Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Cards beat Cubs again, NFL Odds & Baseball talk with Tommy Birch

Transcript

Cards beat Cubs again, NFL Odds & Baseball talk with Tommy Birch · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:10
Hi, good afternoon. Welcome to Miller and Condon on
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a Wednesday, the Iowa Sports Radio Network back to Iowa based
0:18
programming here for the next 6 hour block.
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Thank you for starting it with myself, Ken Miller and Trent
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Condon. As we take you until 2:00 here
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today, turn things over the drive at that point.
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Here's what's coming up on our program today.
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We will start out catch up with Tommy Birch, got a number of
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topics with Birchy. We'll do that to kick off the
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guests today. He'll join us at the bottom of
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the hour. The latest on a number of topics
0:43
with Birchie Talk. Major League Baseball, amongst
0:45
other things. 1:00 It's Cappy. It means it's Wednesday, so
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Cappy will start our number 2. The Cubs having a little bit of
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a downturn as far as their success rate.
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The Cardinals have had a lot to say about that.
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Two really entertaining ball games.
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Cardinals have opened my eyes the last couple of nights.
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This is a team that's playing very well right now.
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So we'll talk to Kathy about the Cubs and the Cards.
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I'm sure that'll be popular with him as he hates the Cardinals,
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but we'll talk to Kathy at the bottom or at the top rather of
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our number two. I got a duck out at that point.
1:17
Trent will recap yesterday's Ben McCullum press conference with
1:21
John Bowencamp, who was there, Iowa College, hoops.com,
1:24
Associated Press, etcetera. For Bowencamp, you Cyclone fans,
1:27
Bill Seals will join us tomorrow to recap what he saw and
1:31
witnessed with TJ Otzelberger yesterday as he had a press
1:34
conference as well. So hats off to both of the
1:36
college. The men's college basketball
1:38
coaches are making their teams and their themselves available
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to. I'll fill some column inches and
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some segments on talk radio as we certainly appreciate that
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Baseball last night Chase Burns new Cincinnati Reds pitcher boys
1:53
worth the price that I didn't pay anything other than the MLB
1:57
DIRECTV what are they called? Major League Baseball package
2:00
extra. Innings.
2:02
So I watched him till the Cubs and the Cards came on last
2:05
night. Just the latest young phenom
2:07
that resides in the National League Central.
2:09
Be nice if the Cubs could get one of those.
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Maybe they will, but nonetheless changed Burns for Cincinnati.
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All he did was strike out three Yankees to begin his career in
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the top of the first inning and then came back in the second
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inning struck out the side but did give up a hit.
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So his first six outs that he recorded as a Major League
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Baseball pitcher all came via the K Skeins and Mizuroski
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today. Mizuroski for the Brewers, Paul
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Skeins for the Pirates. That's a what, 115 one sometime
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in the one O clock hour first pitch there for that one Brewers
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and Pirates. But point being, there's some
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big time young arms residing in the National League Central.
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I'm excited to see Miss Araski, Obviously what we saw from him
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Friday night against the Twins, this guy, 23, a Missouri kid on
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top of it, got to get the local angle, or at least the Midwest
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angle that goes along with it and doing it against ski and
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that. I mean, when's the last time you
3:02
were excited for a Pirates? Brewers.
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Yeah, this would be it. Right, it's the top of the list
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and a game between a team that is 17 games under 500 and the
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Pirates and a Brewers team that is still hanging around.
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No, they are. I mean, look at this division,
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even the Reds, you can make a case for that.
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They're not far out of it. This is this is fascinating to
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me. I mean, the the Reds begin play
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today, 4 1/2 games out. Cubs only have a 2 1/2 game lead
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over both the Brewers and the Cardinals.
3:27
Cubs kind of struggling a little bit with their bullpen, with
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their starting pitcher. Brown is back down here.
3:32
We'll talk. That'll be one of the things for
3:33
Birchy. But the home run ball, the
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Cardinals who came into the series is, and that was one of
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the things they were lacking. Boy, it could have fooled me.
3:41
Balls are flying out of Busch Stadium.
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Tyone did not look. Good.
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No, he didn't. Leaving them out over the plate
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and just didn't have it. You, you could kind of tell
3:50
throughout that one. And yet even with that, I
3:52
thought for a long time the Cubs were going to come back.
3:54
I I just had that feeling when they cut it to 8 seven that they
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were going to be able to get 5. Two lead fell down to nothing.
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Yet another two run Homer for the Cardinals.
4:02
Then it's 525 fours. They you know, you want your
4:06
pitcher to go out and you know they gave you the lead
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protected. But Cardinals to their credit,
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they just kept chipping away. They got some dudes on that
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roster. And the plays that Nolan or not,
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of course, the final play God. But the one earlier where he
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almost got him? Ranging into foul territory, I
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mean. Unbelievable.
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He was at the flipping dugout. Yeah, he was.
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Paul, that was Suzuki, right? He was ready, Yeah.
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Closer than that ever should be there.
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There's nobody in baseball. Nobody.
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That should be able to make that play except him.
4:36
Yep, and then I'm. Trying to think who else would
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be in that conversation. And and to end the game in that
4:40
fashion, yeah, I mean. Two thought the Cubs were gonna
4:43
tie it. Yeah.
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And what's put peak? You know I love PCA.
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I know you do. Yeah, and you're the one I'm not
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a oh man, this of these two, but I'm not alone out there.
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A how do you lose track of how many outs?
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And then what's the bunt for? What's he bunting for when
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there's one out runners on 1st and 3rd?
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You don't need a bunt there. You need to get the run in.
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It wasn't a safety squeeze or a suicide squeeze.
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Kyle Tucker was as surprised as anybody at that point.
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PCA, that's one to that's one to forget.
5:12
Speaking of games to forget, has Caitlin Clark ever faced
5:18
adversity in her life in the on the in the field of sports?
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Right, taking personal stuff away.
5:24
Forget about. That yes.
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Has she ever had a three-game stretch where she's been as bad?
5:31
And look, she still passes the ball at an elite level, which a
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lot of turnovers. Yes.
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I mean, in the last three games, 88 and 6 turnovers, she's 1 of
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23 from three. Caitlin Clark is 1 of 23.
5:44
She had another stretch earlier this season where she was 2 of
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17 so and there were stretches last year where she didn't shoot
5:49
the ball well. This has happened.
5:52
However, a three-game stretch. Yeah.
5:54
Now we're kind of getting into that territory where you're
5:56
wondering. What's going on?
5:58
Is it something physically, is it just the the strap, the what
6:02
quad screen that she had? Is that what is impacting her?
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But she's for her getting good looks, going through it and
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watching as settled in for most of the second-half of it last
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night. Good for Channel 5.
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Put them up there by. The way and that's.
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Locally, and they know that they're playing in the Quad
6:17
City. Just what it got.
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We got a text about our tweet about that yesterday rather.
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And they started that a year ago and obviously it's worked well.
6:23
And that's what I was really surprised by last night.
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It's one thing to put it summer programming, 7:00 game, right?
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Sure. But to bump the local news to
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what I thought was 11/20 when the game got over something like
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that last night didn't. Have made the folks at Channel 5
6:36
very pleased that they had to work a little later.
6:39
They, they must be selling it too, right?
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I mean, they're not going to be putting it on if they're not
6:42
selling advertising on their own, right?
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And it's worked out for them. When you look at her and the
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shots. And then I was watching at
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Sports Center and they had a recap and I don't know, probably
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6 or 7 or shots. Those are good shots for her.
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They're, well, we know she does. Moving to her left.
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There are a few that are way off, but for the most part
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they're just a little bit off. Is it just simply that she's in
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a little bit of a slump, she's going to be fine, or I just go
7:05
back to the we've? Just never seen it.
7:07
No, we've never seen to this extent.
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I mean, you called some of her games at Darling.
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I can't believe she's Darling. She didn't.
7:15
No, I got to the Caitlin Clark era.
7:19
My fandom began in in her junior year, and I don't recall seeing
7:23
it in her junior or her senior year.
7:25
Yeah, she had some games where, you know, I mean, she was still
7:28
great, the best player on the floor.
7:30
But what she's going through right now is so out of the norm
7:34
for her. I don't know if it's the if it's
7:38
the team, if it's coaching, if what it is, if it's injury.
7:41
I mean, Dewana Bonner, she's now gone.
7:43
She was given her release today. I go back to the preseason
7:47
leading up to the leading up to the season and all the social
7:50
media and the Fever really good at this.
7:53
And I, I want to get the the principles right.
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I know Dewana Bonner was a part of it and Caitlin Clark was a
7:58
part of it and Leia Boston and they're all asking, you know, a
8:01
question. What's Caitlin's favorite lunch
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or what's ABS favorite type of car?
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The question is that kind of ilk, right.
8:09
That wasn't the questions, but you get my point.
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And Bonner was having a blast with these girls, with these
8:15
women and and just fitting right in.
8:19
And then for it to suddenly crash and burn the way it did.
8:22
Then he got and and this doesn't sit well with me as well.
8:26
I mean, I'm still figuring out the league, so bear with me.
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This Dawana Dantis, Dan Danis. How do we say her last name?
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You're close. Demaryius Dantis.
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She's leaving Cardoza from from Chicago.
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She's leaving for where are they going in the middle of the year,
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some kind of championship? I would get it if it was the
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Olympics, then everybody shuts down.
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But how do you just you know, you're you're part of a league,
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the best league for women's basketball in the world, a
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league that certainly is. There was pointing up and
9:01
halfway through the season, some of your rosters just going to
9:04
check out for a couple of weeks. Come on.
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The answer to all of your questions is money.
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Is that because of the pay scale in the WNBA?
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You're you know what? You're probably right.
9:14
Because they Cardosa is not getting those.
9:17
No, she's getting rookie pay. Right.
9:18
She's getting rookie pay on top of I don't know how much.
9:20
Apparently was making 200,000 a year.
9:23
She was up there and now Bonner, I wonder if it's either a part
9:27
of going through it I what I see from her because I was kind of
9:32
awestruck at the beginning of the season.
9:33
I thought she was going to be a lot better.
9:35
Yeah. And it's just age caught up for
9:37
and she can't handle it. She's one of the top scoring
9:39
players in WNBA history. 3rd in history, yeah.
9:42
Maybe it's just as simple as that, that physically she can't
9:46
do it anymore and mentally that has led to a level where she
9:50
just can't do it now. She's had a couple of good games
9:53
this year, or then we go into not even Sinister, but kind of
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that deeper level. What she bought in, what she
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brought in for her championship pedigree, you know, every team
10:02
that hasn't been there done that one.
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And obviously Stephanie White has.
10:07
But but do you think what as a player, that was one of the
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reasons she was signed? She's what, 37 years old?
10:13
Obviously best basketball is, you know, behind her at that
10:17
point. But then you see the dentist
10:19
thing. And I wonder, Trent, you might
10:21
hit the nail on the head why these teams are losing some of
10:24
their best players in the middle of the season to go off to to
10:28
play basketball somewhere else. It's got to be money.
10:30
Got to be money. Bonner is an interest now.
10:33
Is she going to pop up somewhere else?
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Or she's she put out a list of teams she wanted to go to now
10:39
whether they want hers right question.
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And so since she was put on waivers, I I have to seen assume
10:46
rather Indiana is on the hook. Yeah, yeah, right.
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They're on the hook for the the remainder of the salary.
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Just just weird this whole league thing, you know a it is
10:59
pay your players what they deserve to be paid and start
11:01
paying them when they get into the league.
11:03
Look at the NFL was was was completely out of line when you
11:08
would be the first overall pick and you'd instantly become the
11:12
highest paid player in the league before I ever played a
11:14
game. And what was it, Sam?
11:16
Bradford, Sam Bradford 100% right.
11:19
He came out of school and instantly broke the bank and
11:21
broke the record for the highest paid player in the league.
11:24
So they, they got that under control with the rookie cap,
11:28
it's rookie scale, et cetera. But I'm, I'm just wondering if
11:31
you're right about that. You might be.
11:33
I think you're on to it. So here we are talking WNBA.
11:35
You can tell it is the summertime.
11:37
Sure, here we are. So I found this list today from
11:40
Yahoo Sports who has a daily newsletter into your e-mail box
11:43
if you're a sports fan. I, I absolutely love it for what
11:46
we do every day. Did I miss anything?
11:48
It is a great way to recap last night.
11:50
Yep, it's a newsletter articles from their writers, some other
11:53
ones there a lot of links in there, but just kind of putting
11:56
it all into one package. So subscribe to it.
11:58
And this is a non paid endorsement, just as a sports
12:01
fan, I think a lot of people. Would so when Schwab writes a
12:03
piece or when he's talked to his next team comes out.
12:06
Today was 25 in the Patriots. I think we're his, so that would
12:09
be a part. Of it, Yep.
12:10
So they got a bunch of different things that are going on.
12:12
There's some business stuff in there, but today, now that the
12:15
NHL and NBA are over, here is the summer slave.
12:19
This is what we have to look forward to this summer.
12:21
What gets you revved up? You ready tonight and tomorrow,
12:24
the NBA Draft. I couldn't care less.
12:27
Than the NHL. Draft now I care a little bit.
12:30
UFC 317 in Vegas. Couldn't care less.
12:33
Wimbledon. Couldn't care less.
12:36
UEFA Women's Euro Championship in soccer.
12:39
I like women's soccer. Hot dog contest.
12:42
Please. No, no, no.
12:45
How about the Tour de France? No, no.
12:47
The Gold Cup. That's soccer.
12:50
Maybe if Team USA or the Canadians are involved.
12:52
Yeah, Canadians are going to be pretty good.
12:54
So maybe I like soccer. I'm a soccer guy, so that may
12:56
catch my attention. The Evian Championship, That's a
12:59
golf turbine across like the water.
13:01
How about the World Aquatics Championship?
13:03
God, that's in Singapore. The Club World Cup final.
13:08
I don't know what that is. MLB Draft.
13:10
No. We got local kid Dallas center
13:12
Grimes, Do we? Yeah.
13:14
He's like a high pick. We'll talk to Bertie about him a
13:16
little bit later on. All Star game for baseball.
13:20
By the way, Chase Burns was drafted last year. 2nd, 2nd and.
13:24
Here he is. Open Championship.
13:26
Yeah. So there's the first one for
13:28
you. Yeah, that's the top of the
13:29
list. That is July 17th through the
13:30
20th. You, you got a, you got a big
13:32
three weeks in front of you. WNBA All Star game July 19th.
13:35
No, it's in Indianapolis. Oh, that's true.
13:38
Yeah, Yeah. UFC 318 does that do it more
13:41
than 317? Well, I'll, we'll see.
13:44
I got one for you, the MLS All Star game.
13:47
Jeez, that's July 23rd and then July 31st.
13:51
The bells ring out and the banners fly.
13:53
Here we go, NFL Hall of Fame game in Canton.
13:57
Ohio. My SO.
13:59
But you know what? July's not brutal.
14:01
Because we'll have. I hope this keeps up.
14:05
And I believe Mccollum's gonna, you know.
14:08
Allow the. I know there's at least veils.
14:09
There's at least one more availability, maybe 2.
14:12
TJ last year was incredible. I I can't see that changing.
14:18
I we love the All Star game in baseball.
14:21
Big 12 media days are what the 8th and 9th of of July.
14:25
We just come back to work. When's that the 7th is a Monday
14:29
yes. So I think it's the 8th and 9th
14:31
or Big 12 media days. You and I and Lucas strain.
14:35
Lucas is going right. He is.
14:36
Oh God, it's. Going to be fun and he's never
14:40
been to. Vegas.
14:40
Never been to Vegas before. Oh my.
14:42
God, do you remember your first trip?
14:44
Oh, I do well. Some of it.
14:46
Well, most of it. Yeah, Right.
14:49
Yeah. It's just if you're into these
14:53
kind of if you like sports, you like to dabble, you like to
14:56
watch people, you like to eat good food and just.
14:59
It's amazing. It is.
15:01
It really and truly is so. So Lucas is going to be at Circa
15:04
with you and I, So are the three of us going to do our show
15:07
together? Why wouldn't we?
15:08
Yeah, absolutely right. Why wouldn't we?
15:09
Because he'll be doing his show from here also.
15:12
So we'll be set up at stadium swim.
15:14
And if you go out there that week, it's July 21st through the
15:16
24th. You come hang out with us in the
15:18
in the cabana. I mean, we're, we're, we're just
15:21
sitting there doing radio. You want to come hang out with
15:22
us, hop in the pool, get some rays.
15:24
It is an incredible time. It's going to be hot.
15:26
It's the desert in the summertime.
15:28
But you know what? And I and I find myself this, I
15:31
love Fremont Street, but you really don't have to leave Circa
15:33
No, absolutely not everything you need but but walk outside
15:36
the front doors and boom, you're right on Fremont Street.
15:38
And if you walk out the right door while the main door there's
15:44
a stage, there's a pretty good, there's a pretty good chance
15:46
that the band will be going on a Thursday or Friday.
15:48
And they're all good bands. Yes, absolutely.
15:51
I mean, between, between Circa and the D, there's three stages
15:58
and all of them on any given night they're all going and they
16:01
don't kind of overlap each other.
16:04
And it's not like you know, these are good bands.
16:06
Oh, absolutely, yeah. The there's an alternative band
16:09
that I really like. There was the 80's rock band.
16:12
Got a kick out of them over the some of this rock nation,
16:15
spandex Nation, that's what they were.
16:16
Yeah. Different ones like that.
16:18
And it doesn't matter your taste of music.
16:19
I mean, they got different stages, different things going
16:21
on. The people watching though.
16:23
Oh, it's fascinating. That's it to another level.
16:25
It truly is. Well, no, the gummy does.
16:28
But but I stay away from those. Yeah, it's a good thing I'll
16:31
witness that one night. Where were we?
16:33
South Point. We were at the South Point.
16:35
South Point, my son and you and I.
16:38
I did. Teach Kale how to play some
16:40
craps that night. You did?
16:41
Yeah, you did. Not sure that that was just best
16:45
idea. But anyways, stick to sports.
16:47
But yeah, it's it's a blast. We're going to be out there.
16:49
It's going to be fun. But I'm anxious to see Lucas.
16:52
The last time we were out there, we lost you that one morning.
16:55
You remember that you could you, you slept in.
16:59
I remember it well. Yeah, I remember it well.
17:02
Lucas won't let me forget it. Sean won't let me forget it.
17:04
Right. My wife won't let me forget it.
17:06
Yes, a lot of people will not let me live that one down.
17:10
The old flip of the little toggle on the alarm woke up,
17:14
Took a leak. Man, I can get another half
17:16
hour. Yeah, no, whoops.
17:19
Yeah, Cuz what time were you out till that night?
17:21
Cuz you were the last one. I don't know who else was you
17:23
were with to begin, but I think that they all begged out at some
17:28
point. You stayed.
17:28
Out right I did because the craps table was just handing me
17:31
money. I can't walk away from that.
17:33
No, no, I mean it's free money, right?
17:34
You just keep rolling the dice and they just keep handling
17:36
where. Were you playing?
17:36
Do you remember? I was a couple of different
17:39
places Plaza, yes, I was at the Plaza.
17:41
That was a long time as the Plaza just they were the ones.
17:44
But then I came back to Circa. I don't know, it's probably like
17:46
3 and. I've never seen that time of day
17:50
in Vegas. You're.
17:51
Getting up at that time, yeah. Pretty good at 4:00.
17:53
And there was nobody at one of the tables.
17:56
The minimums were down like. No.
17:58
I'll just play by myself a little bit, spend a hot day, you
18:01
know, Same thing. Just what's going on in the
18:03
screens at circa at that time? I mean, there's no.
18:06
I was too bleary. I had to see that.
18:07
Maybe soccer or tennis from somewhere?
18:09
On the probably yeah, got Australian rules football.
18:12
Yeah, I guess. Oh my God.
18:14
Looking forward to doing it again, yeah.
18:16
Hey, you came up. We we taped our television show
18:18
this morning. Let's get let's get back to a
18:20
little bit of sports here. But Vegas is a blast and it's
18:22
kind of like a sport, you know, really is It's kind of like
18:24
sport, but you've you found a wager.
18:29
What are they called? What's it called again?
18:31
The. What was the terminology that
18:33
they used? Because it's basically what is
18:36
seasons going to end for? Any particular team?
18:39
Stage of elimination, right? That's what they call it.
18:42
So take a look at the Minnesota Vikings.
18:45
They have listed here 6 different ways that their season
18:48
ends missing the playoffs. Yep.
18:50
Losing the wild card round, losing the divisional round
18:52
conference championship, losing the Super Bowl, or ultimately
18:55
win the Super Bowl? How does the season end for each
18:57
NFL team? So for instance, the Vikings
19:00
miss the playoffs. Gotta weigh -125 Yep.
19:03
You think they get to the playoffs, but losing the wild
19:05
card round plus 325? And you can't bet that anywhere
19:08
right now I have a wild. Card.
19:09
Yeah, I haven't seen that part of it.
19:11
There's the. Conference championships, Yes.
19:13
No on Super Bowl, but you can't bet the wild card or the
19:16
divisional round. There's some places, and I don't
19:18
know now, but closer to the season to get to a conference
19:21
championship. I've seen that offered before to
19:24
get to the Final four, if you will, in the NFL, but that is
19:26
one that I've seen. But yeah, this listed in this
19:29
way, I don't know why. I mean, there's probably
19:32
different things out there, but just the way that the this is an
19:34
offshore that had it set up this way, looking at it this way kind
19:37
of gets your mind working in a different way.
19:39
So, Vikings 28 to 1 to win the Super Bowl, 33 to 1 though, to
19:44
lose in the Super Bowl? Well, that's better odds, right,
19:46
than betting them to win the NFC.
19:48
If you think they're going to get to the Super Bowl for the
19:50
first time since the 70s, you're actually going to get a better
19:53
price. And if they win the Super Bowl
19:54
and you're Vikings fan, you're going to be pretty happy.
19:56
How about the Chiefs to miss the playoffs 3 to 1?
20:00
Yeah, it's a big price for them to miss the playoffs.
20:03
Losing the divisional round +3. So for them to lose, for them to
20:07
miss the playoffs, obviously they didn't win the division.
20:11
There's wild cards. Where are the Can you find
20:14
another wild card team in the East?
20:16
In the East. Do you think the Patriots are?
20:19
I can't say I don't either. I like dolphins.
20:21
Not that. I'm with you.
20:23
The Dolphins are always 9 and 889 seemingly, and The Jets,
20:30
well, forget about them. So let's go to the South.
20:36
How many teams from the South? Are we just at 1:00?
20:41
Houston What about Indy? No, I can't get there.
20:44
I don't like the quarterback situation.
20:46
Jacksonville's got a new coach. That team.
20:50
I know. I think there's a lot of
20:51
pressure on Lawrence this year. Just for argument's sake though,
20:54
let's say out of those two divisions we got three playoff
20:57
teams. OK, we got four more to go.
20:59
Yep. And say this is the year that we
21:01
get 3 out of the North. OK, so that leaves then just one
21:06
spot. And the winner of the West.
21:08
It'd be the winner of the West. See, I think there's two teams
21:10
coming out of there. I think the Chargers and the but
21:12
I think the Chargers and the Broncos are really good, both
21:14
of. Them better than chiefs?
21:17
I think Denver's roster is better than Kansas City's.
21:19
The team that went 15 and two and played in the.
21:21
Super Bowl Denver's roster is better than Kansas City's.
21:24
Somebody's got 15 on their team. I know.
21:27
That elevates a more, not more mature.
21:33
There are very few coaches and he reads the best.
21:36
I want to put that out right now.
21:39
Sean Payton's not far behind. You can trust Peyton.
21:42
You can. I think you can.
21:44
As long as he's not putting bounties on.
21:45
I think, yeah, I think you can trust Harbaugh in that.
21:48
Division I can't be his competent.
21:51
He's weird. Yeah, but he is.
21:53
He's a really good football, good football coach.
21:55
So 3 to 1 to miss the playoffs. I I don't know if I can go
21:59
there. Put that together with your
22:00
Broncos to win the division, now you're talking about a pretty
22:02
good price. No, no, they're not.
22:04
They're going to win the division, but they're going
22:05
further than that really. Divisional round make room in
22:08
the case baby for number. 4. Ken, Ken, no, no, no.
22:15
Don't do this to yourself. Don't do this to yourself.
22:18
But your last football season out of the air.
22:19
Don't set yourself up this way. No.
22:21
Wouldn't that be great though for it if it did?
22:23
Anyways, we'll take your time out.
22:24
Tommy Birch is going to join. It's going to talk Major League
22:26
Baseball with Birchie. What do you expect when Brown
22:28
comes down now? He's here.
22:30
Now, when will we see him? Imanaga.
22:33
Who was, did he start at Principal Park?
22:36
I know he started on the road. Did he have was one of his
22:39
rehabs? I thought, I think one of yeah,
22:41
one was here, one was on the road.
22:43
So we'll pick Birchie's brain on that.
22:44
Imanaga goes tomorrow for the suddenly struggling Chicago
22:48
Cubs. Right now it's time for a
22:50
keyword though. Head to KX and o.com right now.
22:53
You can enter this nationwide contest and anybody listening in
22:56
the state of Iowa, you are welcome to participate.
22:59
In fact, we encourage it. KX and o.com, a pop up box will
23:03
appear. Type the keyword bills, bills,
23:06
KX and o.com. Your chance to win $1000.
23:09
Birchynecks, Cappy still to come, John Bowen camp after
23:12
that, Miller and Condon underway on a Wednesday.
23:15
It's the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
23:38
Simpler times really were. Miller and Condon welcome back,
23:42
Iowa Sports Radio Network. Trent Condon, Ken Miller with
23:44
you until two top of the hour. David Kaplan will join us,
23:47
Chicago sports with Cappy. John Bowen Camp will join Trent
23:51
at 1:30. Recap Ben McCollum yesterday as
23:54
he met the media. But right now, time to talk to
23:56
Tommy Birch, our buddy from the Des Moines Register.
23:59
He joins us as we move on here just past 1230.
24:03
Birchie, Trenton, Ken, thanks for coming.
24:05
John, how are you? I'm lovely.
24:08
I'm hanging out at the park. Actually, I'll tell you what,
24:11
I'm honored to be kind of opening for Kathy.
24:13
Kathy's the man. Yes you I guess you're the what?
24:16
The warm up act it's I guess so don't let him down as I know you
24:20
won't. Tommy.
24:22
I want to start with Shohei Imanaga who will get the ball
24:25
tomorrow. Now I'm going to this based on
24:27
memory I think he made two rehab starts, 1 here and one on the
24:31
road. How did they go Tommy?
24:33
How did he look? Yeah, the the one story made for
24:38
the Iowa Cubs was the Nashville. Yeah, he he'd actually pitched
24:43
in Arizona at the Complex league there too.
24:46
So but he made one rehab start with Iowa, Cubs and Nashville
24:50
and looks really good. You know, he attacked the zone.
24:53
You know, his his pitching, you know, his his pitch is like
24:56
great. I think when you've been out for
24:58
as long as he has and you're dealing with the type of injury
25:01
that he is and you're trying to come back from that, you know,
25:04
the biggest question mark is going to be command.
25:06
It's going to be how much you can throw strikes.
25:08
How rusty are you? And I think that's, it's going
25:11
to be the biggest concern. But he attacked this, the strike
25:14
zone very well. And you know, the Nashville
25:17
hitters were were not overly aggressive.
25:20
So he really had to work for it. But he he pitched well.
25:24
He looked ready. And I think that was obviously
25:27
more than enough that the Cubs wanted to see to bring him back
25:30
up because look, they they need the starting pitching and they
25:33
need it right now. And he would be a big boost for
25:36
them. Ben Brown has been sent down.
25:39
Yesterday, the news came down as Porter Hodge has been
25:42
reactivated in the corresponding move.
25:44
It was a rough outing for Brown the last time.
25:46
Still a young pitcher. He's a guy that needs to develop
25:49
a third pitch. I, I think we can all see that
25:51
with Ben Brown. Is there going to be a path for
25:55
him to become a bullpen arm for this season?
25:58
Is is that part of the plans? Has there been rumblings about
26:01
that? Because ultimately he's not
26:03
going to be a starter in a playoff series and unless injury
26:06
strike or something like that, that's not what it is.
26:08
What do you think the game plan is or should be with Ben Brown?
26:12
Yeah, I think they're going to be kind of flexible with the
26:14
workload is kind of my impression where, yeah, he's
26:17
going to start, but they're going to leave out the openness
26:19
of like, okay, we're not going to like overwork him in terms of
26:23
starting Where, you know, coming back down to Iowa also gives him
26:27
a chance to kind of reset and maybe, you know, limit cementing
26:32
a little bit too, you know, because he is still a young guy.
26:34
He's still kind of building up that strength and stamina and
26:37
being able to pitch through, you know, an entire season.
26:40
You know, it's one thing to do with your college season, high
26:43
school season or even minor league season, but to be able to
26:47
do it through a Major League season is a whole other thing.
26:49
But, you know, so I think coming down to Iowa is going to help in
26:53
a variety of ways. For one, he can get that third
26:56
pitch locked in. He can kind of regain his
26:59
confidence. And then, like I'd said before,
27:01
kind of take a breath and kind of limit his innings count a
27:05
little bit too, and manage his workflowed a little bit more.
27:08
But to me, kind of the most crazy thing is that we are
27:11
talking about him having to develop a third pitch.
27:14
You know, it's kind of always been out there, too.
27:17
But it's amazing to think how far Ben Brown got pretty much
27:21
just leaning on two pitches where, you know, at the starting
27:25
pitch, too. And he went up to the major
27:28
leagues and showed that he had what it took at times.
27:31
I mean, he put together for as rough as some of the outings
27:35
where he put together a couple of really good outings too,
27:38
where he flat out dominated the Dodgers.
27:40
One time and. Some other good yard.
27:42
So, you know, he's been there and the potential is still there
27:47
and there's still a ton of excitement for him, and
27:49
rightfully so. But it's just a matter of like,
27:51
OK, what's it going to take from the Cubs to get him to that next
27:56
level where it's not so inconsistent that you you're at
27:59
least finding ways to compete when the stuff isn't there?
28:03
Yeah, that was the Dodger Stadium too, if memory serves.
28:05
He was fantastic. It was a Saturday night, I'm
28:08
pretty sure. Anyways, I I thought Imanaga
28:10
made a start here. So that's how the memories
28:12
working today. Anyways, let's I want to ask you
28:14
about Nate Pearson because he was he was in the Blue Jays
28:18
drafted him. They expected him to be this was
28:20
going to be their guy to lead their pitching staff Didn't
28:23
happen. Winds up here, got the call to
28:26
go up and then just I mean, it was it was not good.
28:29
Very quickly. He's back here.
28:31
Did he look like he deserved a call up at the time?
28:33
Was he, you know, doing what they what they would have
28:36
anticipated that they would have thought, you know, once this guy
28:39
gets up, he's going to be up there for a while.
28:41
Not the Nate Pearson that they saw this past weekend.
28:45
Yeah, I mean, I think the top was, OK, let's find out what we
28:48
have here in terms of, you know, what Nate Pearson can do.
28:51
Because, you know, when the Cubs first got him, he'd shown some
28:55
potential where he'd had a couple of good outings.
28:57
And obviously, you know, the fastball is there, the other
29:00
stuff is there. It's just the ability that,
29:03
like, you got to consistently throw strikes and you got to
29:06
timely to get guys out. And, you know, he had a couple
29:09
of rough outings with Iowa, but over the last month he had been
29:12
doing really, really well. So, you know, with the with the
29:16
issues, the injuries and some of the issues and the Cubs bolt him
29:19
where like, OK, there's missing, you know, the bolt has gotten
29:23
immensely better, worse, one of the strengths of this team now,
29:26
but they still needed kind of that one other guy and Nate
29:30
Pearson was worthy of getting another opportunity.
29:34
Now I I don't know what the future holds for a guy like Nate
29:37
now who's gone up a couple of times and hasn't made the most
29:40
of those opportunities. So, you know, he's definitely a
29:44
guy that's going to be fighting moving forward to keep his forty
29:48
man spot now that the roster is crunching even more.
29:51
And eventually, you know, the Cubs are going to be buyers at
29:55
the trade deadline, they're going to have to go and get some
29:57
help, whether that's the starting rotation or whatever.
30:01
And guys like Nate Pearson who are on the back end of that
30:04
forty man rotation are names that are going to be brought up
30:09
as possible guys who may be the odd man out at this point.
30:14
Porter Hodge mentioned him in that corresponding move with Ben
30:17
Brown. Doesn't sound like it's going to
30:19
be a 9th inning roll, Maybe not even an eighth inning roll.
30:21
What do you anticipate with Hodge?
30:23
Guy who was a closer last year, pieces so far this season as
30:26
well as they kind of ease him back into action.
30:29
Yeah. I mean, Craig counsel said, you
30:31
know, yesterday that they want to kind of give him a soft
30:34
landing, which means putting him in some not so difficult
30:37
situations, really high leverage situations, at least early on.
30:42
So you aren't going to be seeing him in the 7th, 8th or 9th
30:45
inning, you know, with the tying run on third base or the go
30:48
ahead run on first base, something like that.
30:50
You're going to see him in some middle winning type games or
30:54
winning the games where the game has been decided just so we can
30:57
kind of get his footing back because his last couple outings
31:00
in Iowa really weren't that good.
31:03
His last couple outings in Chicago before he got hurt
31:07
weren't that great either. So I think it's more or less
31:10
just trying to get him back into a rhythm, get him comfortable
31:14
and then, you know, as he proves he can pitch in those low
31:18
leverage situations, kind of working back in the high
31:20
leverage ones because the stuff is there.
31:23
They love, you know, the potential he has and they really
31:28
think he can be a guy that's pitching in the ball game with a
31:32
ton on the line. Tommy, I want to ask you this
31:35
and you mentioned that they're going to be buyers and I I'd be
31:38
shocked if they weren't And they and obviously they're going to
31:41
be and everybody wants pitching. So it's going to be, I would
31:44
think a seller's market of these guys on the on the I Cubs
31:49
roster. Who do you think they get asked
31:51
more get they get asked about his availability more would be
31:56
Alcantra Casey by Esteros or even Jonathan Long, who's
32:00
really, I think emerged this year.
32:02
How about those four? Who do you think other teams,
32:04
when they call the Cubs or when the Cubs call them, they're
32:07
going to ask for what? Which of those four players more
32:10
than any of the others? It's definitely Biasteros or
32:14
Casey. You know, it's kind of, I mean,
32:16
when it comes to Biasteros, there are still legitimate
32:20
question marks about where he is going to play.
32:22
You know, there's absolutely no question.
32:24
Even though we went up to Chicago and had that brief SIM
32:27
really didn't do much, but really didn't get a ton of
32:30
opportunities. There's really no question from
32:33
people you talk about throughout the game, scouts and evaluators
32:36
and stuff like that, that that dude can break and that he is
32:39
going to break at the big league level.
32:42
The question for him is like, OK, can he catch?
32:45
I think that's still, you know, a big time concern that a lot of
32:50
teams have is, you know, I've had a couple of scouts tell me
32:53
he's going to be the youngest designated hitter in all
32:56
baseball at some point that they don't see a future for him at
33:00
catcher. So if that's going to be the
33:03
case, then that kind of limits, you know, the the opportunities
33:07
for a guy like that where, you know, it's like, yeah, he he
33:10
should be a great DH. He's going to, she's going to
33:12
hit forever, she's going to hit a ton of double S, she's going
33:15
to hit some home runs, but he's not going to be a legit power
33:19
option when it comes to the DH. Not going to be a guy that hits
33:22
3040 home runs. He's going to be a, you know, 15
33:26
to 20 home run guy in the big leagues, which is still pretty
33:29
good, but not something everybody is looking for when it
33:33
comes to a designated hitter. So I think that's going to kind
33:37
of be the knock when it comes against him.
33:40
But, you know, Owen Casey is the guy that we've been hearing
33:42
about for a long, long time when it comes to trade talks because
33:46
you look at the outfield, there's no room for him in
33:49
Chicago. He's seemingly done everything
33:52
you can do at the AAA level, not just last year, but now this
33:56
year, now that he's healthy and playing better.
33:58
I've just thought for a long time that Owen Casey is going to
34:01
be the odd man out. And eventually at this trade,
34:04
trade deadline, he's you know, he's got the possibility to be
34:08
one of the headliners of a of a trade that the Cubs make, or you
34:13
know, at the very least the number two guy in the trade.
34:16
But you know, both of those guys are are going to be the first
34:20
call on many teams wish list. Off the minor league and Major
34:24
League diamond, I want to jump to high school.
34:26
I know you've talked with Tate and Gray, the outstanding Dallas
34:29
center Grimes utility player, a kid that has a slugging
34:32
percentage over 1000 this year. Of his eighteen hits this
34:35
season, 7 home runs, only 6 singles along with three double
34:38
s and a couple of triples. He turned some heads at the
34:42
scouting combi for MLB. What a week or two back?
34:45
What are you hearing about Gray and what he's going to do and
34:48
and what's going to happen here coming up with the MLB draft?
34:52
Yeah, I mean, when when I actually talked to to Gray, he
34:55
had told me he's keeping his options open, which what
34:58
everybody says this time of year they should be saying yo,
35:01
because you yeah, obviously want to keep as much leverage as you
35:05
can. He's got great option to go play
35:07
baseball at Oregon, but like you had said over the last couple of
35:10
weeks, he has really helped his draft stocks with Wade at the
35:13
combine, how he's done some individual workouts.
35:16
You know, I've heard stories about him going to big league
35:19
parks for workouts and we saw this at the combine where he was
35:24
sending balls out of the park that we don't see big, big
35:27
league guys doing right now. That's the thing, it is really
35:31
attracting the attention. Big league teams when it comes
35:34
to the draft is they want guys that can throw hard and they
35:37
want guys that can hit hard and he can hit hard.
35:40
And you know, some of the evaluators I've talked to just
35:44
absolutely love the power. They love the athleticism, they
35:48
love the potential. You know, that's the big word
35:51
when it comes to the draft is potential and what you can
35:54
eventually do in the future. And a lot of people think he has
35:58
some some unmatched power that has yet to even be tapped into
36:02
too. So it's going to be interesting
36:04
to see where he ends up going in the draft.
36:07
But I think he is going to have a very tough decision to make
36:12
because I think there is the potential and somebody's going
36:15
to throw a ton of money at him and try to get him to walk away
36:20
from Morgan. Tommy, one more I'll let you go
36:23
on on this Let's Trent Scott something he's been sitting on
36:26
Miss Roski with whip Nashville at AAA.
36:30
Obviously he's going against skiing today for the breweries.
36:32
Off to a terrific start. One of the real young good gun
36:35
arms in the in the National League central schemes being the
36:40
other one. They're going to face each
36:41
other. Did you see him at Nashville,
36:43
Tommy? If So, what kind of scouting
36:45
report do you have on him? No, I didn't get a chance to see
36:49
him, but I've watched some of his starts and heard a ton about
36:52
him from from people that have watched him.
36:55
And, you know, it's really, it's not much of a surprise given the
36:58
talent he has. How rapidly is risen really he,
37:02
you know, every level he's been at, you know, he's a guy that
37:05
just has not had any trouble with the competition.
37:08
So it's it's fascinating to see. It's fun to see.
37:12
And you know, that's that's going to be an arm that knock on
37:16
wood, if he stays healthy, he's going to be around for a long,
37:19
long time and he's going to be a guy that, you know, eventually
37:22
like, man, what did the Brewers do?
37:24
Can they find a way to keep him down the road?
37:26
That's going to be a question that they don't have to answer
37:29
for a long, long time potentially.
37:31
But he he's going to be on everybody's radar at some point,
37:36
if if not already. Burns, Mizeroski And skiing is
37:39
not a bad 2123 punch of young arms in the National League
37:42
Central. Birchie.
37:44
Enjoy, buddy. Thanks for doing this.
37:45
We'll talk to you down the road. Thank you, Tommy Birch.
37:48
Thanks guys. Have a good one.
37:49
Yep. You too, Tommy Birch Des Moines
37:51
Register as we check in with Birchie, somebody tweeted.
37:54
Our tech tweeted at us, and this is a good point about Caitlin
37:58
Clark. She obviously put on a ton of
38:01
muscles in the offseason figuring out her new frame, and
38:06
we've seen that with athletes in the past.
38:08
That's a good point, Joe. I don't know how to say your
38:12
last name, Joe Anna Stetter. And Stetter.
38:15
And Stetter, good point, Joe. Thank you for listening.
38:17
Miller and Condon back. To wrap up our number one, it's
38:20
the Iowa Sports Radio Network. Hi, Mary Condon, welcome back.
38:30
Finally a couple of minutes, hour number one.
38:32
David Kaplan kicks off the second hour.
38:34
John Bowen camp on the Hawkeyes basketball press availability
38:39
from yesterday and guessing a Dodger queue or two with John
38:42
Bowencamp. Trent, this came out a couple of
38:46
the last week sometime. Not surprised by it, but it is
38:49
official. The headgear will be retired
38:52
once Lee Corso puts it on for the final time.
38:55
And absolutely the right decision.
38:57
Just wouldn't have worked. Anybody trying to, you know,
38:59
continue on that, that bit, it just wasn't going to fly and.
39:04
They have their character character now with McAfee.
39:07
I mean, he's going to fill that role of kind of the goofiness,
39:10
the zaniest, the, the different perspective and they have that
39:13
and him and Saban going back and forth.
39:15
I, I think the show will will be fine.
39:17
It will be different, but boy will I miss it.
39:20
Yeah, I know. I think everybody will, right?
39:21
It's just it's, it's kind of those, you know, older voices
39:24
that's been with you forever as part of your Saturday or part of
39:28
your Sunday, if it's an NFL voice like Madden and Summerall,
39:31
where there's just so many people and, you know, going back
39:34
some of the voices before that. But yeah, the headgear will be
39:37
retired. End of an era, quite frankly.
39:41
And what's going to be the next bit then who's going to jump in
39:43
with the next thing? Because.
39:45
Right, it's going to be McAfee doing something, but.
39:47
And maybe he'll be doing his little chance that he does, you
39:50
know, with the crowd at the Yeah, And that's maybe the way
39:52
that they're going to cap things off.
39:54
But I'll tell you, it didn't matter if I was home 1055.
39:57
It didn't matter if I was playing absolutely.
39:59
Iowa State was playing on a different channel and getting
40:01
ready for that game at 10. 55 I was regardless you think, Kerry.
40:05
Put it on. I just wanted to watch you put
40:07
it. On you were going to be there
40:08
for that moment and I would love to see TV numbers because they
40:12
do break them down right to those smaller increments, what
40:16
kind of bump they got at the end of the program and now how
40:18
different that's going to look going forward.
40:21
Yeah. No, that's that's 100% right.
40:24
We'll see. It's getting close my friend.
40:25
It's getting very, very close. You can almost taste it.
40:29
The Psy Hawk line is down to what is it 1 1/2 now that I see.
40:33
It was at DraftKings. It was I was tooling around on
40:36
FanDuel last night. I was favored.
40:39
At I was favored at FanDuel. By a point and a half, yes, they
40:43
are a 1 1/2 point favorite at Jack Trice, which was a surprise
40:46
because everywhere we've seen, Iowa State has been the favorite
40:49
in that game. That was the first one that I've
40:51
seen. Also there Iowa State getting 3
40:53
1/2 in Ireland against K State. Yeah, I think that number's been
40:56
kind of holding steady. Boy, boy, oh boy, oh boy.
40:59
That's a big spot for both K State and Iowa State.
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Iowa, Penn State. That number's out.
41:04
It is at FanDuel. What is it?
41:06
Hawkeye's getting 10 1/2 at Kinnick.
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My guess was 10, so I was pretty close.
41:11
Our two Cappy kicks it off Miller and Condon on the Iowa
41:15
Sports Radio Network.