Latest / Rosters to Rings Podcast / The Brotherhood of the Rangers Years with Ron Washington

Transcript

The Brotherhood of the Rangers Years with Ron Washington · Rosters to Rings Podcast

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Roster Syrings. I'm your host, Thad Levine.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us for the second half of
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: our conversation with John Daniels and Ron Washington, a second
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: half that may be even better than the first half.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: We break down the Rangers epicy ten and two thousand
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and eleven World series runs. We also have a ton
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: of fun along the way, hearing Washer's scouting report of
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Moneyball the movie, and highlights from some of his more
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: colorful engagements with umpires. But where we pick up is
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: when we discuss a very cathartic event that galvanized the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Texas Rangers.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Wash.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: I want to I want to take you through Michael
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Wilbond famously said, you can't win a championship without having
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: some trials and tribulations along the way. First two thousand
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and nine, we come back from the All Star break,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and I remember coming down to your office before the game,
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: and I think it was me and JD and you
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: had a few tears in your eyes. And after we
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: made sure that you were okay and Jerry was okay,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: you said, hey, come down after the game. I got
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: something I gotta share with you. It was a very,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: very cathartic night that we had together that night, but
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: it led to something pretty magical.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Do you care to.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Just share a little bit about this story, and maybe
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: JD and I could share our impressions of what transpired
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: over the next nine months.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Well, when I came back from that All Star break,
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: I did something I wish I wouldn't have done, and
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: so happened. Major League Baseball decided they wanted to test people,
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: and I was one of the guys and I knew
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: it and there was no way I could hide it.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: And the one thing about the whole situation, I was
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: able to deal with it because John and Nolan and
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: you guys, you guys didn't judge me. You didn't judge me.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: You just tried to see what you could do to help,
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: and in reality, you had helped. How it got out.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: I have no idea how it got out because I
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: had already went through a year with Major League Baseball
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: behind that situation, and then when it got out, y'all
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: called me off. The feeling it was in spring training
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: and the only thing that John and Nolan asked me
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: was you think you'll be able to handle it? And
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: I told him, yeah, I don't come this far, I'm
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: gonna handle it. And we went through the process and
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: got past it, and then we had to tell it
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: to the team and we went up and then I
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: just poured my heart out. And the key to it,
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: to my conversation in the clubhouse, wasn't me. It was
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: again the best person and the best player on the team,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: and the best teammate on the team, Michael Young, because
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: I remember saying, you don't have to accept what I did.
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: I'm not asking you to accept what I did. You
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: know I did it, and I'm sorry for it, and
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: I've heard a lot of people doing it, and Michael
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: stood up. I accepted, and once Michael accepted it, all
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: of a sudden, the chain of command just kept going.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: And we went out that year and we busted, but
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: we really did. We was gonna kick buddy anyway, but
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: we really went out and bust that butt. I mean,
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: those guys just came together and everything was about us
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: and nothing about all the outside noises. It was just
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: about what was happening on the inside. And whether they
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: did it for me or whether they did it for themselves,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: it doesn't matter because we all was in it together.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: And I appreciate the way you guys handle it. And
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: I had to deal with it. I heard a lot
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: of people and I had to deal with that and
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: I got through it. I got through it because I
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: didn't run from it.
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: You know, people talk about that year, you know, what
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: the turning points were, what the major you know, there
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: were a lot of first that year. I would beat
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: the Yankees and uh, you know, when we traded for
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: Cliff Lee, it was kind of one of those moments
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: I think people circle. But that day in surprise in
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: spring training, for me, that was that was it. And
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: you know, we didn't know how it was going to
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: go over, I mean one publicly, but more importantly in
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: that room. And you know, I remember we we kind
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: of lad that we walked through the whole thing, and
• 3:57
  Speaker 4: U you were gonna first you had the team leaders,
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: and you had that little office next to your office,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: a little conference room, and you went in there with
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: just I don't know five or six guys, how are many?
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: You know, with Michael and Ian and Nelly and whoever
• 4:10
  Speaker 4: else was in there, and and Thad and I and
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: I think John Blake, you know, pr guy were standing
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: in your office waiting for you know, while you were
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: addressing them and you know, admitted into a ten minute meeting.
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: We hear, you know, just like more joy and laughter
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: coming out of the room. And afterward, you know, I
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: grabbed Michael as he goes man, I thought Wash was sick.
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: I thought he had cancer. You know, we were scared. Chill,
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: he goes man, we can get through this. I was
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: worried about something, you know, like that. And and then
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: you went into the clubhouse what you're talking about, and
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: you know, front office and coaching staff, we all kind
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: of stood behind you and you addressed the team and
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: laid out what had happened. And that was I mean
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: c J. Wilson, I remember, you know who, he got
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: teary eyed. He wasn't that kind of guy necessary. He
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: got teary eyed, and he ran out. He gave you
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: a hug, and just the team they lined up one
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: after another, and I remember Sad myself and Noel and
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: and the rest of us. They were kind of looking
• 5:12
  Speaker 4: at each other like, all right, we're gonna get through this.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: Just the love in that room was remarkable.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: And people don't realize CJ. Wilson was a strange character,
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: but behind the scene CJ. Wilson told me he loved me,
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: and he'll do anything to make sure that the people
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: on the outside know that you will manage her. I
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: didn't never mention. I have never mentioned that to anyone,
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: but that's what CJ. Wilson did. And he went on
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: a podcast and told the people on the podcast that
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: that'll be the worst thing that can happen if they
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: lose me. He said, we loved that guy. That was CJ. Wilson.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: And I said, okay, okay. CJ. Wilson already got okay
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: from Michael Young. Now I'm getting it from c which
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: was very heartwarming. And you know, it's amazing how things
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: wake you up, and it's amazing how life comes and goes.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: And if you don't shy away from it, if you
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: don't try to get around it, if you don't try
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: to act like it didn't happen, it'll take care of itself.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: And for me, it took care of my itself, it
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: really did. It took care of itself. Bad decision, bad decision.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: So I just got a way in here just because
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I think this touched all of us so profoundly, you know,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I just want to paint the picture for the listeners
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: a little bit. When Wash decided to come clean with
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: the room. This is the full spring training group. There's
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: sixty plus players in the room. There's another forty people
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: who are coaches, front office people, PR people, performance team.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: There's over one hundred people in the room. When you
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: owned up to this, Wash and as you said, I
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: remember once you got finished saying what you were saying,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: it was an emotional moment for sure. There was like
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: silence in the room which felt like ten minutes. It
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: was probably fifteen seconds. Michael Young vaults to his feet
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: and says something to the effect of, hey, Wash has
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: had my back in the past, I have his back today.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: And then there was a pause, and then another player
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: stood up, and then another player stood up, and then
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: another player stood up, and it was just it was
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: like a movie scene where you're like, Okay, this is
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: the moment where you're going to fast forward and it's
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: going to be a bunch of highlight reels and then
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: this team's going to be hoisting a trophy. And then
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you said, okay, boys, I got to go now own
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: this with the media. And so you left the room
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: with John Blake, the PR director, to go to the
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: media room, which down in spring training probably comfortably houses
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: about thirty people. All one hundred people in that room
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: followed you into the media room and they had your
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: back literally and figuratively that day. And I just remember feeling, Hey,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: if we were ever going to accomplish something special, this
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: is our year because we galvanized around you and Wash.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: I just want to share with you a few things.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: You touched people. You touched people in a way I've
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: never seen a manager touch people. I had a chance
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: to speak with Adrienne Beltray and Michael Young before coming
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: on this episode, and I just want to share a
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: few of their thoughts they had about you. Both of
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: them said some cusswords about you, but then additionally they
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: said some other stuff. So this is what Adrian said
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: about you. He said, tremendous players manager. He always had
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: our back, so we always were going to have his.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: He always completely trusted and protected me. Wash is an
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: exceptional teacher. More than anything, he taught me to have
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: how to have the confidence to be myself. He always
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: felt our pain when we were struggling, and he was
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the first one to celebrate when we did anything well.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: And this is what Michael Young said WASH's extreme energy
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and enthusiasm was infectious and set the tone for the
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: entire team. Despite having no manager experience in his first
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: spring training with the Rangers, he immediately earned the respect
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: of the veterans Kenny Lofton and Samuel Soosa. So if
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: they believed in him, so was I. We were an
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: exceptionally talented team, but it was our relentless motor and
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: commitment to compete that took us to back to back
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: World series That all came from Wash. And so you
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: impacted people that day, Wash, they talked about you, they're
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: still talking about you.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: Well. The thing is that impactfulness goes both ways. You know.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: It's just like you being a mentor a teacher when
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: you're teaching a student. Both of y'all should be learning,
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: so and if only one is learning, it's going to
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: be one sided. If both of us is learning, then
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: we're going to get the quest that we're looking for.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: And we got the quest we was looking for. The
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: only thing is I'm just disappointed that I wasn't at
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: the Helm when the Rangers won World Series. But I'm
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: glad they won their World Series and they they got
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: what they've been trying to get for a long time
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: because the fans doing our run, they were coming and they,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: like I said, they motivated everybody else. You know what
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: I'm saying. It's easy to be motivated, but it's the
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: habits that keep shit going. And we had good habits.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: The way we went about our business and everybody went
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: about it the same way. We didn't have any prima donnas.
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: We didn't have any guys to say, well, I'm going
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: to stay in this clubhouse. No, I'm not going out
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: in that heat. No. If one was in that heat,
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: all of us was in that heat. If one wasn't
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: in that heat, then all of us wasn't in that heat.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: So and that's the way those guys grew, and that's
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: the way they became champions like they did. And I
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: say we were champions. Even though we didn't win the
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: World Series. We won a couple titles. You know, I
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: got a couple of rings, and I have some memory
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: that will never be taken away. And I have those
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: memories because number one, you guys hired me, and number
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: two we finally got a group together that cared about
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: one thing each other and playing the game of baseball
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: and that's what we definitely went out there then did
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: every single day, played the game of baseball. Whatever the
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: game asked us to do, we was ready for it.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: And that's the one thing that's missing in the game today.
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: Guys is not trying to do what the game ask
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: them to do. They're trying to do what makes them value,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: you know, and the value to them is the dollars
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: that they can get and not the love for the game.
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: The love for the game is being forgotten. It really is.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: And this is a beautiful game, beautiful game, and I
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: still love it. That's why I'm still here at the
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: age I'm at. That's why I'm still here. After having
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: a quadruple bypass, I just couldn't leave it.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: We're gonna take more than that to knock you down.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: Man. Well, I'm telling you what, I'm feeling good. I'm
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: feeling good and I'm enjoyed. I'm still giving because what
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: I got to give, somebody gave it to me. I
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: certainly didn't wake up one morning with it. This was
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: earned and this was taught, and I'm trying to do
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: the same thing, get these young kids to earn it.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: And I'm trying to teach it.
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: You talked about the fans in Texas, Man, and I
• 11:57
  Speaker 4: think every player that came through, all the memories, the
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: great performances, but like you really embodied my opinion, you
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: really embodied kind of the the spirit of the area.
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: I had very blue collar, like, hard working, high energy,
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: optimistic belief system. And if you maybe take the fans
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: a little bit inside what some of your memories were
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: from from the you know, winning those our first time
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: we won, we clinched the division in ten. It was early.
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: It was like the middle of September. If I recall,
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: we were way ahead. But you know that that win
• 12:31
  Speaker 4: and then you know, I don't want to hurt my
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: current family with the Rays, but you know that first
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: win in the playoffs. The Rangers had had never won
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: a playoff series before. We you know, go in there
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: in Game five and win, and that celebration that clubhouse
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: in your office. I still remember the hugs and the
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: pictures we took, and we touch on that a little bit. Man,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: this your fondest memory that was.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: That was a great time because all I had heard was, oh,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: we can't never get past the Yankees. We can't do this,
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: we can't do that. But nobody was. We wasn't afraid
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: of the Yankees. We wasn't afraid of no team that
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: was playing baseball. We knew that, our fans knew that.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: You know, there might have been some naysayers that didn't
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: believe that, but we knew that because we didn't play
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: the Yankees all year and it wasn't anything that scheduled.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: They still had the Derek Jeters, they had the Alex Rodriguez,
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: they had Tech Sherry at first base, they had this,
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: they had they still had Robin Canoe, they had Posada catching,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: they still had uh, what's the left that that was
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: so good for the Yankees and the petted They had
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: all them guys. But they didn't scare that group that
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: we had in that clubhouse because they knew the game
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: was played between them lines. You had to hit the ball,
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: you had to run the bases, you had to catch
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: the ball. You had to do things out on the
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: field to win. And there wasn't nothing that we couldn't
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: do out on the field to win. We knew that
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: there was nothing we could do, So why would he
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: be afraid of anybody? And we did, and I remember
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: when we took the Yankees out and then we went
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: to Tampa and took them out, and I went to
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: go talk to the media, and the media said, what
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: is it like to beat the Tampa Bay Rays at
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: their own game? I said, I don't know where you've
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: been watching. You must not have been watching the Texas Rangers.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: We just whipped the Tampa Bay Raised at our game.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: We run the base of student. We do the little
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: things too. I remember it's going two runs. Where what's
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: that big left of the head Matt Moore, No, not him,
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: the other the black kid that came out of Vanderbilt,
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: David Price. David Price balls he went caught on to
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: get an out of that first base and forgot that's
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: a runner on second base, and Elvis and big vlat
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Guerrero stole runs on him. And they could try to
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: tell me that's the way they play. Well, that's the
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: way they play. But in the West, that's the way
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: we played too. That's baseball, I mean, big flag. Oh.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: I was in the bug out going crazy when I
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: seen lad coming around third base and do that. I
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: said that vlad can do it. Why can't all of
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: y'all do it? That was beautiful and so winning that
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: series against the Yankees. Was was the best and all
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I would ever tell those guys after we finished, were
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: not done yet. Just because we beat the Yankees. We
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: not done yet. And we did. And I remember you
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: John coming to me and say, call Geor Girardi. So
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: I went to my office and I called Georg Girardi
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: because he was calling me and I wasn't in my office,
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: so I guess you had gotten the word. So I
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: went called him, and I remember the first game we played,
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: they beat us, but we we created, we we we
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: we executed a double steal. And once we executed that
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: double steal, every time we stole, every time I Pasoda
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: did not throw that ball a second base. They were scared.
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: And I got up in my and the dug out
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: and told my boys, the son of a bucks, they scared.
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Look at him. They threw down the second base one
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: time we stole home plate. They won't do it. So
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: every time we get a first and third, we pulling
• 16:12
  Speaker 3: a double steel. They're not gonna throw. And I'd be damned.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: We pulled three double steels and they did not throw
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: the ball down on the second base. But one time,
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: the one time we pulled the double steel, so We
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: knew right there that they was through. They know they
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: threw and then uh, Molina, Big Molina, Benji Benja hit
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: that Grand Slam in New York and just warm out
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: after that. So it was awesome. It was an awesome
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: time because all I ever heard, oh, we can't get
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: past the Yankees. Man, we don't give a darn about
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: New Yankees. And I don't mean ding.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: I think it was Game three. It was a Pettitt
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: Cliff Lee in Yankee Stadium. I think it was two
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: to one. Yeah, that was one of the most intense,
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: fun Envil baseball games I've ever winness man, unbelievable.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: And that Cliff Lee was special. I mean, I know,
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you remember Mark Moulder, but Mark
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: Moulder was special too. He would throw nine ns with
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: eighty eight pitches, nine n with eighty nine pitches. He
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: never reached the ninety mark, and he throw a nine
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: in in game. But that was Cliff Lee. He always
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: went eight innings. He got the ball, he through it.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: He got the ball, he through it. There was no hesitation.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: Cliff Lee, for some reason, might have been on another planet,
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: but he already knew what his next pitch was when
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: he threw a pitch, because as soon as he got
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: the ball, he was coming at you. Soon as he
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: got the ball, he was coming at you. As soon
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: as he got it, he was coming at you. It
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: was never on the mound shaking and thinking about what
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: he was going to do. This guy knew what he
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: wanted to do, and he did it, and he did
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: it to perfection. So that was the greatest move you made.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: When you walked in that office and said, what you
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: think about getting Cliff Lee? How you think the guy's
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: going to react about getting Cliff Lee? I said, well,
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: we go tell him, were gonna get Cliff Lee if
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: we get him, And you say, we got him, So
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: we went and told him, and that put us over
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: the home. That put us over having that guy every
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: five days while we had him. And then in the
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: playoffs going to eight innings. You know, too bad that
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: San Francisco found a way to beat us, because they
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: wasn't supposed to beat us, but they did. And you
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: got to tip your hat to him. You gotta tip
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: your hat to him.
• 18:22
  Speaker 4: They had a couple of rookies on that club that
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: end up in the Hall of Fame.
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: So yeah, yeah, Bumgardener.
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: Gardner and Posey that they weren't too bad, No, not
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: at all.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: Lindseen Cum and Kane were pretty good as well, no
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: no doubt about it. And they had just enough offense,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: just enough.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: And Renteria was supposed to have been so old he
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: ended up being the MVP.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, renter in your rebanded Freddy Sanchez somehow were factors.
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: How about that? Yeah, So it was just wasn't our time.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: It just wasn't our time. And I look back at
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: that and said that must have been what it is.
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: It wasn't our time. And then they ended up winn
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: in what twenty three twenty four?
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: The range was twenty three twenty three.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah, then I was happy for him. I was happy
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: for him because the fan base there, they deserve it.
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: They deserve it. At least when I was there, they
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: supported us. It was sketchy in the beginning going, but
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: once they realized what was going on, it didn't take
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: them long to realize what was going on. All of
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: a sudden, three million people started coming through that turnstile.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: They could wait till it was game time to get
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: to that ballpark. That's what day life was centered around
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: that game. That night. That's the feeling I got. That's
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: the feeling I got.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we had a home field advantage for those years.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: It was an electric crowd. They came to be part
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: of something special, as you said earlier, Wa Wash, because
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: we could beat teams so many different ways. It was
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: so entertaining to watch. I felt like you always exuded
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: this notion of like, we want to accomplish two things tonight,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: we want to win the ball game, and we want
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the other team and the fans to know we enjoyed
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: kicking their ass to.
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: That was it. That was definitely it. That was it.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: You delivered fun. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: sitting there watching those guys go and play. I remember
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: when I was would do something crazy on the field
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: and I would get out my seat to go get him,
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: and Michael Belchray say let me have him. So one
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: time I got out and I went to go get him,
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: and Michael said, I got him. I said, Michael, you
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: and Beltrack gotta let me get some ass. At time,
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: I could never go get nothing because those two guys
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: would always stop me. Always. They took care of everything.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: They really did.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Washlet let's fast forward to twenty eleven, which was a
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: magical season. Again, we end up going through Tampa in
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the first round. We beat Detroit as you mentioned earlier,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: in the second round, just hall of famers all over
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: the field, and we walk into playing Saint Louis in
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: a seven game series. We go back to Saint Louis
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: up three to two in what had been a absolutely spellbinding,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: entertaining series. Just epic performances by both teams, another group
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: of Hall of famers on both sides.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: We go up three to two.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: It was probably one of the most entertaining baseball games
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: in recent memory in the playoffs. It was when we
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: were watching the World Series this past year. It was
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: reminiscent of what we went through Game six. But take
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: us inside the dugout for Game six. How was that
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: for you to experience real time as we kind of
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: went back and forth with him all game, ultimately losing
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: at the end.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: I remember we pushed that thing to the ninth inning
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: and we got two outs. We had two strikes on
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: Bregman and we broke his bat and he was able
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: to push that ball over the outfield to get that
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: game tied and then free free what's his net? Freeze. Yes, Freeze,
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: who had a heck of a series, came up and
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: the whole time in a dugout. I'm telling Gary, is
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: Nelson in no doubles? Yeah? So Max him again? Is
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: Nelson in no doubles? Yeah, it's Nelson in no doubles. Yeah,
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: he's in no goddamn doubles. I said, Okay, okay, okay,
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: and Nelson thinking out there, I guess Freeze kept slicing
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: the ball a right field, so Nelson decided to come in.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: And when Nelson came in, he caught one. And that
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: was the one time I did. Next Gary, was we
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: in no doubles? And if he would have been in
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: no doubles, it would have just been a stand up
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: catch and the Texas Rangers in twenty eleven would have
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: had the World Series under their belt. But it didn't,
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: and they beat us. Freeze came up again, and I
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: think it was the we went to extra innings and
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: I think he hit a base a home run the
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: straightaway center field to take us out that night, the
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: night before we should have played. Because they talk about rain,
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: it never came down. I think Saint Louis talked them
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: into that to give their pictures, an opportunity to get
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: another day's rests because the rain never came.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: Don't get me started on that one.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: Was so I look back and I wish I would
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: have asked Gary again about the doubles, even though he
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: kept telling me he was in no doubles. But we
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: didn't see when Nelson crept up. And I'm not blaming
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: this on Nelson, because it wasn't for Nelson, we wouldn't
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: have been there. But if there was one time that
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: I went to sleep, I think that was the one
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: time I went to sleep when I didn't make sure
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: that our guys was in no doubles because a single
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: a double couldn't hurt us, but anything over your head
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: could have did it. And they hit it over our
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: head and he did it. So that was the Those
• 23:38
  Speaker 3: seven games was the toughest I've ever seen and never
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: been a part of. And at that point we had
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: gotten Tony LaRussa, who was known as one of the
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: best managers in the game, to use his old roster.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: He was out of players. He had to send a
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: picture up there to blunt and the sucker went up
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: there and got the bunt down. But he had used
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: his roster. We had made him use his roster, and
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: we had gotten to where we wanted to get. But
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: it just wasn't to happen because we beat Bergmann and
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: he threw that ball over the second basement, over Kensley's head,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: and the rest is history.
• 24:13
  Speaker 4: After that, one thing that I know personally for you
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: was huge and was for all of us. I'm not
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: sure outside our little family that people your mom was
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: in bad health for a call, right, and yeah she was.
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: She was.
• 24:27
  Speaker 4: She passed soon after that. I mean, that's quite a
• 24:29
  Speaker 4: bit for you to take a hunt man emotionally. You
• 24:32
  Speaker 4: were the leader of that team and you know we
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: back to back years in the World Series, so close
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: and you're dealing with that at home. How was that
• 24:40
  Speaker 4: for you?
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: I gave my mom all the time I could give
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: up before it was time to buckle down and take
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: care of business. You know, she had all my prayers.
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: There wasn't no way I could talk to her on
• 24:52
  Speaker 3: the phone because we had her in a O Folks
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: care unit. And the only thing I really had on
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: my mind at that time was, uh, those guys in
• 25:07
  Speaker 3: that clubhouse and my coaching staff in that game. That
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: was it. Go out there and I had told those
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: guys in the meeting that we was gonna go out
• 25:15
  Speaker 3: there and play like champions because there was two of
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: us on the field. They were champions too, and at
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: the end we'll find out who's the champion of all
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: of it. And I remember the reporters asking me in
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: the in the final game about capping to he gonna
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: throw them three days. What I think of that? I
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: looked at him, said, when am I supposed to think
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: of that? We're gonna kick his ass. That's what I
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: think of that. Nobody care about capping to being on
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: three days. He gonna throw ball over plate, were gonna
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: see ball, and we're gonna knock the hell out of ball.
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: That's exactly what I told him. And I didn't say
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: hell and all of that. I used the words. And
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: that was that.
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: And we were up to We got up to nothing
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: in the first.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, And we could have gotten more. We had
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: to loaded and everything. We could have gotten more, we didn't.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: So but I remember that vividly, and I felt good
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: and the guys felt good about it too. We didn't
• 26:10
  Speaker 3: go out there thinking that because we didn't play that
• 26:13
  Speaker 3: night before, and then we lost the next game. No,
• 26:16
  Speaker 3: we went out there in that seven game knowing that
• 26:18
  Speaker 3: we have just as good a chance to win that
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: game as they do.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: Crazy that that's fifteen years ago, and you know, I'm
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: sure I speak for you guys. I don't know that
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: a day goes by my life without thinking about something
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: from that Game six or Game seven that we could
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: have done slightly differently. It's just amazing how much that's
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: blazed into all of our minds. And watch you said.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: One thing I always felt coming out of those two
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: World Series defeats was the cruolest thing about sports is
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: there's one champion and then everyone else falls short. And
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: I never felt like we really fell short. I think
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: we were champions too. And I'm so proud of what
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you accomplished, what our players accomplished under your watch, and.
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: That they will forever.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: You have created these incredible memories for me, which is
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: more important than any ring I could ever wear in
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: my life. Was the memories, the relationships, the fondness I
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: have for everybody who was affiliated with those organizations was
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: just so spectacular, and it just meant the world to
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: me in my life.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: Well, it meant the world to me too, And again
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: I don't think any of us would have had that
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: opportunity if it wasn't for those guys in that clubhouse.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: They were the guys that held it together and went
• 27:30
  Speaker 3: out there and did it, especially in ten John, when
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: you went got Napley for us, he was special. I
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: don't think Anaheim knew what they had when they gave
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: him up. I knew what he was competing against him.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: I think you knew what he was competing against him.
• 27:46
  Speaker 3: That's why you went got him. But I don't think
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: Anaheim knew what he was. And then what Mike Napley's
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: career ended up being. You know, he left the Texas
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: Rangers and every way he went after that one he
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: was the winner. Yeah. And you talk to people now
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: and they talk about Mike Napoli and I said, yeah,
• 28:03
  Speaker 3: his winning way he started in Texas Fellas and I
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: was in charge. That's why his winning way started.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: There's no doubt we'll watch you twenty twenty one. You
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: get your World Series rings. Yeah, you get a chance
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: to be part of the World Series champion Atlanta Braves.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: How was that experience for you and how did those
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: teams compared to the twenty ten twenty eleven Texas Rangers.
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: Well, they were almost similar because they took nothing for granted.
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: In Atlanta in twenty one. They worked together in Atlanta
• 28:35
  Speaker 3: in twenty one. They believed in Atlanta in twenty one.
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: No matter what, because we came from ten and a
• 28:40
  Speaker 3: half games back, we was ten and a half games back,
• 28:44
  Speaker 3: our work ethic was always the same. The way we
• 28:47
  Speaker 3: went about our business every single day was always the same.
• 28:50
  Speaker 3: We just couldn't catch a break. And then all of
• 28:52
  Speaker 3: a sudden we caught a break and got on a road.
• 28:55
  Speaker 3: We went fourteen in the road, we caught the New
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: York mess who was up ten and al half games.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: And I used to always tell these guys, once we
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: catch him, all they gonna see is ass and elbows.
• 29:06
  Speaker 3: And we called him and after that, all he seen
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: was ass and elbows. And believe me, our work ethic,
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: the way we were about our business every single day
• 29:16
  Speaker 3: when we was ten and a half games back, was
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: the same. We just couldn't catch a break. No matter
• 29:21
  Speaker 3: what we did, we couldn't catch a break. But we
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: kept preaching the same thing. We're not gonna stop our
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: work and we're not gonna stop doing with what we
• 29:30
  Speaker 3: know is right, not what we have to do, what
• 29:33
  Speaker 3: we know is right. Because if we know is right,
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: we will do what we have to do. So don't
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: worry about that I have to do this. No, just
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: keep doing what's right. And we did, and we caught
• 29:43
  Speaker 3: them ten and a half games back and took the lead,
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: won eighty nine games and won the World Series. Took
• 29:49
  Speaker 3: on the Dodgers who had eliminated us two years prior.
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: We had two years in a row where we went
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: to play the Dodgers and they got us. Here come
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: the third time when we saw him, this time we
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: were ready for him, and we got him. We got him,
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: We got him. We did just like we did in Texas.
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: We ran them off the field. They didn't know what
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: was happening. If you are not paying attention when you
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: looked up, what you didn't want to happen happened. That's
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: the way we played. If you not paying attention, and
• 30:23
  Speaker 3: I'm coming around the bag and I see you not
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: paying attention when you get that ball, I'm gonna be
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: at the next bag or be going to the next bag. Now,
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: you got to get your nervous system kicked in to
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: try to make a play to throw us off, to
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: throw us off in different directions. Are we safe? And
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: that's the way we beat the Dodgers. We took it
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: to him. We took it to him. They didn't expect it.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: They didn't expect it. But that's the type of team
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: I had. Well, I didn't have it. I was a
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: coach on that team. But that's the attitude we played with.
• 30:54
  Speaker 3: And that's the attitude of trying to get these guys.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: He'll understand you have to do, but they hard hated.
• 31:01
  Speaker 3: They're gonna eventually get it, but right now they're hard hated.
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: We wash in twenty two Atlanta or after you guys
• 31:08
  Speaker 4: won the World Series, you guys came through Texas. I
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: remember seeing you down the field.
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: Uh.
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: I think Lincoln and I met you down the field
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: pregame and my son Lincoln and you showed me your
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: ring and it was you know, it was awesome. But
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: I remember You're get an awesome interaction with with Ozzie
• 31:24
  Speaker 4: Alby's and you know, because you were out there, he
• 31:27
  Speaker 4: was your guy. You were going to do your program
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: with them, and and you had so many of those
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: you son of theirs related We talked about Javes about
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: Elvis Kinsler, Mike A long down the line, Albi's others.
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: You have these unique relationships. You put the word what
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: advice would you give coaches a young coaches in the
• 31:43
  Speaker 4: game today to like when they're looking at you and
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: seeing you know, you have your program, you have these relationships,
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: you have your way, your routines. But what are the
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: most important thing? What would you tell young coaches today
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: coming up in the game.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: To develop a relationship with the people that you're gonna
• 31:58
  Speaker 3: work with, not just work with them, develop a relationship,
• 32:02
  Speaker 3: learn who they are, learn what they're about. Because the
• 32:05
  Speaker 3: thing about the young coaches today with all this technology,
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: they rely on technology instead of relying on what they
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: see and what their instincts tell them they should do.
• 32:16
  Speaker 3: Because making a mistake is detrimental to the young coaches today.
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: They hate to make a mistake. I said, nobody in
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: this game is perfect. How can you not make a mistake?
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: And if you don't think you can make a mistake,
• 32:28
  Speaker 3: that's all you will do is make mistakes. And that's
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: what young coaches are doing today. It's making mistakes by
• 32:34
  Speaker 3: not developing a relationship and showing these kids that you
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: work in the game of baseball every day. There's no
• 32:42
  Speaker 3: days off. There's no days off. The days off is
• 32:45
  Speaker 3: on the schedule. That's when you get a day off.
• 32:49
  Speaker 3: Other than that, you got to come to the ballpark
• 32:51
  Speaker 3: and you got to prepare to be the best you
• 32:53
  Speaker 3: can be for yourself, the best you can be for
• 32:55
  Speaker 3: the teammate, the best you can be for the organization,
• 32:58
  Speaker 3: and if you slack up on any one of them,
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: you're hurting something. And so I'm around a bunch of
• 33:05
  Speaker 3: young coaches right now and I tell them, every day
• 33:08
  Speaker 3: work do maintenance work. Do maintenance work. Do maintenance because
• 33:15
  Speaker 3: they work today and they think the work they did
• 33:17
  Speaker 3: today is going to fix them for two or three
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: more days down the road. No, the work you do
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: today is for the day. You got to do work
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: for tomorrow. And when the mar comes and you do
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: work for tomorrow, you got to do work for the
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: next day. The work is ongoing. It never stops. So
• 33:34
  Speaker 3: if I had to give them advice, don't ever stop
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: working and make sure you got a maintenance program, because
• 33:40
  Speaker 3: all that work you do, you got to do things
• 33:42
  Speaker 3: to maintain it. And that's the secret. I mean, I'm
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: not gonna sit here and try to give you some
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: out of the world example of what I do and
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: how I do it. I just simple, I work and
• 33:56
  Speaker 3: I do maintenance, and the guys I deal with, I
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: develop a relationship ship and make them understand why we
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: do the work. And with the maintenance curtails work and
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: do the maintenance, develop a relationship.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Wash enough with these real serious questions. I got to
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: ask you this question the fan. The fans want to
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: know this. Who played you better? Brent Jennings and Moneyball.
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: Or little Wash in real life? Little Wash in real
• 34:22
  Speaker 3: life because Jenning he did all his coaching from the sideline.
• 34:27
  Speaker 3: When have you ever seen me coach from the sideline?
• 34:29
  Speaker 4: So Wash, what did Moneyball get right?
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: And what did it get wrong?
• 34:33
  Speaker 3: I think he got a lot of things right. It
• 34:35
  Speaker 3: had them belly some stuff to make it. It's all real,
• 34:38
  Speaker 3: but he got a lot of things right. It really did.
• 34:40
  Speaker 3: We We did do the things David Justice did do.
• 34:44
  Speaker 3: What Billy talked about. He talked to him in that
• 34:46
  Speaker 3: cage about when they said that Jeremy Giambi was dancing
• 34:52
  Speaker 3: on the table when we were getting out with butt whip,
• 34:54
  Speaker 3: that's not true. The trays he made that was true.
• 35:00
  Speaker 3: Tina was our first baseman, and Billy wanted Haddeberg to
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: be the first baseman because of haddeberg on base percentage,
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: and that was true. He traded him to Minnesota because
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: that was the only way Art was gonna play. Scott
• 35:13
  Speaker 3: Hadiberg the conversation that we had with Scott Hadeberg in
• 35:18
  Speaker 3: that movie. We had that conversation, but it was in
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Arizona. It wasn't at Hatteberg's house
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: at Christmas time. Well, they had to embellish that to
• 35:29
  Speaker 3: make it look to fit the story, but the conversation
• 35:31
  Speaker 3: was had in the words that was said in that
• 35:35
  Speaker 3: conversation about it being pretty difficult to play first base.
• 35:39
  Speaker 3: I said that, but I said that in Ron Washington terms,
• 35:42
  Speaker 3: in Phoenix Municipal statement. I didn't say it the way
• 35:45
  Speaker 3: they put it in the movie.
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: Well do you remember, I'm sure you do, but Game
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: six ALCS twenty eleven the Tigers. Before that game, it's
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: probably you know, six o'clock and I'm sitting in your
• 35:57
  Speaker 4: office and all of a sudden you feel his presidents
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: at the doors. There's these guys in suits and you know,
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: secret service and in comes you know President Bush and
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: President Bush is why don't you see that movie Moneyball?
• 36:09
  Speaker 4: And you're like, yes, sir, I saw that movie. Go
• 36:11
  Speaker 4: man that that actor played you wasn't worth it whatever, whatever,
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: you know, and he's all right, well, good luck tonight,
• 36:17
  Speaker 4: finish him off, you know it.
• 36:18
  Speaker 3: Was that was funny. He was funny. But he was
• 36:22
  Speaker 3: that type of guy.
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: I liked him, Yeah, very normal, I did.
• 36:24
  Speaker 3: I liked him. He was very personable, and he was
• 36:27
  Speaker 3: down the earth, you know, when he was out of
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: his element, he let his guards down. Yeah, when he
• 36:32
  Speaker 3: was in his element, he had to play the role
• 36:34
  Speaker 3: that he had to play. But I liked him. I
• 36:37
  Speaker 3: liked him. And he never came to that ballpark without
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: stopping in my office. Never.
• 36:41
  Speaker 4: That's cool.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: He was a huge fan. At the heart of it,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: he was a huge baseball fan. And he loved the
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Texas Rangers.
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, he did.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: And he enjoyed being part of those teams as much
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: as any of the rest of us did. And he
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: just happened to be his title just happened to be
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: President of the United States or former president of the
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: United States.
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: That's right. It's pretty remarkable. He was a class guy.
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: I thought you was. And I even told him, I said, Uh, George,
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: if I wasn't a Democrat, i'd have voted for you.
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah I was. He was very personable, Yeah he was.
• 37:13
  Speaker 3: He was very special.
• 37:14
  Speaker 4: I got another fun one that that I don't want
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: to I don't want us to miss this opportunity. But
• 37:20
  Speaker 4: Old Timers Day in Minnesota twenty ten. Watch I remember that.
• 37:27
  Speaker 4: I'll give it a little set up. And then you
• 37:28
  Speaker 4: got but you know, you're so they have us playing
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: that night. They have old Timers Day at whatever they get,
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: and our whole team was there because you were you
• 37:38
  Speaker 4: were playing in that, but you were just playing in that.
• 37:40
  Speaker 4: You were talking in an inordinate amount of shit about
• 37:43
  Speaker 4: how many hits you're going to get? Three mfing knocks.
• 37:45
  Speaker 4: I believe I heard you say a dozen times. And
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: we walked down. The batting cage is right behind the
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: dugout there, and so we're going out. Everybody's getting ready
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: for the game, to watch the game. Our players are
• 37:56
  Speaker 4: on the dugout, a bunch of us in the dugout,
• 37:58
  Speaker 4: and there is somebody in the age just waylaying balls,
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: just whacking ball, and look up and it is our skipper.
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: You got baseball pants on. You got a heater hanging
• 38:09
  Speaker 4: out of your out of your mouth, and you were
• 38:11
  Speaker 4: just taking just full on hacks, getting ready, and you
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: got a full lather going. You go out there, I think,
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: and you end up getting three hits off of hits.
• 38:20
  Speaker 4: Jack Morris, Burt Eddie buzzed you a couple of times,
• 38:26
  Speaker 4: knocked you down. But the highlight if so you get
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: your first two its. They have you playing center field
• 38:31
  Speaker 4: because you're you're still in really good shape. You know
• 38:34
  Speaker 4: a lot of the best athlete on the field by far,
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: and so they have you playing center field instead of shortstop.
• 38:39
  Speaker 4: But and there is a pop up and you get
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: you see it raft back you. You were coming full go,
• 38:46
  Speaker 4: and right as this ball is about to drop into
• 38:48
  Speaker 4: your glove, that left hand, he just about tears off
• 38:51
  Speaker 4: the bone our team. I'm not sure I've ever seen
• 38:54
  Speaker 4: a bunch of grown men enjoy like their friend's misery
• 38:58
  Speaker 4: quite as much as that moment. But to your credit,
• 39:01
  Speaker 4: you got back up there. You didn't need a designated runner,
• 39:04
  Speaker 4: but you got that last third hit.
• 39:06
  Speaker 3: I got that last hit. I told it. I told
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: her running you gonna get on base, and I got
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: a knock and I finished the game at second base.
• 39:14
  Speaker 3: I didn't leave even though my hamstring was missed up.
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: It's such a great moment.
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: Man. I finished that game, and I talked trash the
• 39:21
  Speaker 3: whole time, and I told those guys, I'm getting me
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: some knocks. Everybody else over there they might be messing around.
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: I ain't messing around. I'm gonna get me some knocks,
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: and I'm getting three of them. And I got three
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: of them.
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: The next day, I go, you know, next morning, Sunday
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: morning or whatever it was, go to get some coffee
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: in the in the hotel lobby, in the coffee bar,
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: and I see our assistant trainer, Kevin Harmon, and he's
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: in the back. He's like behind the counter, and he's
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: got a big plastic bag. He's harm What are you doing? Well,
• 39:49
  Speaker 4: I can't really say. He's filling a plastic bag with
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: ice out of the ice machine and the coffee. So
• 39:55
  Speaker 4: harm what do you do? I'm sworn to secret say,
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: I can't come on tell me. Finally I forced them
• 40:01
  Speaker 4: to tell me that that our skipper doesn't want to
• 40:03
  Speaker 4: come in and get treatment in the at the ballpark,
• 40:06
  Speaker 4: so he was having him treat his hamstring which was
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: probably black and blue up in his hotel room.
• 40:11
  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, because it made fun. It made too much
• 40:13
  Speaker 3: fun of it.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Wash, Well, I have to save for the next time
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: you come on. The other time you tore your hamstring,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: which was in Disney and Orlando, So.
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: I ended up having spring training there with the with
• 40:24
  Speaker 3: the with the Atlanta Graves.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: Yes, so I I want to ask you. We're gonna
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: let you run here because you actually are a major
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: league coach. You got to get over to the stadium.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: You were known for having some epic, hard to heart
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: conversations with umpires.
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: On the field.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: Can you share with the listeners some of those kind
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: of like I one of the highlights you have from
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: one of those conversations with like maybe a Joe West
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: or some character like that out there.
• 40:47
  Speaker 3: Well, Joe West, we was in Oakland and we had
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: just won the game the night before in uh Coco.
• 40:55
  Speaker 3: Chris was in center field and fly ball was hitting
• 40:58
  Speaker 3: to write centa field and it looked like to me
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: to scraped the wall. Joe had just thrown me out
• 41:02
  Speaker 3: the night before, and before the next morning game they
• 41:06
  Speaker 3: game played, he passed out with Doug out West. Wash,
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: I said, here, I am. He said, we got any
• 41:10
  Speaker 3: hard feelings? I said, Joe, I don't hold hard feelings.
• 41:13
  Speaker 3: I say, but if you screw up out there tonight,
• 41:14
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna come getting some of that booty. And I
• 41:17
  Speaker 3: didn't say brutal. So he went on out there, and
• 41:21
  Speaker 3: Coco went to right center field and looked like he
• 41:24
  Speaker 3: scaled the wall and the ball hit the wall. Joe
• 41:27
  Speaker 3: was standing on the right field line and never moved
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: and made a call. So I ran out there and
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: I said, Joe, what's going on? How can you make
• 41:34
  Speaker 3: that call from here? You can't see that. And he
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: looked at me and say, wash, I got gout. So
• 41:39
  Speaker 3: I just turned around. I just say nothing else and
• 41:41
  Speaker 3: walk back to the dugout. So Jackie Moore asked me,
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: he said, wash, what did Joe say? He said that.
• 41:46
  Speaker 3: I say, that's some of so and so and so
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: gonna tell me he got gout? Now, what can I say?
• 41:52
  Speaker 3: I can't say nothing. That's why he didn't move. So
• 41:54
  Speaker 3: that was a good one with Joe just threw me
• 41:56
  Speaker 3: out the night before and it wasn't his call. He was,
• 41:59
  Speaker 3: well on, I'm a third base line and he come
• 42:02
  Speaker 3: all the way over the first base and threw me out.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: You know, that wasn't the only time he didn't move
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: on the field. And I'm quite certain he didn't have
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: gout all the time.
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: No, but he told me he had gout and I couldn't.
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: After he told me that I was done, I said, now,
• 42:15
  Speaker 3: how can I continue to get in his butt? And
• 42:17
  Speaker 3: he just told me he got gout, That's why he
• 42:19
  Speaker 3: didn't move.
• 42:20
  Speaker 4: Wash.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: I wanted to just thank you on behalf of me
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: and JD, but on behalf of baseball.
• 42:25
  Speaker 5: Man.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: You are an absolute legend. You've given every ounce of
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: your heart to the game, and the game is better
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: for having had you in it. And we love you, man,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: and we.
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: Really love you guys too, and thank you for having
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: me on. And I enjoy anytime we get a chance
• 42:42
  Speaker 3: to get together and talk. I enjoy it. And it
• 42:45
  Speaker 3: doesn't always have to be about baseball, but I enjoy it.
• 42:49
  Speaker 3: And I thank you guys for all the kind things
• 42:51
  Speaker 3: y'all said this morning. And you know, in this industry
• 42:55
  Speaker 3: right now today and in this generation, guys like me,
• 43:00
  Speaker 3: players is just like you, just like an older player,
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: they don't care who you are, they really don't. I
• 43:08
  Speaker 3: designed some gloves the gloves that I use in my
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: drills and stuff. I designed them. And I walked into
• 43:14
  Speaker 3: a meeting the other day and they got my gloves
• 43:16
  Speaker 3: up in there showing them to meet about how nice
• 43:19
  Speaker 3: they are and this, that and the other. I say,
• 43:21
  Speaker 3: I designed it. They thought that was funny, their young group.
• 43:25
  Speaker 3: They thought that was funny. I said, there's a lot
• 43:28
  Speaker 3: about me. You guys don't know. I designed those gloves
• 43:32
  Speaker 3: because I got them the San Francisco Giants color. You know,
• 43:36
  Speaker 3: I had the company that makes them to send me
• 43:38
  Speaker 3: a few of them with the San Francisco Giants colors.
• 43:41
  Speaker 3: So and they look pretty, and they was making fun
• 43:45
  Speaker 3: of it. They was having fun. They wasn't actually making fun,
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: but they was having fun. And I just told them,
• 43:50
  Speaker 3: you guys don't know who I am. I'm sitting up
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: in there with y'all every day and y'all don't know
• 43:54
  Speaker 3: who the hell I am.
• 43:55
  Speaker 4: I'm confident by the end of this year they will
• 43:57
  Speaker 4: man and they'll be better for it. But like that said,
• 44:00
  Speaker 4: I there'd absolutely ton of love for you, my family.
• 44:04
  Speaker 4: You know, I still ask about you all the time.
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: But you told me a ton about baseball, a ton
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: about people, and really grateful for it.
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: Well, you gave me the opportunity to express myself, and
• 44:16
  Speaker 3: so since you gave me the opportunity to express myself,
• 44:19
  Speaker 3: I was giving everybody else the opportunity to express themselves.
• 44:23
  Speaker 3: So I wasn't able to do that if you and
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: Fad and your group didn't allow me to be the
• 44:27
  Speaker 3: leader there. So I appreciate that more than you ever know.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Well, watch if people's hearts and minds are open to
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: receiving gifts, there's no greater gift than you that you've
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: given to the rest of us. So we really appreciate you.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: Roster's rings appreciate you.
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: Okay, thank you so much.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: What an incredible conversation with JD and with Ron Washington.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: Thanks again to Wash for open his heart, his passion,
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: and his wisdom to all of our listeners. Love to
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: have him back on at some point. Truly a national
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: treasure for baseball. We're not turning our attention to our
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: listener questions With producer.
• 45:11
  Speaker 5: Jason, I just wanted to say, really quick, what a
• 45:14
  Speaker 5: cool episode that was with you and JD and Wash,
• 45:18
  Speaker 5: really really cool perspective on three people who've got to
• 45:21
  Speaker 5: do a ton of good work together.
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: So thanks for that man listener question today. Like you said,
• 45:26
  Speaker 2: we're going to do one justin g out of Chicago.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: We're forty two, forty three some games into the MLB season.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: He wants to know your thoughts on kind of the
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: bigger takeaways both in the American League and the National League.
• 45:41
  Speaker 6: And you know, we just want to throw the cave
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: yet that we don't want you to go two Brewers
• 45:45
  Speaker 6: crazy since your recent affiliation with them, but give us
• 45:49
  Speaker 6: the perspective that and let us know what's going on
• 45:52
  Speaker 6: in baseball forty two games in and what are we
• 45:54
  Speaker 6: looking for here.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: I will do that in Jason, I just want to
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: say thank you for your comments. Watch is one of
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: the most daring people I've ever met in my career,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: beloved by all of us who get to touch him,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: and I'm so happy that the listener's got a chance
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: to hear him speak for two episodes worth, and hopefully
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: we'll get him back on with regards to being at
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: the kind of quarter pole here. And I won't try
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: to go too Brewer centric on you guys. I think
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of takeaways that I see from a
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: team standpoint, and most of this will correct itself over time,
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: So let's call this the overreaction to forty some odd
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: games into the season. I look at the American League
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: and it's striking to me that only four teams have
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: winning records at this point. That's the Rays remarkably as
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: the best record, the Yankees not surprising, and then the
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: A's who finished close to last place last year in
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: the Guardians. And with those teams that have four winning records,
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: the A's are only one game above five hundred and
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: the Guardians are only two games about five hundred.
• 46:50
  Speaker 3: So we're actually close to.
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: Only having two teams in the entire American League who
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: have winning records. Of those teams, only four teams in
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: the whole league have outscored their opponents, which is an
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: incredible figure. The Mirrors add themselves to that list. It's Ray's, Mariners, Guardians,
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: and the Yankees. The Rays are an incredible twenty to
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: three against the American League, which is a staggering figure.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: They also have a losing record against the National League,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: which is a little surprising considering that the AL West,
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: which has been a extremely talented league a division rather
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: over the last handful of years, Houston has been a
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: dominant team. The world champion Texas Rangers have come out
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: of that division. That division is twenty four games below
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: five hundred forty games into the season. That is incredible.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: The American League as a whole has won has lost
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: more games than they've won. As a whole, they would
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: be on pace to be in the mid seventies in
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: terms of wins, also known as not eligible for the playoffs.
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: So now let's turn our attention to what's happening in
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: the other league. It's kind of a tail of two
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: leagues right now. The National League has eight teams that
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: have winning records, including the entire National Central The number
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: that is so staggering to me, Jason is the fact
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: that the National leaguett interleague plagued against the American League
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: is one hundred and eleven and eighty four. That is
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: just an incredible figure. If they held to this, this
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: would be the most dominant season ever that one league
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: would have over the other in terms of interleague play.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: We also have to touch on two teams that took
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: bold moves early in the season. We talked about the
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: Boston Red Sox making a managerial decision switching from Alex
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Cora to Chad Tracy. Well, they're five hundred since making
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: that move. They started the year ten and seventeen. They've
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: been seven and seven since that move. In contrast, the
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Phillies, who relieved Rob Thompson of his responsibilities as
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: manager and promoted Don Mattingly, are ten and three from
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: having since making that decision. So in one case, you
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: would say they've stabilized. In the other case, they've really
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: spiked the team forward. I'd be curious if both teams
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: do that as a success story, or really only one
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: does it this time. It's also the second time that
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: the Phillies have done this in the last five years.
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: It was Rob Thompson who replaced Joe Girardi and saw
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: the team's spike moving forward. Now it's Don Mattingly replacing
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: the very same Rob Thompson and seeing a spike moving forward.
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Pretty remarkable that that's happened twice in the same franchise,
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: involving one manager who got to replace somebody and now
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: is in turn being replaced. And when we talk about
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: the Nation League Central, it's really a remarkable tail right
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: now to say that all five teams are above five hundred.
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: It speaks a little bit to the fact that there
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: haven't been a lot of intra division games in that
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: division yet, so they've been able to win as a
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: division a lot of nights. Probably the biggest surprise so
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: far has been the Saint Louis Cardinals. This was supposed
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: to be a rebuilding your Heim Bloom's first year as
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: general manager, and I think you have to tip your hat.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: They've done a wonderful job of being extremely competitive. Cincinnati
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: Reds have weathered some real injuries. Early on, they were
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: the class of the division, and then they hit the
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: skids and have really had a tough run. They're the
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: only team in the division that has been outscored by opponents.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: But wait till they get healthy. They may go on
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: a run later, and then I think you've got to
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: really be excited. If you're in Pittsburgh. You're seeing some
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: of those young players come up and coalesce together as
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: a great group. They were aggressive this offseason and adding
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: the right free agents veterans to that group. That team
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: looks like it's here and it's here to stay. And
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: then I do think the Cubs and the Brewers are
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: the class of the division. It's hell proven otherwise, So
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: I think those two teams are kind of the heavyweights
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: in the division, but watch out for Pittsburgh and if
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: Cincinnati were able to get healthy, that starting rotation is
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: pretty vaunted. And then Saint Louis is the team that's
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: playing absolutely nothing to lose, and those are teams that
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: are extremely dangerous, and most teams that I've been around
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: that have been championship caliber usually show up a year
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: or two earlier than expected. I still think Saint Louis's
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: best days are on the horizon, but it's got to
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: be very encouraging for that market for them to be
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: playing as well as they have been so far. So
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: those are a few of my takeaways. Maybe even future
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: episodes will dive into some of the players that have
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: been really impressive. That's my assessment of how the teams
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: are doing here at the quarter pole.
• 51:02
  Speaker 6: Fair enough that I know, like you said, it's a
• 51:05
  Speaker 6: little early for that sample for everybody to go run
• 51:08
  Speaker 6: out and bet on the National League to win the
• 51:09
  Speaker 6: World Series, I think at this point.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: But well, you know, we always talk about small sample sizes,
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: but boy, it's fun to diagnose them because there's some
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: crazy numbers that come out of them, and we certainly
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: have discussed a few here in this episode. Absolutely well,
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: thank you for joining us this week and every week
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: on Rosters to Runs