: it's easier to be the butt of the joke. It's

862
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:02,360
Speaker 3: kind of like Eminem Marshall Mathers, I think is a

863
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,160
Speaker 3: good job. We used to go to eight Mile and

864
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:06,640
Speaker 3: beat those kids up. By the way, when I grew

865
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:08,680
Speaker 3: up in Detroit, that was the suburbs, Like he makes

866
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:11,239
Speaker 3: it like he was from a tough area. That was

867
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:13,280
Speaker 3: we beat those kids up. I lived in the city

868
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,759
Speaker 3: back then. But they're in the movie eight Mile. He

869
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,000
Speaker 3: has this wrap off and he you know what they

870
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:21,759
Speaker 3: do is they sort of take shots at each other.

871
00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,919
Speaker 3: So what he does his character is he takes every

872
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,680
Speaker 3: shot at himself, and the other guy had nothing left

873
00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,000
Speaker 3: to get on him about. And so that's kind of

874
00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,439
Speaker 3: the way. I figure, let me get on myself, which

875
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,759
Speaker 3: means nothing for anybody else to have to jump on

876
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,000
Speaker 3: me about. Yet they still seem to find something.

877
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: Steve, thanks so much for joining us. We took way

878
00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:42,040
Speaker 1: too much of your time. I don't think we asked

879
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: one single question about the trade deadline specifically, but I

880
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:49,960
Speaker 1: figure you've been asked those questions ten million times in

881
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,520
Speaker 1: the last forty eight hours, so we just thought we'd

882
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 1: take a rest. We'll do that in the next time

883
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:55,920
Speaker 1: we have you on.

884
00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:58,359
Speaker 3: Happy to do it anytime you guys need.

885
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:00,799
Speaker 4: I'd much rather hear about the disease. Is you've given

886
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 4: very famous artists.

887
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,759
Speaker 2: I think that's way more interesting. Stem Phillips, everybody.

888
00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:08,440
Speaker 4: Thank you.