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MLB Championship Series Breakdown with Gene Watson · The Craig Way Show

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Lead man on to the guardians he's the tying run
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: bailey and a swing.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: And a drive deep into right center and there it goes.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: He's got a two run.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Home run and he's got the guardians back in front.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: It's the craig way show with the voice of the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: texas longhorns and hall of fame broadcaster craig way.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: As a good friend in Georgetown, Texas, home Brian Anderson
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: on the call there. Petey Halpin with a two-run homer
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: as the Cleveland Guardians take game three this afternoon. Three
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: to two over the Tampa Bay Rays as BA, as
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: we call them. Brian Anderson called that on CBS for that.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: And so now Cleveland has a two-to-one lead in the
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: best-of-seven series. In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers are
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: up three games to none on the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: They go for the sweep tonight. in la joining us
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: as he does each week to talk baseball now down
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  Speaker 2: to the final four level our good friend Gene Watson
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  Speaker 2: from the front office of the Chicago White Sox.
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  Speaker 3: Gino, I appreciate the time. Let me start with.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: The American League because you just got through watching this
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Guardians team with that incredible comeback to take out your
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: ball club, the White Sox, in that final fifth game.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: And they appear to have picked up where they left off,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: split the two games in St. Pete, and they get
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: a win today to go up two games to one.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: So how about your thoughts on what you've seen so
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  Speaker 2: far in the AL?
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Well, we talked about last week how, you know, we
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: were up two to nothing in the series versus Cleveland.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: But how one star player can kind of swing the
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: momentum of the entire series and in turn pick up
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: the entire team. And you saw Jose Ramirez in games
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: three and four in Chicago just show the entire Cleveland
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: dugout on the biggest stage. This is what the stars do.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: And then, you know, he hits a ball basically twice.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: a quarter of an inch off the ground to win
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  Speaker 1: the game in Game 5 in Cleveland. But what those
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: moments allow the rest of the guys to do is
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  Speaker 1: when you have that star player that says, I got
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: your back, boys, it allows the rest of the Chase
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: DeLotters and the Petey Halpins and the Joe Adels to, one,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: sit back and observe and watch greatness of that magnitude.
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  Speaker 3: But two, kind of take a deep breath and say,
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: you know what?
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  Speaker 1: I don't have to be the guy in this game,
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  Speaker 1: but my time's coming.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: And that's what you've seen.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: And it's funny how you can go from an 0-2
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: deficit going on the road for two games to now
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: being in the driver's seat in the American League Championship
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: Series just like that.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: How rubber-armed in this day and age of the way
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  Speaker 2: teams use pitchers is Gavin Williams?
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Oh, very much so. You know, Gavin Williams was.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Arguably the best pitcher in the draft in 2021 out
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: of Eastern Carolina in a year that had rocker and lighter.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: And so that tells you what kind of talent he was.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: And Cleveland just does such a great job of identifying
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: pitchers that move down the mound well, that they feel
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: like they can create more velocity. I mean, Gavin Williams
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: was a 94, 95 mile an hour fastball guy that
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: now is 99 to 101 with incredible vert to the plate.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and on top having a top-of-the-scale breaking ball and cutter.
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  Speaker 3: So they've just done a tremendous job.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: Carl Willis and his pitching plan in Cleveland, they just
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: continue to churn out incredible pitchers. And Gavin Williams, if
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: he can stay healthy, is going to be one of
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: the best pitchers in baseball for the next five to
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: ten years.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we've been talking about, and we brought this
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: up last week, somebody mentioned that, you know, the most
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: complete team ever It's been mentioned a lot, and I
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: know you've mentioned it as well. Probably the most complete
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: team in baseball is the Milwaukee Brewers. The way they
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: approach the game, the way they play. the game, that
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  Speaker 2: sort of thing. And that Tampa Bay is very much
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: in a similar vein. As I said, some referred to
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: them as Milwaukee-like, which to me sounds like a beer
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  Speaker 2: and not a ball club, but they referred to Tampa
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  Speaker 2: Bay in much the same fashion. So I'm sure you're
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: going to be quick to add that don't count the
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  Speaker 2: Rays out yet. They do have home field, even though
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  Speaker 2: Cleveland swung it for the moment by winning game.
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  Speaker 3: Three to that.
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  Speaker 2: What about what you see from the Rays and what
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  Speaker 2: they would have to do if they were to turn
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  Speaker 2: this around and what they need to do to even
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: this up tomorrow. Again, whether notwithstanding or whatever, and with
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  Speaker 2: the series going forward from there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I would say that both of them have great managers,
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  Speaker 1: but with Tampa Bay, their identity is a little bit different.
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  Speaker 1: They can beat you many ways. They've got very good pitching,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: and their bullpen is strong. What Tampa Bay needs is
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: is for Cleveland to come back to earth offensively. Because
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Cleveland's pitching is not going to go anywhere. They've got
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: arguably one of the best closers in the game in
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  Speaker 1: Kate Smith. Gaddis is one of the best setup guys
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  Speaker 1: in the game. And so when those starting pitchers can
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  Speaker 1: get five, six innings deep, they become a more dangerous
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  Speaker 1: team if they hit. So what Tampa's got to do
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  Speaker 1: really well to get back into the series is pitch well,
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  Speaker 1: which I expect them to do, but continue their offensive
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  Speaker 1: identity of putting a game in motion and making contact
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  Speaker 1: and just generating havoc on the base paths.
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  Speaker 3: And by no means is this.
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  Speaker 1: Series over, and I would expect it to go at
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  Speaker 1: least six and probably.
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  Speaker 3: Seven games, and it's going to come down to whether.
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  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay can control and get Cleveland's offense back to.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Where it was going into game three of the ALDS.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Gino, I'm looking at, I've got on my iPad, TBS's
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: postgame coverage, and the field is already covered.
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  Speaker 3: In Cleveland.
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  Speaker 2: It was said that today was going to be the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: best day weather-wise to even move the game forward because
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: of the anticipation of inclement weather and that it might hit,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: you know, tonight and then into tomorrow. And we don't
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: know what it's going to be like over the next
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: couple of days. If a game is postponed due to rain,
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: say they can't play tomorrow or they can't play on Saturday,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: you know, that sort of thing. Does it benefit either side,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: depending on how long the delay is and how much
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: postponement is involved?
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: 100% it benefits the Cleveland Indians. When you talk about
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Gavin Williams and Parker Messick being able to come back
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: in earlier leverage, whether it's on their side days out
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: of the bullpen, like I've said before, instead of throwing
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: their sides in the bullpen, if they need them for
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: 15 to 20 pitches in leverage, much like what you
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: saw in game four, with Gavin Williams in Chicago, it
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: definitely swings to Cleveland's favor because those are two of
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: the more potent starting pitchers in the game of baseball.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: And Gavin Williams in any type of leverage is really,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: really tough to beat. But I got to tell you, Craig,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: there aren't many places more depressing to be in the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: world than Cleveland.
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  Speaker 3: And Cleveland during a rainout, I can't even wrap my
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  Speaker 3: arms around that right now.
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  Speaker 2: Or maybe, you know, one of my broadcast mentors, you
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  Speaker 2: remember him, the late, great Bill Mercer, who was with
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: us until a couple of years ago. He lived to
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: be 99. You know, did the world-class championship wrestling, was
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys play-by-play broadcaster when they won their first Super Bowl.
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: He was the Texas Rangers' first broadcaster, worked the White
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Sox with Harry Carey. And he used to tell me
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: about when he was doing cowboy games in the late 60s,
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: and the late, great columnist Blackie Sherrod was his analyst,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: even before Vern Lundquist joined him. in the late 60s.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: And they'd have games at the old municipal stadium in Cleveland,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: which you've been to many, many times, the old mistake
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: by the lake. And you'd have a December game between
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Dallas and Cleveland. And he said, and they were kind
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: of in an open air, hanging out crow's nest broadcast.
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  Speaker 2: position and he said that was no fun when that
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: wind would come whipping out there so I guess I
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: guess the uh the late uh fall and into winter
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: is even more punitive than the earlier autumn but it
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  Speaker 2: does I mean it it can affect managerial decisions even
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: if you're having to play through those kinds of elements
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  Speaker 2: doesn't it.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Well if there was one thing that I thought was
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: going to motivate our ball club not to have to
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: go to game five it was to have to go
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: back to Cleveland and We ended up having to do it,
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  Speaker 1: and they ended up taking care of business there. It's
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  Speaker 1: an incredible ballpark, great fans. They've got a lot of
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  Speaker 1: passion for the game. But yeah, the weather off that lake,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: especially this time of year, can be a little bit tricky.
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  Speaker 3: But again, that lends.
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  Speaker 1: To the strengths of pitching and being able to roll
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  Speaker 1: Gavin Williams and Parker Messick back around would be a
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  Speaker 1: huge advantage.
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  Speaker 3: For Cleveland.
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  Speaker 1: And when you say Bill Mercer, all I think about
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: is him interviewing the Great Kabuki every Saturday night on
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Channel 11 at the house.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: The Great Kabuki or working with Yvonne Eriks or the
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: fabulous Freebirds, all that kind of stuff. and baseball really
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: and truly with uh gene watson here with us uh
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  Speaker 2: gino let's jump to the national league uh you've said
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  Speaker 2: the most complete team all the way through was milwaukee
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  Speaker 2: they've looked every bit the part you said until until
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: the king is dead you got to kill him you
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: got the dodgers would be like vampires until you until
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  Speaker 2: you finally come but but the brewers it looks like
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  Speaker 2: has found the way to do it and and it
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  Speaker 2: looks like clutch hitting and incredible bullpen work has been
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  Speaker 2: the difference in this series don't you think.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: There's two stories to this series. One is, and I
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: lived it in 2014 and 2015.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: With the Royals, because really in 2013, you know, Justin
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Maxwell hit a walk-off grand slam off of Joaquin Soria
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: on the final home game of the season. And we
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: go to Seattle three out with seven to play and
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: really feeling like we had a chance and we fell short.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: And then you go into 14 and you get to
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  Speaker 1: the wildcard game and you're down four in the eighth
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: to John Lester and you come back and win what
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: was an incredible, one of the most incredible games you
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: could ever watch. And we win eight in a row
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: to lose to game seven to Madison Bumgarner in the
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: 2014 World Series. And then you retool and you reload
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: and you go to 2015 and you win the World
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Series and you reach that mountaintop.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: And then you show up in 16 and you're going
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: to push again.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: And it's really not, two years of winning, it's the
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: push before and the push after where players.
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: Really get tired.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: And you're talking about extra months on a season where
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: exhaustion can really play a big part in a player's mindset.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: And so you take that with the Dodgers, they're exhausted.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: They're up against the ropes right now and they know it.
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  Speaker 1: And I would tell you as crazy as this sounds,
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: down 3-0, they're still not out of this series because
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: now they're going to use all those leverage arms, as
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: I said earlier, in key.
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Points of the game to try to keep them in
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: the game.
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  Speaker 1: But you can't hit 2-12 as a team.
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: You just can't do it.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: And Will Smith can't hit under 100, and you expect
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: to be successful. And Shohei Otani can't hit for no
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: power and no extra base, and you expect for your
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: team to win. So all of those things are going
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: to have to change quickly. for the Dodgers to even
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: inch back in this series. But then you flip it
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: to the Brewers and you look at like, this has
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: been a five-year process for them. They had the Dodgers
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: on the ropes in the divisional series years ago when
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: they went Wade Miley opener, Wade Miley opener, just seen
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: as openers three straight starts in a row. And they've
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: been building ever since then to try to build a
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: team that could beat the monster. And they've done it
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: with a great manager in Pat Murphy and They've done
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: it with incredible young players that they've traded for. They've
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: signed for in the international department and they've just created
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: a culture that is.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: Second to none.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: And you know, they're one game away from being in
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: their worst first world series since 1982. And they know
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Pat Murphy is not going to let them let up
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: one ounce. They're going to be foot on the neck
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the way, but just a super fun
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: team to watch.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: And I would say, If.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: You can get Milwaukee and if you can get Tampa,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: you've probably got two of the best baseball teams playing
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: in the World Series and, quite frankly, two teams that
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: don't have high payroll and have done it the right
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: way when it comes to player development, scouting, international signings,
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: perfectly timed trades with great managers that know how to
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: lead a 26-man roster.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Which, by the way, Gino, wouldn't that– and I say
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: this tongue-in-cheek– But wouldn't that kind of do damage to
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: those who are arguing that teams like the Dodgers are
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: ruining baseball with their payroll and all this when you
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: have two smaller budget, smaller market teams actually reach the
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: World Series? And one of them, if it's Milwaukee and
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, one of them is going to win a
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: world championship for the first time in franchise history.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: It would. And I would tell you, like the 14
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: and 15 teams, we were, you know, in the bottom
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: 10th of payroll overall. The 2003 Marlins, I think we
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: were like maybe 85, maybe 85 million. So it can
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: be done. It can be done anyway. And I've said before,
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: throwing money at something doesn't necessarily equate to culture and success.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: And it doesn't.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: And there's a hundred examples of that in Major League Baseball.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: And there's quite a few examples of that in college
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: football right now. So I just think that when you
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: have great leadership and your player acquisition processes are good
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and you create a great culture with a great manager
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: in your clubhouse, you've got a chance to win.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: And we're proof of.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: That in Chicago this year, and certainly the four teams
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: remaining are all proof of that now.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: He's Gene Watson, joins us each week here. Geno, I
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: take it the Irish are going to handle their business
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: in Provo against a good BYU team on Saturday?
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I will be at Kelly's in Austin watching it, but
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I'm also bringing Brian Anderson's brother, Mike, to the game
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Saturday in Austin. So we're looking forward to coming to
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: see the Horns on Saturday.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: Excellent.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Gene. I appreciate it. Okay. Take care.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: All right. That's Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: front office, personnel director, and our MLB insider joins us
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: each week to talk baseball.