Latest / Foul Territory / Tim Kurkjian joins FT: Ruth v. Ohtani, Brewers slap, Yanks October path, PCA's rise, 9/11 significance

Transcript

Tim Kurkjian joins FT: Ruth v. Ohtani, Brewers slap, Yanks October path, PCA's rise, 9/11 significance · Foul Territory

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Baseball royalty back on FT. Tim Kirkton joining us on
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: a Friday. Tim, great to see you. And we love,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: is this a great game or what? Oh, Todd's so excited.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: But I'm going to get first question here. And then
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Todd's going to have some fun. Tim, what are you
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: guys talking about lately on the show? Like what has
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: made you excited and what has received some instant fan
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: feedback that we should go over here?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Well, we're not the normal show. We talk about other things.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: We don't have any real hot takes. Todd knows this.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: We just talk about, like last week, we had the
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: best players of all time whose last names start with Y.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So we had Carly Stremski as the everyday player and
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Cy Young as the pitcher. Those are some of the
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: things that we go through on our show. Needless to say,
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: it's not like every other show, but we have a
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: lot of fun doing it. We laugh and we learn.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: The one thing I need to point out to Todd
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: and to you guys is The base running in the
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: big leagues is still bothersome to me. I can put
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: up with anything. I recognize the game is the hardest
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: game in the world to play. And if you can't
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: get a hit, I get it when someone's throwing 100.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: I understand you can't throw a strike. And I understand
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: when you're standing even with third, a guy hits a
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: ball 108 miles an hour at you. It's really hard
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: to catch. But when you can't run the bases because
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: you don't know how many outs there are, or you
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: run yourselves into an out that that that's where I
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: have to throw up my hands and say, sorry, this
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: isn't good enough. The players are bigger, stronger, faster, and
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: better than ever. They should run the bases better than ever.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: And they don't. And it just bugs me as a
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: dinky little old man. Now that the guys get in
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: trouble on the bases all the time. I don't understand it.
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: I don't, I don't either. I really don't understand it, Tim.
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: I really am trying.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: So confused.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: I'll tell you what, Tim, listen, When you get a
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: hit in the Little League World Series, you can say
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: that for the rest of your life.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: I got a knock at Williamsport. No one will ever
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: take that away from me. That's how every kid should
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: look at Williamsport. They play there. That's enough. But you
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: go there and get a hit. You go there and
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: hit a home run. That will be with you for
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: the rest of your life. I love that place. And
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Todd does the stupidest impersonation of me, but... Sadly, he
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: sounds a little bit like me, which is terrible.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: It's just terrible. All right. I want to talk about
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: something serious, though. We talked about it beforehand. I got
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: the hat on here for FDNY. Talk about, I want
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: to know exactly, 9-11, where were you? Talk about the
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: significance of this and how baseball played a big part
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: in this whole tragedy that happened.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this was awful. I was out mowing the lawn.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: on my Ryder mower. I was really terrible at that,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: by the way. My wife took it away from me
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: and said, we're going to pay someone to do this
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: because you stink at it. But I was out mowing
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: the lawn, and I ran in to do a radio
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: show from San Francisco. And it was on my answering machine.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: It said, obviously, we're canceling today's radio show. because of
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: what's going on. And I had no idea because I
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: was out on a rider mower. So I ran inside
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and saw what was going on. And then it was
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: just complete bedlam from there. I had to go pick
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: up the kids from school. It was a crazy time.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: The things I remember, oh God, I remember Jack Buck,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: the great Jack Buck, reading a poem that he wrote
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: and then wondering, should we be here? Meaning, should we
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: be playing baseball after 9-11. And it was just so
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: inspiring that he would say something like that. And his
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: answer was, yes, we should be playing. As for the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: one thing that stands out, and I wish I'd been there,
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: was Mike Piazza's homer off of Steve Carse in the
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: eighth inning, 10 days after 9-11. Bobby Valentine, who's going
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: to be on the show, is going to tell this
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: way better than I do. But There were armed guards
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: with guns on the top of the ballpark, just trying
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: to make sure everyone was safe. It was so charged emotionally.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: Liza Minnelli sang the national anthem and then Mike Piazza,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the greatest hitting catcher of all time, hit this rocket
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: shot for a home run. Bobby swears it's one of
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: the greatest moments in Major League history. And given all
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: the circumstances, it's hard to disagree with that. But I
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: also remember last thing, My daughter, Kelly, was 10 years
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: old at the time. And she was doing a little
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: cross stitch kind of thing that little girls can do
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: because they're so clever with their hands. And I said,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: so what are you making there? And she showed it
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: to me. She said, I'm making an American flag. That's
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: what I'm making. And it brought a tear to my
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: eye at 9-11. That's how bad it was. But it
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: was so, so great how we pulled together as a
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: country and how baseball helped Let's get through that.
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Was there another moment in baseball that like for me,
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: the earthquake in San Francisco, when those games were happening,
• 5:24
  Speaker 4: that directly affected baseball. But both cases, when baseball got
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: back to playing, was there something that you feel like
• 5:34
  Speaker 4: healed the nation more than baseball in the sense of
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: like the continuity and the like daily, the daily aptitude
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: that we get with baseball?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the earthquake, the way the A's and Giants pulled
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: that together was remarkable. I was there for all of that.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: And I went from a baseball writer to a news
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: writer because now I'm writing about people who have died,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: people who've lost their homes. It was something I will
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: never forget as long as I live. And that pulled
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: the country together. And on a different level, of course,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: when Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: That pulled baseball together after the 94 strike. Baseball was
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: in big trouble at that point. And Bud Selig told
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: me years later, Cal Jr. saved us because that story
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: was way more than a baseball story. That was a
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: story of discipline and loyalty and neighborhood and family. And
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: I was there that night. And when he took that
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: 22-minute tour around the bases and around the ballpark after
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: it became official 21-31, there were people weeping throughout the ballpark.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: So I'll never forget those moments. And this is where
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: baseball is still so important to this country because when
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: things go wrong sometimes and when things go right sometimes,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: baseball can pull a lot of people together.
• 7:04
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• 8:00
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• 8:03
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: Well, that year, 2001, was the year of Cal. It
• 8:06
  Speaker 4: was supposed to be his last year. I remember I
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: actually went to what was supposed to be his last game,
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: but the season got pushed, so it wasn't his last game.
• 8:15
  Speaker 4: Is the game in a better place from 2001 to 2026,
• 8:20
  Speaker 4: in your opinion?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the game's in a better place. Well,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: I hope it stays in a better place with what
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: we're looking at starting December the 1st, but Teams are
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: much healthier now. Attendance is up. Ratings are up. Baseball
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: is in a really good spot right now. Fellas, that
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: October last year was one of the great Octobers ever.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: That might be the greatest World Series I've ever seen played.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: The WBC this year was great. The regular season, despite
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: a bunch of teams around 500 going for a wildcard spot,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: this has been a tremendously interesting baseball season. as all
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: of them are, but this one especially. So I think
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: baseball's in a great place right now with the young
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: stars that we see and with some older guys still
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: hanging on. There's nothing not to like about baseball, which
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: is why we're not going to get into this, why
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: we can't have a work stoppage for next year because
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: there's too much momentum going in the right direction.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: I agree totally. We're not going to get into it
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: because we're going to celebrate You and me, we're going
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: to have another conversation. So let's talk about the Brewers.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: Is this the team to beat in the National League,
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: knowing what's going on with the Dodgers right now?
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Todd, I think they are. They just play a different
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: game than everybody else. The last time I looked, which
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: was recently, they had the best record in baseball and
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: the fewest home runs in baseball. Now, we all know
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: in this day and age, If you don't hit the
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: ball out of the ballpark, you usually don't win. The
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Brewers are the opposite of that. The last team to
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: have the best record in baseball at the end of
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: the season and the fewest homers was the 1959 White Sox. And,
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: you know, they had a great World Series team. That's
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: what the Brewers are. The Brewers, it sounds corny and cliche.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: They play the game differently. They play the game better.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: than the other teams do. They run the bases better.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: They put it in play better. They strike people out.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: They catch it better. At the beginning of the year,
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Pat Murphy, who is so good at this job, he
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: goes to the everyday players and he tells them essentially this,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: you're going to get 550 at-bats this year. 500 of
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: those are going to be just for you, but there
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: are going to be 50 at-bats that are going to
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: be just for the team. I'm going to ask you,
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: to hit a ball on the ground ball on the
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: right side. I'm going to ask you to take a
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: strike here. I'm going to ask you to get a
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: ball in the air and get that guy home. So
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: everyone buys in to things like that. And that's why
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: the Brewers are so impressive. And then you add that
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: monster at the top of the rotation, who I've never
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: seen anybody quite like Jacob Mizorowski throwing this hard with
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: secondary stuff like that. And he throws strikes all the time.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: He throws too hard to hit it. And yet, because
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: he throws so many strikes, you have to swing at it.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: So their rotation is great. I like their bullpen, but
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: mostly they just play the game differently than everyone else.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: And that's why I think they're the best team in
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: baseball and the team to beat once we get to October.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: And along those lines about Shohei Otani, the injury that
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: he's going through right now, I think he's pretty much
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: opened up the MVP award. I, What do you think?
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: Do you think it's Pete Crow Armstrong's to have at
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: this time in the season?
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Pete Crow Armstrong has, I want to say,
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I think he's got a clear lead right now. I mean,
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: PCA is the first Cub ever to have a 40 homer,
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: 30 steals season, ever. And they've been playing a long time.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: But more important than his offense, Craig Council, their manager,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: told me more than once, PCA is the best defensive
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: player at any position on the planet. And he told
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: me PCA is the fastest guy in the game. And
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: he said, and he's a different kind of fast than
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: anyone I've ever seen, meaning his start and stop ability,
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: how quick he is, meaning he can win a game
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: on the bases, he can win a game in center
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: field with his glove, and he's a really good hitter.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: And he's only 24 years old, which is remarkable. So
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I think he's got the lead in the MVP. I
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: thought Otani had a chance to seize it back if
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: he pitched like crazy in September, but that's not going
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: to happen now. Otani's on the injured list, so I
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: think PCA's going to win the MVP.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: All right, since you were the only one alive to
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: watch Babe Ruth play, Babe Ruth and Shohei Otani, I
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: need you to tell me who's the better. Who would
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: you take? First pick overall, and it's between Babe Ruth
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: and Shohei Otani. You saw him play. Let us know
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: what you think.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: All right. Babe Ruth is the greatest player of all time, okay?
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: Shohei is the most remarkable player we've ever seen, but
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: I think that's different because Babe Ruth did what Shohei
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: is doing. He did it essentially for 20 years, and
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: I really believe if they had had a DH in
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: the American League in 1920, Babe Ruth would have hit
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: 50 homers and won 20 games. When he became... a
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: full-time hitter, he was the best pitcher in the American League.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: He still has as many career shutouts, 17, as Pedro Martinez,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: who for a short period, at least five years, is
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: the greatest pitcher that I've ever seen. Then Babe decides
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: he's going to go become a hitter. And in 1920,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: he hit 54 homers. And the next three guys in
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: the league didn't hit 54 homers combined. That's how good
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: he was. Fellas, when he got to 700 homers, no
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: one else had half that many. He was the first
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: to 30, 40, 50, and 60 in a season. And
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: he did it while being a really good all-around player.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, he was a good defensive right fielder. He
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: had 136 triples. He stole 123 bases in his career.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: And I'll never forget asking my friend Bert Hawkins in
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: the early 80s when he was the PR director for
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: the Texas Rangers. the team that I covered. And he
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: really did cover Babe Ruth. And I said, Hawk, who's
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: the greatest player you've ever seen? He looked at me
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: like he was insulted. He said, buddy boy, I'll take
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: Babe Ruth and you can have the next three. That's
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: how great Babe Ruth was. Now let me just finish
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: with this. Babe Ruth didn't have to face anybody throwing
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: 100 miles an hour. Babe Ruth, unlike Ohtani, didn't throw
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: 100 miles an hour. And even though Babe Ruth hit
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: some mammoth home runs with a dead ball and a
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: dead bat, he didn't hit it as hard or as
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: far as Otani did. So it's apples and oranges, but
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: if you're asking me, Babe Ruth is still the greatest
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: player of all time. Someday it will be Otani, but
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: right now it's still the Bambino.
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: That's tremendous.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: That's tremendous. What a great soliloquy of Babe Ruth. And no,
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: we get it. You didn't see him play just like
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: Todd doesn't. See other people play. But, Tim, the question
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: I got for you. Jacob deGrom, assess not only the
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: season he's having, but his career. If we think of
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: him as a Hall of Famer or not, does that
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: change the criteria of what we're going to have for
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: Hall of Famers going forward?
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's going to change the criteria for
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: the Hall of Fame. He will be the first guy to...
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: to change it. He's got 108 victories, which isn't even
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: close to what you need to be a starting pitcher
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: in the Hall of Fame. Dizzy Dean won 150 games
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: as a starting pitcher. Sandy Koufax won 165. DeGrom is
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: at 106. However, he's got a 268 ERA. He's got
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: a whip under one. He had the second fewest innings
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: ever to 2,000 strikeouts. He won two Cy Young Awards.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: His hits for innings pitched is a top five of
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: all time. And I think he's going to change. We
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: have changed the way that we value our starting pitchers,
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: much to my chagrin. We don't even allow them to
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: be great anymore. But I think DeGrom is going to
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: make it to the Hall of Fame because all the numbers,
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: other than his victory total, are going to be Hall
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: of Fame numbers. So I think he needs a couple
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: more years to solidify things But I think he's going
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: to go in, and I think he's going to be
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: the one that we're going to look at and say,
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: this is where the Hall of Fame criteria really changed,
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: is that a guy in the low, say, 100s in
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: victories is in the Hall of Fame.
• 17:17
  Speaker 5: The postseason run is heating up for Major League Baseball teams. Kratzy,
• 17:20
  Speaker 5: you can go see all these games, all the important games.
• 17:23
  Speaker 5: Whatever your team is, they have a great chance, almost
• 17:26
  Speaker 5: all of them, at being alive for the postseason. So
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: you can go on SeatGeek and find whatever team you want,
• 17:30
  Speaker 5: whatever game you want, whatever matchup you want to try
• 17:33
  Speaker 5: to help cheer your team on to the postseason.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: Yeah, look ahead of your schedule. Go on to SeatGeek. Essentially,
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: your team's either in the playoffs or the team they're
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: playing has a chance in the playoffs. So all these
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: games in September, you got to get on there, get
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: your green dot, figure out where you're going to sit,
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: do it ahead of time, and use the codes.
• 17:55
  Speaker 5: And of course, I have a code for y'all. You
• 17:56
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• 18:11
  Speaker 4: Use it later.
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• 18:16
  Speaker 1: All right, Tim, I want to go back to MVP
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: for a moment because we've received a lot of fan
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: feedback over the last few weeks. Why is anyone on
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: the Foul Territory Network even saying, oh, PCA is emerging
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: or PCA is now becoming the frontrunner? when it appears
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: like for the past, say, month, it's been over. I
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: want to get your take, like from a writer's perspective,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: do you think it's closer than what fans are looking
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: at or even like the sports books, right? BetMGM has
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: them at, it was minus 10,000, which is about as
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: done as it can be. And I think they actually
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: even took it down, which usually means like it's completely done.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: They see a 0% chance anyone else wins. So curious,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: I mean, you're around the writers and at the ballparks,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: like is the temperament a little bit different where it's
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: just become a thing in the past like week.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: I think it has gathered steam in the last two weeks.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: I don't think it was over a month ago, because again,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I think we had to wait to see if Otani
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: pitched in September. And if he did that and took
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: the Dodgers into the, well, they're going to the playoffs,
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: but got them, you know, a number one seed or
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: something like that, that would have weighed heavily for the voters.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: But that's not going to happen, which is why PCA
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: is going to win this. Fellas, we used to We
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: used to base the MVP on how did your team
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: do and what did you do to help your team win,
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: specifically make it to the playoffs. When Chipper Jones won
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: in 1999, go back and look at his finish to
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: that season. He carried the Braves into the playoffs with
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: an incredible last month and a half. That's what I
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: always look at. Who is carrying his team to the
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: places where they need to go? That's what PCA has
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: done recently. more than anyone this year, in my mind,
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: is getting the Cubs into a position where they're going
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: to make the playoffs for sure. And that's why I
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: think he's going to win the MVP, because what he's
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: done when the Cubs needed him most.
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: Solid, solid.
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: Anything you say is pretty much gold. I trust you
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: with everything. My last question for you, Tim. American League,
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: in my opinion, I feel like it's down a little
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: bit this year. Would you say... that it's Yankees or
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: bust to win the American league in the playoffs this year?
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: Or do you think there's another team that might emerge
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: out of there?
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I never taught. I learned a long time ago,
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: never under mess SRM ate the rays. I still look
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: at their lineup certain days and say, how do they
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: have the best record in baseball? How do they score
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: enough runs? And yet they always find a way to win,
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: especially because of their pitching. But, I really like where
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: the Yankees are right now, assuming, of course, that Aaron
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Judge comes back. He's back, but he becomes the best
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: player in the American League, as he has been for
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: several years. And he is the best player in the
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: American League when the playoffs begin, if that is the case.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: And they've got Luis Garcia Jr., who has really helped them.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: And they've got George Lombard at shortstop. And they've got,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: you know, Elliott in the outfield, who just filled in
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: with a three-run homer the other day. They have a
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: really good offensive team now. It's a different offensive team
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: than they've had in recent years. And we know when
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: you've got Schlittler and you've got Cole and you've got
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Freed and you've got Will Warren, you can match up
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: with almost anybody in the postseason with your starting rotation.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: So to me, that's the big question. How good is
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Judge going to get to How much Russ can he
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: knock off and what's he going to look like at
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: the beginning of October? Because if he's right, I think
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: they're the best team in the American League.
• 21:57
  Speaker 4: I like it.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a weird year for the American League.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: We can do an hour on the last wild card there.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: It's more than who wants it at this point. It's
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: like anyone, anyone, please. Oh, easy stretch for this team.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: They blow it.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: So, hey, I like it, though. Third wild card's been fun. Tim,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: great to talk to you. Appreciate the time. And we
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: love listening to Is This a Great Game or What?
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: Todd Fathers giving me the signal.
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: No, just one last thing. Tim, I love you. You
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: know that. I got a great, great thing for your
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: podcast with your son, Jeffrey. One of my favorite guys
• 22:31
  Speaker 3: in the world. You should do a starting nine lineup
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: with last names in cities in New Jersey. Wow.
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: You know, we do a Team Tim every week, and
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: it's so weird. It's the favorite thing that we do
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: from our listeners and our viewers. They love the Team Tims,
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: and they're so ridiculously stupid, and so is this one, Todd,
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: but I'm on it now. No, I love it. I
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: love it. The dumber, the better. I've come up with
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: so many stupid Team Tims. You know, we just got
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: that We just got that guy, Lavender, pitching for the Mets.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: So I just had the all-color team because we added
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: a new color. So now I'm on it, Todd. I
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: promise you. I'll put my head down, and.
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: I will have.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: I got two.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: I got two for Tom River. Tom Seaver and Mickey Rivers.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: And Mickey Rivers. So there's two right there, okay?
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: I'll leave you with this. In 1982, I'm covering the Rangers.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: I've been on the beat for three weeks, and Mickey
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Rivers comes up to me. And he says, Tim, can
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: I borrow $ 2, 000? And I said, Nick, I'm making $ 11, 000
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: a year. I don't have $ 2, 000 in the bank to
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: loan you even. Mickey Rivers was making $ 450, 000 a year.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Ask me, the dinky little 12-year-old baseball writer, if you
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: could borrow two grand. And buddy bell pulled me over
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: and said, Tim, whatever you do, don't loan Mickey any money.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: He'll never pay you back. I love Mickey. He made me,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: he made me laugh so many times and what a
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: good player he was in his prime, Tom Seaver and
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: Mickey rivers. I'm all over it, Todd. I promise you.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: And he's got the stories for it too. So stay
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: tuned for a future episode of, uh, the Todd father episode,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: the Tom's river Todd father episode where they'll do team Tim.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Tim.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Enjoy the weekend. Talk to you soon.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: See you guys.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Thanks.
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: Here it is.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Is this a great game or what? That was a
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: great segment. You get that multiple times a week with
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: Jeff and Tim. It's part of the FT network QR
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: code right side. Otherwise just find it, type it in,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: have fun with it.
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: They're awesome.