Latest / Foul Territory / Former Astros GM Dana Brown joins FT: Stange firing timing, Extension efforts, Jim Crane’s expectations

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Former Astros GM Dana Brown joins FT: Stange firing timing, Extension efforts, Jim Crane’s expectations · Foul Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We have the pleasure of speaking with Dana Brown, former
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: GM of the Houston Astros, just recently let go. And Dana,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: we really appreciate the time. Thank you so much for
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: joining us. And does it feel weird? I mean, you've
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: worked in the game for a long time, awesome talent
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: evaluator with the Braves and then did a.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Nice job running the Astros.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Does it feel weird to even have a second to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: take a breath and kind of evaluate everything?
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Yes, it feels really weird being in the middle of
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: a season and, you know, not be active with the club.
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: It feels weird.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: I mean, I've worked 37 years in a game and
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: I've worked consistently, you know, 37 years and never, never
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: once was I out of the game.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: And so that's why it feels so weird. Yeah. Well,
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: enjoy it. You're not going to be out for long.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: So let's, let's go to it.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: So how do you evaluate your tenure and how things
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: kind of ended there? with Houston while you're watching this
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: team in first place right now in the AL West.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: It's certainly a little bit weird the way the story
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: played out.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, look, ultimately I feel good about what I've done here.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: You know, I would say, you know, I'm third in
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: terms of wins by any active GM in American League.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: I think I'm right behind Cashman and Neander, you know.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: So during my tenure, I was third. I'm 44 games
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: over 500. And so I felt like, you know, we
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: made the postseason in 23, 24, 25. We lost the
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: tiebreaker because of, you know, we had like a ton
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: of injury, historic number of injuries.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: And then this year we're in first place. And so
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: it feels weird.
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: But, you know, at the end of the day, I
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: know that me and my crew, we worked tirelessly to
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: put a good team on the field.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Dana.
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'm just going to jump right in. I've
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: never been in this situation like you have. How does
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: that meeting go? Can you give us a little bit
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: of what was– I mean, I don't– yeah, I'm going
• 2:03
  Speaker 5: to ask what was said because did you not look
• 2:06
  Speaker 5: at the people in charge and say, but we're in
• 2:08
  Speaker 5: first place and we're going to the postseason right now?
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: Look, at the end of the day, you know, we
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: sat down. It was probably about five minutes. It was
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: a conversation, and it's over. just as quick as it started.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, the frustration of the homestand, you know,
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: we came in up by two games. Then, you know,
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: we had a homestand where we lost, you know, six
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: out of the nine games that we played. So we
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: went three and six. And so I think that was
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: part of some of the frustration. And, but ultimately it
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: was a, you know, five minute conversation and it was over.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, look, Jim Crane is, he was
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: great to work for. He changed my life in terms
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: of giving me the opportunity that only seven African-Americans to
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: walk the face of this earth ever had.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: A chance to do.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: He's a successful owner. He's been around for a long time.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: You know, the big thing is, I think, you know,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: from 2017 to 2022, this team was dominant, right? And
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: so you go from dominance to dominance. just the normal
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: good baseball team that has to fight your way in
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: every year. And, you know, without signing, you know, a
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: ton of the free agents that end up walking and
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: you know, those kinds of things happen and you're, you're
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: just a good normal team that have to fight your
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: way in every year.
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: And I think that's the difference. That's the transition.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: The transition is you go from that dominant portion of
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: being dominant from 2017 to 2022 and, when I came in,
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: people forget in 2023, we won, it was game 161
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: that we got into the postseason.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: 162, we actually won a division. That's one year after
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: the World Series. So the team was obviously different. And
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: so we got to 161 wins. We got a wildcard
• 4:01
  Speaker 4: spot in 2023.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: And then.
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: Then we got to 162 games. We won the division
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: that day. Then the next year, we won the division
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: with like four games to spare. In 2024, we ran
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: into Skubal and we were out, right? And then last year, 25,
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: it was, you know, a ton of injuries. You lose
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: the tiebreaker and you go home with 87 wins.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: So, look, I felt like I had a good run here.
• 4:27
  Speaker 4: I felt like I did a really good job. And,
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: you know, it's over.
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: But I'm not embarrassed by... The work I did, I
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: wasn't perfect. You know, I didn't, you know, all my
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: decisions were not perfect. And I think that's in baseball.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: That's the reality of it. But make no mistake, my
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: crew and I, we did a banged up job. And,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: you know, we kept this team in the postseason. But
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: now it's over. But look, the guys are still in
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: first place. And I'm rooting for them every night. I
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: watched the game last night. I'm fully vested in there.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: I mean, I see like a lot of the guys that,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: You know, I know very well and I'm pulling for him.
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: Joe Espada has done a pretty good job, you know,
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: and so, yeah, I'm still pulling for these guys.
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: You talk about being a five minute meeting and you
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: also talk about not a great homestand. Maybe not all
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: those things went into the decision, but it was part
• 5:19
  Speaker 5: of it. Is Jim Crane an emotional manager, an emotional
• 5:23
  Speaker 5: owner to work for? And does that make it difficult
• 5:27
  Speaker 5: or does that push you as a general manager?
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: No, I don't think he's emotional at all. I just think,
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: you know, you know, he's a successful GM. His standards
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: are very high. I mean, it's really postseason and beyond postseason.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: It's not just getting there. He likes to go deep,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: which I understand. And I'm the same way. But I
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: know the reality of baseball is you could work your
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: tail off. You can get to the postseason and you
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: may come up short or you may come up just
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: short of the postseason. But I mean, he is, you know,
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: he was great to work for. I thought we had
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: a great relationship. And this was, you know, something that
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: kind of caught me by surprise. But, you know, I
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: get it. You know, you're the owner and it's your prerogative.
• 6:09
  Speaker 5: Dana, you mentioned, you know, the extensions and some of
• 6:12
  Speaker 5: these other things. But like Hunter Brown, Jeremy Pena were
• 6:15
  Speaker 5: never extended, right? So do you how hard is that?
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: Do you go to Jim Crane? How does that work?
• 6:20
  Speaker 5: If you're trying to get to a number, does the
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: owner say no, no, no, no, we can't go that high.
• 6:25
  Speaker 5: Can you talk about a little bit about how that
• 6:27
  Speaker 5: worked with the Astros? Because he seems like guys that
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: other teams would have tried to extend.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, look, I don't want to get into
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: the particulars.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: Here's what I would say, AJ, is that, you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: we made attempts to to sign both guys.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: Right. And so, And that's where I would leave it.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: And then, you know, some of the other guys that
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: have walked out in the past, you know, like we've
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: allowed some star players to walk out in the past.
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: And that's what it is. I mean, you don't do
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: long deals here. I have high respect for Jim Crane.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: He's been a successful owner. He doesn't like doing bad deals,
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: and I get it. And I'm right there with him,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: and I'm on board with him.
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: And so sometimes guys are going to end up walking.
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: It is what it is. But you got to, you.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: Know, continue to remain competitive, continue to sign good players.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: And I felt like, you know, we continue to be
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: competitive and we continue to make adjustments and try to
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: do everything we can do to make the teams better. And,
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: you know, do you win every decision that you make?
• 7:32
  Speaker 5: No.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: You know, we signed Imai this offseason. I felt really
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: good about Imai. A lot of people felt good about Imai.
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: You know, he didn't perform as well as we would
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: have liked him to perform. And so, you know, that
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: goes with the territory. I mean, that's part of what happens.
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: You don't nail all of your signings. And so I
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: think the team's still competitive, and they're in first place
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: by two games. And, you know, we worked hard to
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: continue it.
• 8:02
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• 9:02
  Speaker 5: You talk about signing good players. You took over in 23.
• 9:06
  Speaker 5: How hard or how much did the loss of draft
• 9:10
  Speaker 5: picks before your tenure there maybe hurt some of that
• 9:15
  Speaker 5: development process of good players in the minor leagues?
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: Yeah, look, I, I've spent most of my life in scouting.
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: So this is an area where I could talk about,
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: you know, in Atlanta from 19, from, from 2019 to 2022,
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: you know, we signed 22 major leaguers and there's still
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: more coming during those drafts. And eight of those guys
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: are making an impact in the major leagues. And some
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: of them are still in the big leagues, but eight
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: are really making good impacts. That's how important the draft is.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: And so, When you lose draft picks, it hurts. I mean,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: you know, make no mistake.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: I mean, it hurts. And, you know, from 2016 to 2022,
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: from the Astros draft, I think we had.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: Like three guys in Pena.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: We also have Hunter Brown and we also have, we
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: have one more.
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: I think it was like three guys from those draft picks.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: It's Blue Ball. That's the third one. You know, we
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: have those three guys from those seven drafts. And so,
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: you know, the draft is very important, and it helps
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: you put together a really good major league roster. And
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: so it's so, so important. And I felt like, you know,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: when I got here, you know, we were going to
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: do a bang-up job in the draft as well.
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: And, you know, it's sad that I'm not here anymore. But,
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: you know, I can say this. I did my best.
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: And I'm not ashamed of what we did as a group.
• 10:48
  Speaker 5: Well, Dana, first of all, I just want to say
• 10:49
  Speaker 5: thank you for coming on. I mean, I know this
• 10:51
  Speaker 5: is not easy and I have so much respect for
• 10:54
  Speaker 5: the fact that you've come on and are talking about this.
• 10:57
  Speaker 5: So let me, I know we've already asked you a
• 10:59
  Speaker 5: bunch of questions, but let me just thank you again
• 11:01
  Speaker 5: for coming on and doing this. What was Jeff Bagwell's role?
• 11:05
  Speaker 5: Because we've heard multiple reports that he's super tight with
• 11:08
  Speaker 5: Jim Crane, right? And the Jose Abreu thing, allegedly, I
• 11:11
  Speaker 5: know that was kind of before you took over as GM,
• 11:13
  Speaker 5: but They signed him because Jeff Bagwell thought it would
• 11:16
  Speaker 5: be a good signing. Was he in the room when
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: you were trying to make moves? And I mean, that's fine.
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: I mean, he's a hall of fame player. He's huge
• 11:23
  Speaker 5: in the Astros organization. What is his specific role?
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Jeff Bagwell is a good baseball man.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: You know, I have no problems with Jeff Bagwell.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: I love talking to Jeff. You know, we have some
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: great conversations.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: And as I mentioned before, no one's going to bat
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: a thousand when you're trying to sign players. And so,
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: I talk to Jeff often. I would get his baseball opinion.
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: He's a good man to have around. And, you know,
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: I thought, you know, we had a good group of guys,
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: you know, it's just, you know, I'm out the door.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: It didn't work out, but I thought Jeff gives really
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: good input.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: You know, I really feel good about his baseball knowledge
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: and his wisdom. And, you know, he knows a lot
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: about makeup and what it takes to win. Just a
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: good man to have around. So I have all good
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: things to say about Jeff. I enjoyed, I enjoyed my
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: time with them, and, you know, I loved our conversations.
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: Always good baseball conversations.
• 12:19
  Speaker 5: There's always going to be somebody that takes your job.
• 12:21
  Speaker 5: That's the nature of baseball. You took Click's job. Somebody's
• 12:25
  Speaker 5: going to take your job. What would you tell the
• 12:27
  Speaker 5: next GM that's going to work for this organization?
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say, look, Jim Crane's a good owner
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: to work for. He's very supportive. He spends money, you know,
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: and he– but he has high standards. And so, you know,
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: you've got to bring your A game. I felt like
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: we had our A game, but, you know, sometimes it's
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: just not enough, right? And so, but it's a good
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: organization to be in, a great fan base. It's a
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: good city. It's a good city of Houston. You know,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: it's all good. You know, that's why good things happen here,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: you know, and they're in first place. So, yeah, it's
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: all good. You know, I'm not going to do this
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: big tour, you know, and talk about, you know, I
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: went on with Bowdoin and I went on with Duquette
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: and I'm going on with you guys. And then, you know,
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: I'm probably, you know, shutting it down for the rest
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: of the time. And until maybe something good happens with
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: me and my career, I feel good. And I feel confident,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: you know, that I've been in baseball and I've done
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: enough in the game that, you know, I'll be able
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: to continue my career in the, in the sport.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Hey, yeah, we, we know you'll be back in the
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: sport in no time. So question for you to just
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: take us behind the scenes. I like that theme. How
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: difficult is it to pull off a trade from the
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: conversations with other ball clubs to finally maybe getting something approved,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: then having to get that approved at the next.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Level with ownership?
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: But really just starting at the ground level here, I think,
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: you know, sometimes fans are looking like, oh, make more deals.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: How difficult is it to deal with teams maybe now
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: versus even now? 10, 15 years ago, or even a
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: little bit further back where, like, for example, the winter
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: meetings would be some guys hanging out at the bar,
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: having a drink and cutting a deal on a napkin.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: It's not like that anymore.
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, look, it's tough to make deals and
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: it's really tough to give up prospects. That's a very
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: difficult thing to do.
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: And, you know, for us, we were always operating in
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: the present and the future. We were trying to win today,
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: but not lose sight of the future because, you know,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: you want to keep the window open. And so it's
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: always tough to make deals. You try to do your best.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: You try to get the best player without giving up
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: the most. And it's not an easy thing. But for sure,
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: for sure, it's a tough job to get deals done.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: And it's tough to give up young players. And it's
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: also tough to acquire players because, you know, teams are
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: doing their homework and they're looking for the best deal
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: that they can get, which I totally respect that as well.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: But it's always difficult to get deals done for sure.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: Dana, how do you feel about Joe Espada? I love
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: this guy. I think Joe's awesome. Is he in a
• 15:04
  Speaker 5: tough spot now because all those reports came out about
• 15:07
  Speaker 5: him being told he wasn't coming back and, you know,
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: those have all been kind of debunked now. What kind
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: of spot is Joe in? Because I think he's one
• 15:14
  Speaker 5: of the best managers in baseball, the way he treats people,
• 15:17
  Speaker 5: the way he handles people, and the way he can
• 15:19
  Speaker 5: make a team win or at least help a team win.
• 15:22
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Joe's good. You know, I enjoyed my time with Joe.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: I enjoyed working with Joe.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: You know, this is, you know, this is one of
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: those situations where he's been competitive since 2024. He's been
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: really good. So ultimately, I think Joe's a good manager.
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: I think he's the ballplayers manager. I think guys like
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: him and I think guys respond to him. And I
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: think he's still growing as a manager. So, you know,
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: I got good things to say about Joe. We had
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: a great relationship and he's a winning manager.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Dana, last one for me, and we'll see if the
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: guys have one more. Do you wish that you could
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: have just stayed there for the rest of the season
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: to see how things play out? I mean, you kind
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: of build it, and then, you know, I know the
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: GM job's always kind of crazy, but the time after
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: the trade deadline is where you do get to kind
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: of see it all play out.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: Look, I love being here, for sure. I wish I
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: could have retired here. I think it's a good organization.
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: And it's run by a good owner. And so, you know,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: it was my goal to retire here. So I said
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: that it's offseason. I would have loved to retire in Houston.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: And I like everything about Houston.
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: I like the winning. I like the fan base. I
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: like the.
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: City, the restaurants. It's all good. You know, I mean,
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: I could talk Houston all day, but, you know, I
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: got to run here. But, you know, look, it's good.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: The city's good. Joe Spada, I enjoy working with him.
• 16:53
  Speaker 5: Anything about your tenure that you regret? You said you
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: work hard, you did everything you can. Is there something
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: you regret that next time you'll do better?
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: No, I mean, I pretty much felt like we did,
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: you know, all that we could do.
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: You know, you always wish you can get all of.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Your acquisitions and your trades and all that and your drafts.
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: You want, you wish you could be perfect, but the
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: perfect doesn't exist in baseball. You know, it's a, It's
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: a tough game. It's a lot of ups and downs
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: and you have to navigate through all of it. But,
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: you know, I felt like me and my group, we
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: did as best as we can do.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Well, Dana, we really appreciate the time. Thank you for
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: joining us. And we'll look forward to when you pop
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: up again for the next announcement.
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: Appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me on. Thank you.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Do you remember growing up and seeing that something was
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: sold out and it was literally sold out and you
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: couldn't get a ticket?
• 17:50
  Speaker 5: Yes. That's not a thing anymore. Cried many times over that, Scott.
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: But now we have SeatGeek. Even if it says sold out,
• 17:56
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• 17:58
  Speaker 1: The official ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball is SeatGeek
• 18:03
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• 18:09
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• 18:15
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• 18:17
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• 18:28
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• 18:32
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• 18:37
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• 18:39
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• 18:42
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• 18:50
  Speaker 4: That's what he said. Yep.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: That's what he said.
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Presented by Lorraine co let's get into an article that
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I feel like you guys will have expertise in.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Yes, there is Lorraine.
• 19:01
  Speaker 5: Co held by my teeth are whiter.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: They do look whiter. I want to ask you about, Oh,
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: it looks good.
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: Oh, wow.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Look at you. I want to ask you about something else.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: And if it works, AJ, while you're doing that.
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Okay. Protective cups.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: David Singh of Sportsnet wrote about it, and he received
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: quotes from a number of big leaguers who have taken
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: a hit. So can you guide us through this? Yeah,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: I mean, this stemmed from Ernie Clement getting hit very
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: hard a week and a half or so ago, and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: then the article surfaced because there are some players that
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: skip cups these days. So just take us behind the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: scenes of the cup, what it does, and who uses it.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Also, who does not use it?
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: Well, the cup protect protects your family jewels. We'd like
• 19:48
  Speaker 5: to call them. And I could not step onto a
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: field still to this day without a cup on. Like
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: if I step onto a field and I have a
• 19:57
  Speaker 5: baseball uniform on, I want a cup on because that's
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: how just comfortable it made me feel that I had
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: a cup on how I, As Kratz knows, I used
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: to coach my son's travel ball and help out and
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: his high school team, and I would say you guys
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: have to wear a cup if you're on the infield. Now, outfielders, okay.
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: Especially if you played on turf, you don't need to
• 20:19
  Speaker 5: wear a cup in the outfield. I understand that. Catcher, automatic. Yes,
• 20:23
  Speaker 5: you have to wear a cup. Pitchers, okay. Probably not,
• 20:28
  Speaker 5: but if you play on the infield, you should have
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: to wear a cup. It should be mandatory. And this
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: is my exact quote, and I've told kids this, and
• 20:34
  Speaker 5: I've told this story on the air. I was in Seattle.
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: Adrian Beltre was playing third base. Alexi Ramirez hits a
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: piss missile at him. It takes one hop and hits
• 20:44
  Speaker 5: him right in the Netherlands, right in the nether region
• 20:46
  Speaker 5: down there, okay? He goes down. He has to get
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: surgery on a ruptured testicle. Sorry. So every kid I say, hey,
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: you know who Adrian Beltre is? They go, yeah, he
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: just went in the Hall of Fame. Yes, he did.
• 20:59
  Speaker 5: Do you have better hands than Adrian Beltre? No, I don't.
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: Then you're going to wear a cup. Because if it
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: can happen to Adrian Beltre... It can happen to you.
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: So wear a dang cup, please. Wait, that happened on
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: a big league field? Yes, in Seattle when it was
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: called Safeco. Wait, so a big league field is not
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: manicured the same as our high school skin infield in
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: the middle of March when we just did running drills
• 21:25
  Speaker 5: in front of the shortstops. Like, it's not... I don't
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: even care if you have the best hands, especially for kids.
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: Big leaguers, like... I kind of hear you. If you
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: ever ole a ball and you don't have a cup on,
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: that's trash. Like, you should not ever. And that's why
• 21:43
  Speaker 5: I told the guys on my baseball team. And I
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: saw something for the first time, and I talked about it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: Last time we talked about protective cups. I saw a catcher,
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: first pitch of the game this year, in travel ball,
• 21:56
  Speaker 5: get hit by a foul tip in the– as– AJ
• 22:00
  Speaker 5: called it the Netherlands, the Curacao's. That was good. And
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: he came out of the game, and I was like, wow,
• 22:11
  Speaker 5: that's a tough one. Like I've seen people get hit.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: I saw Yadier Molina get hit on a foul tip,
• 22:15
  Speaker 5: and he had to get surgery. Like it can happen.
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: Come to find out in the third inning, they're like, yeah,
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: you know, he's never worn a cup. I was like, catching?
• 22:27
  Speaker 5: This guy's going to college to catch, and he got
• 22:29
  Speaker 5: hit in the cup by a foul tip. He got hit. Well,
• 22:32
  Speaker 5: he should have been wearing a cup. He's never worn
• 22:34
  Speaker 5: a cup catching. I've never. I just. I don't understand it.
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: What Terry Francona said is crazy. He said, I don't
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: even watch a game without wearing a cup. Like, it
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: is that. It's that much. I can't believe it's changed
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: that much, but I loved the article. That's what I'm saying.
• 22:53
  Speaker 5: I have a hard time watching a game on a field.
• 22:57
  Speaker 5: And you know when I learned to wear a cup?
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Like the first time I ever caught, I was like
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: seven or eight years old. They were like, hey, can
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: you catch? Our catcher didn't show up. I go back there,
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: like the second pitch I get hit right in the Netherlands.
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: And you know what? I wore a cup from that
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: moment on. It's awkward for me. Like people, you know,
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: people would take it out when they go to hit
• 23:14
  Speaker 5: and then they have to run over and put it
• 23:16
  Speaker 5: back in. I'm like, it became like part of my uniform.
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: Like that was, as soon as I got ready to
• 23:23
  Speaker 5: go to take BP or do anything, Whoop, the cup
• 23:26
  Speaker 5: came on. I was like, I am not getting hit
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: down there. Sorry, kids. You brought up the story. It's
• 23:32
  Speaker 5: actually in my book. But the first time I ever caught,
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: our catcher went on vacation. I was 11 years old,
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: and the hardest thrower on our team, Darren Delp, was pitching.
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: And my dad goes, you're catching today. And I'm like,
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: I've never caught. He's like, well, no one else is
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: going to catch him, so you're catching. He goes, and
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: you're wearing a cup. Never wore a cup before. I
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: didn't have a baseball uniform. I had sweatpants and a,
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: like a t-shirt top was our team. We were the
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: Earl bowl. No Bishop wood products, Bishop wood products. And
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: I had to wear a cup. So I put it
• 24:09
  Speaker 5: in my underwear by the second inning that John was
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: down my sweatpants on my knee. And I was like,
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: this sucks. I don't ever want to have to wear
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: a cup again. Well, obviously we've got the right equipment
• 24:22
  Speaker 5: for the next time that I had to.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: Ironic name of your team when we're talking about cups. Again,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: couldn't help myself. Ricky Romero, who's part of Bluebird Territory,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: our Blue Jays show, said, I stopped wearing one after
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: high school.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: I got to the big leagues.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Roy Holiday said, what the bleep?
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: You know how hard those guys hit the ball? Ricky
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: said he listened.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: Five minutes later at the club, he put one in
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: his locker, wore one for the rest of his career.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: But there are position players like you guys were just
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: talking about who don't. I mean, Josh Chisholm has talked
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: about it and never had a reason to wear one. Um,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: now I have a reason to wear one, but that
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean I'm going to wear one. That was after
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: he had a little issue. Um, and then blue Jays outfielder,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: miles straw said he stopped wearing them when he was
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: eight years old. So it's a comfort thing. Quote, as
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: a kid, you were told to wear it. And I
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: guess you listen to your mom, dad, or coach at
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: that point. But once you start to become a little
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: bit more of a developed player, you trust your hands,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: your instincts.
• 25:19
  Speaker 5: At eight miles. Straw was developed enough to stop wearing one.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: He's an outfielder. He's an outfielder. That doesn't, That doesn't
• 25:26
  Speaker 5: apply at all. You don't need one in the outfield.
• 25:29
  Speaker 5: But what AJ said, you put on big league pants
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: and I still have, I wear big league pants for practices.
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: When I go to practice, it is so weird. So
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: weird to not have a cup on. True.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: Good. Good talk. Kids, keep the cup on past eight.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: Don't listen to Miles Straw.
• 25:53
  Speaker 5: Right? New sponsorships. New sponsorship coming. Larenco. Shine your teeth.
• 25:59
  Speaker 5: It's like a mouth guard. Why would you not wear
• 26:02
  Speaker 5: a mouth guard to save your teeth if you have
• 26:04
  Speaker 5: a chance of getting hit in the teeth? You use
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: all this Larenco, you get shiny, shiny teeth, and then
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: you're like, chicklets. Dunsky. That's why I would 100% wear
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: a C-flap if I played today. I would 1 million
• 26:17
  Speaker 5: percent wear a C-flap. Like, why would you not? And
• 26:20
  Speaker 5: then also, by the way, my son plays in college,
• 26:22
  Speaker 5: and the other catcher on his team got hit in
• 26:24
  Speaker 5: the Netherlands. And he got a cup sponsorship, so good
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: for him.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Wow, right in the curious ass.
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: Yes, because he went a little viral online. Someone posted
• 26:38
  Speaker 5: him going down and then Nutty Buddy called him and
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: was like, hey, by the way, try our Nutty Buddies.
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: And he got paid for it, so good for him, Max.
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: Good for you, Max. By the way, Max is dating
• 26:49
  Speaker 5: Vin Scully's granddaughter. He also starts every at-bat with Two balls,
• 26:55
  Speaker 5: one strike. Yes.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: We're just full of fun today.
• 27:02
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