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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Major League Baseball · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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  All right, folks, you are listening to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia
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  Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the
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  world, over ten years strong. We got a great discussion coming your way
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  this week here on Opposition Territory. Doing things a little different. As we
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  all know. Here on Opposition Territory, we dive into one particular team and
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  we are we're getting away from that this week because we want to talk about
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  Major League Baseball in general. There are so many storylines going on within this
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  league. The league is doing some interesting things. There are various storylines that
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  are going on that we've really wanted to touch on here on Opposition Territory.
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  We've got a great guest this week. We've had him on before, absolutely
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  love him. Can't wait for this discussion. So let's get to it right
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  now. And you can find him on Twitter at Chris Underscore Willis, and
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  that is Chris with AK. He is from Battery Power. You know,
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  we love our sp Nation sites and he covers the braves for sp Nation.
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  We love having him on the podcast. Mister Chris Willis, how are you
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  doing buddy? Hey, Jeff, I'm doing good. I am glad you're
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  doing well, dude, and this in the least it's there are certain teams
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  that are doing pretty well in it, and I know we're gonna get to
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  it on this show. But man, your Braves are doing well, my
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  friend. They are doing well this season. They're playing brilliant, really well
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  right now, kind of hitting their stride. They've taken advantage of a little,
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  you know, a little soft spot in their schedule after rough May,
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  but they're hitting hitting home runs at a ridiculous pace rout in they are.
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  You know, we got a pretty good, pretty big series getting underway.
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  Not in Philadelphia, that's gonna be That's gonna be fun. Absolutely. I'm
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  gonna be at the game tonight, actually with my wife. She has taken
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  me down there for a late birthday gift, and I can't wait to see
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  a Ranger Suarez and what he's gonna do. And I think I'm forgetting who's
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  pitching for the Braves, but it's gonna it's gonna be a pretty good pitching
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  duel, I think, I think for sure. So I wanted to bring
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  you on to Chris because, like not just to talk about what's gonna be
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  happening, in the NL East and what our thoughts are there, but to
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  talk about some Major League Baseball storylines because there's so many going on at the
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  moment. And I remember the last time that we talked at the end of
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  February, you know, we ended our conversation about the NL East and about
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  the potential for it to be just a fascinating season. And as for the
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  Phillies, it's been completely up and down. There's like no gray at all
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  with this team. There's either cold streaks or there's hot streaks. For the
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  Mets, as we know, they have been faltering doing their Mets thing.
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  But the Marlins, my gosh, they have been a surprise, singly strong
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  team. And most of us thought, you know, your braves are you
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  know, would be at the top of the division for most, if not
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  all, of the season. That certainly is happening. So I'm wondering,
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  you know, reflecting on our conversation back in February, where things are now,
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  has the NL least been as interesting of a division as you thought it
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  might be? You know, why or why not? I think it's been
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  interesting. Um, you know, obviously, I think if you go back
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  and listen, it's not worked out quite the way I thought it would be.
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  I really thought it'd be a three team race, and it still could
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  be. I mean, we're still relatively early in the season, you know,
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  like you said that Phillies has been Philly has been up and down.
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  The Mets have been mostly down. Um, I don't think anybody really saw
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  that. And the Marlins are the surprise of the of the season. I'm
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  almost from the division standpoint. I mean, you know, I looked at
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  their star I was skeptical of them early on because they were winning all those
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  one run games and the run differential was they had that one point, they
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  had the worst run differential and National League, right, But that's kind that's
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  pretty much turned around now. I mean, they're eleven games over five hundred.
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  I think it's gonna be really interesting to see if they can keep this
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  up. But you know, for the first time in a long time,
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  and I know we're gonna talk about trade deadline a little bit. You know,
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  they look like a team that can be buying, trying to trying to
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  make it into the postseason. And even the Nationals. I feel like the
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  Nationals they I know they faltered a little bit of late, but I thought
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  they played well early. But yeah, I mean this division. I mean
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  there's so much, so much intrigue about this division and and you know,
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  I think it's lived up to it, even if it's not really gone chalklout
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  what we thought it might exactly. The Marlins certainly surprising a lot of us.
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  I did not think for a second that they'd be, you know,
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  in that second place even even third place area within the division at this point
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  here in June. But moving along here, Chris, I want to talk
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  about the city of Las Vegas. The city of Las Vegas here in the
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  United States is certainly the place to be for various sports fans, because look,
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  Golden Knights, they just won the Stanley Cup after only having been a
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  team now for like what five years. The Raiders, you know, they've
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  been in Vegas now for three years now. The Athletics here in Major League
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  Baseball are going to be moving to Oakland or sorry, moving from Oakland of
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  course, two Las Vegas. And I'm wondering, like, what are your
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  thoughts on what this move actually means? What does it mean for Major League
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  Baseball overall? In your opinion, I think it's a little sad honestly.
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  Um, not not anything against Las Vegas, but just the you know,
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  the history. I mean when I look at the A's, I think of
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  Oakland. When I look at those uniforms, I think of Oakland. There's
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  a lot of you know, I know people think about when they think about
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  the A's, they kind of think about Moneyball, or or they think about
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  just this team that's just selling off constantly. But you know there's a lot
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  of there's a lot of good teams come out of Oakland. I mean it
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  really changed the sport Billy Bean and you know, they kind of really opened
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  the whole sports eyes. And I know some people would say that's a positive
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  and some other would say as a negative, but you know, I think
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  it was it introduced a new way of thinking. And I grew up on
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  those eighties A's teams, you know, Ricky Henderson, Mark McGuire, yeah,
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  jose can say go, Dave Stewart. You know, I mean,
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  they were you know, they were fun to watch, and um, so
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  I'm a little sad for it. I think, you know, it's an
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  opportunity. I know, the Raiders, Um, you know, with the
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  NFL, it's a little different. I think the hockey team. I don't
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  follow hockey real close, but I know, you know, I think they've
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  got obviously they're good and uh you know they've they've they've done well and I'm
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  sure they've got to created a good following there. But you know, with
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  baseball, I mean, I think you got to look at you know,
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  the A's are gonna have to invest in that team. You know, if
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  they're gonna build a following there, they can't just go out there and pinch
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  pennies the way they have the last couple of thing. It's just going to
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  come to them, you know, just because they moved to Vegas. They
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  you know, there's a lot of money out here. We're gonna get it,
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  get a lot of money. It's You're absolutely correct, It's it's got
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  to be a you know, Las Vegas is making a long term commitment to
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  them. Now they've got to return to pet favor and long term commitment to
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  Las Vegas by investing in the team, investing in the roster. You know,
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  they've gotta. You know, I think that's one of the underrated thing
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  about the A's. I mean, there's some they've made, They've got some
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  intriguing and prospects coming, but you're gonna have to invest in those guys and
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  keep them there, yeah, you know, long term, and they just
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  didn't do that with this last group. I mean, you can look at
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  the Braves roster for example. I mean, Matt Olsen Sean Murphy are both
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  there and signed to what I would consider, you know, contracts that aren't
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  the mega contracts. I mean to me, I don't know why mid tier
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  team couldn't have given them those type of contracts to keep them, you know.
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  And I mean if you you just look at who the A's have traded
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  over the last few years and put them all back in a list, that's
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  a pretty competitive team, right, you know. So, but you know,
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  I'm a little bummed for it. I'm sure there's a lot of people
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  in Las Vegas excited for it, um you know, without getting into the
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  politics of it and everything it, you know, it's just not something you
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  want to see from Major League Baseball too often. I know what's happened in
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  the past, but it just when you take a storied franchise and you move
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  it, you know, it's just it's hard to see the positives because the
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  optics are just always seem to be bad. Yeah, I really do agree
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  with you. You know, I'm one of these individuals that I like to
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  see forward progress when it does come to various sports organizations, various sports teams.
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  I'd like to see forward progress with things. You know, I think
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  technology has its place in sports. You know, maybe not too too much
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  here and there, but I think forward progress is good when it comes to
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  sports. But you're right, a team like the Athletics, they have such
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  a rich history with regard to Major League Baseball and what their organization over you
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  know, well, I mean it's been it's been decades, you know,
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  what they've been able to do for the game itself. And I'm gonna miss
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  you know that thinking about that in a way where Okay, it's a team
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  that's here in Oakland, but the forward progress is just leading every everybody out
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  to Las Vegas, a place that's growing so much. You know, there's
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  I'm kind of like on both sides of it, you know, I'm like,
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  wow, it's kind of sad. And on the other hand, it's
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  like, you know what, this organization has not done what it has needed
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  to do in Oakland for them to progress. So I guess I gotta try
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  somewhere else, and and and but that's inevitably at the end of the day.
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  What I think it's all about. The organization itself has to do a
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  better job. The management has to do a better job. Just because you're
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  relocating your franchise someplace else, don't mean it doesn't mean it's gonna happen overnight.
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  They have to be better decision makers in terms of their business. Yeah,
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  and I mean it just goes back to investment, you know. I
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  means as they get better or they go into that new stadium. I mean
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  they've always said that, you know, they couldn't draw at the Coliseum and
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  everything, But I mean again, you know, when you roll out a
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  triple A lineup, yeah, you're not gonna draw, you know. Or
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  when you're you know, everybody knows you're gonna finish last in the division,
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  you're not gonna draw. You know. I think it's unfortunate. I do
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  wonder. I mean if you go back and look, I mean, I'm
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  excited for the Las Vegas people too, because I'm sure there are something that's
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  there. But yeah, you know, when you go back and look at
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  the deal that they got in Las Vegas, it pales in comparison to what
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  they were asking from Oakland, you know, so, I mean, this
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  isn't just a one year thing. There's a lot of bad you know,
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  there's a lot of bad negotiating and bad blood between the two sides and everything.
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  And I do think, you know, from an Oakland standpoint, it
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  does kind of stink when you look and see two if you're you know,
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  the Raiders and now the Athletics both leaving um. But at the at the
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  other side, though, I think there's some responsibility for an ownership group.
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  You know, you're that team, you bought that team, That team was
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  located in Oakland, and I think there's a little bit of responsibility that you're
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  you're part of that community. You need to find a way to make it
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  work absolutely rather than just uprooting and uh, you know, moving on to
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  the next shiny new toy, you know, in a in a stadium.
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  It's a great it's a great word, responsibility, And I kind of you
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  segues nicely into the next topic I wanted to get into with you, which
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  which deals with you know, Rob Manfred and being responsible from a PR perspective.
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  You know, I just I'm not the biggest Rob Manford fran at all.
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  And I'm not sure what you think about him, but I just I
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  just think he's stunk in certain ways here as a baseball commissioner. Sure,
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  he's had some tough decisions to make every now and again, but his recent
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  shots at the Oakland A's fan base just really seemed to not be responsible and
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  to disrespect certain elements of baseball's fan base in general. And for a league
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  that wants and arguably needs to grow the game itself, I'm not sure that
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  Rob Manford has helped himself or Baseball out in terms of his most recent comments.
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  So I was just wondered, like, what were your thoughts on how
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  Rob Manford handled the situation with the Oakland A's fans. I mean, honestly,
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  I can't remember the last time I thought Rob man for handled a situation
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  appropriately. I mean, you know, you and I know you know it's
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  got to be an impost I was trying to be nice. He stinks.
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  I mean, you know it's got to be an impossible job, right,
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  you know, you're dealing with big market owners, small market owners. You
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  know the owners don't line up, and then having to negotiate try to negotiate
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  a deal with the Players Association, and obviously, you know, but it
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  does seem that he tends to stick his foot in his mouth often often when
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  he's you know, when he's forced to, you know, to talk through
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  this thing. And I mean, we can go back to the lockout and
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  them canceling games and you know, and just I mean, there's a there's
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  a long list of examples for this. I thought the a's thing was just,
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  you know, just don't say anything exactly. Obviously there's some bad blood
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  and you know, obviously there's some hurt feelings between the A's and the you
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  know, the city of Oakland's mayor, you know, government, and I
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  think there's you know, there's some strained relationship there with the Major League Baseball.
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  Is why a lot of people still thought, I mean, to me,
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  getting that getting the financial package passed through through the government in Las Vegas,
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  that was to me, it looks like a done deal because Major League
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  Baseball is going to rubber stamp it because I think this is what they've been
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  frustrated with how things have gone in Oakland. And you know, I think
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  he's gonna push us through. And I think he showed you know, his
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  true feelings on the situation the other day. I think he'd have moved A's
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  to Las Vegas three years ago. He could have gotten away with it,
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  you know, just just from way he commented. But it's not the way
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  you want your leader of your sport exact. I don't think. I mean,
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  you can't, uh, you know, you can't. You can't alienate
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  a segment of your you know, a fan base, people that spend money
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  on your team, especially when you're trying to grow the game, you know
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  what. I like that that's the problem with baseball and that we've seen and
• 13:52
  that they've had, like there there are I think it's great. We'll get
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  to like, you know, the rule changes that have maybe helped to increasing
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  engagement in terms of people watching the games and stuff. This year. We're
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  gonna get to that in a little bit. But like, I can't imagine
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  being a leader like you're saying, Chris, and then him saying this and
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  alienating certain sectors of your of your fan base, people that love the game
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  of baseball. Meanwhile you're trying to grow it. It's it's bizarre to me.
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  Yeah, I mean, I just don't think he handled that situation.
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  Well, and I mean it comes on the heels of them packing you know,
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  twenty eight thousand people into that into that for a verse boycott. You
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  know, I mean it's I just think it's tone I just thought it was
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  a tone deaf response. And I don't know if he was trying that good
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  way to put it, you know, tis twist the knife a little bit
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  at Oakland City officials or what. But you know, it just didn't to
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  me. It was just it had been just been better left unsaid. Yeah,
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  Well, moving along here, Chris, you know, getting into some
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  actual, actual, like real baseball on the field type of talk. You
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  know, the Rays they are at the top of the American League here,
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  the Braves, you know, your Braves are at the top of the National
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  League here. However, I think when you look at what Major League Baseball's
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  postseason has given us over time there, you know, there's plenty of teams
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  who end up making it pretty far within the playoffs that completely surprise us.
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  And you know, case in point, my Philadelphia Phillies. We saw what
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  they did last year. They got hot at the right time. So I'm
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  wondering, who do you think at this point in the season you know,
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  aside from you know, maybe these two teams, the Rays and the Braves,
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  you know, who do we need to be concerned about? Who do
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  we need to be looking at in terms of those teams that you know,
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  maybe sneaking up on us, as you know, postseason is well down the
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  road for sure, But who do we need to be keeping our eyes on
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  in terms of Major League Baseball in your opinion? I mean, you know,
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  I think the easy answers everybody. I mean, the playoffs is just
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  a little bit of a you know, I mean, it's it's almost a
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  coin flip in a lot of ways. And I mean, you know,
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  you mentioned the Phillies last year, and they're obviously a great example, but
• 15:50
  look at the Braves the year before. I mean, Atlanta's under five hundred
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  going into August and got hot at the right time and it all the way
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  to a World Series win. I mean, nobody picked the and nobody picked
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  the l East, anybody from the n Ell East to come out of you
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  know, to advance in the twenty twenty one postseason, and Braves ended up
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  winning at Phillies last year. Same thing, you know, three hundred win
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  teams get put out in the first round last year. I mean, so
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  it's that's why I say with the Rays, you know, it's like,
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  no, why are we crowning them at this point. There's no reason to
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  crown anybody exactly. And I mean, obviously they're a great team. Um,
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  but you know, and we've seen it time and time again. You
• 16:30
  get in these short series, you know, dominating pitching performance here, a
• 16:36
  great bullpen performance there, offense gets hot. You know. I think about
• 16:38
  the Phillies last year and it was that off that lineups just relentless, relentless
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  all the way through and um, you know, so I mean anything can
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  happen. Um, you know, I know that's not exactly what you asked
• 16:51
  me. I mean I look at the Die. I look at this Dodgers
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  team. I mean they're you know, they're kind of scuffling a little bit.
• 16:56
  Yeah, third in the division right now. But you know, I
• 16:59
  don't expect to be the Dodgers team that they end with, you know,
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  and they got bounced last year. They're gonna be I think by the time
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  it's all sudden on, they're they're gonna be there. They're proving um,
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  you know. And then at the same time, I think the Phillies,
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  you know, like they've been up and down. Um, when they put
• 17:15
  that month together, that's just you know, when they start clicking yeah um
• 17:21
  and then pick up. You know, they're another team I expect to be
• 17:22
  active at the trade deadline to fill some holes. I mean, the whole
• 17:26
  in l East is probably going to be that way, except with the exception
• 17:30
  of the Nationals. So yeah, you know, um, I mean I
• 17:33
  don't have Like I said, I guess the Dodgers are always the team that
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  I just kind of circle, you know when it comes to the postseason time.
• 17:41
  But but I mean, you know it's again, I think if you
• 17:44
  just get a you get a ticket to the dance, you got a shot.
• 17:48
  You know. It just it just depends on what the brake, how
• 17:51
  the brakes fall, and and how you're playing going in. I mean,
• 17:53
  you could make the case the Braves absolutely needed that by last year. They
• 17:57
  grinded theirself all the way to the end to get that buy. It still
• 18:02
  didn't work out. I mean, Max Freeg had the flu yep um,
• 18:04
  the Spencer Strider was coming off the injury. But they absolutely had to have
• 18:08
  that buy. But I could make the case that the Phillies probably benefited from
• 18:11
  not having to buy. But so they got rolling and they were playing every
• 18:15
  day, and you know, they were excited to get to that ballpark and
• 18:19
  playing every day and got confident, and and it just to me, it's
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  looked so much like the twenty twenty one braise to me. Yeah, yeah,
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  And I you know, I just think that, I mean, that's
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  to me, that's that's kind of the thing. You don't want to get
• 18:32
  too big of a lead because you don't want to take the foot off the
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  gas, right. You just want to be able to get everybody healthy and
• 18:37
  playing well going into that postseason, because I think that's at that point anybody
• 18:41
  can beat anybody. It's interesting. It's gonna be interesting to see where the
• 18:45
  Dodgers end up, like you're saying, you know, toward towards the end
• 18:48
  of this season as well, because I do think that they're going to be
• 18:51
  formidable as well. And this NL East is continuing to keep us all interested
• 18:56
  as well. And you know, I wanted to get into some teams that
• 19:00
  are going to be active to sell at the trade deadline, ones that are
• 19:03
  gonna be buyers at the trade deadline as well. It's kind of the next
• 19:07
  you know, you know, big thing here that we're gonna be talking about,
• 19:10
  whether it's on podcasts or whether you're gonna be writing about it as well.
• 19:14
  Chris, so uh, let's I'd love to hear from you a couple
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  of teams that you can see being sellers at the trade deadline. Who are
• 19:22
  those teams? I mean, it's it's interesting, I mean because the extra
• 19:26
  wildcard has kind of muddied the waters a little bit. I mean, if
• 19:30
  you just look at these standings now, I mean I expect, like I
• 19:33
  said, I expect everybody in the East to be buying except for the Nationals.
• 19:37
  The Central is really interested. Maybe the Cardinals get pushed to that point
• 19:41
  where they're selling, I mean, when that ever happened right well, you
• 19:45
  know, and the Cubs as they're playing good now again there's four games under
• 19:51
  five hundred, but they're only three and a half games out. I think
• 19:52
  the Cubs are an interesting team because Cody Bellinger, they got some pieces that
• 19:57
  some of these contenders would likely won't if they fall out. But the Central's
• 20:02
  there for the taking, So what if they switch around and try to buy,
• 20:07
  you know, So I mean that that whole division's fascinating. And then
• 20:10
  you know, you look at I mean, I'm not sure Colorado has got
• 20:12
  a whole lot to sell, but you know, the whole in L West,
• 20:17
  it's the same. I mean, San Diego's not selling. I mean,
• 20:19
  after that offseason they had, They're sitting here two games under five hundred,
• 20:22
  you know, But I mean they're gonna try to make a push.
• 20:25
  I'm sure, and I'm afraid that's it may be a little bit of a
• 20:30
  dud trade deadline just because there's so many teams, you know, still in
• 20:36
  it. I guess you look at the White Sox, you know a guy,
• 20:38
  you know, if Liam Hendricks can get healthy, you know, the
• 20:41
  White's Tim Anderson's another name that's come up. You know, that could alter
• 20:45
  alter things. But you know, you look at the L East. I
• 20:48
  mean, Boston's in last place, but they're three games over five hundred,
• 20:52
  a game and a half out of the wild cards. So it's gonna be
• 20:55
  really in it. I think Detroit they've got Edward O Rodriguez. I think
• 20:59
  he's right now, but I mean if he comes out that if he gets
• 21:02
  back, that might be the best starter available on the market, you know,
• 21:06
  and that could that's the thing. You know, if you could,
• 21:08
  if you're one of those teams that could make a deal like that, it
• 21:11
  might put you over the top because your opponents just might not be able to
• 21:15
  make that same kind of deal because there's just there's just not a ton of
• 21:18
  people that's going to be available. So it's it's interesting what you say,
• 21:22
  though, Chris, because like it. I'm actually glad you said it because
• 21:26
  it's what I've been thinking about too. I think there are so many more
• 21:27
  teams that want to be buyers, and that would probably be buyers right before
• 21:33
  the trade deadline, But those teams out there that are looking to sell kind
• 21:37
  of it's gonna be slim pickings for sure. I think. Another one,
• 21:41
  another great example is the Angels. Obviously, everybody everybody, I mean,
• 21:45
  oh, Tany's the biggest. I mean, whether you know he's gonna hit
• 21:49
  free agency, it doesn't matter, right, you know. And I think
• 21:52
  we may be a little surprised if he is traded that the package won't be
• 21:56
  quite as big, just because everybody knows he's going to free agent. See,
• 22:00
  but here's the Angels team that's eight games above five hundred. They're they're
• 22:06
  currently in a wildcard spot. You know, what do you do? What
• 22:10
  do you do? I mean, if they're gonna team, you know,
• 22:11
  they're gonna be out there there. I mean, obviously they need to trade
• 22:15
  Otani, but you can't trade Otani and probably make the playoffs. Yeah,
• 22:18
  yeah, So you know, it's a it's a balancing act, you know,
• 22:22
  in a lot of ways. And it's just being in resting to see
• 22:25
  which these teams. Kansas City. Of course they're gonna trade Chapman and Barlow,
• 22:30
  Scott Barlow. I'm sure at some point there'll be the relievers will be
• 22:33
  out there, but I think everybody's gonna be looking for starting pitching. Yeah,
• 22:37
  and I just don't know how much of it's out there exactly. Well,
• 22:40
  I mean, it leads me to the man. My next question with
• 22:41
  regard to the buyers, looks like just about everybody's going to be a buyer
• 22:45
  basically at this point, right right exactly. I mean when you look at
• 22:49
  just let's just look at the NL East. I mean, you know,
• 22:52
  the Braves, if if Max Freed and Kyle Wright, if they're confident those
• 22:56
  guys can come back, they probably don't need necessary early need a starter,
• 23:00
  but they could use probably some bullpen pieces. Philadelphia. I know you guys
• 23:04
  have had rotation issues at times. I could see them trade trade for a
• 23:07
  starter. The Mets kind of the same way. You know, they're they're
• 23:11
  pitching. Depth's been tested. Miami probably doesn't need a starter. They probably
• 23:15
  could use bats. But you know, I mean, who are those starters?
• 23:19
  You know where these come from? You know, it's easy to it's
• 23:22
  easy to say, hey, we got to go trade for a starter,
• 23:25
  but when you start trying to you know, maybe the Cardinals would trade um,
• 23:29
  uh Montgomery that they got from the Yankees last year. Um, but
• 23:33
  you know, again, that's a proud franchise. Uh. You know,
• 23:37
  I wouldn't be shot and see them and they're you know, they're eight out
• 23:40
  right now. But I mean they they've still got a talented right, I
• 23:44
  know it's flawed, but they've got a talented roster. I mean, if
• 23:45
  they get close, it's just really gonna depend on how teams are playing.
• 23:51
  You know, at the trade deadline, absolutely getting folks were talking to Chris
• 23:56
  Willis from Battery Power. Check out what he his colleagues are writing about.
• 24:02
  Terms of the Atlanta Braves rival to the Philadelphia Phillies obviously Battery power dot com.
• 24:07
  You can follow Chris on Twitter at Chris Underscore Willis and that's Chris with
• 24:12
  a K and Chris before we let you go here, Buddy, I absolutely
• 24:17
  love, quite frankly, what the pitch clock has done for baseball this year.
• 24:21
  I really do. I love what the larger basses have done in terms
• 24:25
  of stolen basses. I have been really enjoying watching the game of baseball even
• 24:30
  more this season than I usually do, and I love baseball. So I'm
• 24:34
  wondering, like, what are your thoughts about all these rule changes that we
• 24:37
  have been seeing this season, how they've been working out, how they've been
• 24:41
  implemented, and do you think there needs to be any tweaking to any of
• 24:44
  these rules in the future. What are your thoughts, buddy. I'll be
• 24:48
  honest with you. I was skeptical coming into the season, okay, because
• 24:52
  I felt like, while I am a numbers guy and I'm kind of progressive
• 24:56
  on that as far as messing with the game from a rules standpoint, you
• 25:00
  know, I'm very traditionalist, but I have been very pleased with it.
• 25:06
  Pitchclock is sped up the game. It's just taken out I don't think it's
• 25:10
  sped it up to a detriment either. I think it's just taking out all
• 25:12
  that unnecessary noise that we had in every bad every you know, I'm to
• 25:18
  the point now where I don't even notice it unless somebody, unless there is
• 25:22
  a violation, and then I think about what he do, you know,
• 25:26
  or whatever, But I don't even notice it anymore. The revitalation the running
• 25:30
  game now is back in the game. It's made it better. And I
• 25:36
  was really I didn't like the idea of limited shifts, but I think they've
• 25:41
  reached a happy medium. I mean, you can still position, you just
• 25:45
  can't take your third basement and stick him in right field anymore. And I
• 25:48
  really honestly haven't haven't missed that either. I think it's a very it's a
• 25:52
  I think it was a very needed boost for the game. The games are
• 25:57
  more watchable, and um, you know, you still you don't you just
• 26:02
  don't, you know, nobody wants to us. I mean, you might
• 26:04
  there might be that one four and a half five hour game that's epic that
• 26:07
  you want to watch, but more often than not, those were not games
• 26:11
  that were enjoyable for anybody, right, and uh and I just think I
• 26:15
  just think it's a better product now, and um, you know, those
• 26:18
  that they did work and um, you know, I've I've enjoyed. I
• 26:22
  wish they had done this years ago. I really do, because I think
• 26:26
  that the way that and yes, like there are those traditionalist individuals like yourself
• 26:30
  who you know, you want baseball to not alter so much that it takes
• 26:36
  away from what the game actually is. But I think these changes have been
• 26:38
  so welcoming, and again, I wish they kind of did them a few
• 26:41
  years ago here at this point because a lot of times over these years,
• 26:45
  I'd have some games on in the background. I'd have some Phillies games on
• 26:48
  in the background. Sunday Night Baseball have that on in the background as well,
• 26:52
  regardless, and just you know, not necessarily watching watching it. But
• 26:56
  I've actually been watching watching games this season, and it's been enjoyable to be
• 27:02
  you know, you know, whether it's with my family or just by myself
• 27:06
  just chilling out actually watching the game itself instead of kind of just having it
• 27:10
  on in the background. I love it. Yeah, I agree, and
• 27:12
  I think it's you know, it's just brought more of the action back into
• 27:15
  the game, which is important, you know, and I remember I remember
• 27:18
  some of the arguments. You know, people wanted to compare baseball to the
• 27:22
  other sports. But you know, you can look at the NBA and you
• 27:23
  can look at the NFL and see how much they've changed over there. Absolutely.
• 27:26
  Yeah, I mean, you know, people don't think about it that
• 27:30
  way, but you know, I can remember playing fantasy football when the whole
• 27:33
  first round was running backs, absolutely, you know, and the running backs
• 27:37
  was the you know, the franchise players in a lot of cases, thousand,
• 27:41
  you know, fifteen hundred yard rushers. Everything that's pretty much at stake
• 27:45
  now. And then you can look at the NBA and the you know,
• 27:48
  big men used to play with their back to the basket all the time,
• 27:49
  and now you know, if if you go in that league now and you
• 27:52
  can't shoot a three, you're just about you're just about not going to be
• 27:56
  in the league. Absolutely, So, I mean it changed. You know,
• 28:00
  there's an ebb and flow to it, and you're probably right. I
• 28:03
  think baseball probably waited a little longer than they probably should have. Yeah.
• 28:07
  Absolutely, again, folks. Chris Willis from battery power dot Com love the
• 28:11
  content they're putting out over there and Chris Man, it was great to talk
• 28:15
  to you again. Come back join us down the road. I would love
• 28:18
  to have you. Enjoy talking to you every now and then about the game
• 28:22
  of baseball in the NL least. It's great to have you on my friend.
• 28:26
  It's always fun. I always appreciate this conversation. So anytime, anytime,
• 28:30
  I'm good to come back. I am gonna be down at tonight's Phillies
• 28:33
  game Phillies Braves, and it is the first game of this series, Suarez
• 28:40
  against Strider. I can't wait to see what's gonna happen. This game is
• 28:41
  gonna be pretty important, quite frankly, and I think that with the way
• 28:48
  that the Phillies have been playing, we're gonna see some potential good things in
• 28:51
  this series. I don't want to jinx anything, but I don't want to
• 28:53
  jinx anything. Wait, hold on, I need to I need to hear
• 28:56
  that. Yeah, I'm knocking on wood, I'm knocking on, Mike knocking
• 29:00
  on anyway. I've got a great, great conversation with Chris there. And
• 29:07
  baseball has just been fascinating this year again because I think of these rule changes
• 29:11
  that we have seen that have been implemented by Major League Baseball. They actually
• 29:14
  did make a good decision there, and I think we got to give them
• 29:15
  credit for it. They've actually enhanced the game of baseball for US fans,
• 29:19
  so I'm appreciative of it, and i'd also be very appreciative if you would
• 29:26
  rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. Give us five stars, give
• 29:29
  us one star if you want if you think we stink, but we'd appreciate
• 29:32
  a follow on Apple Podcasts, subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're on as well.
• 29:37
  If anything happens to that podcast feed ever, you can go on over
• 29:41
  to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. We've got all of our shows over there.
• 29:45
  We're on Twitter at Philadelphia PST. You can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore
• 29:48
  Warren. We're also on Instagram as well. Search out the Philadelphia Sports Table.
• 29:52
  It's gonna do it for us, folks. Take care and we'll catch
• 29:53
  you next time. Sime