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OneLegUpAlex Welcomes NYS Baseball Hall of Famer and Yankees WS Champion Coach Dom Scala 3-24-25 · OneLegUpAlex Media

0:02
Speaker 1: Here's your host, Alex Garren.
0:06
Speaker 2: All right, well, I was just calculating this here on
0:09
Speaker 2: the One That Up Network. It'll be the twenty fourth
0:12
Speaker 2: season in the Yankees family, thanks to mister George Seinberner
0:16
Speaker 2: and twenty five years ago this September, since he truly
0:19
Speaker 2: welcomed my dad and I in, and so I want
0:22
Speaker 2: to start a series and have been going on with it.
0:24
Speaker 2: The goodness of George and someone who I know has
0:27
Speaker 2: experienced it is a member of the World Series champion
0:30
Speaker 2: Yankees from the seventies, Dom Scala and dom Scala Baseball.
0:34
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining the One Leg Up Network today.
0:36
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for having me, Alex.
0:39
Speaker 2: I want to start there the goodness of George. Maybe
0:42
Speaker 2: some people don't know that side of George Seibern, how
0:44
Speaker 2: good he was to his players, to you know, yes,
0:47
Speaker 2: the fans as well, and maybe to you personally.
0:50
Speaker 1: Dom. Yeah. I always had a great rapport with George.
0:55
Speaker 1: I think it's because you know, he liked my work ethic.
1:00
Speaker 1: You know, I was one of the younger coaches back
1:02
Speaker 1: in the day nineteen seventy eight when I started, and
1:06
Speaker 1: there were coaches like Yogi Bera there and Elston Howard
1:10
Speaker 1: Jim Hegan. These were guys that were a little bit older.
1:14
Speaker 1: I mean, knowing how I am old now I'm seventy
1:18
Speaker 1: years old. These guys weren't quite seventy, but they couldn't
1:21
Speaker 1: do some of the things that a young guy could do.
1:24
Speaker 1: So I would pick them up throwing batting practice, hitting
1:27
Speaker 1: fungos and of course being in a bullpen. And like
1:30
Speaker 1: I said, I always had a great rapport with him,
1:32
Speaker 1: and he you know, he liked hard working guys. He
1:34
Speaker 1: liked guys that were passionate, and that's the way I was.
1:38
Speaker 2: We all seen the footage of him and the champagne,
1:41
Speaker 2: and I think the seventy eight on it least, and
1:43
Speaker 2: in the seventy seven, tell me about those moments of
1:45
Speaker 2: glory and anytime mister Salmoner walked in the clubhouse before
1:48
Speaker 2: we get to the twenty twenty five year.
1:50
Speaker 1: Yes, I remember nineteen seventy eight. You know, we wanted
1:54
Speaker 1: in La as you know, and you know, it was
1:58
Speaker 1: just a great feeling. I remember coming in from the
2:00
Speaker 1: boltpen and the champagne was flowing and everybody was getting
2:05
Speaker 1: hit from all angles with with with champagne because you
2:09
Speaker 1: know that La visiting clubhouse wasn't very big in those days.
2:13
Speaker 1: I'm sure it's much different now. Uh, but it was
2:17
Speaker 1: just a great time. I mean we won, we won
2:21
Speaker 1: four straight, uh, you know, to get it back to
2:24
Speaker 1: LA and winning in La, you know, with Goose on
2:27
Speaker 1: the mound and Thurman making that last ditch effort to
2:31
Speaker 1: catch a foul ball or for the battle. Ron say,
2:34
Speaker 1: I'll never forget it, and uh, it was just great,
2:36
Speaker 1: great times, great times.
2:38
Speaker 2: Dom. Talk about your journey to the Yankees, I mean,
2:41
Speaker 2: obviously even in baseball, your whole life. So how did
2:43
Speaker 2: that journey start?
2:45
Speaker 1: Well, it started, of course, you know, playing as a
2:48
Speaker 1: young you know, a young boy five years old, with
2:51
Speaker 1: my father teaching me the game, waiting for him, you know,
2:56
Speaker 1: outside my outside my house. He would come home with
2:59
Speaker 1: five o'clock in the evening and I would have my
3:02
Speaker 1: ball and glove and bat ready to go, and he
3:05
Speaker 1: would take me to the park which was right across
3:07
Speaker 1: the street. Start there. And then of course little league
3:10
Speaker 1: and high school at Saint Francis Prep, and then I
3:14
Speaker 1: went on to play college baseball at Saint John's University,
3:18
Speaker 1: where I was an All American and got drafted by
3:21
Speaker 1: the Oakland A's, had a couple of years with the
3:25
Speaker 1: Oakland A's two and a half years, got hurt at
3:27
Speaker 1: the wrong time, and then the Yankees picked me up
3:30
Speaker 1: and asked me if I wanted to join them in
3:31
Speaker 1: the bullpen at the time, and which I said, yeah,
3:34
Speaker 1: I really would like to keep playing, but you know,
3:36
Speaker 1: we got this job for you if you want it now,
3:39
Speaker 1: So I took the job. We won the World championship
3:41
Speaker 1: that nineteen seventy eight, which was my first year, was
3:44
Speaker 1: a magical year, as we were just talking about and
3:48
Speaker 1: then I was going to play again, but then there
3:51
Speaker 1: were so many catches ahead of me in the Yankee
3:53
Speaker 1: system at the time that I decided to go back
3:55
Speaker 1: in the bullpen and started college a coaching career, which
3:59
Speaker 1: led me to be a lifer in baseball eighteen years
4:04
Speaker 1: with Adelphi University, four and a half years with Pittsburgh
4:09
Speaker 1: as an advanced scout, and now I'm teaching young kids
4:13
Speaker 1: the game. I want to give something back, so I'm
4:16
Speaker 1: teaching kids the fundamentals of the game with my dom
4:18
Speaker 1: scale of baseball camps.
4:21
Speaker 2: Well as a bullpen catcher. As a bullpen coach, who
4:24
Speaker 2: did you warm up? You can most remember I mean,
4:27
Speaker 2: obviously that bullpen was a list of legendary names for
4:30
Speaker 2: the Yankees.
4:31
Speaker 1: Well to start out. I mean, you know, I remember
4:35
Speaker 1: coming in in May of seventy eight and Ron Gidrey
4:40
Speaker 1: and I became very good friends. And that was his
4:44
Speaker 1: magical season of twenty I think he was twenty five
4:47
Speaker 1: and three with a sub two er one point sixty
4:51
Speaker 1: five somewhere around there. He wouldn't let anybody else warm
4:55
Speaker 1: him up in the bullpen but me that year, and
4:59
Speaker 1: which which to me was a you know, which is
5:02
Speaker 1: a great thing. He had a lot of trust in
5:04
Speaker 1: me helping him out out there. Uh. And uh, of
5:07
Speaker 1: course that year we had Goose Gossage, we had Sparky Lyle,
5:12
Speaker 1: we had Dick Tiddrow, we had Kenny Clay. We had
5:17
Speaker 1: a list of great bullpen guys. And uh, you know,
5:22
Speaker 1: I took a lot of pride, you know, in warming
5:25
Speaker 1: those guys up, because I would, I would, I would,
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Speaker 1: you know, share with them if they if they asked
5:31
Speaker 1: me how I looked, or you know, where I should
5:34
Speaker 1: be with my with my hand at that time, I would,
5:37
Speaker 1: I would try to help them out as much as possible.
5:40
Speaker 2: All right. It's it's also interesting to watch them warm up, right,
5:43
Speaker 2: I mean today they started out slow, then the mit
5:46
Speaker 2: would get faster. Pops, I mean, did your hand have
5:49
Speaker 2: to be iced a little bit as they started warming
5:51
Speaker 2: up in their session?
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Speaker 1: Well, you know in the when it was cold out
5:55
Speaker 1: in April and early May. You know, it was a
5:59
Speaker 1: little tough of the catch ninety ninety five, you know
6:01
Speaker 1: what I mean, just a bet, you know, just yeah,
6:05
Speaker 1: and uh, you know I had bone bruises on my
6:09
Speaker 1: you know, on my palm, on my hand at times
6:11
Speaker 1: because you know, as you know, most of these guys,
6:14
Speaker 1: especially a guy like Dick Tidrew who had a lot
6:17
Speaker 1: of movement on the ball. Kenny Clay had a lot
6:20
Speaker 1: of movement on the ball. You know, the bulls wouldn't
6:22
Speaker 1: stay in one spot and you have to catch it
6:24
Speaker 1: the right way in order to make sure that stays
6:27
Speaker 1: in the strike zone. And I would try to frame
6:29
Speaker 1: the ball for them, you know, at that time, because
6:31
Speaker 1: I want them to get their confidence up. And I
6:34
Speaker 1: had a lot of bone bruises my my right index finger.
6:38
Speaker 1: You know, I put a pant on it, but you
6:40
Speaker 1: know it only helps so much when you're getting pounded. Uh,
6:44
Speaker 1: you know, hundreds of pitchers out there in the bullpen.
6:47
Speaker 2: Absolutely all right. I gotta ask you this because you
6:50
Speaker 2: mentioned you were drafted by the a you know, and
6:52
Speaker 2: drive by the A's. Are you sad they left Oakland?
6:54
Speaker 2: I mean what it just seems so sad they're leaving
6:57
Speaker 2: that city, isn't it.
6:59
Speaker 1: Well, you know, you always said, you know, you always
7:01
Speaker 1: said when you know, guys, even like when we when
7:03
Speaker 1: you know, when Yankee Stadium was knocked down and stuff
7:06
Speaker 1: like that and the new one was built. There's just
7:08
Speaker 1: so many memories. And I'm sure for the people in
7:11
Speaker 1: Oakland who were all the championships that they won back
7:15
Speaker 1: in the day. Uh. And I remember going there and
7:18
Speaker 1: being there, uh, you know, in the coliseum there. At
7:23
Speaker 1: that time, it was a beautiful stadium. Today, you know,
7:26
Speaker 1: it's not so beautiful anymore because you know, it's kind
7:29
Speaker 1: of like antiquated. But you know, I guess it's about business.
7:34
Speaker 1: They don't get the attendance. They didn't have suites, you know,
7:38
Speaker 1: which is a big thing. And that's one of the
7:40
Speaker 1: reasons why George Steinbrenner, you know, wanted to make a
7:44
Speaker 1: new stadium because he had no hardly any suites in
7:47
Speaker 1: Yankee Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium, and hey, let's face it,
7:50
Speaker 1: it brings in a lot of money for these franchises.
7:54
Speaker 2: You know, almost every piece of that meet one of
7:58
Speaker 2: those levels of the suite. Now you're right about that
8:00
Speaker 2: in the up stadium, all right. I gotta say I
8:02
Speaker 2: would be remiss if I didn't thank Joan Pelzer and
8:05
Speaker 2: Arthur I Dalla for allowing me to connect with you
8:07
Speaker 2: for this podcast, because you appear regularly on The Power Hour.
8:10
Speaker 2: By the way, I'm expecting you this week to give
8:12
Speaker 2: us your baseball breakdown on nine seven of the Answer
8:15
Speaker 2: because you're you're ready for Opening Day, aren't you? It's time?
8:18
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah. I actually have my Yankee hat
8:20
Speaker 1: on right now. I know you can't see me, but
8:23
Speaker 1: I had my Yankee hat on ready to go. Look,
8:27
Speaker 1: they just picked up a pretty good pitcher. I don't
8:30
Speaker 1: know if you saw it, but the Yarborough. Yeah, you
8:33
Speaker 1: know that guy won won twenty seven games his first
8:37
Speaker 1: two years in the big leagues, and then he had
8:40
Speaker 1: a couple of years of a bed arm and I
8:42
Speaker 1: believe he had a surgery h and has trying to
8:45
Speaker 1: fight his way back. And he's resilient and I was
8:49
Speaker 1: with two different clubs last year, I think Los Angeles
8:52
Speaker 1: and Toronto, and I think the Yankees were able to,
8:58
Speaker 1: you know, to sign him for for nothing, practically nothing.
9:02
Speaker 1: You know, they don't have to give anything up for him.
9:04
Speaker 1: You know, everybody's talking about the Yankees. They haven't done anything,
9:07
Speaker 1: but you know, and I just want to reiterate this.
9:10
Speaker 1: And you know, Brian Cashman has been around for twenty
9:14
Speaker 1: six years. I mean, you don't stay around for twenty
9:16
Speaker 1: six years unless you're doing the job. And he knows
9:18
Speaker 1: what he's doing. You know, the guy is one of
9:21
Speaker 1: the most patient gms that I've ever I've ever seen,
9:27
Speaker 1: and I think he got that from Gen Michael. Of course,
9:29
Speaker 1: you know Gene Michael being the Gore back in the
9:32
Speaker 1: nineties and the early two thousands, and he learned from him.
9:37
Speaker 1: But I believe that that's a good pickup for the
9:40
Speaker 1: Yankees if the guy can stay healthy. And you know,
9:43
Speaker 1: he's a left hander who throws everything at you. He
9:48
Speaker 1: throws his arms, his legs at you. And I'm hoping
9:51
Speaker 1: for the best. I hope that they get the most
9:53
Speaker 1: out of this guy.
9:55
Speaker 2: All right. I want to talk about clubhouse chemistry because
9:57
Speaker 2: in the seventies, it felt like from what we saw
10:00
Speaker 2: on TV. Yeah, there was some tension between Billie, Reggie
10:03
Speaker 2: and Thurman, but ultimately there was this kind of chemistry
10:07
Speaker 2: and kind of you know, brotherhood in that clubhouse that
10:11
Speaker 2: maybe is not there for all clubhouses of Major League Baseball.
10:14
Speaker 2: Do you see a difference from forty to fifty years apart?
10:18
Speaker 1: Well, I look, you know, the only thing, the only
10:22
Speaker 1: constant about life is changed, and it's it's it certainly
10:26
Speaker 1: has been. It's a different time.
10:28
Speaker 3: You know.
10:30
Speaker 1: The guys it's very very hard for these guys to
10:32
Speaker 1: go out nowadays and have a beer with each other
10:38
Speaker 1: or go out and have dinner because you know, everybody's
10:40
Speaker 1: got camera phones on them and then you know they're
10:43
Speaker 1: trying to take pictures of them and and and you know,
10:47
Speaker 1: with AI and everything that's going on today, things can
10:50
Speaker 1: get turned around very quickly. So a lot of guys
10:53
Speaker 1: are skeptical about going out and even saying hello to
10:56
Speaker 1: people and talking to people. Back then, you know, we
10:59
Speaker 1: would go out after a game, you know, four, five,
11:02
Speaker 1: six or seven of us and have a beer or
11:05
Speaker 1: a cocktail and and talk about the games and and uh,
11:09
Speaker 1: you know, and it built that camaraderie. I think there's
11:12
Speaker 1: I think there's less camaraderie today, although they do have
11:16
Speaker 1: a lot of camaraderie in the in the clubhouse nowadays
11:20
Speaker 1: more than outside. So you know, we didn't have meals
11:25
Speaker 1: like they have today. They have chefs preparing food for
11:27
Speaker 1: them today and stuff, so they do a lot more
11:30
Speaker 1: talking in the clubhouse and we did it outside the clubhouse.
11:34
Speaker 1: All right.
11:34
Speaker 2: One story I want to ask about because Reine Growing
11:36
Speaker 2: and his bat Boy production is great, great history of
11:40
Speaker 2: his life as a Yankee, and I'm sure you know
11:42
Speaker 2: him because he's been tightening with the Yankees and part
11:45
Speaker 2: of mister Simon Anders whole era as well. But you
11:49
Speaker 2: mentioned one of the things was that these guys were
11:51
Speaker 2: coming to the clubhouse and and turn on soul train.
11:53
Speaker 2: Is that true? Like there was a whole thing where
11:55
Speaker 2: they'd all be dancing soul training as the pregame routine.
11:58
Speaker 1: That ever happened, Yeah, I I remember it happened a
12:01
Speaker 1: couple of times. You know, we had guys that used
12:03
Speaker 1: to love the you know, the funk, and and you know,
12:07
Speaker 1: you know it's funny because you know, that's how I
12:10
Speaker 1: got my nickname Disco done because they they saw this
12:14
Speaker 1: six foot two white guy, you know, dancing as good
12:17
Speaker 1: as the black guys on the team, you know what
12:18
Speaker 1: I mean. And you know we used to do different
12:21
Speaker 1: moves and stuff like that and and get ourselves going. Yeah, yeah,
12:25
Speaker 1: it was pretty cool.
12:26
Speaker 3: You know.
12:27
Speaker 2: I talk about the bullpen coach today, Mike Harkey. He's done.
12:29
Speaker 2: He's done a great job out there. But he's fiery.
12:31
Speaker 2: Were you that fiery when you were a bullpen coach
12:34
Speaker 2: or what?
12:35
Speaker 1: No, I wasn't fiery. Uh, I think I was. I
12:38
Speaker 1: think I was adamant. I'm not. I think I was talkative.
12:42
Speaker 1: I think I had you know, I would want to
12:45
Speaker 1: share my thoughts, you know with guys like you know,
12:49
Speaker 1: like I said before, with Gidrey and Gossage. You know,
12:52
Speaker 1: uh they would ask me how's the bull look coming
12:55
Speaker 1: out of my hand? And uh, you know and things
12:58
Speaker 1: like that. So I would I but you know, not
13:01
Speaker 1: overthinking either, because you know, these guys are pros. They
13:04
Speaker 1: know their they know their their their stuff. But if
13:08
Speaker 1: I saw something that I thought that I could improve on,
13:12
Speaker 1: how the ball was coming out of their handle a
13:14
Speaker 1: little differently, or maybe they're not turning their hips enough
13:18
Speaker 1: on their delivery. I would certainly talk to them about it.
13:22
Speaker 2: Did you ever warn them, hey, you're kind of tipping
13:24
Speaker 2: your pitch here when you when you do your warm up?
13:26
Speaker 2: Did that ever come up?
13:27
Speaker 1: You know what I I don't ever recall that happening. Uh,
13:34
Speaker 1: you know, but you know you're not looking for that.
13:37
Speaker 1: I was looking for more of you know, how the
13:41
Speaker 1: ball was coming out of their hand, you know, you know,
13:44
Speaker 1: was it coming out of it with fluently? You know what
13:47
Speaker 1: I mean, That's what That's what I was looking for mostly.
13:50
Speaker 2: All right. You know, I got to know over the
13:52
Speaker 2: last few months Tommy John, and I'm sure warming him
13:54
Speaker 2: up was quite a quite a thrill. Talk about your
13:57
Speaker 2: connection with Tommy John.
13:59
Speaker 1: Well, Tommy Jo and I. You know, I think he
14:02
Speaker 1: was with me for a couple of years with the Yankees.
14:05
Speaker 4: And you know Tommy after his Tommy his you know,
14:08
Speaker 4: famous Tommy John surgery instead of you know, he wasn't
14:14
Speaker 4: as hard as a thrower as he was before the surgery.
14:19
Speaker 1: So what he became was a sinker slider pitcher. And
14:22
Speaker 1: he used to experiment a lot in the bullpen, and
14:26
Speaker 1: he used to go out there almost every day. I
14:30
Speaker 1: used to say He used to wear me out all
14:32
Speaker 1: the time because I would have to go out there
14:35
Speaker 1: every day with him, and he would stay out there
14:37
Speaker 1: for at least twenty twenty five minutes trying to get
14:41
Speaker 1: his sinker going. And how he felt about that was
14:45
Speaker 1: he felt that he had to have a dead arm
14:47
Speaker 1: in order for his ball to sink more. So he
14:50
Speaker 1: would throw almost every day to get that sinker going.
14:54
Speaker 1: And he also used to work on a slider, and
14:57
Speaker 1: he also used to work on a backup slider bullet
15:00
Speaker 1: slightest spin, but it would it would move the opposite way,
15:05
Speaker 1: and he would throw that a lot against right handers
15:08
Speaker 1: and get it on left handers. So there was a
15:11
Speaker 1: lot of different things that Tommy used to do. Uh.
15:14
Speaker 1: He was kind of like a doctor of pitching. And
15:17
Speaker 1: I don't mean because of his arm. I mean I'm
15:19
Speaker 1: talking about because of the way he thought about pitching.
15:23
Speaker 2: Now, let me ask you this a guy that obviously
15:25
Speaker 2: was known for his cutter, a very unique pitch. I
15:28
Speaker 2: feel like, sometimes, Mariano, do you ever want to catch
15:31
Speaker 2: him in the bullpen and get get a feel for
15:33
Speaker 2: that cutter or what I think he.
15:35
Speaker 1: Would I think he would he would be very easy
15:37
Speaker 1: to catch, and and so was believe it or not.
15:42
Speaker 1: Another guy that was easy to catch was Goose, even
15:45
Speaker 1: though he threw almost one hundred miles an hour. Although
15:48
Speaker 1: he did he did get clocked one time at one
15:50
Speaker 1: o two, But I was, I was. I would say
15:54
Speaker 1: that he was more around like the ninety eight area,
15:57
Speaker 1: consistently with all his arms and left and body coming
16:01
Speaker 1: at you, which made him intimidating. But Goose had kind
16:06
Speaker 1: of like this very very light rising fastball, whereas guys
16:11
Speaker 1: that threw heavy balls were tougher to catch, like Dick
16:15
Speaker 1: Tiddrow and Kenny Clay and George Frazier, guys like that,
16:19
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But of course I would
16:21
Speaker 1: have loved to be in the era of Marianna Rovera
16:25
Speaker 1: to catch him. I mean, we would have won more championships.
16:30
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this, it's being of Goose. Obviously
16:32
Speaker 2: there's another fifty four A. Has he mentioned anything to
16:34
Speaker 2: you about the fact that they gave away fifty four
16:37
Speaker 2: to Max Freed and b Freed looks like he's gonna
16:41
Speaker 2: be okay for the start of the season. What do
16:43
Speaker 2: you think?
16:44
Speaker 1: Yeah, Freed had another nice outing yesterday. I believe he
16:47
Speaker 1: won six innings yesterday, which was a big feat, you
16:52
Speaker 1: know what I mean. Now he's getting ready for the season.
16:54
Speaker 1: He probably has he's getting ready for his first start,
16:58
Speaker 1: which will probably be the second game versus Milwaukee, which
17:02
Speaker 1: would probably be I guess it's on Saturday or something
17:05
Speaker 1: like that. So he's gonna have his seven days rest
17:08
Speaker 1: or whatever it could be. But he hasn't mentioned anything.
17:13
Speaker 1: I haven't spoken with him about the fifty four. You know,
17:16
Speaker 1: obviously you can't retire all the numbers because you know,
17:21
Speaker 1: you won't have any numbers left with the Yankees. And
17:25
Speaker 1: you know, we all know that it's not a secret.
17:28
Speaker 1: You know that he's had some problems, you know, with
17:30
Speaker 1: the Yankees in the past few years. So you know,
17:34
Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure he doesn't care one way or
17:38
Speaker 1: the other at this point. If he's got his number anyway,
17:41
Speaker 1: he's got a pretty good guy that's got his number anyway.
17:43
Speaker 1: It's not just anybody.
17:45
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And you know what, Dom, he's gonna have to
17:47
Speaker 2: come up big with Garrett actually having to undergo Tommy John.
17:51
Speaker 2: All Right, you were there when the meltdown happened in
17:54
Speaker 2: that fifth inning. Could you tell something was wrong with Garrett.
17:58
Speaker 2: I mean, was this something that developed postseason do you think?
18:01
Speaker 2: Or is this just how did this happen? Where he
18:03
Speaker 2: gets to Tommy John surgery?
18:04
Speaker 1: Now, well, you know, you know, listen, the guy's throwing
18:09
Speaker 1: thousands of innings in his career, you know, and uh,
18:14
Speaker 1: you know, you only have so many bullets in your arm.
18:18
Speaker 1: I mean, I think the percentage Alex today is like
18:22
Speaker 1: if you're a big league pitcher, I you know, you know,
18:26
Speaker 1: pitching all your life up to that point, being in
18:29
Speaker 1: the big leagues and now throwing the ball hard and
18:33
Speaker 1: hard sliders and a lot of torque on your elbow
18:36
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. I believe fifty fifty five to
18:40
Speaker 1: sixty of major league is are gonna have surgery at
18:44
Speaker 1: one time in their career or another. I guess it's
18:47
Speaker 1: his time. And you know, I don't know, I don't
18:50
Speaker 1: know what happened. I don't know who came up with this,
18:54
Speaker 1: but because he got he got hurt last year in
18:58
Speaker 1: the spring and didn't pitch until June, they came up
19:02
Speaker 1: with this idea of not stopping him to throw now,
19:07
Speaker 1: so he hasn't stopped throwing since the World Series. Now,
19:11
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that he's throwing bullpens at ninety five
19:14
Speaker 1: miles an hour, but he's still throwing. And whoever made
19:19
Speaker 1: that decision, I think it it kind of backfired on
19:22
Speaker 1: them because you know, now he's going to be out
19:26
Speaker 1: for the season, as you know, and again, you know,
19:29
Speaker 1: a guy that throws ninety seven ninety eight with you know,
19:33
Speaker 1: with a ninety slider and a hard curve ball, you know,
19:38
Speaker 1: it's only a matter of time, and his time has come.
19:41
Speaker 2: Do you wish that? And you know, boonas sign and extended,
19:45
Speaker 2: do you wish that he came out there during that
19:47
Speaker 2: fifth any though? I mean, I feel like if he
19:49
Speaker 2: relaxed cold, that would have been a very different ending.
19:51
Speaker 2: What do you think?
19:53
Speaker 1: Good point? You know everybody talks you know, being you know,
19:57
Speaker 1: being a next you know, college coach, you know, and
20:01
Speaker 1: and being in that type of a position where the
20:03
Speaker 1: guy's having a long inning. I think you know, you know,
20:06
Speaker 1: you have to go out there and and at least,
20:09
Speaker 1: you know, calm him down and tell him take it easy.
20:12
Speaker 1: But you know, Boots a different animal, a different guy.
20:15
Speaker 1: You know, he felt that maybe if he went out there,
20:18
Speaker 1: Cole wouldn't want him to go out there. You know,
20:20
Speaker 1: he just wanted him to try to find his groove there.
20:24
Speaker 1: But you know, it's water under the bridge. Now, Yes,
20:29
Speaker 1: everybody has their opinions on going out there. Would I
20:33
Speaker 1: have gone out there, probably I would have gone out
20:36
Speaker 1: there and try to, you know, and try to like
20:38
Speaker 1: just give him, give him a little breather.
20:41
Speaker 2: All right now, correct me if I'm wrong about Yank geography.
20:43
Speaker 2: But I watched it so many times. And one of
20:46
Speaker 2: the guys I'm sure you caught was Catfish Hunter. And
20:48
Speaker 2: I heard that he had such a unique pitching style.
20:51
Speaker 2: Did you ever get to catch him in the bullpen?
20:53
Speaker 3: Oh?
20:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. You know, Catfish was a consummate, consummate pro. Uh.
21:00
Speaker 1: You know, we got him kind of like the tail
21:03
Speaker 1: end of his career. He had a few he had
21:05
Speaker 1: a few good years and then a few not so
21:08
Speaker 1: good years. And then you know when when you know,
21:11
Speaker 1: and and uh and seventy eight when we won the
21:14
Speaker 1: when we won the championship. You know, he was the
21:16
Speaker 1: guy that pitched Game six. So a little story for
21:22
Speaker 1: you was that when we were walking out to the
21:24
Speaker 1: bullpen in Dodger Stadium, he said to me, you know, Dom,
21:28
Speaker 1: I I have a ticket to go home tomorrow and
21:31
Speaker 1: I'm gonna start hunting. I said, well, I said, kat,
21:35
Speaker 1: I said, what do you mean? You know there could
21:38
Speaker 1: be another game?
21:39
Speaker 2: You know?
21:39
Speaker 1: He goes, no, we're not, We're not. We're not gonna
21:41
Speaker 1: lose this game. I'm gonna win this game. And he
21:44
Speaker 1: went out there, as you know, pitched six strong innings
21:46
Speaker 1: and uh and then Goose took over and we won
21:49
Speaker 1: that game and he was able to go home and hunt.
21:53
Speaker 2: No, yeah, exactly. I think you've mentioned that story before,
21:56
Speaker 2: but it's great to have it on this show as well. Now, Dom,
21:59
Speaker 2: I got to say, the other guy that I'm wondering
22:01
Speaker 2: if you caught was any knuckleballer. I know Phil Nukro
22:05
Speaker 2: was on the Yankees. Did you got a chance to
22:06
Speaker 2: catch Phil nicro when he was on the Yankees?
22:09
Speaker 1: Yes, I actually caught both Negros, Phil and Jump and
22:14
Speaker 1: I actually, you know, warm fill up for his three
22:18
Speaker 1: hundredth win, which took him two months to get. As
22:21
Speaker 1: you know, I actually have the ball right here in
22:24
Speaker 1: my you know, in my little man cave down here
22:28
Speaker 1: where I have all my memorabilia and another consummate pro
22:34
Speaker 1: just a great individual, a great man. I was so
22:38
Speaker 1: blessed to be involved with him, but he used to
22:40
Speaker 1: beat me up a lot. I mean, he didn't throw
22:42
Speaker 1: the he didn't throw the knuckleball very hard, Alex. He
22:45
Speaker 1: kind of threw the knuckleball around seventy miles an hour,
22:49
Speaker 1: but his brother Joe threw the knuckleball at like seventy
22:53
Speaker 1: eight eighty miles an hour. He's the guy that really
22:56
Speaker 1: beat me up because you know, at eighty miles an hour,
22:59
Speaker 1: a knuckle well moving so much, it's very, very hard
23:03
Speaker 1: to recover that glove. So I got hit by him
23:06
Speaker 1: a couple of times in a bullpen. Phil Joe Nicro
23:10
Speaker 1: and Phil Nicro.
23:12
Speaker 2: You know, I think of all the wives that had
23:17
Speaker 2: been showing up, and Captains Hunter's wife shows up, Bobby
23:20
Speaker 2: Mercer's wife shows up, Diana Munson. I mean, the fact
23:23
Speaker 2: that the Yankees keep a close knit with all these
23:25
Speaker 2: families is great. But I'm just thinking that Bobby because
23:28
Speaker 2: I grew up him with him on the TV, and
23:30
Speaker 2: you grew up from watching him play. I mean, what
23:32
Speaker 2: a great guy as Wow talk about Bobby Mercer for
23:35
Speaker 2: a while.
23:35
Speaker 1: Bobby Mercer was a great guy who also listen, I
23:39
Speaker 1: there was only a few guys that ever with the
23:41
Speaker 1: Yankees that you know, I wasn't fond of, you know
23:45
Speaker 1: what I mean, And Bobby was one of the top guys. Uh.
23:49
Speaker 1: I remember having lunch with Bobby Mercer with Mickey Mantle
23:52
Speaker 1: at Mickey Mantle's restaurant one day that was like a
23:54
Speaker 1: highlight of my life. I had just gotten finished playing
23:58
Speaker 1: golf with Bobby in the morning at bet Page Black,
24:02
Speaker 1: where he actually had an eagle on the fourteenth hole
24:05
Speaker 1: which was ah, you know, uh, which which was a
24:09
Speaker 1: great feat, you know. And then he said, come on,
24:12
Speaker 1: don We're gonna go and meet Mickey Mantle at his
24:14
Speaker 1: restaurant and have like a late lunch. I said, okay,
24:17
Speaker 1: let's go, and we went. We had a great time,
24:20
Speaker 1: and you know, you know, you know the story about Bobby.
24:23
Speaker 1: When Thurman died in that plane crash and a horrific
24:27
Speaker 1: plane crash.
24:28
Speaker 2: He had to deliver the eulogy in the afternoon, and
24:31
Speaker 2: then he went and won the game that night. And
24:33
Speaker 2: by the way, he was one of Thurman's best friends.
24:36
Speaker 2: And the tears you could see it, even though you
24:39
Speaker 2: we told the story years later. There's so much emotion there.
24:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of emotion and you know the other
24:45
Speaker 1: thing was, you know, you talk about you talk about
24:48
Speaker 1: fate and you know, uh, you know, just a tremendous
24:52
Speaker 1: story was that, you know, Bobby Mercall wasn't playing much
24:55
Speaker 1: at that time. It's kind of like the tail end
24:56
Speaker 1: of his career, and you know, I was throwing beep,
25:01
Speaker 1: you know, and and he couldn't hit the ball out
25:03
Speaker 1: of the book park like he once did, like very
25:05
Speaker 1: easily in right field. And then that night, as you know,
25:11
Speaker 1: he knocked in five runs with a home run in
25:13
Speaker 1: a double and he hit a tremendous home run to
25:16
Speaker 1: right field that night. You can't tell me that Durman
25:19
Speaker 1: wasn't on his shoulders that night. You just can't.
25:23
Speaker 2: Exactly. And I mean they charted from Cleveland or from Ohio,
25:27
Speaker 2: I should say back home, Yes, oh man, it was.
25:30
Speaker 2: And were you on that plane with them?
25:32
Speaker 1: I certainly was. And you know something, Alex, another you know,
25:36
Speaker 1: interesting story is that when we you know, George told
25:40
Speaker 1: you know, Jeorge was trying to get that game postponed,
25:44
Speaker 1: but Major League Baseball wouldn't do it because it was
25:48
Speaker 1: gonna be Monday night Baseball, I believe, And you know,
25:52
Speaker 1: at that time, Howard Cosell was the guy that was there,
25:55
Speaker 1: and a couple other Michael was his name, Michael's uh
26:01
Speaker 1: uh was also going to be there. So but George
26:06
Speaker 1: told the commissioner.
26:07
Speaker 2: And Michael I think was that misw Michaels correct.
26:13
Speaker 1: George told the commission Well, if we don't get back
26:14
Speaker 1: in time, we're gonna forfeit the game. So Diana Munson
26:20
Speaker 1: told George and told loom and told Bobby Thurman would
26:23
Speaker 1: want you to play this game. So we hopped back
26:26
Speaker 1: on the plane, got back to the stadium, and you know,
26:29
Speaker 1: on the way into Newark Airport, our plane was kind
26:33
Speaker 1: of like knuckleballing in. It was like not a great night,
26:36
Speaker 1: very windy, and our plane was like, you know, really
26:40
Speaker 1: really turbulence. A lot of turbulence that night. But we
26:43
Speaker 1: got in. We got to the stadium at seven o'clock
26:46
Speaker 1: for an eight o'clock game. We threw on our uniforms,
26:50
Speaker 1: threw the ball around a little bit, and went out
26:52
Speaker 1: there and beat Baltimore.
26:53
Speaker 2: Well before that, you had that emotional pregame with Reggie
26:56
Speaker 2: crying in right field. I mean, the whole stadium was
26:59
Speaker 2: absolutely in tears. Did you find yourself choked up and cried.
27:02
Speaker 1: I sure did. I sure did, yes, because I was
27:05
Speaker 1: very close to Thurman. Uh you know, you.
27:08
Speaker 2: Know, catchers stick together. Let's just be honest. Catchers do
27:10
Speaker 2: stick together like that.
27:12
Speaker 1: Yes, And we had a moment Thurman and I the
27:14
Speaker 1: week before h in his in the locker room. We
27:18
Speaker 1: were in the sauna together. Uh before we were leaving
27:21
Speaker 1: for that that infamous road trip. As you know, we
27:24
Speaker 1: went to Kansas City and Chicago, and uh, you know,
27:28
Speaker 1: Thurman was telling me, you know why, Dom, he goes,
27:30
Speaker 1: I don't know if I have too many more games
27:32
Speaker 1: in me as far as catching is concerned. My knees
27:34
Speaker 1: are really bad. And I went into you know, I
27:37
Speaker 1: told him, I said, well, listen, I said, why don't
27:40
Speaker 1: you go tell Billy Goes. I don't want to tell Billy.
27:42
Speaker 1: Is you want me to tell Billy in a certain way?
27:44
Speaker 1: And he says, if you want to. I went in
27:46
Speaker 1: and told Billy. And if you remember correctly, he didn't
27:49
Speaker 1: catch that much during that whole road trip. He d
27:53
Speaker 1: h he played first base. So it's kind of ironic
27:57
Speaker 1: that because Deurmy couldn't be catcher anymore or to a
28:02
Speaker 1: certain extent, that the Lord took.
28:05
Speaker 2: Him, Ah and Diana Munsons so strong for building that
28:09
Speaker 2: foundation and now forty plus years of the Thurman Months
28:13
Speaker 2: and Dinner, continuing his legacy. I love to see that,
28:15
Speaker 2: and I'm sure you do too, dumb.
28:17
Speaker 1: And I'm actually gonna go there and speak this year.
28:20
Speaker 1: I'm actually going with the Canton and you know, as
28:23
Speaker 1: you know, he does it for the Boys Club out
28:26
Speaker 1: in Canton, Ohio, and every year he has somebody go
28:29
Speaker 1: out there and speak, and they asked me to come
28:31
Speaker 1: and give a little speech on you know, our relationship
28:35
Speaker 1: and things that we did together. And you know what
28:37
Speaker 1: I thought of Thurman. So I'm very happy about that,
28:41
Speaker 1: and I'm very honored about that.
28:43
Speaker 2: All right, speaking of Catcher and that is very special.
28:46
Speaker 2: So you'll have to report back to us how that
28:48
Speaker 2: went when you when you are when you're you know,
28:51
Speaker 2: at that event and afterward speaking of Catchers though, because
28:54
Speaker 2: you mentioned Yogi and obviously he was very involved, did
28:58
Speaker 2: you learn a lot from Yogi your time?
29:01
Speaker 1: Well, you know Yogi just being around him, the aura
29:04
Speaker 1: of Yogi Bera, you know, the way he went about
29:08
Speaker 1: his business and and the way he the way he
29:11
Speaker 1: didn't talk very much, but when he did you listened,
29:14
Speaker 1: and he you know, he you know, he had that
29:16
Speaker 1: certain urror about him, you know, as far as like
29:18
Speaker 1: everybody said that everything came out of his mouth a
29:20
Speaker 1: different way, which you did. But he also of course
29:24
Speaker 1: knew his stuff. You know, you don't become a manager
29:27
Speaker 1: of several teams and a coach for many years, you know,
29:30
Speaker 1: just because of Yogi Berr. You gotta have something to
29:33
Speaker 1: bring to the table. And he always brought stability to
29:35
Speaker 1: the Yankees. He always was that mediator between Billy and
29:42
Speaker 1: or whoever else was the manager of the time and
29:45
Speaker 1: the players because the players respected him so much.
29:49
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Now, dom I gotta ask you this, there was
29:53
Speaker 2: a lot of turnover, it felt like with managerial First
29:56
Speaker 2: of all, any Billy Martin stories you want to share
29:58
Speaker 2: with us, you know time and then secondly, did you
30:02
Speaker 2: have to sort of not play therapists? But how these
30:06
Speaker 2: guys deal with the transitions that was continual managerial changes
30:12
Speaker 2: during that period? Was there not?
30:14
Speaker 1: Well? You know what you know, everybody says, you know,
30:18
Speaker 1: when we brought Bob lemon in, you know during that
30:21
Speaker 1: seventy eight you know, it brought a little bit of stability,
30:25
Speaker 1: It brought a little bit of kind of like, uh,
30:28
Speaker 1: you know, let's take a deep breath here and play baseball.
30:32
Speaker 1: Everybody gets motivated in different ways, you know, And I
30:36
Speaker 1: found that out when I was when I was a
30:39
Speaker 1: coach in college. You know, some guys, you know, you can,
30:43
Speaker 1: you know, you can kick in them behind and get
30:45
Speaker 1: the most out of them. And some people you gotta
30:48
Speaker 1: like kind of like just be a psychologist and let
30:51
Speaker 1: them play their game. I think that, you know, the
30:55
Speaker 1: whole thing about being a professional athlete or pro or
31:00
Speaker 1: or baseball player or football player, basketball player, you have
31:04
Speaker 1: to have your your own way of motivating yourself, you know,
31:08
Speaker 1: you know, and I believe that a lot of guys
31:11
Speaker 1: do that. Look at Reggie right, Reggie thrived in the turmoil.
31:16
Speaker 1: You had guys like Bucky Dent. They wanted to be
31:19
Speaker 1: more cerebral, They wanted to be a little bit more.
31:21
Speaker 1: Leave me alone, Let me do my thing, Let me
31:25
Speaker 1: concentrate on what I need to do quietly. Thurman the
31:29
Speaker 1: same way, Let me do the things quietly. I don't
31:32
Speaker 1: need to be in the limelight, you know what I'm saying. So,
31:37
Speaker 1: you know, everybody had their own way. Does a manager
31:42
Speaker 1: does do different managers motivating different ways. Well, yeah, we
31:47
Speaker 1: see that today. We see that with Boone. Boone is
31:51
Speaker 1: a guy that sticks up for his players at all times.
31:55
Speaker 1: Does he hold people accountable, Not that we know of.
31:59
Speaker 1: We don't know what he talk about behind closed doors
32:01
Speaker 1: with somebody. But I'm sure that you have to figure
32:06
Speaker 1: out as a leader how you're gonna get the most
32:10
Speaker 1: out of every individual player. That's what makes a great manager.
32:15
Speaker 1: And also managers have to also understand this is my
32:22
Speaker 1: way of doing things. They have to adhere to me,
32:25
Speaker 1: they have to adjust to me. And if you if
32:29
Speaker 1: a guy like Bob Lemon in seventy eight, he found
32:32
Speaker 1: out that let me let these guys play. They're really
32:35
Speaker 1: great players. Let me let them play. And that's how
32:38
Speaker 1: we won in seventy eight.
32:42
Speaker 2: All right, Dom, We're gonna get into this more as
32:44
Speaker 2: the season progresses, But we got a couple of minutes
32:46
Speaker 2: left here. And first of all, catcher Austin Wells looks
32:53
Speaker 2: like the right leadoff hitter for this team. I mean,
32:55
Speaker 2: I'm sure e've been following him as a catcher, you know,
32:58
Speaker 2: as a guy who's get through yourself. I'm sure you're
33:00
Speaker 2: following his progression in the majors and looking at spring
33:03
Speaker 2: he's had, so that let's start with Austin and then
33:06
Speaker 2: do they need another bat? I feel like they're still
33:08
Speaker 2: coming in a little short handed here, are they not?
33:12
Speaker 1: Uh? Yes, I agree with you. The back end of
33:17
Speaker 1: their lineup, you know, does need does need some work. However,
33:24
Speaker 1: I think if Dominguez, I believe they're gonna bat him,
33:29
Speaker 1: you know, in the back of the order. I think
33:31
Speaker 1: if Dominguez gets comfortable, I think he could be a
33:35
Speaker 1: tremendous part of that lineup. I mean, he's got some
33:41
Speaker 1: pop in his bat, He's got some speed. Uh. You know,
33:45
Speaker 1: you got Volpe, who I think is gonna be in
33:48
Speaker 1: the back of the lineup also, and which is this
33:51
Speaker 1: is gonna be a critical year for him. You know,
33:54
Speaker 1: they got this guy Lombard, Lombard, uh, you know, you know,
33:59
Speaker 1: in in the in the in the in the bushes
34:01
Speaker 1: behind him, And will he feel that and and and
34:07
Speaker 1: step up to the plate and have a great year offensively,
34:11
Speaker 1: let's hope. So, let's hope. So. Uh.
34:14
Speaker 2: But by the way, it's being a vope and and whatnot.
34:17
Speaker 2: You and Arthur are proud Italian Americans. And I know
34:21
Speaker 2: as an Italian Baseball American Baseball Society Hall of Famer.
34:25
Speaker 2: When you see Italian Americans thrive, you've got to be proud.
34:27
Speaker 2: And you're probably excited and proud to be inducted into
34:30
Speaker 2: that Hall of Fame as well.
34:32
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I am, you know, uh, you know, being
34:36
Speaker 1: an Italian American and uh, you know, I've been involved
34:40
Speaker 1: with the Italian American Baseball Foundation now all for the
34:44
Speaker 1: past six years, and who do a lot of.
34:48
Speaker 3: Good for you know, baseball players from youth baseball up
34:54
Speaker 3: to pros and uh, you know, it's just a great
34:58
Speaker 3: feeling to give back.
34:59
Speaker 1: And and you know, we have our our board that
35:02
Speaker 1: that does a great job and uh and spreading the word,
35:07
Speaker 1: you know, of the Italian American and there's a lot
35:09
Speaker 1: of good Italian American baseball players out there that we're
35:14
Speaker 1: very proud of, that are doing a good job in
35:16
Speaker 1: the major leagues now. And uh, you know, I just
35:20
Speaker 1: think that, you know, Volpe could be a great player
35:24
Speaker 1: if he learns, you know, to shorten his swing a
35:27
Speaker 1: little bit. I don't know if he's been doing that
35:30
Speaker 1: this spring. I see, I see sometimes he does sometimes
35:33
Speaker 1: he does it. I think he's gotta be a little
35:35
Speaker 1: more consistent with that, don't you think.
35:41
Speaker 2: Absolutely dumb? And by the way, where can people go
35:43
Speaker 2: if they have a kid that you know, wants to
35:45
Speaker 2: play the game but wants to learn it the right
35:47
Speaker 2: way from a guy who's been on a championship team,
35:50
Speaker 2: where can they go to find you dumb?
35:52
Speaker 1: Well, then you go to my website, dom Scala baseball
35:55
Speaker 1: dot com. Uh. We've worked very hard on our on
35:59
Speaker 1: our website. It gives you all the information about what
36:03
Speaker 1: we do with our camps. Uh. And and not just
36:06
Speaker 1: you know, and my camps are not just about, of course,
36:09
Speaker 1: teaching the fundamentals of the game, which I believe that
36:12
Speaker 1: you know, we need to. We the coaches up today
36:16
Speaker 1: need to need to teach more of the fundamentals of
36:19
Speaker 1: the game, but also to love the game of baseball.
36:22
Speaker 1: Why why do you want to play baseball? And in
36:25
Speaker 1: order to play it the right way, you have to
36:27
Speaker 1: love the game because when you love the game, you
36:31
Speaker 1: pay attention more, You pay attention more to the details.
36:35
Speaker 1: And that's what we try to do at DOM Scale
36:37
Speaker 1: of Baseball. We try to we try to teach them
36:40
Speaker 1: the ins and outs of baseball, not just catching, throwing,
36:43
Speaker 1: but way to go with the ball, how to run
36:46
Speaker 1: the bases, rundown situations, you know, all different things, stealing
36:52
Speaker 1: a base, all the different things like that. That's what
36:55
Speaker 1: we go over in our in our camps and clinics,
36:58
Speaker 1: which our our camps are going to be starting in
37:03
Speaker 1: June thirtieth in Garden City for two weeks and then
37:07
Speaker 1: we come back to Queens in July for two weeks
37:11
Speaker 1: in Queens.
37:11
Speaker 2: So well, if there are any guest appearances, let me know,
37:14
Speaker 2: and I'd love to cover one of the camps. That
37:16
Speaker 2: would be amazing to do that. I love to have
37:19
Speaker 2: you there, that would be awesome. Well, Dom, I gotta
37:22
Speaker 2: say this before we wrap up. You are also a
37:24
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one New York State Baseball Hall of Fame
37:28
Speaker 2: inductees or congratulations on doing on that honor as well.
37:32
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I'm actually on the executive board
37:35
Speaker 1: there with Rennie LaRue, who does a great job. We
37:39
Speaker 1: have a great we have a great dinner coming up
37:43
Speaker 1: in the future. We got Gary Carter that's going to
37:46
Speaker 1: be inducted. We got Brian Cashman that's going to be
37:51
Speaker 1: inducted this year. We have Jack O'Connell who's the legendary
37:57
Speaker 1: writer from Newsday.
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Speaker 2: Sounds like I might need to make a trip up
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Speaker 2: to Troy. If it's up in Troy.
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Speaker 1: Yes, it's in Troy, New York, and it's gonna be
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Speaker 1: on November ninth.
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Speaker 2: I will put that on my calendar. Dom Scala a
38:10
Speaker 2: pleasure to turn from our radio chemistry into a podcast.
38:14
Speaker 2: This is great and I look forward to having more conversations.
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Speaker 2: And yes, I will let you know if I'm at
38:19
Speaker 2: the game Thursday for Opening Day. Would love to see
38:21
Speaker 2: you there.
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Speaker 1: Thanks for having me, Alex.
38:24
Speaker 2: All Right, that was Don Scala on the One Leg
38:26
Speaker 2: Up Network. I'm Alex Garrett.