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Speaker 1: From the Berkshars to the sound from wherever you live

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: voter number eight s Rob Parker. Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 1: We have a great podcast for you today. Coming up,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk with the former Major league outfielder Matt Holiday.

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Speaker 1: He'll talk about some of the great storylines that we

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Speaker 1: have coming up in the one season. Also j R.

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Speaker 1: Gamble from the Shadow League. He'll break down some of

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Speaker 1: the exciting players we need to keep an eye on

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Speaker 1: in the upcoming season. That's right, it's Inside the Parker.

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Speaker 1: Let's go to lead off. It's getting robbed and keep

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Speaker 1: him on. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories

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Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. Number one. That's right. The seven

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Speaker 1: greatest words in the English language were uttered all over

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Speaker 1: baseball America on Wednesday. Pictures and Catchers report the spring training. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we know this snow on the ground all over the country.

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Speaker 1: We know the weather is terrible, the powers out in Texas.

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Speaker 1: But we know spring is coming. We know baseball is coming.

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Speaker 1: This is the day we all wait for after the

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Speaker 1: Super Bowl in February, when pictures and catchers show up

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Speaker 1: to Florida and Arizona and get ready for yet another season.

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Speaker 1: This will not be an abbreviated sixty game season as

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Speaker 1: we had yes last year in the pandemic. We'll have

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Speaker 1: more of a regular season, a lot of baseball to

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Speaker 1: be played. There's a chance that fans could be in

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Speaker 1: the stands at some point during this baseball season. There

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Speaker 1: have been some player movement. Some teams like the Dodgers

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Speaker 1: got richer, teams like the Padres improved. We we have

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Speaker 1: so much to look forward to and I can't wait.

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Speaker 1: We'll be bringing you this podcast. Of course, once the

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Speaker 1: regular season starts. Every week it's your baseball fix and

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Speaker 1: you don't want to miss it. Number two season will

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Speaker 1: definitely be a season of adjustments on the field. This spring,

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Speaker 1: National League Pictures will again pick up the bat. Expectations

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Speaker 1: are that the UH universal d H will not n

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Speaker 1: ot apply, and that's unless somehow the MLB and MLB

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Speaker 1: Players Association bring the issue back and put it on

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Speaker 1: the table and decide before opening day. But for right now,

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Speaker 1: it will not happen and The other thing that we're

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Speaker 1: gonna see is Florida teams will play more regionalized schedule

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Speaker 1: in spring training than in past years. Uh. Managers can

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Speaker 1: agree to shorten exhibition games. Uh if nine innings are

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Speaker 1: deemed necessary. That's something else that will happen. We will

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Speaker 1: once again see UM runners put on second base for

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Speaker 1: extra innings. Uh. We'll see that will also. Uh that's

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Speaker 1: something that you know we have to wait. Doubleheaders will

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Speaker 1: be seven innings. UH. So they're leaving that open again

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Speaker 1: just in case we have games that are canceled or

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Speaker 1: postponed because of COVID. But you'll need a full pitching

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Speaker 1: staff because we're expected to play UM closer to the

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty two games after just playing the sixty.

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Speaker 1: So there's a lot of different things that are happening,

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Speaker 1: but for the most part, it will be baseball as usual.

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Speaker 1: It'll be different, UM, and people are excited to uh

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Speaker 1: get back to more of a regular season. We just

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Speaker 1: kind of wet our appetite last year, but this will

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Speaker 1: be full blown and we can't wait. Number three. Last thing,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna bring a little damper on the celebration of

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Speaker 1: the return of baseball and spring training. David Ortiz recently

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Speaker 1: spoke on why baseball is hard for him to watch,

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Speaker 1: and he's talking about the current way the game is played,

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Speaker 1: and he was quoted recently as saying, quote to me,

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Speaker 1: it's messed up. The game has changed a lot. Coaches

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Speaker 1: only want kids to hit home runs and that's all

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Speaker 1: they practice. To him, he's saying end quote. Or Teaz

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Speaker 1: is saying that the game has just become strikeouts and

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Speaker 1: home runs, which is boring to him, and I think

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Speaker 1: he has a point. We have reached a point where

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Speaker 1: baseball is too two dimensional. Guys are swinging for the fences.

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Speaker 1: It is about home runs, strikeouts. People don't seem to

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Speaker 1: be bothered by it anymore. And this too looks a

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Speaker 1: lot like the NBA, where it's all about the three pointers.

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Speaker 1: The mid range game is done. Small ball in baseball

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Speaker 1: is done. I think Big Poppy has a point that

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Speaker 1: we need to get back to some of the you know,

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Speaker 1: fundamentals of baseball, moving guys over hitting run stolen basis.

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Speaker 1: I would love to see a return to that. I

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Speaker 1: get the stack geeks, I get the analytics, but I'm

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Speaker 1: with Big Poppy on this. Just watching guys strike out

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Speaker 1: and hit home runs is really not fun. Number four,

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Speaker 1: it's all over, It's all done. On Wednesday, the New

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Speaker 1: York Mets announced that outfield that Tim Tebow was retiring

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Speaker 1: from pro baseball. That's right, at thirty three. Team Tebow

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Speaker 1: was gonna throw in the towel. He uh signed with

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Speaker 1: the Mets back in ten, participated in instructional League. Remember,

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Speaker 1: he even hit a home run in his first at

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Speaker 1: bat in the game against the St. Louis Cardinals. People

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Speaker 1: went crazy. People were buying his jerseys like crazy for

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Speaker 1: a guy who never even made it to the forty

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Speaker 1: wasn't even on the forty man roster. And yet when

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Speaker 1: it all was over, in three professional seasons, Tim Tebow

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Speaker 1: batted two twenty three with a hundred and seven runs,

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Speaker 1: scored forty eight doubles, three triples, eighteen home runs, and

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Speaker 1: a hundred and seven rb I. That was in two

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Speaker 1: hundred and eighties seven games, and he didn't make it.

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Speaker 1: He wound up being a two time loser, not being

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Speaker 1: able to make it as a quarterback in the NFL

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Speaker 1: and not being able to make it to the major

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Speaker 1: leagues for even one at bat. The Mets had flirted

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Speaker 1: with the idea of bringing him up when they were bad,

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Speaker 1: but decided that they would not do it. So there

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Speaker 1: it is Tim Tebow un with baseball number five. On

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Speaker 1: the day when pitchers and catchers showed up for spring training,

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Speaker 1: the biggest news in baseball was again Fernando Tattoos Jr.

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Speaker 1: The superstar, most exciting player in the league. And it

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Speaker 1: wasn't about his play on the field. It was about

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Speaker 1: a fourteen year, three hundred and forty million dollar contract extension.

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Speaker 1: You heard it right. Fourteen years, three hundred and forty million.

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Speaker 1: That's what's being reported. Robert Murray of of Fans Side

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Speaker 1: is reporting that the deal is worth that amount of

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Speaker 1: money in just two seasons. I mean this has unheard of.

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Speaker 1: Tattoos has definitely uh skyrocketed to a superstar with the

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Speaker 1: swag and the home run and this play at shortstop.

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Speaker 1: I mean he has transcended the padres into must see

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Speaker 1: uh TV. He of course, is the son of former

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Speaker 1: Major League third basement for the hand O Tattoos, But

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Speaker 1: my goodness, he burst onto the scene in twenty nineteen

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Speaker 1: as a rookie bat at three seventeen twenty two home

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Speaker 1: runs a fifty three RBIs and UH last year got

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Speaker 1: the Padres in the playoffs was unbelievable. Bat at two

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Speaker 1: seventy seven, seventeen home runs, forty five runs, batted in,

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Speaker 1: eleven steals, fifty runs scored, and that was in fifty

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Speaker 1: nine games. He was clearly an n L m VP candidate.

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Speaker 1: And you know what, kudos to the Padres. Don't let

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Speaker 1: your guy get away. He is gonna be a Padre

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Speaker 1: for a long time to come. What a great deal

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Speaker 1: for the Padres to lock up their superstar and not

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Speaker 1: let anyone Adam. I love this for both Tattoos Jr.

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Speaker 1: And I love this for the Padres. Here comes the

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Speaker 1: big interview. Listen Headler good, All right, now, let's welcome

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Speaker 1: into the podcast Matt hollow Day, the former outfielder who

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Speaker 1: was an unbelievable record machine in his Major League career

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Speaker 1: with the bad. Of course, he played for Colorado, the

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Speaker 1: as St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees won a championship

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Speaker 1: in twenty eleven with the Cardinals, and UH had over

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Speaker 1: two thousand hits, battered over three hundred eight times. We

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Speaker 1: could go on and on and on. Matt, Welcome to

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Speaker 1: the podcast. Hey, thanks for Rob. Thanks for having me,

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Speaker 1: no doubt. I always call St. Louis the baseball capital

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Speaker 1: of the United States. There's some great baseball towns like

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Speaker 1: New York and like Boston and like l A. But

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Speaker 1: there's something about St. Louis. How did you enjoy playing there?

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Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. Like you said, it's it's uh,

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Speaker 1: it's the most important thing in town. You know. I

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Speaker 1: think that when you talk about New York and Boston

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Speaker 1: great sports towns. L a great sports towns. Um. But

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Speaker 1: really I think the Cardinals in St. Louis and and

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Speaker 1: kind of the I think in the whole area, uh

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Speaker 1: is just you know, people are Cardinal crazy. So it

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Speaker 1: was it was a great experience as a as a

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Speaker 1: kind of a you know, I grew up in baseball

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Speaker 1: and my dad was a coach. I grew up in Oklahoma,

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Speaker 1: which isn't far Um, just to uh just kind of

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Speaker 1: a baseball nut, and then to get a chance to

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Speaker 1: play for an organization like that, and then to play

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Speaker 1: in front of those fans, it gets to be a

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Speaker 1: Cardinal for seven plus years. I truly it was a blessing,

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Speaker 1: no doubt. And the Cardinals are always trying to win.

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Speaker 1: That's what I love about that organization. They always are

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Speaker 1: trying to win. An organization that one Matt, I want

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Speaker 1: to talk about some The twenty one Spring training is

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Speaker 1: started and here we are. Another baseball season is coming quickly.

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Speaker 1: The Dodgers, of course, won the World Series for the

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Speaker 1: first time since they picked up Trevor Bauer, who won

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Speaker 1: the National League. Uh side, young, Are the Dodgers even

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Speaker 1: better this year? You know, I can't imagine that they're

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be any worse. Um, you know, I think

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Speaker 1: that when I look at their lineup. Uh, they got

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Speaker 1: Turner back, which is helpful. But their lineup is a

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Speaker 1: little bit young and a little bit sin on the

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Speaker 1: back side, I think, in my opinion. But it's hard

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Speaker 1: to argue against their pitching. You know, I think that

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Speaker 1: they're starting pitching in particular when you add Bauer. Uh,

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Speaker 1: is this strong or stronger than everybody else? I think

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Speaker 1: their depth, you know, David he didn't pitch last year.

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Speaker 1: David Price. Yeah, so they have the pitching. I think

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Speaker 1: even when you look at Dustin May and and Uh,

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Speaker 1: they have a couple of young guys that that most

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Speaker 1: teams would be would try to give an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: to start in the rotation. Um, that are waiting, so

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Speaker 1: you have depth at the rotation, which you know sometimes

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Speaker 1: you need. There's gonna be injuries, there's gonna be guys misstarts,

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Speaker 1: and when you have that kind of depth, that separates

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Speaker 1: them for me from everybody else. But um, I think

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Speaker 1: that when you have an ownership group that's got that

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Speaker 1: kind of money and they're extremely competitive. Uh, they go

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Speaker 1: out and they signed Boer after they win the World Series.

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Speaker 1: They don't just say, well, we're you know, we've got

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Speaker 1: David Price coming back and we've got a couple of

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Speaker 1: young guys that need, you know, an opportunity that that

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Speaker 1: aren't making any money, that won't be able to plug

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Speaker 1: into the rotation. But they said no, and they keep

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Speaker 1: spending money and they keep trying to win the World

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Speaker 1: Series and uh, you know, responding to what the Padres

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Speaker 1: are doing. So um it's it's gonna be a very

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Speaker 1: good team and a very interesting nationally West, no doubt.

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Speaker 1: The flip side is the Tampa Bay Rays. They make

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Speaker 1: it to the World Series last year, they lose to

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Speaker 1: the Dodgers in six games, and the guy on the

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Speaker 1: mound who was pitching his butt off Blake Snell, who

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Speaker 1: has a very manageable contract gets dealt to the Padres.

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Speaker 1: If you're a Tampa Bay Rays fan, I mean, Matt,

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Speaker 1: this gotta hurt you, right, that they gave up their Rays. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean I think if you're a Tampa Bay Rays fan,

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Speaker 1: you start to expect some of these things, right, I think, Um, yes,

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Speaker 1: at a a manageable contract and a guy that's young,

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Speaker 1: who's had you know, several really really good seasons, I

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Speaker 1: think it's definitely disappointing. I do think that Tampa Bay

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Speaker 1: has earned a little bit of credit with their fan

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Speaker 1: base and that they consistently are turning things over and

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Speaker 1: trading some of their best players. But they're they're doing

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Speaker 1: a really good job of of getting good young prospects

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Speaker 1: in return, uh that keep them afloat in that market.

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Speaker 1: So I think it it Obviously it stings, and probably

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Speaker 1: will will have an effect this year. But I think

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Speaker 1: in their minds they probably got some return that will

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Speaker 1: allow them to continue to compete with a lower salary. Uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, with a lower continuing to operate on a

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Speaker 1: budget that's lower than everybody else. Um. So I I

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Speaker 1: guess I'm not surprised that they did that, just knowing

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Speaker 1: how they operate and and how much they rely on

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Speaker 1: numbers and what they kind of expect probably out of

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Speaker 1: Snell and what they got in return. So um, it's

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Speaker 1: frustrating its fan, I'm sure, But like I said, I

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Speaker 1: think that we all understand who the Tampa Bay Rays

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Speaker 1: are and that they trade their best players when they

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Speaker 1: get you know, gonna get closer to free agencies. All Right, Matt,

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Speaker 1: thanks for joining the podcast. We appreciate it. When Rob

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Speaker 1: was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto. If

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

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Speaker 1: older new all right, now, let's welcome into the podcast.

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Speaker 1: J R. Gamble, senior writer and editor at the Shadow

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Speaker 1: League dot com, a baseball expert, one of my favorite people. Man,

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Speaker 1: can you believe it? Spring training is upon us? And

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Speaker 1: I don't know about you, but I am excited. I'm

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Speaker 1: excited too. I'm excited for another year of podcast, and

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Speaker 1: I'm baseball and actually up close to what will be

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Speaker 1: a full season, no no doubt about it, not an

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Speaker 1: abbreviated season like last year. All Right, I figured we

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Speaker 1: need to talk to you and figure out give me

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Speaker 1: four or five players that we need to be on

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Speaker 1: the lookout for. In the one baseball season. Number four

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Speaker 1: Toronto Blue Jay's free agent acquisitions sent to field the

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Speaker 1: George Springer. Uh, you know, the former World Series m VP.

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Speaker 1: He wanted out of Houston and he basically wanted to

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Speaker 1: get away from the stains of the cheating scandal that

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Speaker 1: haunted the franchise. So now Springs considered Toronto's biggest free

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Speaker 1: agents acquisition since Roger Clemens. And I'm interested to find

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Speaker 1: out if he can elevate Toronto to contender status because

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Speaker 1: they've been building towards that. UM. He should be a

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Speaker 1: great influence on their young rising stars and second generation ballers.

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Speaker 1: Bothachette and vlad Gurero Jr. And very excited to see

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Speaker 1: Springer in the Al East. Number three Tampa Bay Ray's

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Speaker 1: outfielder Randy A. Rosarina. Last spring training, nobody knew who

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Speaker 1: this kid was, but the MLB COVID season produced several

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Speaker 1: young superstars rob and he was one of them, breaking

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Speaker 1: out and looking like Miguel Cabrera in the playoffs. In

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Speaker 1: the World Series of Rosarina went a two three home

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Speaker 1: runs UM. In twenty postseason games, he slashed three seventy

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Speaker 1: seven ft two and a thirty one slugging with ten homers,

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Speaker 1: so I'm naturally interested to see what he does over

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Speaker 1: a hundred fifty four game season with the league adjusting

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Speaker 1: to him. He won't sneak up on anyone this time.

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Speaker 1: Number two. Number two with Seattle Mariner's outfielder Kyle Lewis,

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Speaker 1: another Black night Um. Seattle has more black players than

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Speaker 1: any team in baseball, and the twenty five year old

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Speaker 1: Lewis is probably the best of them. I'm looking forward

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Speaker 1: to seeing how the multitude player elevates his game in

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Speaker 1: year three of his Mariner's rebuild. Um Elevin Holme runs

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Speaker 1: this season ties for the big league lead among rookies.

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Speaker 1: He also lets a rookies in everything rob ward total basis, times,

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Speaker 1: on base run scored, on base percentage, making pancakes. He

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Speaker 1: has the talent to be as good as Tory Hunter

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Speaker 1: or Kenny Lofton, but only time will tell. Number one,

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Speaker 1: another second generation Bawler keep Brian Hayes third baseman for

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Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Pirates. Unfortunately, the Pirates are going to be

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Speaker 1: their traditional awful cells, but this one shining light is

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Speaker 1: the third baseman Hayes um. The Pirates finished last year,

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Speaker 1: the sixty game season, with the record of nineteen and

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Speaker 1: forty one, fifteen games out behind the cub But once

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Speaker 1: Hayes came up, he started mashing and flashing that potential

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Speaker 1: gold glove and the team played a little better. So

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Speaker 1: he's providing hope for the future. His dad, Charlie was

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Speaker 1: a heck of a third baseman, and keep Briant is

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Speaker 1: a product of MLB's diversity program and should be even better.

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Speaker 1: His dad I covered in n when he was with

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Speaker 1: the Yankees. Charlie Hayes, great guy, and don't forget he

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Speaker 1: caught the final out of that World Series in Foul Territory.

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Speaker 1: Do you remember that I do, when he leaked up

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Speaker 1: to the sky with both of his legs in a

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Speaker 1: full split in the air. No doubt, one of the

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Speaker 1: memorable moments in baseball history for sure. J R. Gamble

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Speaker 1: from the Shadow League always great information, great stuff. Thank you, Rob,

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Speaker 1: good luck with everything. I'll be soon. In the words

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Speaker 1: of New York TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking

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Speaker 1: you for your time this time until next time. Rob

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Speaker 1: Parker out he can't get it. This could be an

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Speaker 1: inside the parker to see you next week, same bad time,