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How Can The Phillies Start To Rebound? (PST Episode 513) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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All right, everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
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the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show into the world, ten years strong.
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It is May ninth, Tuesday, May ninth, when we are recording
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this at night. After the Philadelphia seventy six Ers just absolutely woked the Boston
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Celtics in Game five. My goodness, we're gonna get into that for sure.
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I'm Jeff Warren and I'm here. Are my good buddy Len Hunts Sicker?
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Man? Hey doing, Lenn? I'm running high here? How are
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you doing? Man? I don't think we can expect Boston to shoot like
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that in the next game, hopefully just one game, you know, but
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hey, who knows, who knows what's gonna happen. But yeah, it
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was a poor shooting night for them, and the Sixers just played lights out.
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It was great. I am so stoked right now because of this,
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and oh my god, well, why don't we just start talking about this
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Sixers Celtics series that we have seen so far A lot of ups and downs,
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you know. I mean, that's the world of Philly sports anymore.
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It's a series of ups and downs, not just with this professional basketball team.
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We're gonna be talking about the Phillies on this podcast. We are going
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to be talking about the Philadelphia Flyers and the fact that they are the gonna
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have the number seven overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft. And we're also
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gonna get into some listener feedback too from one of our dedicated listeners and Lenn.
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We're also going to talk about the Philadelphia Union for the very first time
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on this podcast. My friend, I can't wait for that. Yeah,
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yeah, it should be interesting. I'm actually they're playing right now, and
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I have a game on my computers as we're doing this, so alright,
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alright, sounds good. Well, this six or Celtics matchup tonight, Game
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five, like I said, just ended a few short minutes ago, Len
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and I hopped on here to do this week's show. This looked like a
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team that wants to get to the NBA Finals. This looks like a team
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that not only certain roles are now really appearing to be defined on this team,
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and they have been for quite for some time, I should say,
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but I mean, they really looked fantastic tonight. I love the fact that
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they were letting Tyrese Maxie initiate a little bit more down the court. It
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worked for them in Game one when they were up in Boston. You know,
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the whole we were talking. I was talking about this on the Table
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Talk show this past week with my guest how you know whenever Harden has the
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ball for like twenty seconds, you know, before he finally shoots it.
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Like that strategy, especially in the third, isn't necessarily the best strategy I
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think for this team. What works, keep doing it for God's sakes.
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And then of course we had Max seeing Tobias Harris stepping up big, big
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time here in Game five, I just yeah, compared to some of the
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games that Maxie's had in this series, I mean, God, did he
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look great tonight. I mean just kind of a completely different player. He
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looked he not only looked like a completely different player, but but it was
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it was the confidence angle from him. When we saw confidence coming from Tyrese
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Maxie tonight that I don't think we necessarily have seen as much in Game two,
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Game three, and even Game four. Necessarily. Yeah, no,
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I would say so. I mean I think you know, they've been kind
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of on him to step up his game a little bit, and he was
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able to do it. Tonight. I don't know what change, Maybe something
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defensively with what they're doing, you know on him meaning Boston, but um
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yeah, it just seemed like he you know, could get to the raim
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at will, you know, just had plenty of time to set up and
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you know, hit some threes. So it was they really did a good
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job of freeing him up tonight and letting him do what he does. And
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Joel Embiid, I don't think there is another player, another basketball player on
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this planet that's been able to dominate it on both ends of the court.
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His defense was incredible the very last five blocks tonight. Yes, that last
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block that he had chasing down was a Tatum he was chasing down. I
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forget who it was, but chasing him down in the fourth and it was
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it was just a mounch. And that was and and and it's the kind
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of affter you like to see because that was you know, basically at the
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other end of the court, he gave up a turnover and you know,
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chase the guy down and and swatted him. Um, So that that's the
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kind of thing you'd like to see, like, oh, I just turned
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the ball over, but I'm not hanging my hat. I'm gonna go down
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there and I'm gonna, you know, make up for this. And that's
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what he did. I mean, a great game out of him. Um,
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you know, I don't was I don't know was he wearing a knee
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brace tonight? It was he was. It didn't look like he was wearing
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a knee brace at least in the second half he was not. Yeah,
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which is you know, I don't know, you know, how good he's
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feeling. I mean I would imagine the knee braces kind of a hindrance to
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play with, right, Um, so maybe maybe that, you know,
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was part of the reason he looked pretty good tonight. It was just he
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wasn't playing with it. Um, you know, hopefully it's something he can
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got out and you know, get through the playoffs like this, because I
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think it makes him a more effective player not having to wear it. But
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yeah, I mean, definitely he was outstanding what he was. He was
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the league MVP to nine. Yeah, he was like that. That was
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some MVP style shit, That's what it was. It was some MVP shit
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right there. You know, we'll make this this uh, make this podcast
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explicit. But man, the ship that he was thrown down tonight. My
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god, it was thirty three points. He had seven rebounds, three assists.
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But I mean also Tobias Harris having a double double sixteen points and eleven
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rebounds, and then with Maxie coming up with thirty points as well, Like
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again, sixteen points from Harris, thirty points from Maxie. You continue that
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throughout the course, and you remain consistent at least somewhere down those numbers when
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this team is going to get to the finals. If that happens. Yeah,
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I mean I don't want to put any you know, we don't want
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to put the car before the horse. Yeah, let's let's just you know,
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but but you know, look you look at the way they shot the
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ball tonight. I mean forty percent from three, Yeah, hitting twelve of
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thirty, you know, eighty five percent of the line, fifty point six
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percent from the field in general. You know, Maxie six out of twelve
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from three. I mean, he was on fire tonight. Um, he
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was, you know. I mean, I don't know if you give him
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the player of the game or if you give it too embid, but I
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mean many they both stepped up huge tonight. They absolutely did. Oh boy,
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you got buddy, do you have anything else you want to talk about
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with regard to this series before we kind of you know, move along with
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the agenda here. Um, I would just love to know, you know,
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what they did maybe differently defense defensively tonight. Yeah, um, you
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know and holding the the Celtics to you know, thirty one point six from
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from three, you know, thirty nine pound percent from the field. I
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mean they had a really strong game defensively. Um, you know Tatum was
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off. You know, Jayleen Brown wasn't as much of a factors as he's
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been previously. Um, they were so physical, brogged and you know yeah,
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yeah, I mean Al Horford, oh for seven it was it was
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it was. I had the thought in my head during the game was like,
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oh cool, uh, Sixers, al Horford has shown up tonight.
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You know, let's have that gut you up for the rest of the series.
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Had to be great, absolutely really, I mean but then again in
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game four, Al Horford I felt like he couldn't miss. In Game four
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he was hitting ever, he was hitting every Game three was he was nail
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and just about everything. But yeah, absolutely right, man, Sixers al
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Horford came through tonight for us. Yeah, hopefully that guy stays for the
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rest of the series. But you know you can't count on that. I
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mean, the Celtics are too good of a team. I mean, they
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need to close this out in Philly. I don't want to go back to
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Boston. I really don't. I mean, Boston is only three and three
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I think at home so far in the playoffs. But I don't want to
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test that. Let's just let's close the stamp thing out in the next game.
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How are you all feeling out there about this series, about this Sixers
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team, Philadelphia Sports table at gmail dot com. We'll read your email here
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on the show and respond to it. In fact, next we are going
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to get into some listener feedback and an email, a great email that we
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got from one of our long time listeners, and it comes from Francis.
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He actually touched on two different subjects here, Lenn. So I'm gonna read
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his email and then we'll get into it. And first and foremost, he's
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really nice. Right at the top, he said, hey, gents,
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congrats on the show anniversary, and thanks for putting out such great, such
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a great product for so long, on top of all the other important things
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in your lives. So we appreciate that, Francis, thank you so very
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much. Yeah, he said, you know, during my years down in
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DC, then back in Philly for school, then deployed overseas for a bit,
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your show kept me connected with our teams. We're so very glad to
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be able to do that. We really are, and you know, that's
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that's what we do this podcast for. We want to be connected with fans
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out there. We want to talk about our Philly sports teams that were so
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passionate about. So in terms of a couple of Philly sports issues that he
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wanted to get into here, he said, any thoughts on the Jonathan Gannon
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tampering revelation. I'm glad he actually brought this up, Lend, because it's
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something we have not talked about really here on the show in great detail.
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He said, I'm pretty ticked off knowing how awful our defense looked against Kansas
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City. We looked woefully unprepared, and this definitely helps explain why. And
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then he went on to say, with regard to the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
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man, I missed Jimmy Buckets. What a fighter. We probably would
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have had multiple championships by now with Brett Brown wasn't a Woos have a great
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rest of the weekend, and congratulations again, Francis, thanks so much for
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the great email. Let's go one at a time here on this land.
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Let's start off with the Jonathan Gannon ampering revelation. This came out, as
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many know, just minutes before the first round of the NFL Draft started.
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The official story was that the Cardinals self reported the violation, but I do
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have to say that I don't necessarily buy it. I think there were things
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going on behind the scenes. And I know that Mike Florio penned an article
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on NBC Sports recently about this, and I kind of agreed with him where
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he was basically saying he thought the Eagles probably conducted an internal investigation. They
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found some digital footprints things like that, as Jonathan Gannon was trying to line
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up potential members of his coaching staff in Arizona, and that's kind of how
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this all came about. I don't know if I think the theme out there
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that Jonathan Gannon, you know, was too preoccupied with the code, the
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new coaching change that he was going to be going with, and that led
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to not being a defensive cohesive unit. I don't. I don't know if
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I buy that. I can understand why that there's a sentiment out there.
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But I think Jonathan Gannon, as much as I dislike how he left Philly
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and thinks he said about Philly since he has left, I don't think that
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he didn't want the Super Bowl, do you know what I mean? Like,
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I don't think that he didn't try to work hard to get that Super
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Bowl. And he was definitely outcoached, definitely outcoached in that game for sure,
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and the defense did not perform well, especially in the second half.
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But I don't know if because he was preoccupied with potentially, you know,
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getting his staff in Arizona, that that's why the Eagles necessarily lost the Super
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Bowl. I don't know what are your thoughts, lynn Um. My first
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thought is of all the people you could camper for Johnson Gannon, huh,
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yes, this isn't like some elite level defensive coordinator. So I just that
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that I can't I can't stop thinking about that with that, I to be
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fair, I don't think Jonathan Gannon would would have done that either. I
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mean, yes, it's your first head coaching job and you want to get
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things in order. But how many chances do you have winning a super Bowl
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and it's right there in front of you. I would like to think that,
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you know, he would be like, Okay, yeah, I know
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I need to get this stuff done, but you know, this is huge
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right here. This is a chance for me to get a championship ring.
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I mean, I don't care if you're a player or a coach. He
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coaches want that too, So I don't I don't think he would do anything
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to, you know, to endanger that. And if he did, then
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man, boy, Arizona really just you know, make a dumb higher.
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I mean, I mean, if he's willing to do that, you know,
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to you know, screw up his chance at the super Bowl, just
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to you know, to get a good, better job, I just I
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don't know. So yeah, I would be surprised. I would be genuinely
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surprised. You know, if Gannon, you know, kind just didn't do
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his job in Philadelphia before the Super Bowl just because he was worried about what's
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happening in Arizona. I don't say it Another angle I was thinking about Land
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after reading Francis as the email. When we initially got it was that when
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coaches win a super Bowl, not just a head coach, but especially even
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the coordinators who then eventually go on to other head coaching jobs. Having that
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Super Bowl, having that trophy, having that on your mantle, provides you
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more leeway in the future for coaching opportunities and how long you are going to
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stay with your next given team. So if Jonathan Gannon were to have winned
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that Sue was Super Bowl, his leash would have been a lot longer in
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Arizona, you know what I mean, Like it would have been that much
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longer. A Super Bowl winning coach gives you your name and your resume,
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some cachet, I mean, yeah, yeah, So like you, I
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really don't kind of I don't buy into that that he was just way too
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preoccupied with the coaching stuff with Arizona that he just let the let the Eagles
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defense kind of fall all by the wayside. I really don't buy it into
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that. Then again, I don't know Jonathan Gannon as a person. Maybe
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maybe he does stink as a manager. Who knows, But Frances, Yeah,
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I don't know. Yeah, Frances very much appreciate that aspect of your
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email, and with regard to the Sixers, what he was talking about too.
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I mean, yes, I missed Jimmy Buckets. I think we all
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have. Then again, you know, we've seen James Harden in some key
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situations in this playoff series, especially against the Celtics, having an amazing Game
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one when Joel Embiid was not there and he actually and he stepped it up
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like he needed to man over forty points in that game, and then he
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craps the bed. Of course in game two, Game three, you know,
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makes a better showing in Game four, and of course here in Game
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five tonight, I think he scored seventeen. I don't, I don't have
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his stats. And yeah, yeah, I mean look, I yeah,
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I missed Jimmy Buckets too. There are many times throughout the regular season where
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I said to myself, man, jim Jimmy Butler would have been fantastic in
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this particular situation or with this particular matchup. You know, it stinks that
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he wasn't there. So I completely get where Frances is coming from here.
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What are your thoughts? I mean, it's it's the ultimate what if I
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think in Philadelphia Sports, what if instead of choosing you know, Brett Brown
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and Ben Simmons and you know, given the money to Tobias Harris. What
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if they had you know, what if they had just given it to Butler
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and said, our our star, our number one guy, Joe all embiid
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loves this guy and they get along together. They're they're they're they're both dogs,
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you know, they're they're both you know, you know, gonna give
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you a one hundred percent every time. Like, I don't know, I
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mean, I I I wish we could have seen it. Who knows what
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the roster construction looks like, you know at that point, if if because
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it would have changed a little bit, right, Oh, it would have
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changed so much. Yeah, I mean there's a there's a lot you would
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be doing differently and a lot of you know, maybe you're indifferent situations,
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you know, in terms of the players you can acquire, and and what
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your CAP's number looks like. I mean all that stuff. Um, you
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know, So, I don't know, I wish they would have done in
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Red, But you know that's hindsight. I mean, obviously we didn't know.
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You know, a big part of this is Ben Simmons. You didn't
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know Ben Simmons was gonna completely flake out like he did. So yeah,
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I mean it's really easy to say what if, But man, that would
16:26
be an interesting timeline to go down. I mean, if there were,
16:27
you know, if there were such thing as often the timelines, and you
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could take a trip down that road for you know, a day and just
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see what would have turned out. I would do it in a heartbeat,
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I gotta tell you, Lenn. I was doing some reminiscing with one of
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my good friends, Jen down in Washington. She's a huge Sixers fan.
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She's from the Philly area, suburban Philly area, and her and her family
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live outside of Arlington, Virginia, And and we were just talking about the
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history, you know, more of the contemporary history with the Sixers and just
16:57
saying how it's amazing that this team is at a position where they're at right
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now, given the Ben Simmons situation, the Brett Brown situation, Tobias Harris's
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contract and one Marquel Foltz as well, and what that draft, what that
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pick, and what it meant to the team and to the organization, what
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it meant to the process overall, and the fact that right here after Game
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five, where they are at right now, it's it's pretty remarkable in terms
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of and it took a while, but the resiliency of the organization and of
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the team, and the resiliency of one Joel Embi two and I think that
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needs to be said. I mean, all this stuff you mentioned, I
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mean, it would make a great book or a great thirty for thirty someday.
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And man, there's a lot of chapters in this. I mean,
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you know you're going back through all that stuff that you mentioned, and I
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mean, just what a what a frigging ride. I mean, even if
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it doesn't end up in the championship, Like, just what a strange you
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know deck it's been with the Sixers and with which is all the things that
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have happened, all the directions they did go, all the directions they could
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have gone. I mean just I mean wild in terms of you know,
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talking about false you know, you know, flaking out, talking about Ben
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Simmons flaking out. Um what embiid turned into you know, as as one
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of the premier players in the game today. Um yeah, it just just
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wild, just so strange. It's why we love sports, man, It's
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why you know what I mean, Like, it's why we keep coming back,
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It's why we keep watching man. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, all
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right, well, we would love to hear from you again. Francis,
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Thank you so much for your email. Thanks so much for the kind comments
18:45
on the ten years that we've been doing this podcast. And again, folks,
18:48
Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com email us about anything we would love
18:53
to talk about it here on the show. You can email us about music
18:56
stuff we'd love to talk about it. Lena and I have been saying we
19:00
got to do another music podcast at some point down the road, you know,
19:03
whether it's or even movie reviews as well. We gotta, we gotta
19:07
get into that, and I think we want to keep branching out with regard
19:10
to that. Oh yeah, that'll be fun. It'll be fun. All
19:12
right, let's get into some Philadelphia Union talk the first time we are getting
19:17
into it on the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show. We've been doing it ten
19:21
years and we're finally getting into Philadelphia Union talk. It is going to be
19:25
more of a consistent discussion point for us here on the podcast in the future.
19:30
Probably not every week, we'll talk about the Philadelphia ni especially when Eric's
19:34
on. Len, I don't think we're gonna be talking when ericson. Yeah,
19:37
I think the union and the Flyers or no goes out, Yeah,
19:41
whenever he's on. So yeah, so yeah, it was again. It
19:45
was interesting how maybe a month month and a half ago, Len, you
19:51
said on this podcast that as we were talking about the Philadelphia Flyers, you
19:55
said, I could actually see this team being the number five team in Philadelphia
20:00
and that the Union would be the number four team. And it just got
20:03
me thinking how important this particular sports team is to this city, into a
20:10
fan base that is clamoring for that next, that next championship. And it
20:15
almost happened this past year. Of course, you know, they were they
20:19
were on their way to win in the MLS Cup. You know, they
20:23
were in that final run. But this season there have been a lot of
20:27
challenges for the Philadelphia Union. I mean, they were supposed to run it
20:30
back this season, Len, with a mostly intact roster from last year and
20:36
the success that they saw, and then early May here the optimism was I
20:42
think still pretty high until until things kind of came crashing down a bit,
20:52
a crushing defeat three to zero loss that sent the Union crashing out of the
20:56
competition, you know, four to one on aggregate. I think that was
21:00
against Los Angeles. If I'm not mistaken. Yeah, it was against LAFC,
21:03
who they lost the Nallice Cup to last year. So I mean that
21:07
was that was a bit of a bitter sting. Um to to lose like
21:12
to that team again, to you know, be denied another you know,
21:15
major championship trophy from that team again, Um, it hurts. Uh.
21:19
And you know it's been it's been an interesting season because you know, like
21:25
we said, this is this was a chance I think for them to gain
21:27
some traction in the Philadelphia sports market. And they look just like the Flyers.
21:33
They're going to have their core fans and people that are that are really
21:34
into into soccer. Um. But in terms of like growing their brand and
21:41
which I think they're still doing, but you know, maybe not to the
21:45
extent they could have done if they would have you know, got off to
21:48
a hot start here this year, which they did not do. I mean
21:49
you had you know, Okay, you've got the Flyers, which are basically
21:55
you know it is basically you know, dead men walking. Yeah, the
21:56
Sixers are on their playoff runs, so that's going to take up some attention.
22:00
The Phillies are are you know in season now. Um, but you
22:04
didn't have Bryce Harper at the time, so you know, maybe that's you
22:07
know kind of a thing where you know, it's taken away, so they
22:10
had a chance to kind of come in and just get a few more eyeballs
22:14
and you know, and I think there was a little bit of you know,
22:17
hype with them coming off, you know, a season in which they
22:21
made it to their championship game. Even though they didn't win it, they
22:23
still made it. So it's like, Okay, this is a team going
22:26
forward that you know is going to be one of the top teams in MLS.
22:30
And you know, I read all the you know, the preseason you
22:33
know predictions and pretty much you know, you know, the people would come
22:38
with, you know, a different team here and there, but you know,
22:41
by and large, most of the you know, the the pundits that
22:44
I read, you know, said that they expect Philadelphia to be the team
22:48
to beat in the East. And you know, as it stands right now,
22:51
um, I think the fourteen points, don't they it? This correct?
22:55
Yeah? Yeah, as as of as of right now, they are.
22:59
They're there's six, there's there's nine. There's nine playoff spots in each
23:03
conference Eastern Conference, in Western Conference. Currently they are sitting in a tie
23:07
for six, a four way tie for six. So as of right now,
23:11
they're they're probably sitting at seventh because you know, there are four teams
23:15
that are tied with fourteen points. They are second out of those four teams
23:19
in gold differential. Columbus has plus seven, Philadelphia has plus two, DC
23:25
United has zero, and then Orlando has negative two as far as gold differential,
23:30
So that's the tiebreaker there. So as it stands right now, where
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the season to end today, they would be seventh. The New England Revolution,
23:38
who are putting the number one seed right now on the East, would
23:41
get a buy and then I believe how it worked, the Union would play
23:45
the number four seed, which would be Atlanta. So you know that that's
23:49
a far cry though from what I think the people that have been following this
23:53
team and the people that are getting into this team expected coming into the season.
23:57
And you know, there's there's been you know, a few games here
24:02
where you know that you just see them shoot themselves in the foot. Um,
24:07
I'm watching right now, you know when we've when we started doing the
24:10
show tonight, they were down two to one. They're playing Minnesota in the
24:15
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, which is basically a competition of basically all professional
24:19
soccer teams, not just MLS, but even like lesser leagues across the country.
24:26
So they're in there, you know, around the thirty two now,
24:29
if I'm not mistaken, yes, a round at thirty two. So they
24:32
were down two to one when I turned this feed on when we started doing
24:34
the show, they tied it, and now they're down three to two in
24:38
an extra time. So you know, I mean, as if it stands
24:42
right now, they're going to get knocked out of this tournament as well.
24:45
Um, it's just there. There have been some games that I've seen so
24:49
far this year where it seems like towards the end, the focus goes and
24:56
there's a late goal that happens. They had this disastrous game against My Montreal
25:00
where they ended up losing three to two. They were up two to one
25:03
with a couple of minutes left and they ended up losing in in you know,
25:07
regular time three to two, which which can't happen in Montreal is not
25:11
a playoff team as of right now, the way the way the standings are
25:15
or the season to end the day, they're not a playoff team. They
25:17
had a draw I think at home against UM Sport in Kansas City, who
25:22
was dead last in the West. Like games they should be winning, they're
25:26
not. They're not winning, and things are happening late. UM that UM
25:30
the thing in the Conquercast Championships UH tournament with LAFC. Yeah, they lost
25:37
four to one on aggregate the first game, which was at home. They
25:41
were leading one nothing late and then they let up a goal to UH,
25:44
you know, and and LAFC UH tied and the game ended up one one.
25:49
Yeah, and then it goes back to UH to LA and now LA
25:53
wins three nothing. I guess it wouldn't have mattered in the in the in
25:56
the scheme of things, but it just seems like there's some lapses late with
26:00
this team that are kind of, you know, becoming to me a kind
26:07
of a bad habit. Yeah, And people are asking, and I've seen
26:11
it on the interwebs out there, you know, are the Philadelphia Union broken?
26:15
Because there's still a lot of questions about who this team is, what
26:19
they're doing, and just you know, for instance, look, there's a
26:23
ton to play for. There's still a ton to play for, a lot
26:26
of season left. But again with those questions This season isn't even like halfway
26:32
exactly, So yeah, I mean, but the questions like why a player
26:36
a player like Andres Pereira Pereia, I'm sorry, Like why he isn't seeing
26:41
more of the field, questions about, you know, the forward depth,
26:44
and whether or not any type of reinforcements are going to be coming this summer.
26:47
There's questions about the locker room too, so like there's gonna be more
26:51
opportunities to try to get back to being themselves again. From what I have
26:56
read, are they becoming a bit too predictable at times? Yes? Is
27:00
the depth the strength many fans we're hoping that it would be the season?
27:04
Definitely not. But at the same time, it also can't be an asset
27:08
if you don't treat it as one. So I think there's still a lot
27:12
of questions that need to be answered with this team. They're not They're not
27:17
dead by any stretch of the imagination. They mean, Lino, maybe a
27:19
little bit. We're talking about a team that, if if the season ended
27:22
today, would be a playoff team. So yeah, it sounds like a
27:26
lot of you know, the sky is falling, when in fact that they're
27:29
a playoff team. But I think it's it's due to the expectations that we
27:33
came into the season with for this team, right, And that's not just
27:37
a Philadelphia fan thing. That's you know, basically anybody that follows Major League
27:41
soccer was saying, hey, this is one of the teams to beat in
27:47
the East, and as of right now, they have not been that.
27:48
Yep, all right, very good. Let us know what you're thinking about
27:52
the Philadelphia Union. If you are a fan. Look, if you want
27:55
to tap out of the Philadelphia Union talk, that's fine. We've got folks
27:57
that tap out of the Flyers, Sixers talk, Phillies talk as well,
28:02
Eagles talk. Usually everybody sticks around for that. However, we'd love to
28:06
hear from you with regard to the Philadelphia Union Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot
28:08
com. Email us. We will read your email here on the show and
28:11
respond to it. At least Lenn and I will not Eric not Eric.
28:15
So we are gonna take a quick break, but before that, make sure
28:19
you subscribe to us on whatever podcast platform you're on, and if anything happens
28:22
to your podcast feed, head on over to Philadelphia Sportstable dot com. We've
28:26
got all of our shows over there. Follow Len on Twitter at Len Hunsicker.
28:30
You can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren in the show at Philadelphia PST.
28:34
We are also on Instagram as well. Search us out there. We're
28:37
gonna take that break right now. We'll be back in just a bit.
28:41
All right, Lenn, we are back here. I've got to get into
28:44
some Flyers talk because the NHL Draft lottery is now in the books. The
28:48
Flyers are gonna stay at the number seven overall pick. We all had hopes
28:53
coming into this past Monday night. The look there was only a six point
28:57
five percent chance that the Flyers are going to get the top pick, a
29:00
thirteen point two percent shot to be in the top two. That was all
29:06
a dream because the Philadelphia Flyers and this organization are going to be picking number
29:11
seven overall in this draft. And it's amazing how even at the final fifteen
29:18
games of the season, Len, they won seven out of their last fifteen
29:22
games of the season. And what did that do for them? What did
29:26
it do for them overall? A whole lot of nothing. Nope, nope,
29:30
Hey, wins are great, but there, but sometimes there are strategic
29:34
losses that certain teams need to realize, embrace and understand if you're looking to
29:41
rebuild your future and you're looking to rebuild your franchise, for God's sake,
29:45
with this franchise has gone through over this past year, over the past two
29:49
years, even Len and look the number seven overall pick. And I'm sure
29:55
you and I are going to talk about some of these draft prospects at some
29:57
point down the road. But the I shot themselves in the foot continuously throughout
30:02
the year in a plethora of ways. But they did not help their draft
30:06
stock at all by winning seven out of their last fifteen at all. Like
30:10
when when I saw the news coming out last night that they were number seven
30:12
overall, I just kind of threw my hands up and said, of course,
30:15
of course, that that's what that's what happens with this team. Of
30:18
course. Yeah, I watched it, um and and that was that was
30:22
a fun conversation. Like tell telling my wife, Hey, I'm gonna go
30:26
upstairs for a half hour because I'm gonna watch this. And I explained to
30:30
her what it was, and she looks like it I'm gonna take the dog
30:36
for a walk. Now, well she put on like General Hospital or something.
30:41
Yes, So yeah, but um I I could see it in her
30:45
eyes and I was like, there's no way I can explain this does doesn't
30:49
make me sound like a gigantic dork. So whatever, you know, it
30:52
is what it is. But um, so I did watch it, and
30:56
and um, you know, I it and through and that you know,
31:03
I knew they were going to end up where they were. Um, I'm
31:06
kind of shocked it didn't fall to eighth or ninth, but um, when
31:08
I saw them finished there and then Chicago, who absolutely tanked, who traded
31:15
Alex to Brinkat, who's a good young player from their team. Uh,
31:19
and and basically you know, basically ripped it down to the studs. Look
31:25
what they did, and look how they got rewarded. Yea, So it
31:29
works. And basically as soon as they hired Tortorell, you knew this was
31:32
going to happen because he's going to get the most out of out of bad
31:36
teams. Um, you know, and this is this is what they wanted.
31:40
This is what they wanted when they hired him. This is what they
31:41
wanted. I mean, this is Chuck Fletcher trying to save his job.
31:45
I mean, and that's you know, that's what GMS do. They don't
31:48
care about what happens down the road because chances are they're not going to be
31:52
there down the road. Well, you know when when you know, these
31:56
these guys come and play. So he's trying to save his job, which
31:59
I I guess I get on a certain level, but we still got to
32:04
sit here and watch this shit. So, um, look, they're going
32:08
to get a good player. From everything I've heard this draft, you have
32:13
three guys that in any other year would be number one, not just Badard,
32:17
but Fantilly and Mitchkoff. And then you've got guys underneath that that you
32:22
know, a guy that might be the seventh pick and another draft would be
32:24
like the third pick. So you know there's talent there. It's not like
32:29
the Flyers are going to get a stiff but you know, you could have
32:34
had an elite guy and the said you're going to have a pretty good guy.
32:37
And there's a difference there because that's what this team means. They have
32:40
guys that are good on this team. They have the you know, good
32:45
bottom six guys that could be bottom six ers on a genuine contender. What
32:49
they don't have is elite and that's what they needed to tank for was elite.
32:53
So maybe, you know, because of the political situation in Russia,
32:59
maybe Chkov falls to seventh because maybe other teams are sported by that, and
33:05
you know, can't blame them. I mean, honestly kind of can't blame
33:07
the Flyers if they were scared about it too. But to me, if
33:12
this guy, you know, is elite as everybody says, and he falls
33:15
to seven, you know, I don't love it, but you got to
33:19
take the shot because you have to take a shot to get an elite player,
33:22
because it's the only chance you're gonna have to do it. Because the
33:24
same thing's gonna happen next year, regardless of who they draft, it's gonna
33:28
be the same thing. It's going to be a team that isn't good,
33:30
but they're not good enough to be terrible. I don't know about next year's
33:35
draft crop, but I can't imagine it's going to be as good as this
33:37
one. So you know, there is there a generational guy next year?
33:42
Probably not because there's a generational guy this year. I mean, after a
33:46
while, if there's a generational guy every year, then we're throwing that adjective
33:51
around too much. Yeah, but um, you know, so I don't
33:54
know. I mean, this this was their chance. This year was the
33:58
year to do it, and they didn't. And you know, maybe somebody
34:01
falls to them. I don't know. But it's just it's really it's it's
34:05
so hard to have hope with this team. It is. I just it
34:08
is. Well, here here's here's another angle. I wanted to bounce off
34:12
of you, Len, because we really don't necessarily know the type of GM
34:17
that Danny Brier is going to be. And I'm my thought is, after
34:22
hearing the number seven last night, I'm thinking to myself, is it possible
34:25
that the Flyers and Danny Brier explore the option of trading up? And of
34:30
course, I mean, of course I think I think is he going to
34:36
explore the option? Of course, I think it would be a surprise if
34:40
he didn't at least at least gauge the willingness of teams in the one to
34:45
six range, you know, whether it's you know now or even draft day
34:49
itself. But I think, given the salary cap situation, I think the
34:57
Flyers are going to make their selection at number or seven. But I do
35:00
think because we don't know who Danny Brier is in this type of situation,
35:06
there could be a possibility that he may explore possibly moving up, and what
35:10
would that do to this team? What would it do for the fan base?
35:13
I think, you know, it's got to be the right guy.
35:15
Of course, you know, you can't just take a flyer, of course,
35:19
if you're going to move up and trade even more assets away, whatever
35:22
those assets would be. But I think it's a possibility. I don't think
35:27
it's going to happen, but I just wanted to throw that out there.
35:30
Yeah, now that possibility exists, and look, it's going to be an
35:34
interesting offseason regardless, because Okay, we get to see how Danny Brier is
35:37
going to operate. Him and Tortorella have basically already come out and said,
35:43
you know, there's going to be subtraction before there's additions. So yeah,
35:46
you're we're being as a fan base, we're basically being told by this front
35:52
office, Hey, expect there to be moves. So, I mean,
35:54
it'll be interesting to follow from that point. It's not like they're, you
35:59
know, going to be bored this offseason, I don't think, right,
36:01
So, you know, we'll have to see what comes to that. You
36:04
know, now are we going to agree with the moves they make? Who
36:07
knows, but you know, at least it's something different. I don't know.
36:13
I don't know, it's you know, it's it's a whole lot of
36:16
unknown right now. So exactly like I said, we're going to talk about
36:20
more prospects at some point down the road. You know, whether it is
36:22
Mitch CoV as you talked about earlier, Len, whether it's Zach Benson could
36:29
potentially be for the a good fit for the Flyers at number seven. There's
36:34
also Dala boor Dvorski him as well Ryan Leonard. We're gonna get into some
36:40
of these prospects at some point down the road, but we'd love to hear
36:44
from you in terms of, you know, what the Flyer strategy could potentially
36:46
be for the number seven overall pick Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com.
36:51
Shoot us off an email. We'll respond to it here. And Len,
36:54
before I let you go, Buddy, I want to talk about this Philadelphia
36:58
Phillies team with you. My gosh, what an awful losing streak. But
37:01
then again, you got some other teams here, not just in the NL
37:07
East, in the Mets and even in the Marlins, you know, who
37:08
are raided around that area with the with the Phillies in terms of their records
37:14
being very close. Hell, even the Nats, I think you're you know,
37:17
they've won fifteen games and they're nipping at the phillies heels at this point.
37:22
But it's interesting how the Phillies aren't the only twenty twenty two playoff team
37:27
that is struggling right now. Are our front of the show, John Stalness.
37:30
He wrote an article on the Good Fight dot com that talked about other
37:34
playoff teams from last season are having some major issues. And of course I'm
37:37
gonna be talking to Liz Rocher in a little bit here, Lenn about this,
37:43
uh and and we're gonna kind of get into it as well. But
37:45
I think it's interesting that you see a teams like the Mets, like I
37:52
mentioned San Diego, they're eighteen and seventeen as of us recording this that is
37:58
their record with a minus four run differential. I mean, the Cardinals are
38:01
eleven and twenty four. They've got a minor Cardinals are a mess. They
38:05
are a complete mess. And that's that's like the one team because everybody's like,
38:08
oh, there'll you know, it'll probably be the Dodgers and the Padres
38:13
coming out of the West, and then there will probably three teams coming out
38:15
of the East. And I don't see anybody competing with the Cardinals in the
38:19
Central, and the Cardinals are in dead last in the Central. It's pretty
38:22
interesting to see. It is. The Astros are seventeen and seventeen. They're
38:25
run differentials at plus twenty, you know, but man, holy cow,
38:30
the Astros a pretty solid team having some difficulties, you know. The Guardians
38:36
are sixteen and eighteen as well. And these again, these are playoff teams
38:39
from last season who are struggling, just like the Phillies. So it's not
38:44
just the Phillies. Other teams are struggling as well. When it's funny,
38:46
even though they have they have a winning record, The Yankees are dead last
38:51
in the Al East. I mean, every which is kind of crazy.
38:53
Every team in that division has a winning record so far. But um,
38:57
yeah, I mean there's a lot of teams that, you know, when
39:00
you looked at the playoff bracket from last year, now, you know,
39:04
in the case of like the Guardians, I was actually watching the beginning of
39:07
their game Universe Detroit earlier today, and you know, the commentators were like,
39:13
listen, the sky isn't falling. They were this was their exact record
39:15
this time last year too. Yeah, so you know, it's not like
39:19
you can't turn it around. I mean the year that the Nats one won
39:23
the whole thing. I think they were like nineteen and thirty one at one
39:27
point and then they got hot and ended up winning the whole thing. So
39:30
you know, fortunes are going to change. You know, for the Astros,
39:34
they're gonna get all two AA back once he's done with the rehab assignments.
39:37
It's going to be starting soon, so you know they're gonna you know,
39:40
I think things are going to come along for I think a lot of
39:44
these teams, and we hopefully Phillies are one of them. Absolutely. Look
39:47
John wrote in his article too, and I just wanted to touch on this
39:50
before I let you go Len, that the Phillies walk rate is six point
39:54
nine percent. That's the second worst in Major League Baseball so far this season.
39:59
Only the Marlins, who have a six point seven percent walk rate,
40:05
is worse. I mean, that's why despite a two sixty six batting average
40:09
that's actually the sixth best in Major League Baseball there are three twenty two.
40:15
On base percentage is only tied for fourteenth. So man, that freaking that
40:21
walk rate is absolutely horrendous. Man, Jesus, it feels like they've always
40:27
you know, and do you have a couple guys here and there that walk
40:29
a lot and get on base, But it's just I don't know, it
40:31
feels ever since I've watched in the Phillies, they've been they haven't been the
40:35
best plate discipline yea or or you know, going to the plate with a
40:38
with an actual plan. True, true, Again, I'm gonna be talking
40:42
to Liz Roscher from Yahoo Sports and the Hitting Season podcast um in just a
40:46
bit. But man, they got we gotta get Ranger Suarez back. Man
40:52
gotta get him back big time. Well he's um is he in the midst
40:57
of a rehab assignment or is he done with it? Um? I knew
41:00
he was in the dugout today because I was watching from the game and he
41:02
was in there with him, so um, he should be there soon.
41:07
They were talking about with with Matt Strom. You know how he's pitched like
41:10
twenty eight innings already and like all of last year he pitched like forty four
41:15
innings. So you know you're gonna have to You're gonna have to manage you
41:19
know, him, because he's been starting and he's been pitching some innings.
41:22
You know, now maybe as when now these backs being our lever you kind
41:27
of are a little bit careful with how you handle him. So absolutely,
41:30
um yeah, there's a lot to consider. There a lot to consider.
41:34
There's still a lot of season left, folks. We gotta we gotta give
41:36
us some time with the Phillies. So Len buddy, I'm gonna let you
41:38
go here. Um you got any final thoughts for a head out here?
41:44
I do not. Um yeah, let's go sixers and you know, hopefully
41:49
just close us out. Just don't let's not make this interesting here they come
41:55
God, I hope, so please close this out. If you're listening to
42:00
this podcast again, you know, I mean, we're gonna be uploading this
42:04
Thursday morning, hopefully. The final game of this series is gonna be Thursday
42:08
night hopefully, but we'll see what happens there. So, Len buddy,
42:12
it's great talking to you. I'm gonna let you go again, folks at
42:15
Len hunt Sicker on Twitter, and we're gonna take a quick break. We'll
42:19
be right back, all right, everybody, We are back. Got more
42:22
Phillies talk on the way. It's what we're thrown down on the table and
42:27
now on the table. And it's great to have on the podcast. I
42:32
mean, unfortunately we're gonna getting into the Philadelphia Phillies, you know, but
42:36
it is great to hear her voice not only on this podcast, but you
42:39
can also hear her on the Hitting Season podcast, and you're doing some great
42:43
things over there, getting some great exposure. They are out now on why
42:47
Y Out of Philadelphia, the Hitting Season podcast, and you can also read
42:52
some of her stuff and work that she does over at Yahoo Sports as well.
42:55
We've got the one and only Liz Rosher. How are you doing,
42:59
Liz, I'm doing great. With a lovely intro. Oh yeah, you
43:02
guys are killing it, as you always say. I've been listening to you
43:05
guys for so I've been listening John Stalness since the Felski Files, since oh
43:09
my god, Felsky Files, and you and Justin just doing great, great
43:15
stuff. So I appreciate you're taking the time to jump on our little podcast
43:21
over here, but really getting into this Philadelphia Phillies team. It's been it's
43:24
been enraging, Like how many times during the course of how many seasons now
43:30
do we have to go through these ups and downs of nonsense with this team,
43:36
Liz, I'm absolutely enraged by them at the moment. This is what
43:39
baseball is. I think our last memory of a of a before last year
43:45
of a good, good team was twenty eleven where you could have gone to
43:47
sleep and you know, at the beginning season, woken up in August and
43:51
you'd be like, hey, this is great. Yeah, no other season
43:53
in Phillies history, really have you been able to do that? Exactly?
43:57
Well, and let's all like it would be for all of us to pretend
44:00
that season didn't exist exactly, because every season is a slog. Every season's
44:06
tough. It is full of you know, hot players and cold players and
44:12
embarrassing errors and hideous base running and all the bad things that you see.
44:16
I mean, I remember around this time last year we were talking like this
44:20
too, and then Joe Girardi gets fired, things start turning around, the
44:22
team starts turn around and go to the World Series. Of course we know
44:25
that, but look in terms of where this team is at right now,
44:30
we obviously have to get into the starting pitching, and I want to get
44:31
your thoughts here because that's where we've seen, of course, some of the
44:35
major issues over these first what thirty five games of the season. Of course,
44:39
getting Ranger Squarez back and if he's able to pitch like he did last
44:43
season, I think it's going to be pretty big for this team. I
44:45
think it's gonna be a positive for this team. But then again, you
44:47
have a pitcher like Bailey Falter who's that fifth starter, and whatever his supporting
44:53
cast is struggling, his issues are like that much more magnified. Of course,
44:58
we've seen Arnola, Zach Wheeler, They've certainly had ups and downs to
45:01
this season. I'm just I'm just wondering your thoughts, your perspective from what
45:06
you have seen thus far. Is there any kind of balance that may come
45:09
to the starting rotation in the future as you're as you're looking at these guys
45:14
on the mound. I mean, I rage Suarrez is like the last piece
45:17
they have to get back before theoretically they're sort of at full strength. So
45:22
you know, the only balance is going to come this from the players learning
45:27
how to deal with whatever they're struggling. With like Arnola is still constantly struggling
45:30
with the pitch clock, and I can't believe it. I can't believe it
45:35
is I know. I got annoyed at this because the I think the rules
45:39
were initially announced in at least the change were initially announced in September of twenty
45:45
twenty two, and I'll be honest, I haven't been able to find or
45:46
at least I haven't had the opportunity to continue to look and the actual rules
45:51
were announced. But regardless, it's a little frustrating that we're at this point
45:54
and they're just like, Okay, well now we need to think about lowering
45:58
the velocity. And I get that. I get them. I get that
46:04
nothing replicates games, you know, in the competitive environment and the stress that
46:08
someone's under, and I get that, but I feel like, is it
46:10
possible, was it possible to have gotten to this point, I don't know,
46:15
a few months earlier, like two, yeah and a half, like
46:21
just a little earlier, to get to this point with him, And like
46:23
I that's a frustration, but it's not anything I'm gonna blame anyone for,
46:30
because I mean, pictures all around are having trouble. I think, you
46:34
know, like the era of the best pictures in the league is like a
46:37
half a run higher than it was last year, which is the point That
46:40
was the point of the rules, no matter what anyone says, like that
46:43
was the point of the rules was to make pictures make things harder for pitchers
46:46
because they have gotten too good. Yeah. Absolutely absolutely. And as we're
46:52
moving along here, the Phillies lineups too, I mean, aside from the
46:57
issues that they're having with the pitching, the line ups have been a huge
47:00
discussion too within Philly's nation over these past couple of weeks. I mean,
47:04
with Kyle Schwarber struggling at the plate and finally being moved down down the lineup
47:08
Bryson Stott took his place in the leadoff spot. Like, I feel like
47:13
we're at the point in this season, Liz, where just nothing is going
47:16
well for this team, whether it's the pitching we were just talking about,
47:20
whether it's with regard to the lineups at times, Like, what's your take
47:23
when it comes to them producing home runs and just any kind of offense at
47:29
this point, what this team needs to be just doing better? I know
47:31
it's a general question, what do they need to be doing better? From
47:35
just an offensive standpoint, I mean, if everyone's comments or any indication everyone
47:42
needs to get better at speeding up time because everyone's like, just wait till
47:45
June. Kyle Schwarber gets going in June, and unfortunately there are two months
47:50
of the season with games that actually count before that. So I wish I
47:55
knew what would help Harper being back. Will it's only been one series,
48:00
is that he's been back or two? Yeah, and so like he still
48:04
has time to get into he needs time to get into Bryce's mode, but
48:07
he will. I don't know what else is to happen. Yeah, Like,
48:12
I mean, I think it. I give Thompson credit because I was
48:17
yelling about the lineups and how Schwarber had been in the leadoff spot since Harper
48:22
came back, and I'm yelling about it, and I'm like, you know,
48:24
it has only been a week, Yeah, realizing that because he moved
48:29
him out of the leadoff spot recently and moved Bryson stop back up, which
48:32
I thought was what they should have kept doing the entire time. Yeah,
48:37
especially like I don't I can't conceive of why Schwarber was put back in the
48:42
leadoff spot with La at the time, I think he had an average of
48:46
what two hundred, and now it's far below below. Yeah, it can't
48:50
get yourself to the Mendoza line, man, Like you have to get yourself
48:53
to the Mendoza line. Otherwise, like this is sub Adam done, Like
48:58
we really need he can't. The forty homers that he hit last year were
49:05
great, and what would have been better is if they could have been spread
49:07
out around the whole see exactly coming in some of the games in the first
49:13
two months at the season that the Phillies needed more runs to win. That's
49:16
what happens now is he might hit forty home runs and you know the last
49:21
months, you know, between June and September, but you're playing catch up
49:24
at that point. It's all catchup, like in good for him, he's
49:28
you know, but like the two homer game would have been Like it doesn't
49:30
actually work this way, but you think a two homer game would have been
49:34
better? Is the one homer game on one day and another one another day?
49:37
Yeah, all depending on But it all depends on like the score and
49:42
all that. So it's not it's not fair to say that, but I
49:46
don't even know what to say. It's also frustrating. It is it is
49:50
the losing streak was so frustrating. Was the losing streak really just kind of
49:54
solidified in my mind that we we we that the media nocrity that we have
50:00
seen from this team and ball club over the years, again aside from last
50:05
season and where they went in the postseason, but that the mediocrity is still
50:09
essentially the foundation for this team. Early in the season. They can just
50:15
never seem to get it together right off the bat, where it's a constant
50:20
struggle. We just talked about the fact, you know, they're going to
50:22
end up having to play catch up in order to even be a contender,
50:24
probably for a wildcard spot. I just it is so frustrating as a fan
50:30
that we see these ups and downs throughout the course of the batting order and
50:37
throughout the pitching as well. I don't know, maybe I'm just I'm pontificating
50:43
here. You know, it definitely feels like you want there to be an
50:47
actual more of an up and down instead of like there's like the roller coaster
50:53
and then there are peaks and valleys which are much longer, and it feels
50:59
like the Phillies aren't an up and down team. They're a Peaks and Valleys
51:04
team, much like Rhese Hoskins. You know, he's the Peaks and Valleys
51:08
a hitter. You know, he will be terrible for a while and then
51:12
he'll be good for a while. And the Phillies, I think, are
51:15
like this. It would be great for them to be actually competitive every time
51:22
they went out, Yes, but I mean we're all looking forward even just
51:30
a little bit closer to that because the fact that they had two home runs
51:34
like on Saturday and then didn't still didn't win. I like, we don't
51:43
even have questions or really even statements. We're just saying Phillies words together because
51:51
we're at that point in this season, like it happens every this happens every
51:54
year. We're just like, something has to change, and then June comes
51:58
along on the weather warms up, and every it's like, oh, this
52:00
is more like it. Yeah, maybe baseball should just start and too.
52:02
Oh I like that. I like that a lot. I like that idea
52:06
a lot. Look everybody thought though, when Bryce came back, and again
52:08
it's only been one series too, that just things were going to somehow quote
52:13
normalize, you know, where this team was going to be in terms of
52:17
any sort of competitiveness that they were going to be exhibiting on the field.
52:21
And of course, yeah in this series is batting what three sixty eight as
52:25
we're recording this. He still needs to get back to some sort of baseball
52:30
form too. I mean, it's it's going to happen for him. He
52:32
is seeing some success. I think he's hit like what he's got like one
52:36
home run. I think at this point, what are your thoughts on what
52:39
Bryce may have done this past week during this return to kind of get this
52:45
team going, because they've they've they haven't had that leadership. Of course,
52:50
with Reese Hoskins, my god, losing him, You'd never would have thought
52:53
that losing that type of leadership would have meant so much to this team early
52:57
in the season as it did. But I don't know, what do you
53:00
to the fan base exactly. I really think that's everyone is waiting for Hoskins
53:06
because he's been on the team since twenty seventeen. We haven't seen an opening
53:09
day without him. This was the first time we've got an opening day without
53:13
him, and considering what a huge part he's been of the organization, he's
53:17
I think, you know, next to Erinola, like the longest tenured Philly
53:22
You know, he brings a like a calming leadership presence. And I think
53:27
everyone, including us, we've all been missing that because the hole in the
53:31
lineup used to be. We all used to be able to rely on Reese
53:35
Hoskins to give us a good three months of discourse. Yes, you know
53:39
what's happening. He's streaky again. Oh my god. No, this is
53:43
the player he is, but we're frustrated about it. It's the conversation we
53:46
all have because it's the one thing we can all agree one. We love
53:50
to fight about Reese Hoskins. We love him, and we love to fight
53:53
about it. And his absence I think is really has especially happening when it
54:00
did, really sent the team into a tail spin that they have not frankly
54:05
been able to recover from. I think once Harper gets back and sort of
54:07
studies himself a little bit, gets back into the swing of things, he'll
54:13
be able to provide that leadership somewhat that's been missing. I never got the
54:17
impression that Harper is much of a leader. He sort of strikes me as
54:22
more of a I'm not comparing these two players personality wise or in any way
54:28
possible anyway at all. But Harper and Chase that least sort of have that
54:31
way that they don't seem to want the mantle of leadership. And that's fine.
54:36
They're more of hype guys. It's like leadership guy over here and then
54:39
hype guy right over here. Yeah, and it's you know, he's the
54:42
guy that people are going to come to if they have questions, you know,
54:45
a little bit more approachable. You know, Harper has never struck me
54:50
as the guy to take charge in that type of way. And so I
54:53
think that's still going to be a bit of a black hole and the players
54:58
are going to have to figure out how to get around that. Yeah.
55:01
But meanwhile, Bryce Harper is hitting over three fifty yes now in you know,
55:07
in a handful of games. And it's just nice to remember. This
55:14
is why, this is why the Phillies paid him, right exactly. This
55:16
is we were worried that at this point into the contract things might be.
55:21
It's what, he's a five years in yep, you know, there's still
55:24
quite a while to go, but like five years, and we were thinking,
55:28
what is it going to be in five years? Yeah, Well,
55:29
he's still be in his prime as his prime passed like no he spent.
55:35
He recovered from Tommy John surgery faster than anyone ever, got back into the
55:39
lineup and started hitting like he'd never missed a day, exactly Like I think,
55:45
we're also concerned with the overall state of the team that we need to
55:49
let's just focus on Bryce Harper and how he's turned out to be exactly exactly
55:54
what he told us he'd be, yes, exactly how he was advertised.
55:59
And I'm hoping that as the season goes on, we'll be able to appreciate
56:02
that a bit more now we're like five years on that it was an incredibly
56:08
important signing and I think without him the team would be nowhere. I think
56:14
it's a great point, Liz, you'd take a look back at that offseason,
56:16
that free agency period, and whether it was going to be Bryce Harper
56:21
or Manny Machado. I think at the end of the day, the right
56:24
choices were made all around for each organization, and thank god we have Bryce.
56:30
Thank god we have Bryce for sure. But moving along here, Liz,
56:35
you know the Phillies now being eight games at a first place, and
56:38
as many of us have been talking about for some time now. The goal
56:42
for this team was to win the division this year, and the odds of
56:45
them being able to do that at this point pretty slim. But there's not
56:51
a whole lot of separation, of course, between the Phillies, the Mets,
56:53
and even the Marlins at this point. Hell, even the Nationals are
56:57
only one game behind the Phillies here at the point. So hope is not
57:01
lost on the season yet, right, I mean it's only you know,
57:05
beginning of May. Basically here, Hope is not lost in the season.
57:08
I think we need to keep that in mind as we're moving forward. Am
57:12
I right in thinking that there is hope? There's hope? I mean,
57:17
let us not forget the Mets blew a ten game lead in the final months
57:22
of the season. Like, yeah, it's not quite as dramatic as their
57:25
O seven as the OH seven debacle, but this was long. It was
57:30
a long, slow em plosion. Yeah, so anything can happen, like
57:38
the Raise and the Braves will not continue to win at this pace. Everyone's
57:43
like, oh, you hate fun for mentioning it, but like that's how
57:46
that's that's how this works. Yeah, I apparently hate fun for not enjoying
57:52
the Pirates doing insanely good, Like, does everyone know this is not supposed
57:57
to be happening, exactly, and that the fact that it is happening is
58:00
only going to encourage Bob Nutting to spend even less funny than he does on
58:05
the than is now, which is inconceivable. I've got a Pirates a fan
58:09
who's a good friend of mine, and he is absolutely He's like, this
58:14
is not supposed to be happening. Bob Nutting is the worst owner in Major
58:17
League sports, and he's not gonna want to spend any money at all.
58:21
He said exactly that. To me, that's incredible, Like, I'm glad
58:25
that there are some fans out there feeling that way. Yeah, because it
58:30
bothers me. But I've been told that, like, you can't get into
58:31
the spirit of things if you're not enjoying the Raise win. I'm like,
58:35
yes, the Raise one of the one of the worst teams in the league
58:39
as far as treating their players well paying players, Like I can't get behind
58:44
that. Yeah, But apparently because I'm I want to say the facts,
58:49
which is they cannot continue winning at this rate. That would be that's almost
58:54
impossible, right, right, to continue winning at this rate over one hundred
58:59
and sixty two games, so things will even own a little bit more.
59:02
But like the other teams have to get into it, Like eventually the Nationals
59:07
will fall back and the Marlins will fall back, But the most important thing
59:13
is that the Phillies don't fall back. They have to keep pushing forward.
59:16
Exactly exactly again, folks, talking to Liz Roscher from Yahoo Sports, and
59:22
you can also hear her delightful voice over at the Hitting Season podcast and doing
59:28
good, good things over there. So I guess to close us out here.
59:32
You know, before brought you on here, Liz, before discussion,
59:36
my co host Lennon and I were talking about an article that your buddy and
59:38
our buddy John Stalness rode over at the Good Fight about how the Phillies aren't
59:43
the only twenty twenty two playoff team struggling and where you know, we're seeing
59:49
issues from the Mets, the Cardinals, the Yankees, even the Astros just
59:52
to name a few. And maybe this goes back to what we were talking
59:55
about before some of the rule changes. You know, teams players throughout the
1:00:00
league are struggling. Is it I mean, is it just because of the
1:00:02
pitch clock or is it just other other aspects of the new rules that have
1:00:07
been implemented And uh, I mean, is this just an anomaly type of
1:00:12
year. I think that the rules are affecting everybody. I think players aren't
1:00:17
talking about it, but it is affecting them in the batter's box, pitchers.
1:00:22
Some of them are talking about it, some of them aren't. I
1:00:25
think it players are having issues in the field with some of the new with
1:00:31
some of the new positioning rules. So I think it's tough for everyone,
1:00:37
and you just notice it more because of them, because it's you know,
1:00:40
playoff teams. It's happened to the playoff teams with teams that are supposed to
1:00:45
be bad. You don't notice it because they're just bad, right, Teams
1:00:47
that were supposed to be good, and they are struggling mightily, and some
1:00:52
of it is because of bad offseason decisions. I would say the Yankees are
1:00:57
being voiced by their own chief, Patard now Um, with some problems with
1:01:01
winning. I think they're in the last place right now. I think they
1:01:05
are, yeah, which is hilarious, like that's not gonna last. But
1:01:07
they they put all their eggs into the air and judge basket and didn't do
1:01:12
much more. They I think they signed Rodon but he's on the I L
1:01:15
and may not even pitch this year. Yeah, so some of it is
1:01:20
because of that, But I think a lot of it is is the rules.
1:01:22
It's new, it's different, and it's affecting everyone and everything, and
1:01:28
it's hard for players to change the rhythm that they've been that they've had,
1:01:32
change routines they've had for some of them ten twenty thirty. Yeah, so
1:01:40
I think I think some of this will get better as the season goes on,
1:01:45
but we should remember that this is now like a whole new era.
1:01:49
Yes, like what we knew about what we knew about playoff teams this year
1:01:54
is completely different because the new rules have upended a lot of stuff. It's
1:02:00
a great, great, great way to end our discussion here again, folks,
1:02:04
Liz Rocher at Liz Rocher on the Twitter dot com, thank you so
1:02:08
much. I appreciate you coming on joining us here and come back and we'll
1:02:14
talk more in the future if you don't mind. We'd love to talk about
1:02:16
pas in Major League Baseball with you, Liz. Always always my pleasure.
1:02:22
It's always great talking to Liz, and she really hit the nail on the
1:02:25
head at the end of our discussion. This is a new era of baseball,
1:02:30
folks, and I don't think we should be taking it. I think
1:02:31
as lightly as so many of us actually have been taking lightly. Yes,
1:02:36
these new rule changes have been producing a different product on the field, and
1:02:39
they've been doing what they what they have been meant to do. But as
1:02:45
a result, we are entering a new era of baseball. It's going to
1:02:49
be interesting to think if these new rules, if they do stay in place
1:02:52
for quite some time, say a decade, maybe two decades, what folks
1:02:59
at that point in time, what they say about the start of this new
1:03:02
era. Is it the rule change era that helped to dramatically change baseball in
1:03:07
certain ways? It's going to be really interesting years and years down the road,
1:03:12
how we reflect back on this particular period of time in Major League Baseball's
1:03:15
history to determine whether or not these rule changes were good for the game,
1:03:20
good for the team that we are rooting for on a consistent basis, many
1:03:24
of us it's being the Philadelphia Phillies. So that's going to do it for
1:03:28
us this week, and it was great to be in your ears. Thank
1:03:31
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1:03:59
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1:04:02
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1:04:06
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