Latest / Stugotz and Company / Set 2: An Emotional Sendoff (w/Ben Verlander)

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Set 2: An Emotional Sendoff (w/Ben Verlander) · Stugotz and Company

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Today we're talking baseball with one of the most recognizable
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: voices in the game, Fox Sports MLB analyst and host
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: of Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander, a former professional player
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: with an insider's perspective on the sport. And Ben joins us.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Right now, Ben, Mikey A. said something to me earlier today.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on it. He said
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: if he could only have one on the playoff roster,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton, he's a Yankee fan, he
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: would want Stanton on that roster.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Your thoughts? That's a ridiculous statement. It is a ridiculous statement.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: We need to have a conversation on that. That's not
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: what I said. What is it that you said?
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: How am I misrepresenting what you said?
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: All I'm saying is playoff Stanton is definitely a weapon
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: to have on the roster.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: That's all I was saying.
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: I will say playoff G, playoff Giancarlo. is a different beast. Like,
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: if Giancarlo Stanton is healthy on the Yankees in the playoffs,
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: it is a game changer. He's not Aaron Judge, obviously.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: I would much rather have Aaron Judge. But, like, I
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: do think the Yankees need him if they want to
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: win the World Series.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: All right. Should Yankee fans be nervous here for this
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: series with the Red Sox? Baseball is funny.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: It's tricky.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Any team could win once you make it to the postseason.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: But the Yankees are the better team, top to bottom,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: have the better pitching, at least in my opinion. But
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: should Yankee fans be nervous about this series?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I don't think so.
• 1:50
  Speaker 4: I get the nervous that the American League, anything can happen.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: Anything probably will happen. But like the second you see
• 1:59
  Speaker 4: a graphic pop up that says the Yankees are going
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: to go Schlittler, Freed, Cole in games one, two and three,
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: it should ease your emotions a little bit. I do
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: think even without Aaron Judge, the Yankees are the better team.
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: I think they need Aaron Judge to get to the
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: World Series. I don't think they need Aaron Judge to
• 2:16
  Speaker 4: beat the Boston Red Sox. I think they're a better
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: team and I think their pitchers can carry them.
• 2:21
  Speaker 5: Ben, as a Yankee fan, I feel like I should
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: be fully focused on this series with the Red Sox,
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: but there's part of me that has a problem with
• 2:29
  Speaker 5: the playoff system where the Yankees win 93 games this
• 2:33
  Speaker 5: season and somebody like the Guardians win 85 games and
• 2:36
  Speaker 5: the Guardians have a bye. Do you think baseball needs
• 2:39
  Speaker 5: to fix the format of the postseason?
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think playoff baseball is the best playoffs there are.
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: And that's because of what happens with the sport. The
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: game becomes a little bit different. I do think there
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: are some tweaks that can be made to the format. One,
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I think reseating would be a good idea throughout.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I would like that. I know other sports do it.
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: I get it.
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: They they expanded playoffs and then they reward winning your
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: division which i do think like i get that aspect
• 3:12
  Speaker 4: of it but i i do understand like the cleveland
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: guardians were out of a playoff spot a couple of
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: weeks ago and then you know the chicago struggled and
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: play pretty well down the stretch next thing you know
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: they're in a playoff spot and all of a sudden
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: winning the division is And it's like, wait a second,
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: we didn't just go from outside of the playoffs to
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: a playoff spot.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: To division winners.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: We now have a bye through the first round when
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: a team like the Padres or the Cubs or the
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: Yankees and Red Sox are playing in that first round.
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: So I do think there can be some fun changes,
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: but I get rewarding winning your division over the course
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: of 162 games.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: That's the goal.
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: And unfortunately, some years, as in this year, it's going
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: to work out where a team that's Not as good,
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: with near as good of a record, is going to
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: have a bye.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Ben, of the teams, of the available playoff teams this year,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: which team would surprise you the most if they made
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: a run to the World Series?
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: A team that would surprise me the most, I mean,
• 4:13
  Speaker 4: the Guardians come to mind. Guardians and White Sox, both
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: of those AL Central teams. And those are two teams
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: in the American League. Anything can happen in the American League. Nobody's, like, great,
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: especially the Yankees without Judge. But I would be surprised
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: if the Guardians or White Sox make some damage or
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: do some damage. And I'll go on further. I'm not
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: super high on either of the one seeds, either the
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: Brewers or the Rays. And that's going to be a
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: little bit more of a hot take. But we see
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: them constantly do it over the course of 162. And
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: they deserve so much credit for the team that they
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: put together and how they do it. I just don't
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: think what they do works in October. I don't think
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: they have the star power. to do it in October.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: And we saw last year, I thought the Brewers had
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: the possibility, the opportunity to do it this year and
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: go get a Tarek Scooble. And they just don't. And
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: it works in 162. I don't think it works in October.
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: And I think they're not going to get exposed because
• 5:10
  Speaker 4: they're really good teams. But I think stars win in October.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: And we'll see. Since the World.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: Series last year, the mantra kind of the whole offseason
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: into the season is, It's just going to be the Dodgers.
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: It's going to be the Dodgers, the Dodgers, the Dodgers.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: Now that we actually have the playoffs set, are we
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: still there? Is it just going to be the Dodgers
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: and whoever they happen to play in the American League?
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: You know, I was there at the beginning of the year.
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: And even when they started to like, they never struggled.
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: They just weren't like this crazy force that's going to
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: break the Mariners record, right? So I was there, and
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: I was thinking through... I have John Smoltz on my
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: show every week, and we were talking about it, and
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: I was like.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Look, this team's not going... This team's not trying to
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: break the Mariners' record.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: They're trying to win in October, and they're preparing themselves
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: to be as healthy as they can be and set
• 6:07
  Speaker 4: up properly to win the World Series. And throughout their
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: ebbs and flows, I continue to say that, but then
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: down the stretch... you know, from the All-Star game on,
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: it just felt a little different with this year's Dodgers team,
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: and that could end up sounding foolish. Again, the second
• 6:26
  Speaker 4: the calendar turns to October, the Dodgers are the Dodgers,
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: but vibes just felt different to me. Like, Kyle Tucker
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: struggled the whole year. Mookie was good down the stretch,
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: but really struggled all year. They're dealing with some injuries.
• 6:39
  Speaker 4: The Bull, like, Edwin Diaz came in and just had
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: a terrible year. They're Once again, dealing with back into
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: the bullpen issues.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: So I don't know. It feels a little different to me.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: And I do not have the Dodgers winning the National League.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Or obviously the World Series this year. Wow.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Who do you have?
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: I have a hot take. I have the Phillies, actually. Wow.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Scorching hot. Scorching hot, Verlander. They're a sixth seed. I
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: get that. They've limped into the playoffs. I understand that
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: And now they have a brave series where their pitching
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: is not lining up how you want. I know Lizardo's
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: basically was an opener in this game one, and you
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: don't know what they're going to do in two or three.
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: But to me, having those starters of Christopher Sanchez, Zach Wheeler,
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: Jesus Lizardo, Duran at the back end of the bullpen,
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: superstars on the offense is Those lefties that the Phillies have,
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: I think, are what you need to beat the Dodgers.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: You know, having Christopher Sanchez and Lizardo to stymie a
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: little bit the Otanis, Kyle Tuckers, Max Muncy, Freddie Freeman.
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: So it's a hot take, but they have that blueprint
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: to win in October.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: I've believed in them and the core for a few years.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: Last year they had Zach Wheeler out. He's not this year.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: To me, the hardest.
• 8:00
  Speaker 4: They got to get through the Braves series. You know,
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: you have to get through it with your pitching not
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: lining up. But if you can do that, I like
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: their chances to take down the Dodgers in the next round.
• 8:19
  Speaker 5: Ben, I feel like the casual baseball fan is going
• 8:21
  Speaker 5: to be rooting for PCA and the Chicago Cubs just
• 8:24
  Speaker 5: because of how electric PCA is, 40-40 NL MVP. What
• 8:29
  Speaker 5: do you think the Cubs' ceiling is this postseason?
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: I think it's high, and only because, let me, something
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: seems off with Kevin Gosman in terms of his arm,
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: and I haven't exactly seen the clarity on that.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: Nobody has gotten the clarity.
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: Is his shoulder 100% in okay? If that's the case,
• 8:48
  Speaker 4: I like them a lot. I think they can win
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: that series against the Padres solely because of the moves
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: they made at the trade deadline. Their pitching has just
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: been obliterated from injuries. Justin Steele, Cade Horton, Ben Brown.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: They needed pitching to pair with the rest of the rotation.
• 9:05
  Speaker 4: And going out and getting Gosman and Holmes, I think,
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: is going to be huge for them. So I think
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: their ceiling is.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: I believe....
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: I believe they can win a couple series. I think
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: they can get to the CS, and at that point,
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: anything can happen.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: Whether you're facing... At that point, it would be, you know.
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: dodgers phillies braves whoever comes out of that side um
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: i i do like them i i see a lot
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: of people picking the padres and i get it the
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: back end of the bullpen is unbelievable but you can
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: get to those starters and with pete crowe armstrong on
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: the offense he's literally carrying this this cubs offense and
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: um i i do like them a lot and i
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: i think i like them more than most people do i.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Want to talk to you about being at the stadium
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: uh for your brother's final start we'll get to that
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: in just a second. But you said Phillies National League.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: The American League, who are you going with?
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: I'm going with the Yankees just because I think it's weak.
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: I think it's weak and I think Judge comes back.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: I know he's out for the wild card series, but
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: the fact that it got like, I saw he hit yesterday.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: I saw it became... I was worried he was out
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: for the year.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: I saw it became much more like a toss-up if
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: he was going to be in the wildcard round, which
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: I think is great news for the rest of the playoffs.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Obviously, you've got to win now.
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: It doesn't matter what happens to the rest if you
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: can't win. But I do think he comes back, and
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: I think with Schlettler, Freed, and Cole, it separates them
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: from anybody else in the American League. So I have
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: them playing the Astros and the CS, and although the
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: Astros have dominated the Yankees in the playoffs for years,
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: A long time now. I do think this is the Yankees' redemption,
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: and I think those pitchers plus Judge being back are
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: going to be enough to get there.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Flippin' Bats with Ben Verlander is available on Apple, Spotify,
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: Fox Sports, as well as YouTube. What was it like there?
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Had to be emotional, had to be pretty cool to
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: be at the stadium for Justin's final start there.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: I could barely see any of it.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: I was crying for two days straight. I mean, I,
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: I'm not kidding you guys. I, I was balling like,
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: especially Saturday, you know, it was an emotional day. I saw,
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: you know, when to see Justin warming up, just was
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: emotional about that. His first pitch throughout the game, getting
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: through the first inning, the crowd was unbelievable. The Tigers
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: were unbelievable. And it's just, you know, And then I
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: lost it when I saw my niece run out onto
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: the field. And then to see, like, I was to
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: Justin's right when he was looking.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: At Vivi and to see his shoulder.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: You know, you can see the shoulder cry. And when
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: I saw him doing that, I was just a mess.
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: You know, it's just, it's a lot of emotions that
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: hit me. I love this game because I was born
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: into it. And I was born into it because my brother,
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: who's nine years older, was already playing baseball when I
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: was born. I was born and straight to a baseball
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: field to watch him. in every step throughout my life,
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: I have been watching him play baseball. I have never
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: not known a day where my brother wasn't a major league,
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: where he wasn't a baseball player. And then from the
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: time I was in middle school, my brother's in the
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: World Series playing in the major leagues.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: And here I am.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: I made my high school team, my college team. I
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: played professional baseball for five years. Now I talk about it.
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: I got married. And at the end of all of this,
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: My brother's still a major league baseball player, which is crazy.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: And to be there Saturday and for that all to
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: come to the best ending I could have possibly imagined
• 12:29
  Speaker 4: was very, very emotional and very special for our entire family.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: And I'm just I'm so proud of him.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: But those are mixed emotions, right? There's sadness that he's
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: leaving the game that he loves, but there's also happiness
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: because you're celebrating what was a spectacular career.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah, 100%.
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: It's a lot of both, to be honest. And, you know,
• 12:49
  Speaker 4: I think that's why I wasn't expecting to be as
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: emotional as I was.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: I knew I would be.
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: But it's a lot because, you know, every memory throughout
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: my life is the Tigers are showing videos on the board.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: And I'm like, oh, that Maglio hit that walk-off home
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: run to go to the World Series. And I was
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: 12 years old. And it's like all these memories throughout
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: my life and Justin's life come running back. And to
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: be so proud of him and his career and happy
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: for him and his career that it's ending on his
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: terms and the way he wants is one thing. And just,
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: you know, definitely emotions on the other side of things
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: that you're sad it's over. It's what I've known, and
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: it's what he's loved to do his entire life. And
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: I thought what the Tigers and A.J. Hinch did, surprising
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: him with VV running out on the field, was a
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: perfect ending from In more ways than just what happened
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: on the field, the transition of life from him as
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: a baseball player and his daughter holding his hand, walking
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: off the field for the final time, for him to
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: be the father that I know he wants to be
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: and to be better at that is just... Oh, man,
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: it was a tearjerker.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: You're getting emotional right now just talking about it, man.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Every time I see the video, it's emotional, yeah.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: All right, man, we appreciate the time. Phillies-Yankees, I mean,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: that is a good World Series you have selected, my friend.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: We'll see. It's out there. Six seed and a four seed. Yes,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: pick a fan base.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: I'm not certain which fan base I want to lose most. Like,
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I want to inflict pain on. Like, those are two
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: hated fan bases that no one will be rooting for
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: outside of the people in their series, in their cities. Ben,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: we appreciate the time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: on Justin there. That was wonderful. And enjoy the.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Postseason, man. Of course. Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate it.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: You got it, bud.