Latest / Foul Territory / Buck Showalter’s BIG MLB realignment plan, Ohtani 2-way strategy, Managing hurt players, Bananas cameo

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Buck Showalter’s BIG MLB realignment plan, Ohtani 2-way strategy, Managing hurt players, Bananas cameo · Foul Territory

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Buckle up, Buck Show Walter joining us right now. Buck,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: great to see you. I love that intro. It's one
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of the best that we do. You've got AJ, Me
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and Kevin Polar.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Kevin Plar, it's another guy. I wanted to get on
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: a club many times, but AJ and both these guys,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I couldn't get a GM to go along with me.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Buck, I gotta start this often because we talked about
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: this in the production meeting. I got a chance to
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: compete against you a ton. First of all, it's an
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: honor to meet you. It was a big fan from AFAR.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: But I got a question for you. All those years
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: we played against each other, I'd always see you out
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: early VP guys taking early ground balls. You'd be leaning
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: on your fung go. I never once came up to
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: you and said hi. I always heard that you didn't
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: like to talk to the quote unquote the enemy, so
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: I never took that opportunity. You also never went out
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: of your way to come say hi to me, So
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: I just kind of solid as that's just Buck. You know,
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: he doesn't necessarily want to associate with the other team.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: But like I said, it's honored to meet you, and
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: I probably should have taken that chance.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Well, that's both our faults. You know. It's funny is
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: that I grew up in an era where all a
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: product of our upbringing, where we used to get fined
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: in the minor leagues and in the major leagues they
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: would have one umpire sit in the stands and if
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: you were seen talking to the other team, you got fined.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: And in the major leagues they used to take the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: youngest umpire of the four man crew and they would
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: sit in the stands early on, and if you were
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: what is the word. You guys helped me fraightnizing, and
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: you would actually get fine because they wanted to keep
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: the sanctity of the competition for the fans for some reason.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: That's another rule that you know whatever. But I didn't
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: do it by on purpose. I was probably very I
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: was leaning on that to keep from falling over most
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: of the time. But I'm miss being able to hit
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: fungos and throw batting practice. That was to get away
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: from the media. Kevin, Oh, sorry, I got to go
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: through the VP. But it's great, great to be on
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: with you. I've always admired the way you played. People
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: always wanted you on your club. You had a not
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: You didn't play with an anger. You just played with
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: a edge. That's what I liked.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: Appreciate that, Buck for me.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I mean, couldn't you tell that Kevin was a football player?
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: We talked about this at the top of the show.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: Of course, he.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Lives in Argyll, Texas. That's not far from me. Kevin.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: We got to get together.
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: Let's get together.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: Where are you at.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I'm in Dallas. I've been there for twenty something years.
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: Oh okay, yeah, I'm new out here. I'd love to
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: get together with you.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Ay, Jay, how you doing this? Will love fest?
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: But by the way, Buck, I don't know where you are,
• 2:44
  Speaker 5: but I'm in Baltimore. The weather here sucks. The weather sucks.
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: It's sixty degrees and cloudy and crappy. It's always twenty first.
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: Where the hell is the hot Baltimore weather that I
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: came ready for.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: I'm in Maryland to AJ right now. I'm going home
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: on a few days. But my son lives up here.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: But you know, uh, I played golf for the first
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: time in the year the other day and the weather
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: was just fine. AJ.
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: That's good golf weather. Yeah, sixties, you'll take it. And
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: by the way. Yeah.
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: When I came in a T shirt shorts, though, I
• 3:17
  Speaker 5: got off the plane and I was like, WHOA, I
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: should have brought a winter coat.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: What are you doing up here?
• 3:22
  Speaker 5: Aj There's a there's this team Buck that used to
• 3:24
  Speaker 5: work for called the Orioles. They have a game tonight
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: against the Astros and it's on TV.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: You're working it. Yeah, God bless you. I was out
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: there first time and I don't know how long for
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the Savannah Bananas, and then I did the Adam Jones
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Hall of Fame induction ceremony. It's uh, it was kind
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: of emotional. It's cool. You guys been a Savannana's game.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Look at this. Have you just been one of these games?
• 3:49
  Speaker 5: Buck buck Listen? You know how you just said that
• 3:52
  Speaker 5: we were never teammates. We are teammates because I was
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: a last Friday I played.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 3:59
  Speaker 5: I'm just pointed. I'm disappointed you didn't play. I'm very
• 4:03
  Speaker 5: disappointed that you didn't play. I know, I am just
• 4:07
  Speaker 5: like Ozzie didn't play. But I caught I hit, and
• 4:10
  Speaker 5: then I caught an inning on the bananas. It was
• 4:12
  Speaker 5: one of the best experiences I've ever had on a baseball.
• 4:16
  Speaker 5: You call it. Why do the acts surprise like you caught?
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I gotta tell you so. I was with Sean
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Casey at the Scotty Combine. My whole thing's falling apart
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: here and he goes, hey, buck, I gonn believe this.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: He's having surgery for snapping a hamstring off the bone
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: play in one inning for the Bananas.
• 4:37
  Speaker 5: Well, yeah, but Sean Casey, Sean Casey's dumb buck because
• 4:40
  Speaker 5: he ran hard. I hit a ground ball and ran
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: about fifty percent, and I was and then and then
• 4:45
  Speaker 5: Paul Knerko who did it. The next night text me
• 4:47
  Speaker 5: and goes, man, you really gave a crap when you
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: ran that ball out. And I go, okay, when you
• 4:51
  Speaker 5: get your back tomorrow, you let me know how it goes.
• 4:54
  Speaker 5: And he had into a double play and he didn't
• 4:56
  Speaker 5: exactly run his best either a j I've.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: Told a bunch of people, if you don't get the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Savannah Bananas, you need to go to a game. I
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: now get it. Behind the scenes. I got to see
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: how the whole thing works. I mean, the next morning,
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: I've got a video from the guy in full yellow tuxedo.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: They get it, and they put ninety thousand people in
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Camon Yards over two days, and it's like and they play.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: You know, they lost six in a row. This isn't
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: the Washington Generals and the Globe trotters. I mean, they're
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: getting after it. And I was not surprised. But these
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: kids are talented, They've got some skills, and it got
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: my attention. I now get it. I get why they're
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: successful now, and they work at it and they surround
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: themselves with good people.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm very surprised the two of you being such
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: a big fan of it. But I mean I haven't
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: had a chance to be a part of it. I hope,
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: you know, one of the thousand teams I played for,
• 5:49
  Speaker 3: I get a chance to go out and you know,
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: put on a uniform and play. You know, I flip
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: it on TV every once in a while when it's on,
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: and my kids love watching it. I get it. You know,
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: as long as you're you see it as a not
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: competition in the Major League. It's just another avenue to
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: promote baseball. I think it's great what they're doing. It's fun,
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: it's fast, it's entertaining, the fact that they have the
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: fan engagement, the fan you could bring. You can actually
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: bring a glove to a game that really matters because
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: you can make an out. I think it's awesome.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: You'd be great. You're very athletic. These guys work at
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: their trade and they interact with the fan. I mean,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: they get what they're there for. It's I I'm a
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: fan now I am. My grandson loved it.
• 6:31
  Speaker 5: He buck. So I don't know what team was there
• 6:34
  Speaker 5: when you What team did they play against when you
• 6:36
  Speaker 5: were there?
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: The Firefighters?
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: Okay, so that was the same team that they played against.
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: So we brought Mark Burley in the pitch against him.
• 6:43
  Speaker 5: He got an out and that was why I caught.
• 6:45
  Speaker 5: So I caught it in and he was the last out. Okay. Well,
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: the guy who was pitching was like ninety to ninety three.
• 6:50
  Speaker 5: And you're right. They're good players. Like they're all played.
• 6:52
  Speaker 5: Most of them either played in the minor leagues or
• 6:54
  Speaker 5: high Division one baseball. It's not like these guys are
• 6:56
  Speaker 5: off the street. They played good. So the guy was
• 6:58
  Speaker 5: ninety to ninety three that I had to catch, and
• 7:00
  Speaker 5: I'm scared to death back there. I haven't caught ten years,
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: and I'm like, oh boy, just don't hit me in
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: a certain area. Okay, but then we bring in Burley
• 7:08
  Speaker 5: who was throwing seventy five and the guy swings and
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: missus and I looked at him and said, yep, that's
• 7:13
  Speaker 5: how hard Mark through when he was pitching too exactly.
• 7:18
  Speaker 5: But you, I'm telling you right now, if KP gets
• 7:21
  Speaker 5: a chance, everything you said, Buck is one hundred percent.
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: Right now. They entertained the fans. The two hour clock
• 7:26
  Speaker 5: is amazing. It runs, and the two hours it's over right.
• 7:29
  Speaker 5: But the best part is the foul balls that the
• 7:31
  Speaker 5: fans can catch because they're engaged on every play. And
• 7:34
  Speaker 5: the hitters hated. There was a guy on the Firefighters
• 7:37
  Speaker 5: that told me, he goes, I fiuled out six times
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: this year. It's killing my average. First pitch, I go
• 7:42
  Speaker 5: up there, swing foul ball, and I'm like, if someone
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: catches this, I'm gonna kill them. Luckily, they bobbled it,
• 7:48
  Speaker 5: so I got another pitch. But I was like, if
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: that's the way I go out, then that's the worst.
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: Then I would have hated that rule. But since I didn't,
• 7:54
  Speaker 5: I love that role.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Now that they just don't know, I think baseball could
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: take something from them. It's just non stop action, you know.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: They have tryouts around the country, and if somebody's a
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: bad egg and it's not the type of person they want,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: they're not there very long. They are constantly looking for talent.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: They're gonna have a Savannah Banana League next year, I
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: think in Savannah. I heard so anyway, I was impressed,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: and I'm not easily impressed.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: Hey, how the hell did they get Mark Burley to
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: do something like that? That is I mean, that's how
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: That's how you know that this league is doing something
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: right because you know, Aj when we talked when we
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: were in Vegas, You're like, the guy barely wants to
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: show up to his statue unveiling. You know, he doesn't
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: want to be in front of people, doesn't want to
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: talk in front of people. And I got a chance
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: to play with him. You know, he's a super behind
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: the scenes cool dude, but doesn't like the spotlight. The
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: fact that he went and played for the Savannah Bananas
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: was was crazy.
• 8:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it was all his family. His family got him
• 8:52
  Speaker 5: to do it, his kids kids. That's kind of how
• 8:56
  Speaker 5: I got pushed into it too, is my kids were
• 8:58
  Speaker 5: like that if they asked, you have to do it.
• 9:00
  Speaker 5: And I was like, oh, let's make.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: This so Aja, tell me why he was good. Tell
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: me why he was a good pitcher, because he didn't
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: light up the gun. But I always wanted to talk
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: to somebody that really knew.
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: Why was he good? Well, he threw four pitches for strikes,
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: four Seemer sinker change, actually five curveballs. Cutter could throw
• 9:18
  Speaker 5: him to both sides of the plate. He worked fast,
• 9:20
  Speaker 5: so every hitter was.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: Like time out, time out.
• 9:23
  Speaker 5: Every time that a hitter would look at the umpire
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: and say time out, I'm like, we got this dude right.
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: And then the thing about him is because he didn't
• 9:29
  Speaker 5: throw hard as hard as the guys that most guys do.
• 9:31
  Speaker 5: People tried to cover the whole plate because they thought
• 9:35
  Speaker 5: they could hit everything. So he would just throw pitches
• 9:37
  Speaker 5: that weren't strikes. Really they would just start as strikes
• 9:41
  Speaker 5: and they end up his balls. But guys would say, oh,
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: I can hit that. It's seventy two on our curve ball.
• 9:45
  Speaker 5: Let me get out. You know I can hit that.
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: I can hit the little Cutter. The guys who were
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: successful against Mark Burley just picked one side of the
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: plate and said, all right, we're looking in or we're
• 9:53
  Speaker 5: looking away, and we're gonna lay off the other one
• 9:55
  Speaker 5: because he was. He never shook off, so whatever I called,
• 9:57
  Speaker 5: so it was great. You go in one pitch, go
• 10:00
  Speaker 5: away and away, and everyone's while I double up on
• 10:02
  Speaker 5: one or the other right, And guys that got super
• 10:05
  Speaker 5: aggressive he would just destroy because they would get out
• 10:08
  Speaker 5: over the plate and swing a pitches that they normally
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: wouldn't swing out because it's only eighty miles an hour.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: That's interesting because you know, he didn't shake off because
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: he didn't want to disrupt the temple which he was pitching.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: So because of that, he threw a such a confident
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: front because he was constantly coming at you and you
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: never saw him show any indecision in what he was
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: gonna throw. And I think he would rather throw a
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: pitch he didn't particularly like, but throw it quickly and confidently.
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: Is that fair to say?
• 10:40
  Speaker 5: Absolutely? I'll tell you this book. He shook me off
• 10:42
  Speaker 5: one time, and you'll love it. You'll love the story.
• 10:45
  Speaker 5: Kp who loved the story too. We're in Japan two
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: thousand and two. I was on the Twins. He was
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: on the White Sox or still in the White Sox,
• 10:52
  Speaker 5: and we're facing Hideki Matt Suey when he was still
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: on the Yo Murray Giants on the Japan All Star Tour.
• 10:58
  Speaker 5: He shakes me off and he throws a change up
• 11:00
  Speaker 5: and he hits it off his head or no, sorry,
• 11:02
  Speaker 5: I hit his shoulder and he couldn't pitch the rest
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: of the series. And he was like, that's why I
• 11:06
  Speaker 5: never shake anybody off. And sure enough, and then when
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: I went to the White Sox, he never shook me
• 11:10
  Speaker 5: off except what he would goof around. Like there were
• 11:12
  Speaker 5: times where Jermaine or Kanerko would say shake him off,
• 11:15
  Speaker 5: just to make him mad, so he'd go out there
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: and but then I just put the same pitch down
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: he'd throw it. But there were times like three to
• 11:19
  Speaker 5: zero he'd shake me off.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I went over to Japan to try to get
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: an agreement when I was with the Diamondbacks, and I
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: saw Matsui and Ichiro at their apex, and I tell
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: people all the time, you know, Itchiro was bigger over
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: there than Michael Jordan was here. I'd never seen anything
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: like that. But I made the mistake of having him
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: take a picture of a Diamondback uniform and we all
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Jersey and we almost didn't get out of the country.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: It's like I was trying to steal the national flag
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: or something. But people didn't realize that those two guys
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: were like this and the next position player was like this.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: There was such a huge separation, and everybody thought, well,
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: if we get the third or fourth best position player,
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: he's still going to be pretty good, and that those
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: two guys were so much better than anybody else over there.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: They stuck out like a sore thumb, did you think? So?
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Do you guys see him?
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah? I saw him both. I saw him Matt Suey
• 12:10
  Speaker 5: and I got to go with each row and play
• 12:12
  Speaker 5: with him in that team. So that was the first
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: time he was back, and he was on our team
• 12:16
  Speaker 5: and we had Barry Bonds and some of the biggest
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: names Bernie Williams, I mean, some of the biggest names
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: in the game. And all the Japanese media wanted to
• 12:24
  Speaker 5: do is follow around.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: I got one I got one InChI ro story and
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I'll shut up. So his first year, Hank Blaylock's playing
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: third base with the Rangers and he didn't know what
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: to say this guy. And Hank just loved this guy.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: And he had a triple A in Arlington, and he
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: slid into third base and Hank almost lost it because
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Hank was trying to say and broke in English hello
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Itchiro to him, and Itchiro just turned to Hank and
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: said what's up, my bitch? And Hank just lost it completely.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: He came running the dugout after him and he goes, fuck,
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: You're not gonna believe what Itchio said to me. He
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: said what's up, my bitch? And I was like, yeah, okay.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: He knew more English than people thought he did.
• 13:04
  Speaker 5: He would always say my dog. He'd always say dog,
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: you say what's up dog? That was his big thing.
• 13:10
  Speaker 5: You know, when he first came over. Every time he
• 13:12
  Speaker 5: coach did he go what's a dog?
• 13:18
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• 13:33
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• 13:37
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• 13:39
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• 13:42
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• 13:45
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• 13:47
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• 13:49
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• 14:00
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• 14:17
  Speaker 1: All right, we're back for two minutes and then we'll
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: bring Buck back and we'll go over his realignment plan.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: We've gone over a couple other plans this week, KP.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Where are you at on the realignment conversation? You know,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Manfred spoke about it on Sunday. That's not news if
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: you're following the game on a daily basis. They've been
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: talking about this for ten plus years. But it's going
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: to happen when expansion teams come into play, and there
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: are a lot of different theories on how it should look.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I get with with expansion. You know,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: you have thirty two teams. The math is a little
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: bit easier to break up. What is the ultimate goal, though.
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: Are we trying to reduce travel? Are we trying to
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: increase TV ratings by you know, put teams in certain
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: time zones so you know, maybe there's a premiere game
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: every night of the week. I don't really know. I
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: mean I got a chance to play in both. I
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: got a chance to play and what was like the
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: traditional where you played your in division teams, you know,
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: seventeen nineteen times a year, and then I got to
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: play in this new schedule where you got to play
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: every team, And I kind of liked them both, but
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: I'd like to know the thought behind, you know, what
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: they really are trying to accomplish, and then I can
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: have a little bit more of an educated opinion.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I can tell you what they're trying
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: to accomplish. And this is just good training in general
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: for your media career. Now, money first, everything else comes
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: after that. So money wise, travels, no doubt, no doubt.
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: Travel less time in the air, you know, maybe less
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: you know, hotel time, longer road trip, stuff like that.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: But you know, obviously TV ratings are a big part
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: of it too.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: They are.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Show Walter is back with a bold new realignment plan.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: And uck, we put it on paper, So we're gonna
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: let you look at it and run us through what
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: you think could or should happen, because most scenarios involve
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: four teams in pods or divisions, and some people are
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: discussing how much we should break up what is traditionally
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: there already here's bucks.
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: Plan with divisions one through four. What do you have
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: for us?
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, you know, if you look at
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: the AFL and the NFL, you look at the NBA
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: and the ABA, even hockey you look at they've all
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: kind of okay. Tradition is great and I love it,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: nobody in bra you know, but at some point you
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: got to figure out a way. You know, I don't
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: want to hear that all of a sudden they're more
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: concerned about the player's health because of travel, Okay, And
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: that's that's a great point. You know, if they want
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: to do that, they need to create the number of
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: games they play like they do in the minor league,
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: but and have a certain scheduled day off. That's a
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: subject for another another day. But you're trying to regionally
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: get it done, and there's tweets here. I did this
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: at ESPN a long, long time ago when there were
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: twenty eight teams and they gave me like two minutes
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: on the eras four seven team divisions, and I said,
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: it will never work out because it makes too much sense.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: And we got to call the next day from thefiser's office.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: They wanted to see the tape. And there's a lot
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: of tweets here. You know, I'm assuming that Salt Lake
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: City and Nashville, it sounds like they're the leading candidates.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: Who knows who you talk to. Is Oakland going to
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: end up in Vegas or not? You know, sometimes you
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: do Does baseball really work in Florida where you have
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: spring training? That's the subject for another day. You know,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: with Tampa and Miami, ever make it? You know, when
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: you can pay ten dollars for a ticket and all
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: of a sudden you've got a team there playing eighty
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: one home games. There's baseball really work in Arizona. You know,
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: there's some debate about that because they have spring training there,
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: so you know, this can by the time they get
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: to it. Who knows what the landscape is going to
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: look like. Now, you guys, go ahead and tear it apart.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: No, I like the idea. But I guess my question,
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: you know, you had mentioned some stuff is the tradition
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: of the game. Obviously, if you're expanding the league and
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: you're adding teams, you're kind of changing the traditional league.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: Do you think a realignment could also lead to a
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: realignment of the schedule in terms of what you were
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: mentioning creating an off day for these guys, you know,
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: maybe you play. I'm not a big fan of the
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: sixth day consecutive against one team like they do in TRIPAA,
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: but I do like the idea of having one off
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: day a week with the ability of having like you
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: pick a Monday night or a Wednesday night, and you
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: have where every other team has an off day. Maybe
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: there's four teams that play that day, and then you
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: have like a premier game of the week kind of
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: bring back, like an addition to like a Sunday Night
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: Baseball sort of thing. You do have this premiere matchup
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: two games a week. You get a lot of viewership
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: on those, you know, for teams. I think it would
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: be great for the game.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Well, if you know, I actually thought about Monday being
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: a makeup day for instead of staying away from double
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: headers because double headers are killers for a pitching staff
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: and a team. He's just trying to survive them. You know,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: if most people they say, hey, you can split and
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: not play the double header, you sign up for it
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: in goal because the sweep is what kills you in
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: your pitching staff. It takes them a week to recover.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: So maybe you play those makeup games there. But anything
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: that decreases the number of games, which has already been
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: said here is money. They're going to have a hard
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: time embracing that. And I just you know, there's a
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: way to do it. But you know there's people smarter
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: than me. When I was on the competition committee, I
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: would find out reasons why things couldn't be done. You know,
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: there's some factors behind the scenes that I'm sure we're
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: not aware of. Most of it comes from TV, and
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: you know, like you guys said, it's a money related thing.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: But you know, we got an opportunity with expansion to
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: look at things differently and see if you want to
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: tweet some things.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: All right, a couple of things on what was just said.
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: First of all, KP, there is a game of the week.
• 20:07
  Speaker 5: It's on Saturday night, or actually it's tonight it's Red
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: Sox Yankees and Astros at Orioles. So there's two games
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: of the week tonight. Tune into your local Fox stations
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: to see them.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: But they're not They're not the only they're not the
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: only two games. That's my point is if those would.
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: Never do that, you can never.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: You can never those are the only two games of
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: the week. Would they probably get a lot more viewership
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: because you know, although they are the premier games of
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: the week and they're on national television, fans of their
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: own team are probably going to watch their own games
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: if they're on. At the same time, I'm trying to
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: figure out a way to create like a Monday night
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: football for baseball.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: Well two teams, yeah, yeah, we have Sunday Night Baseball.
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: And guess what, the company that wanted to broadcast that
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: didn't want to do it anymore, and now they're out,
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: So there's a there's a thing. But then but then
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: here Buck, here's my here's my thing. I love this.
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: I love the four team or the four Division eight
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: team for for Division eight team thing that you came
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: up with. I love it because then you could still
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: keep a traditional National league American league. The problem is
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: you're gonna have to make it like an East versus
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: the West or something if you want to cut down
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: on travel. And I've had this argument, So do you
• 21:13
  Speaker 5: only have the East teams go to the West teams
• 21:15
  Speaker 5: once every other year? Do you have to still make
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: a trip because that's the same schedule they have now
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: where the American League has to go to every team
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: in the American League at least once a year. Right,
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: So you see that's where like, so you have an
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: East basically Division one, the Southeast, Midwest, and then you
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: have a West, Southwest, and the division four. So how
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: do you divide it and make it like you know,
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: East and West? Is that what we're going to do? Then?
• 21:38
  Speaker 5: Does the East always play the West? You see? So
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: like in the NBA. In the NBA they have an
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: East and West, but teams still make a trip to
• 21:45
  Speaker 5: each team every year. So that's why that's where baseball
• 21:48
  Speaker 5: gets confusing. What does it really change?
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: Well, I was thinking that everybody plays everybody. I'm big
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: about the integrity of the schedule. I want to know
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: that you face the same competition. I get home and away.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: If you do the math, you know, six games whatever. Hey,
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: by the way, I've been willing to ask you, guys.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: So you look in the minor leagues you mentioned they're
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: playing each other at Kevin, I think six times in
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: a row or five times in a row. Could you
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: imagine early on in y'all's career. I don't know about now,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: if you played a team five or six times in
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: a row, how many fights would there be? In game four? Probably?
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: Good?
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: You know I'm fighting.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: Can you imagine getting that familiar with all the things that?
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: How do I've asked minor league manager, I go, how
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: do y'all stay out of skirmishes or fights or confrontation?
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: He said, they're just not wired that way anymore.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: They yeah, buck, how many? I mean, what if you
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: had to have the same umpar and crew for six
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: street days? How many games?
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: I got no chance unless unless.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: The best thing that happened to you is after I
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: was gonna say, the best thing that happened to you
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: is after three or four days you're getting a new crew.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. But you know what's funny, did you guys find
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: the guys that you came up through the minor leagues
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: with you got along with better in the big leagues
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: like minor league umpires that you you had bounced around
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: in different leagues and they had worked their way up.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: There was a different there was a different people skills.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: You know, back then umpires had to have people skills,
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: and you know they it would all set the fact
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: that they weren't a very good umpire if they knew
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: how to handle people.
• 23:21
  Speaker 6: Ftfan when you're playing games, you kind of have some
• 23:24
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• 23:29
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• 23:30
  Speaker 2: Rula, that's right.
• 23:31
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• 23:34
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• 23:36
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• 24:03
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• 24:05
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• 24:21
  Speaker 5: Look the minor leagues and we're so far off topic,
• 24:24
  Speaker 5: but let's just roll with it. Okay. Here's the thing.
• 24:26
  Speaker 5: The minor leagues are part of the pitching pitching woes
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: that we have because they only pitch one day a week.
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: They pitch one day a week in high school, they
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: pitch one day a week in college. They pich one
• 24:35
  Speaker 5: day a week in the minor leagues. And no, by
• 24:37
  Speaker 5: the way, when they get to the big leagues, they're
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: supposed to pitch every fifth day. They've never done in
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: their life. So by eliminating, first of all my biggest
• 24:43
  Speaker 5: problem with the minor leagues, you eliminate the teams, okay,
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: which saves money. It always goes back to money for
• 24:47
  Speaker 5: Major League Baseball. Okay, But then they also eliminated players.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: So if you're there's only twenty rounds in the drafts,
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: you have less players. Therefore you have less opportunities for guys.
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: And if you don't go in and you don't perform
• 24:59
  Speaker 5: right away, teams are like, yep, you're out. You got
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: one year, you didn't perform, You're out. You know, there's
• 25:03
  Speaker 5: less chance to develop guys. And then also got the pitchers.
• 25:07
  Speaker 5: They never pitched five days, They never pitch on five
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: days rest. So how do you expect to call him
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: up to the best league in the world and say, hey, Buck, Hey,
• 25:15
  Speaker 5: uh whoever, Uh, let's we'll use I don't know whoever
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: you want to use. Pick a guy, Jacob deGrom, Jacob
• 25:21
  Speaker 5: b Gram. You only pitch once every week for your
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: whole career, and then oh, by the way, you get
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: to the big leagues, you got to call him his
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: Obviously you're pitching every fifth day and the guy's going
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: ow ol out. I've one of the biggest problems, it's crazy,
• 25:33
  Speaker 5: one of the biggest problems.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: With taking a Japanese pitcher. And you get a Japanese pitcher,
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: they're pitching basically on Friday night. And you know, we
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: had that issue with sing with the Mets and the
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: other part of it a j and that's along the
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: lines of what you're talking about. Another day, some guy
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: got called up. You know, it was a big prospect,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: so I kind of looked at his pitching log and
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: look in the back. He didn't pitch more than four
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: or five innings in his starts, and they were talking
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: about how he was going to come up and save
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: the staff and help their bullpen. Well, if you're pitching
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: four innings out of the bullpen every time this guy pitches,
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: you're not saving a bullpen. And you know, I think
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: where our issue is that we're not I know what
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: I started with the minor leagues, and I hate saying that,
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: but as a manager, we were not allowed to take
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: our guys out of the game before they threw one
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: hundred ditches. They said, hey, let them learn how to
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: get out of the stuff they should throw between the
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: ninety and the hundred, and you leave them out there.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: I remember going out there and going, hey, you notice
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: I got nobody having a bullpen. You better figure this
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: stuff out. But yet we don't train them for what
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: we expect them to do in the big leagues. So
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: What are you all thoughts on that?
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: Agreed? Agreed?
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: Agreed, Yeah, I agree to you to your point, agent,
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, I would have been a victim of the system.
• 26:46
  Speaker 3: You know, I was a thirty second round draft pick.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: I don't even get drafted today, so you know, maybe
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: it doesn't happen all the time, but you know, I
• 26:54
  Speaker 3: hate the fact that they cut the minor league system
• 26:57
  Speaker 3: because there's a lot of guys out there that, you know,
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: maybe our late bloomers, maybe it took them a little
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: bit to develop. And in my case, you know, I
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: got drafted where I got drafted, but I moved quickly.
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: And you know, without having those extra you know, twenty
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: twenty five rounds, maybe I don't get an opportunity. Maybe
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: I'm not sitting here. My life's completely different without the
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: fifty rounds that there used to be used to be.
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: But you know, Kevin, though I guarantee you and I
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: don't even know the background, I'll bet you're somewhere along
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: the line in your minor league career, some coach or
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: manager got you, or a farm director, somebody got you.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: They didn't care where you were drafted, and they kept saying, hey,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: don't forget about polar because they watched you on their
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: team compete and help their team win. You know that
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: voice of the boots on the ground, guys, guys like you,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: that's how they would get overlooked because some manager didn't
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: stand up. Go hold on a second. I know he
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: wasn't drafted first, but this guy's a baseball player. Was
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: that true me?
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: Yeah?
• 27:54
  Speaker 4: I mean it.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: It happened multiple times in my career. I mean, you know,
• 28:00
  Speaker 3: my my first hitting coach in the minor leagues, when
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: I was in rookie ball, I got with him. He
• 28:05
  Speaker 3: helped me develop routine. You know, he pounded the table
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: for me to go to the next level. You know,
• 28:11
  Speaker 3: my managers in low way fought on the table. We
• 28:14
  Speaker 3: got to promote this guy. I don't care what round
• 28:15
  Speaker 3: he was in. And you know my Double A manager
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: the same thing. You know, I'll never forget a story.
• 28:20
  Speaker 3: It was my first at bat in Double A. I'm
• 28:22
  Speaker 3: in New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire, freezing cold, my first
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: at bat, guy hit the lead off doubles the first
• 28:30
  Speaker 3: game of the year, and I do everything in my
• 28:31
  Speaker 3: power to move this guy over. I'm fighting balls off
• 28:34
  Speaker 3: in the dugout and I remember someone telling me like
• 28:36
  Speaker 3: a year later, they said, that's how I knew you
• 28:39
  Speaker 3: were going to be a big leaguer. And that guy
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: stood up for me. And you know, when he had
• 28:42
  Speaker 3: an opportunity to, you know, talk to the manager of
• 28:45
  Speaker 3: the team the front office, he said, this is the
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: type of guy you want. And you know, I think
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: that's missing in today's world, is the manager actually of
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: your minor league teams having the ability to go out
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: and be like, forget about what the stats say, the
• 28:57
  Speaker 3: exit velocity, you know, the saber metrics. This guy knows
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: how to win. This is the type of guy you
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: want on your team. And I was very thankful why
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: I came across a lot of managers in the minor
• 29:05
  Speaker 3: leagues that would pound the table for me.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: We know happens when your butt's on the line as
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: a manager to win games, you are drawn to players
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: like that and you're in those meetings. And we used
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: to minor at least, we used to have to fight
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: over players like you. You know, we want this guy
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: in double because we do think could help us win.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: When we left minor league camp with the Yankees, if
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: mister Steinner told us we had two jobs, win your
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: league and developed players, and that was one and the same,
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: he felt like players learning how to win was part
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: of development.
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: Agreed, Agreed, all right, Buck, I got to ask you,
• 29:39
  Speaker 5: we got to get a little bit on task here
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: because you always I weren't Kevin when you came on
• 29:44
  Speaker 5: that you were going to get us off task. And
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: you're a tremendous set and we love it. We love
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: you for that, especially when you're driving around and you're
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: convertible around Saint Lucy like you do when you come on.
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: But here's the question. Shojeo Tawani has rules made for
• 29:56
  Speaker 5: him as far as starting and then you can stay
• 29:59
  Speaker 5: in the game as a D. But if he is
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: a reliever, he can't be the DH. Coming as a
• 30:03
  Speaker 5: reliever and then go back to DH. What are your
• 30:06
  Speaker 5: thoughts on this and do you think Major League Baseball
• 30:07
  Speaker 5: will change this so he has an opportunity to be
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: a reliever in the postseason.
• 30:13
  Speaker 2: Yes, you know. To me, you gotta be careful. I
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: talking to some people that everybody loves this guy, unbelievable talent,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: but talking to some people that when he was with
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: other club but what must be the Angels. It creates
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: some issues on your pitching staff because the starters don't
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: know when necessarily he's gonna pitch when he's gonna slide in.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: Is he gonna pitch on four days? Is gonna pitch
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: on five days? Are we gonna give him an extra day?
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: Because of this? I always thought that he would have
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: been a great closer where he would just d h
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: him and when it came time for the eighth or
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: ninth inning, he just went over and pitched. And you
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: know who cares if you lost your DH because he's
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: still hitting. Now you tell me I'm not brought up
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: to speed on it is that no longer the case,
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: aj Am I missing something.
• 30:57
  Speaker 5: You lose the DH if he comes in as the pitcher,
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: so you lose the deal. So let's say he blows
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: the game. But then the other problem you have, Buck
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: is what comes if you're in the bottom of the
• 31:05
  Speaker 5: eighth and you're winning two to two or you're tied
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: two to two. He hits the go ahead single with
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: two outs and he's on first base, and then you
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: got to get a pincher run. You can't pinch run
• 31:14
  Speaker 5: for him, So how does he get loose? That's the
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: problem with him being a reliever, right so, because especially
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: as the closer, how fast have you had to ever
• 31:21
  Speaker 5: had to get up your closer and say, hey, go
• 31:23
  Speaker 5: get him. Right when Zach Britton was your closer, you're
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: tied or you your down run and Adam Jones pop's
• 31:29
  Speaker 5: a two run homer for you, and you're like, hey, Zach,
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: get up, you got you got one minute to get ready, right.
• 31:33
  Speaker 5: Otani can't do that if he's on base.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I would try to do everything I could do
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: to make Otani being able to perform, as long as
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: the competitive competitive balance for the other team's not warped,
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: you know. I So I would try to do whatever
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: I could do to make Otani be able to do
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: what Otani does. Does that make any sense.
• 32:00
  Speaker 5: Totally?
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: Hey, I want to go I want to go back
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: to the previous conversation. I mean, I think it's kind
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: of fitting for you know, changing maybe the integrity of
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: the game in terms of divisions, adding two teams. We're
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: going to go back to the Savannah Bananas. Realistically, from
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: your experience there, you said there's things that major League
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: Baseball could adopt. Is there a rule or a certain
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: thing that you think major League Baseball could potentially learn
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: from the Savannah Bananas that would you know, help the
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: game out. Obviously, keep the competitiveness, the integrity of the game,
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: but something that stood out to you that would just
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: improve the overall quality of the game.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: No, I think it's two different entities. I think Major
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: League Baseball and the way they do it. Keep in mind,
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: they do this twice a week. Let's see how they
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: would be if they did it seven days a week.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: We're traveling around the countries and they've got two or
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: three different traveling teams. Now it's not the same team,
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: you see. I'm not sure if physically the pitchers could
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: stand up if they were doing it seven days a week.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: It one or two days a week. And they'll be
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: the first to tell you. And they come in and
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: they barnstorm. They hit a city and they get after there,
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: it's Starbucks, next day, sign an auto rest. They just basically,
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: you know, barnstorm a whole city for two days. I
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: don't think a lot of the stuff that they do
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: would play long term. I love the fact that they
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: got two hours on the board. Like AJ said, but
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: you know what, they know how to speed the game up.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: I said, what happens if you're in the third inning
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: and two hours up? He goes, oh, no, that won't happen.
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: We know how to speed the game up. I go, really, wow,
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: that's pretty cool. But some of the things they do
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: on the field, the behind the backs and the spins
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: and what have you, it's pretty impressive, guys.
• 33:40
  Speaker 4: I gotta tell you it's good product. It's a great product.
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: Hold up, hold up, Scott. Before I know where you're
• 33:46
  Speaker 5: going to go, but I want to I got to
• 33:48
  Speaker 5: say this to book. Yeah, it's pretty impressive until JJ
• 33:51
  Speaker 5: Hardy your shorts up, goes behind the back and makes
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: an error and then you go grab them by the
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: throat and say, like they said, don't ever do that again?
• 33:58
  Speaker 5: Would they say in Major league to him? Right? I mean, yeah,
• 34:01
  Speaker 5: it's impressive because it doesn't matter and it's not affecting
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: people's livelihood. That's but as soon as it goes to livelihood,
• 34:07
  Speaker 5: then you're like, don't ever do that again. JJ.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I saw two guys in my whole career. I gotta
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: tell quick JJ's story. JJ was looking for. He was
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: the best tager I ever had. JJ could get a
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: ball down on a guy faster than anybody, and he
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: would wait at the bag and let he said, the
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: ball can travel faster than my glove. You see these
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: guys go way in front of the bag to take
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: the ball and then chase the runner. I know it
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: would really piss off the catcher j AJ like you,
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: but JJ would let the ball travel. He was starting
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: in front, and he would go to the straddle, but
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: he would catch a short hop this way instead of this,
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: instead of up, because he felt like going up and
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: then coming back down cost a half account. He and
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: omrvis Kell are the only two guys that ever saw
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: catch a short hop this way. Think about it. Try
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: that at home sometime. Okay, that was my AJ story,
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: JJ story.
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: That's good. Like it all right? Last one.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: I'll try and get us back on a popacarea. And
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: this has been great. I'm sitting back having a great time.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: This is why we love our buckle up segments. But
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: I want to get to something that's pressed this week
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: from a manager situation. It's two stories, and I want
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: to get your take on how this works. Take us inside. Yesterday,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: Aaron Boone said Judge isn't going to be one hundred
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: percent throwing the rest of the year. Judge was like, Nah,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: he's not watching me throw the last couple of weeks.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: And then we also have Kyle Tucker's situation where you know,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: the team finally kind of admitted that he's been playing hurt.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: So the question is just about injuries, where the manager stands,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: where the team stands, on how much they're monitoring players,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: what's the communication process like on the Yankee side, of course,
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: you know Yanks fans buck, they're.
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: Like, oh, he doesn't know what's going on with the team.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: He's not paying attention.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: So so clear this up on what's happening here and
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: what gamesmanship goes on in the press.
• 35:56
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, I'm not there. I don't know
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: everything's going on behind this and what said and he said.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: But I've always said, why don't we just try telling
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: exactly what's going on so we don't have to worry
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: about who said this and who said that. And you're
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: always sitting down with the player, Hey, I'm getting ready
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: to say this. Is this going to be okay? And
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: are you going to say this? Because they're going to
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: ask me this. I always try to, you know, make
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: sure that we were all on the same page. And
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: sometimes there's so many people pulling you know, they're never
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: going to let the truth get in the way of
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: a good story. And I used to tell writers all
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: the time, if you care about being right, I'll never
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: let you be wrong. And you'd be surprised how that
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: kind of separates them. But you know, that's that's a
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: simple thing. It's not as big a deal as they
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: make it out be Aaron sits down with him in
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: days as tell me what it is. Because Aaron's talking
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: to the medical people and the trainers and the doctors,
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: you know, and they have a certain take on it.
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: Now that may not. You know, the last thing Aaron
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: Judge is going to do is present himself as somebody
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: that you know can't go play right field. He doesn't
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: want to do that. The players don't want to have
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: that look, especially the captain of the team. So you know,
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: that's pretty normal. What's going on with Tucker again.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: So Tucker's been struggling the last six weeks or so.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Oh's got a hairline fracture. They addressed it. Counsel though
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: initially was like now he's finding he's healthy, he's good,
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: although maybe that's what they meant now and that you know,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: he sufferated.
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: I think back in June and then he was.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: He was hitting okay, but eventually got off kilter, and
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: then you know, maybe he's feeling better, but the swing
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: is still off. So that whole deal of like what
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: you actually share and also how you communicate with that
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: that with the player that Kyle Tucker is not a
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: very open book. You know, he's a quiet guy. So
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: he might have said, Hey, I just want to play
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: through it.
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: Don't tell anyone anything.
• 37:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it was all expression. Be careful, careful
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: about telling truths that hurt innocent people. And what happens
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: is if you if you made public exactly everything that
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: guys were playing with. I mean, this is what's different.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: I used to get on John Harball about it. In Baltimore.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: Played once a week. Man, he's got an off week.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: I said, these guys play through things, not as much
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: as maybe they used to. But if you do every
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: little thing that was going on. I had a cracked thumb.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: I played the next sixty games with I didn't ever
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: brought it up. It was just the way you were raised.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: I remember, I aja one day I got my feet
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: cut up, I mean high school basketball ball, and I
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: laid on the ground too long. I got home and
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: my dad said, Hey, were you hurt or injured? I said, sir,
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: were you heard or injured? If you're hurt, get up.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: If you're injured, let's go to the hospital. So you
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: got to know the difference between the injuries. Some things
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: you can play through, but if they made public every
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: little thing somebody was playing with, you'd be shocked at
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: some of the things that people would look at and go,
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: oh my god, he's playing through this.
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: Huck Buck. I gotta tell this story. I played middle
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: school basketball back, you know, a long time ago, and
• 38:52
  Speaker 5: if you would fall down, the coach would have the
• 38:54
  Speaker 5: other guys come over and literally try to kick you
• 38:57
  Speaker 5: to get you back up, like they would wouldn't actually
• 39:00
  Speaker 5: do it, but they were. They would. It was like
• 39:02
  Speaker 5: a competition to see if we could actually get not
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: hard kick, Scott, so don't get excited, but like a
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: little soft kick just to get you up. I mean,
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: that was the way it was. That's right. That's what
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: you always ask people, are you hurt or are you injured?
• 39:15
  Speaker 5: Because there is a major difference.
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I scored my first touchdown. I held the ball
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: over my head for two seconds. My dad was waiting
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: on the front porch. He said, congratulations on the first
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: touchdown you'll ever score? You ever scored? I said, no,
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: I didn't. He goes ahead it sure acted like it
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: and went inside. I never did it again.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Well, this took us everywhere as expected for KP's first
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: experience with Buck Showalter.
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: This was a true buckle up time. So Buck, you
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: know we love you. This was great.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: Uh, save travels when you get back to Texas and
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: then of the Kevin Pullar Buck show Walter matchup on
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: the links. But yeah, also, I guess no, he doesn't
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: want to go to the game. He wants to listen
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: to you.
• 39:56
  Speaker 4: AJ coming get him on.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: Hey, j I made my two trips over to cam
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: It's kind of emotional for me over there. I know
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: all the ushers and the parking attendance and the people.
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: You know, we my wife and I. We had a
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: lot of great memories there. So you're on your own,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: but I'll listen to you.
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: Okay, there you go. That's the game of the week,
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: and it's the game of the week. Kevin, just letting
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: you know.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: I'm tuning in. It's gonna be on.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: For ratings are gonna hit. We've been talking about it
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: all day. Thanks Buck, We'll catch you soon.
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: So you guys, thanks for having me.
• 40:29
  Speaker 4: Thank you, appreciate you.
• 40:31
  Speaker 5: All Right, So, uh, I gotta ask Kevin. I know
• 40:34
  Speaker 5: we're gonna go, but how was your first buckle up?
• 40:36
  Speaker 5: Because that was what I told you. Yeah, I start
• 40:39
  Speaker 5: asking questions. You're just gonna hup all over the place.
• 40:42
  Speaker 3: That's everything, and I thought it would be in more.
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a that's a great guess. That's just
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: a segment. You have to, you know, block out of time,
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: and there's got to be really no agenda. You just
• 40:53
  Speaker 3: got to let kind of buck take the lead. Maybe
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: that's what that little him driving in the car kind
• 40:57
  Speaker 3: of symbolizes. Just hop in that book, take this thing
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: where it needs to go, and you're gonna get some
• 41:01
  Speaker 3: great content out of it.
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: It's exactly what I expect.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: If you're on a drive home from work or a
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: road trip and you just let that thing run. That
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: is the perfect time killer. When you've got a ride
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: that you're not looking forward to. You do that for
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: twenty five minutes and you're like, damn, that felt like
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: thirty seconds.
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: So yeah, that was fun.
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's good. It's kind of interesting. When you get
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: to like meet him, talk to him, you know, you'll
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: have this idea of what he is from the other dugout.
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: And I always thought he was kind of a dick,
• 41:31
  Speaker 3: you know that maybe his players didn't like to play
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: for him. But he seems great. He seems like he
• 41:36
  Speaker 3: would love you, care about you, care about your family,
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: you know, want to put you in the best spot
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: to succeed. I never got that sense from him, you know,
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: playing against him, because like mentioned, he was out for blood.
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: He wanted to win. You know, I wouldn't even go
• 41:50
  Speaker 3: up and try to approach him, even though I wanted
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: to talk to him.
• 41:53
  Speaker 4: He deeply, deeply cares.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: That There are some people that I've been fortunate enough
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: to work with after they're playing or Man, and he
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: is on a short list of guys that, like we'll
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: call text even anyone they're working with, just to talk
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: about the game. Right, Like he's sitting at home and
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: he'll reach out to me aj anybody else, right and
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: just want to chat about the game. Those are the
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: best ones, the lifers that really have like such a
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: grip on the sport and passionately care and and this
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: is the conversation that we would have aj on the
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: phone with him for half hour, so we bring it
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: onto the show. Yeah, yeah, that the front that you
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: saw KP is not what he is.
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah. He'll reach out to you and just say like, hey,
• 42:34
  Speaker 5: I was watching this the other day, what do you
• 42:36
  Speaker 5: think about this? And I'm like, Buck, like, I'm in
• 42:38
  Speaker 5: the middle of doing something. You don't have five minutes
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: for me. I'm like okay, Buck, Yeah, And then the
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: twenty minutes later you're like, crap, I was in the
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: middle of something.
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: But it's great.
• 42:47
  Speaker 3: There's also there's also the flip side to it. There's
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: been you know, managers on the other side that seem like, oh,
• 42:53
  Speaker 3: they're so cool. They'll come up talk to you during
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: the VP, and then you talk to the players and like,
• 42:57
  Speaker 3: we hate playing for this guy. He's the worst. So
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: I guess it's a lesson on not judging your book
• 43:02
  Speaker 3: by its cover. And you know, I feel like, now
• 43:04
  Speaker 3: getting to know him, just in that short segment, maybe
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: he's you know, won that gut away I would have loved.
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you guys would have jelled