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The Phillies Starting Pitching Is Stellar! (PST Episode 563) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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Hey there, I hope you're doing well. It's Jeff here at the PSD
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podcast show. We wanted to let you know that we recorded this podcast episode
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on Wednesday, April twenty fourth, twenty twenty four, so by the time
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you hear this, some things may have changed here or there, but we
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hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, you're listening to the
0:44
Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in
0:48
the world, eleven years strong. We appreciate you longtime listeners. If you're
0:53
new to the show, stick around. Think you'll enjoy the content. This
0:56
week, we're gonna be getting into the pay in the wa it's rather ridiculous
1:00
for women basketball stars, and we're asking the question, are the salaries of
1:06
WNBA players unfair? And from there, we're gonna get into this sixers series
1:10
with the Knicks. We've got some listener feedback. We're gonna be getting into
1:12
it with regard to the Sixers in Eagles. We're gonna give our thoughts on
1:17
the City connect jerseys that the Phillies have been wearing this season and what we're
1:21
throwing down on the table this week. We've got a great interview with Liz
1:23
Roscher from Yahoo Sports and a Hitting Season podcast over on w y Y and
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Philly, penn She's gonna join us for an in depth discussion about what we've
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been seeing from the Philadelphia Phillies. I'm Jeff Warren and I'm here by good
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buddy Eric Leonard. Eric, buddy, how are you man? I'm good
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man. I just got my hearing back, yes and yesterday, I think
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time yesterday afternoon. Yeah, my ears stopped ringing, I think yesterday.
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And what Eric's talking about is, we were in central Pennsylvania watching a grind
1:53
core show together and hanging out on Sunday night and it was fantastic. Yeah.
1:59
We saw the headline of his Big Destroyer, one of my top,
2:01
my god favorite, one of my top twenty favorite bands, not all time,
2:06
but like the past twenty years for sure. Yeah, and again,
2:08
folks, real quick, he did say pig Destroyer. That is the name
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of the band. They are fantastic. If you're into that stuff, if
2:15
you're into chaos, if you're into listening to chaos, you're gonna love them.
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They've been together twenty five years. So I was like, I was
2:21
looking at it. I was just like, holy shit. Their first record
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came out in ninety nine. It's twenty twenty four, and uh I rockaball
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Hall of Fame in five years. They're eligible, right, Yes, I
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think what they're letting in now. And I'm not one of those like oh
2:37
remember like like if they're gonna like go go grindcorep if you're going to go
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hip hop, you're going to go like all this did like why not?
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Like yeah, so why not? It was a great show. I I
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do have to say I wanted to hear a few songs. I got to
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hear all of them. I got to hear them all. They opened up
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with a song I wanted to hear, Grave Dancer. I got to hear
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the Torture Fields, which is probably my favorite song of theirs. I also
3:00
wanted to our listeners are going to be like, oh my god, what
3:04
are these guys freaking listen to? I wanted to hear Cheerleader Corpses and I
3:08
was able to hear that, and then they ended with with piss Angel Well
3:15
I'm sorry, Junkyard God. They closed with yes so yeah. But I
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got to hear all the songs I wanted to hear. It was it was
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a great show. They played Thumb Thumbsuckers, Lady Eve, they played Oh
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my God. That's the great thing about a grindcore band is the songs are
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so freaking short that you're gonna hear probably thirty and all the songs you want
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to hear. And dude, just the kinetic energy at a grind corp it's
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just bonkers, man, it really is. Like and the venue was fantastic
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too. It was my second time being there within three weeks. It was
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great. It was it was the love Draft Brewing Company out in Mechanicsburg,
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Pennsylvania. I would highly recommend folks if you do in the central Pennsylvania area,
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maybe you live down in York, Lancaster, uh, even in Philly,
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just drive out there. It's a really good venue. Probably about what
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three hundred people or so eric about Yeah, Yeah, it's perfect size and
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they kind of they lean kind of metal punk. Seeing Hot Water Music with
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Quick Sand there next month, so really really cool and everyone. One thing
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I noticed too, like sometimes with those kinds of venues, like back in
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the days of when I lived in Philly, the people who worked there tended
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to lean towards being assholes. Yeah, but yeah, everyone there was really
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nice, really cool. Everyone. The door guy was cool, like,
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no attitude. All the bartenders were cool, like. It's just what a
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weird spot. You're right in the middle of mechanics for Pennsylvania. There's a
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crabas and a like a sky zone like park. Yeah, and this place
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used to be, I think a wingstop in the middle of like suburbia.
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But they have crazy ass grind course shows on Sunday nights. So yeah,
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exactly. There might have been a furniture store or a mattress store right next
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to it as well. There was an Allie's. Yes, all right,
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well great, great times for sure, But we're having a little bit of
5:15
ups and downs here in the world of Philly sports, and we're certainly going
5:18
to get into the sixers in a little bit. But we've been talking a
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lot about women in sports and the rise of women sports in general on this
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podcast platform over the course of the past several months, Eric and of course,
5:33
as we know and across the sports world, we've all been keeping an
5:35
eye on Caitlin Clark. She is a phenom. We've been keeping an eye
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on where she is going to end up in the WNBA. She was drafted
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by Indiana. No real surprise there. And we've also read stories and have
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been focusing on how much she's going to be earning. Lots of stories,
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lots of articles, folks like us talking about this. So her salary just
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a little over three hundred and thirty eight thousand dollars over the course of four
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years, about eighty four thousand dollars per year she is going to be making
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as a WNBA basketball star. And then again she signs an eight year contract
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with Nike that was just released this week to twenty eight million dollars for that
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eight year contract. Eric, the pay in the WNBA is rather ridiculous for
6:26
women basketball stars that we can maybe get into why that is. And like
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I mentioned earlier at the top of the show, asking the question, here
6:32
are the salaries of WNBA players completely unfair? And there's always that back and
6:40
forth you're gonna get with some folks about the market who wants to see the
6:45
product out on the court. In twenty twenty three, for some context,
6:49
the NBA and its players agreed to split the league's basketball related income, which
6:56
is like TV deals, ticket sales fifty to fifty that's going to last until
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twenty twenty nine, and up until just a couple of years ago, from
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my understanding, eric WNBA had been completely owned by NBA based teams as well,
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So there's that part of the equation as well. And again it's it's
7:15
a fifty to fifty basic split at this point as to ownership and what is
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happening with these dollars here. I mean, the WNBA has a rookie pay
7:26
scale and a salary cap too, but their collective bargaining agreement means that numbers
7:30
are gonna fluctuate, So I don't know. I wanted to get your take
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on this and kind of talk about this just because we've been talking about whether
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it's Caitlin Clark or just the rise of you know, women's basketball and women's
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sports in general. Like, what are your thoughts here with this? Well,
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hopefully I was looking at the average contract of WNBA players and it's pretty
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paltry when you see the numbers, and it was kind of like when I
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was back in the days when I was an employee. I was making more
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than Clark annually. Yes, but the I just looked it up. The
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average team networth is sixty six million dollars per per franchise, and obviously the
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salaries have to start going up here soon, like and and it's why,
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it's why I was surprised a little bit, but not totally surprised by kind
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of the the shit that Caitlin Clark took when she was about to come into
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the league, into the Draftdana Tarassi being the most vocal, like really giving
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it to her, like you think you're just going to walk in and then
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just take over, and like just it ain't gonna happen. Yep. I
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was like, hey, guys, guess what, She's going to bring money
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with her and a lot of more cachet for some of these franchises, and
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salaries are going to start to go up because of people like her. But
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I get the competitiveness though, you know, it's been in the league for
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a long time. Makes sense that they're like, you know, all right,
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rookie, we got you to be dressed. But at the same time,
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she brings twenty eight million dollars Nike contracts to the table, so obviously,
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with the average being sixty six million per franchise, the salaries are pretty
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pathetic in my opinion. What I'm hoping does happen is kind of what happened
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in the NBA days in the late seventies when the NBA was like completely falling
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apart. In the late only like three or four franchises were worth the damn
9:20
worth any money. A lot of teams were like possibly going to go out
9:24
of business, bad ownership, but also just kind of the product wasn't there.
9:26
And then you know, bird Magic came about nineteen eighty and things just
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completely turned around, and by like the mid to late eighties, the salaries
9:35
were through the roof compared to where they were in the late seventies. I'm
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hoping something like that happens with the advent of Kaitlyn Clark and some of these
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other stars are going to be the woman from USC or UCLA. I think,
9:48
what's her name, She's going to be like the next the next Kaitlyn
9:52
Clark. I forget her name, she was in the tournament, but hopefully
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like forgetting her name too darn. Some of these new stars and higher pro
10:00
file, bigger spotlight on the sport will bring like more, We'll bring contracts
10:03
that I can't relate to as opposed to now I can relate to these contracts
10:09
because it's kind of what we make annually. Yeah, is Juju Watkins?
10:11
Is that? Yes, it's Juju Watkins. So when I look at this,
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I'm trying to look at this to you. You mentioned the historical perspective,
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and I think that's important for folks to keep in mind too, because
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I view the WNBA as still being at a five decade disadvantage here. I
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think it'd be an uphill battle to switch the timeline of the season, you
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know, add more games, relocate teams, or even put up new venues.
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You know, it's going to be an uphill battle because the the NBA,
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like I said, has a five decade advantage over the WNBA at this
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point. So I think I think that's the reality. It's going to take
10:54
some time for the WNBA to potentially catch up, if they ever even do
10:58
catch up to where the NBA is. But there's a lot of talk,
11:03
of course online and on on shitty Twitter slash acts about nobody wants to really
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see the product, so you know that's why they don't get paid that much.
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Just shut the hell up. It's it's the most ignorant and just stupid
11:16
argument that I've ever heard. It's just a bunch of knuckle draggers. You
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know. Well, I think the big piece of it too is sure,
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it's it's it's it's a niche sport, it's niche programming for for television and
11:31
but that but we're in the age of Nietzsche. Niche, niche, niche.
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Okay, we're like that that that everything's niche now, you know.
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I mean like like Hulu, Netflix Prime, like every there's like somebody be
11:46
like, hey, did you see that new show Blue Blue Doors? Second,
11:50
like no, where is it some peacock dark Like Okay, what the
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fuck are we talking about? Like that's where Like that's where we're at with
12:00
entertainment now. It's like why w NBA can fit in the sports world.
12:03
Like that's and I one thing I did think about, like they the schedule
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they had, like the time they play is actually pretty good because it's it's
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kind of a dead period the NFL is not really going, but it does
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kind of go up against the NFL near the end, and what they have
12:20
to do I think is like kind of fear out, what what's their day,
12:24
what's their night? Like like in basketball T and T Thursday nights like
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that is it on and then on Saturdays after the NFL is over Saturday Night
12:33
ABC games, the Big National Game. Like do like during the football season,
12:37
should they just take over Tuesday? Yeah? Like that's that's the one
12:43
day out of the week the NFL is not, like, right, you
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know, like Tuesdays. What about And I know this may be this may
12:52
be pushing it, but what about like holiday too, because like the NFL
12:56
has Thanksgiving Day, I mean, the the NBA has always had Christmas Day,
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and now the NFL is treading on them a little bit in terms of
13:05
the NFL having games on on Christmas as well. So I feel like they
13:09
need to have something like I don't know, Fourth of July. Yeah,
13:13
yeah, fourth Life and have like an in season tournament like the NBA just
13:20
had, but have it over the Fourth of July weekend. Yeah. Yeah,
13:22
that'd be great. That'd be great. I'd love to know your thoughts
13:24
out there, Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd love to read
13:28
your email here on the show and respond to it. We're gonna get to
13:31
some listener feedback in a little bit. But sticking with the basketball theme here,
13:37
Eric man the Sixers Man, they don't appear to be getting out of
13:41
the first round this postseason, joe El Embiid is injured, just having a
13:46
tough time out there. Officiating has been more than questionable. I don't want
13:50
to sit here and say the Sixers are losing these games simply because of officiating,
13:54
but it just doesn't appear to be the Sixers year here. You know,
13:58
hopes were high and then Joel Embiid's meniscus just took a turn for the
14:03
worst, as we all know. And I gotta say it, like two
14:07
weeks ago, I felt like, you know, we're talking on this show.
14:09
We're excited, We're like, you know what, They've got some momentum.
14:13
They've really they've really got some momentum, and I think they're going to
14:15
be able to do this. And my god, the inability of certain players
14:20
on this team to step up in certain situations, it astonishes me. And
14:24
the more I look at the playoff picture over over the years, and I
14:28
think we all know this, but we all kind of don't talk about it
14:30
too much. You've got somebody like Jalen Brunson, somebody like Joel Embiid,
14:33
Like, you have two superstars and you're the basketball guy here, So tell
14:37
me if I'm wrong. You have two superstars and I feel like they like
14:41
cancel each other out in a way. They cancel each other out. So
14:46
the guys like Kelly Oubray and and even Tobias Harris, those are the guys
14:50
that needs some meaningful minutes out there. But we making the best use of
14:56
those minutes and scoring buckets. I know it sounds so simplistic, but because
15:01
the superstars kind of cancel each other out in a way, you need the
15:05
fringe guys to really be able to step up. And we just haven't seen
15:09
that with the Sixers. We really haven't seen. I mean, Tyress Maxie
15:13
has been been doing really well. Oh by the way, Tyresse Maxi winning
15:16
Most Improved NBA Player of the Year. Congratulations to him. Anyway, it's
15:24
it's just been such a bummer man, watching the Sixers team early on in
15:28
this early on in this first round. Yeah, it was, uh that
15:35
It's funny that Game two loss. It's really upset over it, but not
15:43
not about officiating like that. I was actually kind of embarrassed as a Sixers
15:46
fan watching the reaction on Twitter and Instagram. Yeah, and even the six
15:50
Ers franchise like filing a grievance or whatever or what are you nerds doing?
15:56
Like you just you lost. Like the reason he lost was not because of
15:58
the non rep the miscall is because you left your balls on the bench and
16:04
couldn't get a rebound and got out manned by a smaller, more aggressive team.
16:10
And that's why you lost. Yeah to box, Harris was standing there
16:15
with a with a what's the what's the thing that like a pinwheel? Pinwheel?
16:21
Yeah, just blowing the pinwheel. Who oh, defense, Gen's got
16:26
a rebound. I'm just standing here like an asshole like that like that.
16:29
That's what pissed me. That's why the game it was. And here's do
16:33
you see what I mean from what I was saying before. You know,
16:34
you have like Jalen Brunson and Joel Embiid. They're the superstars and they kind
16:38
of cancel each other out in a way, and you need these other guys
16:41
to be able to step up, and they didn't. And Jalen Brunson has
16:45
kind of sucked the first two games. Let's just let's just say it like
16:48
that. That's the downside to this this series so far. He was he
16:52
was not good in Game two. It wasn't very good in game one either,
16:56
and like for their superstar to have a completely off night and ours to
17:00
like kind of do his best. Embeid, like you should have won at
17:03
least one of those games, at least one of those games, and to
17:07
not and to have it to have you to get for them to bully the
17:12
win out of you, like that's pathetic, like that, Like that that's
17:15
what really bothered me most. I love how MAXI stepped up in game two.
17:19
He was fucking awesome. He took it to Brunson. Brunson was off
17:22
and he took advantage of Brunson. Yeah, and I was like, he
17:26
was way better than Brunson, and he's gonna get paid in this offseason,
17:30
which he deserves. It was the fringe guys, but it was it Kelly,
17:37
you Bray just not good enough. No Buddy Healed, For God's sake.
17:42
I will drive fucking Buddy Heel to the airport as soon as the season's
17:45
over. Get off my team. He looked scared to death. He was
17:48
an MSG probably huge playoff moment, and he sucked balls. He was really
17:53
bad. Your whole job is to shoot three pointers. Come off the bench.
17:57
You can't even play more than ten minutes. Obviously something wrong with you.
18:00
Obviously you're scared. Nick nurse By. I saw his eyes and was
18:03
like, oh, this guy don't have it here, hopefully do it at
18:07
home. And but let's just face it, the whole key is that embiid
18:14
knee is knee's ripped up. He somehow has a weird eye thing after game
18:19
one? Yeah, what the hell? Like this guy is everyone has the
18:25
one kid, like either on your tea or this as a parent, there's
18:29
always one kid that gets hurt all the time and just it's just always sick
18:32
or always hurt and beads that person he's that NBA star and uh it's kind
18:38
of it's it's starting to get like, uh, oh he's gonna be thirty
18:42
or he is thirty? Yeah, is this it? Like? Are we
18:45
gonna we have one more season with this dude and then he's he's gonna go
18:51
I want out. So I think to myself, though, it's every fucking
18:57
season, Eric, every fucking season where it's the end of the regular season
19:04
or it's the playoffs and he's hurt and I love him, We love him,
19:10
My god. We've been talking about in this podcast for how long about
19:12
how much we love him and want him to stay here forever and ever and
19:17
ever, but he is fucking hurt constantly every year, and in that little
19:23
voice in the back of my head says, maybe he shouldn't be here and
19:27
maybe they need to go in a different direction. As much as that pains
19:30
me, because he's the He's the greatest here in Philadelphia right now, in
19:33
my opinion, he's still the greatest athlete here in Philadelphia. You know,
19:37
reigning MVP is still to this day, you sounded like ten year old me
19:42
with Mike Schmidt. He should be in the team forever and ever. That's
19:48
all I know. It's yeah, God, it's just really I thought of
19:56
this last I thought it was tonight driving hill from basketball practice. But my
20:02
team has more balls than the Sixers right now, by the way, they're
20:03
they're eleven years old. So the Sixers losses in the playoffs, I can
20:11
actually take back to some of the worst Eagles losses playoff losses. Yeah,
20:15
and you can actually define them based on how I felt after in two thousand.
20:22
In two thousand, right, two thousand and one, Eagles lost to
20:26
the Rams. It was one of those Oh man, they'll be back next
20:30
year. That was tough, but god damn it, that was a great
20:32
season. Two thousand and two, the lost Tampa Bay. I was distraught.
20:36
I was upset. It was awful. And then the next year they
20:38
lost to the Panthers and I was like, fuck this team. I fucking
20:42
hate this team. Nixers right now. Man, the twenty nineteen against the
20:48
Raptors, absolutely in the toilet, just one of the most worst feelings of
20:53
all time. Kawhi hits the game, Uhi shot that was probably that's still
20:56
probably one of the worst for me. And then the Celtics last year,
21:02
I was just angry, like fuck, And this year I'm trying I'm gonna
21:06
I'm trying to figure out if they lose in the first round, what where
21:07
am I going to put that one? Is it? Like, did they
21:11
made a good effort? Which no, it's not it. I'm not sure
21:15
where my good effort season is for the Sixers in the playoffs and might maybe
21:19
it was the season before the twenty nineteen season, but like, I'm just
21:23
trying to figure out where that this one's gonna go because going in number one,
21:27
that's all that's on you and I do we know do not get up.
21:30
Do not get up for your teams. I feel like, yeah,
21:33
they're gonna kicking the balls every time. We were stupid on the show for
21:37
saying we're feeling good about them, you know. But if they if they
21:42
just go out and six in the first round, this this might be a
21:48
a fuck you, I'm mad two thousand and three Eagles versus the Panthers,
21:52
oh kind of situation. Yeah, yeah, I wonder where we're gonna I
21:56
wonder how it's gonna feel when it happens. I'm saying when it happens when
21:59
they are knocked. You know, look, forty five seconds away from a
22:03
massive Game two victory, but somehow they managed to put together one of the
22:07
most depressing losses in their tortured recent history here, And I think it's gonna
22:15
go down. Not as bad as the Kauhi shot in twenty nineteen, not
22:19
that bad, I don't think. But man, it's definitely top three.
22:23
I think I think this Game two was top three for sure. Yeah,
22:27
it's up there. That was a real bummer. I didn't like Helen bid
22:32
in the postgame interview has head down the whole time. Yeah, I know
22:36
he's upset, but like, dude, you gotta you're the face of the
22:38
franchise. Like we've everyone's gone. Ben Simmons is gone, Jimmy's gone,
22:44
Tobias's still here, thank god. Hey he was in the shower with his
22:48
pinwheel and me, Hey, asshole, you're six' ten. Don't get
22:56
a rebound exactly, Yes, like that play some dang in a rebound.
23:02
You can't shoot. You can't do anything like I I when the day he's
23:07
gone and we took Jimmy, we let Jimmy walk. Oh my god,
23:14
it's what like again, I'm talking we have to have a seven hour process
23:18
show someday. Yes, we have to and just go over all the keynotes
23:22
and letting Jimmy go and keeping this asshole is top three. Probably. Well,
23:29
we're gonna have to get to a break here. We got to regroup.
23:32
We got to regroup after that one. Oh my gosh. I haven't
23:34
talked about that six ers loss since it happened. I didn't discuss with anybody,
23:37
So you were had to give me like five minutes because I was working
23:41
through some therapeutic There you go. Yes, subscribing whatever podcast platform you are
23:48
on, Rate and review us on Apple Podcast If anything happens to your feed,
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head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. We've got all of
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our shows over there, and we'd love to get some listener feedback from you
23:57
on anything in the world of Phillies sports or the sports world in general.
24:02
Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. Follow Eric on the Twitter slash x
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at Brick Pollitt. You can follow me at Jeffrey Underscore Warren in the show
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at Philadelphia PST. I'm on threads at Mister jeff Warren. Eric is there
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at Slen ten twenty three and the show at Philadelphia Sports Table. We're gonna
24:21
take quick break to pay some bills. We'll be back in just a bit.
24:25
All right, We are back here, and thankfully we're gonna be getting
24:29
into some listener feedback. The same nice lady who shout us off some listener
24:33
feedback last week, Lenn and I read that on the show and responded,
24:37
she sent another one this week, and we're gonna be getting into it.
24:41
Our good friend from South Carolina, April Hershey. April writes to us and
24:45
said thanks for putting my email questions on the show and the eleventh anniversary show,
24:52
No less so proud to say that I have been here since the start.
24:56
Then she goes into the sixth so we're gonna get we got some more
24:59
six here, Eric, Okay, got some more sixers, says I watched
25:03
Embiid struggle to get up and down the court last night and therefore totally agreed
25:06
with Len's assessment again of how the Knicks may just try to wear him out
25:10
each night. I hope they pull some wins at home. I thought of
25:14
how Eric must have been yelling at the TV at last night's game as last
25:18
night's game came to an end. I know I was shaking my head.
25:22
So I don't know if you want to respond to that. I mean,
25:25
yeah, I mean we're yelling at the TV. I know you specifically were
25:29
in the first game, and you know I was saying the Len last week.
25:33
They're just gonna try to tire him, beat out. They're going to
25:34
try to use his injury against him, and it seems like it certainly has
25:37
been working for him well. And their head coach Tom Thibodeau is a defensive
25:42
genius and what they what they're doing is they're dragging and beat out of the
25:47
lane. Yeah, on defense, making him move around he's trying his best
25:51
to stay in the lane. But when you know, when their center forget
25:55
the guy's name right now, when he's when they're constantly around the perimeter,
26:00
any bitch, I'm sorry. Well guess what. So were the Sixers after
26:03
Game two? Yes, I was again, I yes, April, I
26:08
was. I was yelling, but I was more so yelling like like,
26:12
I wasn't even yelled at Embiid. It was just the lack of effort at
26:15
the end of the game, not getting rebounds, like that's what I was
26:18
yelling at. I was, you know, And and I was also like
26:22
watching the brilliant coaching by Tom Thibodeau to tire Embiid out, which is not
26:26
that hard, by the way, I credit to Tom Tibodau and a certain
26:32
fashion to make Joel Embiid a little tired. It's not Hartenstein made made Embiid.
26:37
Look. Oh God, I just Hardenstein. I can't stand him.
26:41
I can't stand them. Well they made they made Embid's defensive prowess obsolete in
26:45
his specialty of blocking shots. What's you know he's if he's out the perimeter
26:48
and not moving, he's completely useless. So yes, yes, yeah,
26:53
April, Yes, I was angry, but for other reasons. April also
26:56
goes on to say, also, Jeff, while you were reading off the
27:00
list of Eagles players that we now have through twenty twenty six, the first
27:04
thing that popped into my head was that's a super Bowl team. Damnit,
27:08
April, I think you jinxed it on here. Len is exactly right about
27:12
how they need, how they need to draft for right now. So excited
27:17
to see what magic how he creates next week really quick. Yeah, just
27:22
to let you know, Eric, Len and I got into what the team
27:26
is actually gonna look like. The guys under contract until twenty twenty six,
27:30
and this was after Devonte Smith got his contract extension, and the team is
27:34
just stacked. The team is absolutely stacked right now. Of course, injuries
27:38
are gonna happen to some players, but that's why she's saying, it looks
27:41
like a super Bowl team. And this team's gonna look a little different after
27:45
the draft, and a lot of folks are going to be listening to this
27:47
after the draft, which is why we really don't have much Eagles talk on
27:49
the agenda hear for this particular podcast episode. But look, they're a team
27:55
that's gonna be contending. I think in the NFC this coming season. As
27:57
disappointing as last year was that fall off, that collapse, I think this
28:02
Eagles team has a ton of talent. There's some new coaching, of course,
28:06
as we know from an offensive coordinator standpoint, defensive coordinator standpoint, Vic
28:10
Fangio coming in. Can't wait to see what he is going to do with
28:14
the talent that is there on defense. And hopefully we're going to getting some
28:17
new talent in the draft here. So I don't know. I'm really excited
28:21
to where this Eagles offseason is right now and where they're going to go this
28:23
coming season. Yeah. And and the guys they have having a contract are
28:27
the right players having a contract. That's the other piece of this. They
28:30
didn't they didn't resign. They didn't make any bad signings like Jordan my Alotta
28:36
resigning. Brilliant yep, Devant Smith brilliant like that. Those are the guys
28:40
you want to be around, just attitude wise and just talent level. I
28:45
will say this, he how he gets credit every year for making great draft
28:52
moves, great draft picks. The two defensive linemen they took the past two
28:56
years Jordan Davis and helped me out. I'm drawn to playing Jail Carter Jalen
29:02
Carter. I I like him. I'll give Jalen Carter a little more leeway.
29:08
But like, is Jordan Davis a guy or is he a is he
29:12
kind of a specialty player? Just a big as dude you play two downs?
29:18
Like, I'm not sure if he's a three down defensive tackle. And
29:19
I love the moves. I like the balls on how he's maneuvers, but
29:25
like, at the same time, it's like we kind of give him credit.
29:27
It's like, but are we seeing that on the field? Are we
29:30
just giving him credit for the for the moves and he's out thinking everybody,
29:34
but the talent on the field not quite equivalent with the moves. Yeah.
29:38
Absolutely. And look, I think I talked to Brandon Lee GOUTONBLG from Bleeding
29:44
Green Nation dot com on the Table Talk show this past week. Head to
29:47
head back in the feed and listen to it. It was a great discussion,
29:49
folks. I think a storyline that's just not getting enough attention is the
29:53
offensive line with Jason Kelsey retiring and conventional wisdom says the cam Jurgen is going
30:00
to be moving from right guard over to the center position. We're gonna have
30:03
two brand new starters at different positions on the offensive line, and yes,
30:07
well, Jeff Stoaltlin's awesome. I am still a bit concerned about what that
30:11
means for the offensive line and what it means for the offense in general,
30:15
in terms of people gelling with each other. There's gonna be a brand new
30:18
center, a brand new right guard, and I'm a little concerned about Everybody
30:23
says Saquon Barkley is gonna be running all over the place. I think he's
30:26
gonna have a pretty good year, but I don't. I don't necessarily.
30:29
I'm not gonna say right off the bat that he's gonna be killing it by
30:32
any stretch. Two new offensive line starters at different positions. There's there's a
30:36
little concern there that I have. That's more of a concern. You don't
30:41
lose one of the hearts of the team, one of the best centers of
30:42
all time, and not take a step back. Yes, it's gonna happen.
30:47
That's why the resigning of my Alotta and some of the talk now of
30:52
Eagles moving up and taking the tackle kind of makes sense. Honestly because that
30:55
goes along with lens perspective, and I agree with the wholeheartedly. Drafford.
30:59
Now, like you can trade some second rounders to move up and get the
31:03
guy you want because you've got a window of like you know, that is
31:07
the funny, like a lot of Like I think most people understand this,
31:10
but some don't. Where it's like, well, the Eagle's got like five
31:12
seven year windows, Like, No, they don't, right, It's not
31:15
five or seven years. No, it's like a two year window. And
31:18
that's every NFL team. That's just how it works, right. There's so
31:21
many changes every year and every sport in the NFL, especially because the way
31:25
contracts where you can cut guys and restructure contracts. But yeah, you should
31:30
be drafting with this team, especially for right now, and looking at it
31:33
as a two year window. Absolutely. Uh. April finishes and concludes her
31:38
email by saying, got any recommendations for me while I'm in Philly next weekend.
31:44
I'm driving down from Newark Sunday afternoon and plan to check into the hotel
31:47
and park the car staying across from the stadium so I can walk. But
31:51
I'd love a recommendation on some good food, hangout spots before and after the
31:55
game that are relatively close by and not full of tour so, I don't
32:00
know, you may want to stay away from Exfinity. So April Jeff sent
32:07
me the email and I've I have some perfect spots for you pregame. They're
32:13
a little They're a little north of the stadium, about a mile or so.
32:16
So if you want to take an uber or the broad Street line up
32:21
up a stop or two, go up to paschyonk Avenue, New Bold section
32:25
or Point Breez section of South Philly, not that far from the stadium at
32:29
all, I would recon I'll hit you up on Facebook Messenger with some spots
32:34
that are really cool. The tourists won't go there, believe me. They're
32:37
far enough away and kind of like hipster ish but fun like gastro kind of
32:40
pubs. And then after the game you're kind of on your own. But
32:46
I guess Exfinity Live I don't know it's right there, but I have some
32:51
really good places for you. I'll send it to you, like the north
32:53
of the stadium that have really good food, drinks, the whole deal.
32:59
And believe me, the bridge and Tunnel crowd. Crowd will not be will
33:04
not be those spots. So yeah, in terms of I mean, everybody
33:07
always talking about the cheese steaks and stuff like that. I look at Eric,
33:12
He's like, you know whatever, and I doubt you're gonna be up
33:15
around uh dellas Sandro's in Northwest Philly. But if you are anywhere near Market
33:21
Street, I gotta say, and I came to love Sonnies on Market Street
33:27
because of where Eric and his wife used to live in close proximity. It
33:30
was always great. I think they have just amazing cheese steaks. So if
33:34
you're up there in Old City, right on Market Street there, Sonny's is
33:37
fantastic. Sunny's is my spot, best cheese fries in the city. Oh
33:43
yes, yep, absolutely all right. Moving on to some baseball talk,
33:47
but specifically with regard to jerseys, we're gonna give our thoughts on the City
33:52
Connect jerseys that the Phillies have been wearing this season. As many of us
33:55
know, these jerseys are an ode to the past, present, and future
34:00
of the city of Philadelphia. Blue and yellow are the colors. Boy,
34:05
my father in law was none too pleased when he saw this. He's like,
34:08
they're supposed to be red and white, maybe with some blue, and
34:13
he was none too happy, and I'm like, I'm like, Dad,
34:16
it's an ode to the city. It's the city flags colors, you know.
34:22
And other teams throughout Major League Baseball have been doing this. In fact,
34:24
a lot of teams were doing it last year as well. Philly is
34:29
finally catching up here. But I gotta tell you, I like these.
34:31
I will say that I like the overall design. I like the fiery type
34:37
of look to them. I will say seeing Trey Turner's number seven jersey,
34:44
like the number seven on the back looks so stupid. It looks ridiculous.
34:47
Some of the numbers look ridiculous. But I like the jerseys overall. I
34:52
think they're slick. I think they're sleek as well. And it's just a
34:55
little something different when we have gone through seen jerseys throughout these years where it's
35:05
at different times, different time periods within Phillies sports or the Phillies world.
35:10
My gosh, freaking words salab rate here. I can't freaking talk for shit.
35:15
So you're tossing a sal there, but you can actually see the words
35:23
like falling out of his mouth. It's just ridiculous. Oh my gosh,
35:28
what I'm saying here at this point. Anyway, I love the City Connector
35:30
I shouldn't say I love them. I like them. I do. Some
35:34
of the numbers are ridiculous on the back, but overall, I like them.
35:37
I don't know what are your thoughts. I'm sure the players are happy.
35:39
You know, you can't see their balls. Guys are bending over seeing
35:47
fruit baskets. It was, it's it's okay, it's not my first My
35:57
first initial reaction was like, we're that. Where's the powder blues? Just
36:00
go powder blue? The Thursday Afternoon uniforms. Those are the most beautiful uniforms
36:06
ever made. But I'm not like your your father in law, I'm like,
36:10
yeah, he was none too pleased. Yeah, but it kind of
36:15
reminded me a little bit of like, uh, like the Marlins, like
36:17
the nineties. The look. It was kind of I don't know, it's
36:21
not my thing. It's okay, I I I understand the flag, the
36:27
city flag, but like, why, like, yeah, did the blue
36:31
and yellow thing with the with the uniforms. Yeah, but wasn't that from
36:36
like back in the sixties. That's what the uniforms look like back in the
36:37
sixties. I guess it's terrible. I know this is not a popular opinion,
36:43
but I was. I was a huge Eagles fan living downtown, and
36:46
when they did the all black uniform thing, you know, people are excited
36:51
for that. I thought it look stupid. You're just trying to sell you
36:55
know, you're just trying to sell jerseys, and I wasn't into it.
36:59
I kind of feel like that that's what this is. All right, let's
37:04
get off the city connect thing for just a second. I've thought about this
37:07
often. What makes a good jersey? What makes a jersey appealing? Why
37:14
do people like certain jerseys and some people absolutely dislike certain jerseys. I don't
37:19
understand it. I never have. Look, there are certain jerseys I think
37:22
look absolutely stupid. And if I'm if I'm gonna be honest, I am
37:29
not the biggest fans of the old seventy six ers jerseys, like the black
37:32
ones with the you know, the old AI what. Yeah, I like,
37:38
I can actually say those I think kind of stink. But overall,
37:43
like when teams are rolling out jerseys or like, okay, this is the
37:45
new Atlanta Falcons jersey. You know, this is going to be the new
37:49
Buffalo Sabers jersey or whatever it is. And I'm like, I don't know
37:52
what's good or bad when it comes to jerseys necessarily. I mean I do
37:57
know, Like I said that Sixers jersey, the black one from back in
38:00
the day was written from the early nineties or I'm sorry, the late nineties,
38:04
early two thousands. That was kind of ridiculous. I thought it was.
38:07
But I don't know what's good. I don't know what's bad. Look,
38:12
nothing will be worse than like the ninety five ninety six era six Ers
38:15
jerseys, whereas up the side set six Ers, Oh that's right, yes,
38:20
or yeah, maybe the worst jerseys of all time, the Dan and
38:22
Barrows Sarah. I think I've actually had this discussion with Land a couple of
38:28
times. We kind of lived together and just boord as hell had nothing to
38:32
talk about, So like I kind of think, like it's where who you
38:38
are is kind of are you an old soul or do you like new stuff?
38:45
Okay, Lenn and I have always been in kind of old souls,
38:47
and we gravitate towards like whenever we talk about, like name a city,
38:52
give me the best jersey, right, like Detroit Tigers jerseys the classics,
38:59
maybe one of the best of all time. They're great. Yeah, simple
39:02
D on the chest like that. I love that, right, Like the
39:06
Astros jerseys of like the eighties were just said Astros horrible. They aren't terrible,
39:14
yes, but give me that old school like just uh, I don't
39:17
know, I've always gone I've always gone classic. Simple, Like the Detroit
39:22
Red Wings jerseys are just phenomenal, Like they're just beat the Flyers. Unfortunately
39:27
I love I love you, buddy, but they obviously rip them off.
39:32
But I and I mean hell I I the Knicks jerseys are just classic.
39:37
It's just Nicks blue and white, red, white and blue and orange or
39:42
not red but orange, orange and blue. Yeah, perfect like that,
39:45
don't get too stupid with it. Having said that, I think the City
39:50
connect thing was major League Baseball's attempt to draw some younger fans, like they
39:55
obviously, my god, the attendance is down this year. I'm not that
40:00
one of those guys. It's like, oh, the ratings are down.
40:01
They intended to like they have a they have a crisis in that not that
40:07
people aren't going into games, it's that that their fan base is our age.
40:09
Yeah, like that's that's a fucking problem because we're old. Dude,
40:15
my son needs to be a fan, not me. I'm forty seven,
40:16
he's eleven, right, But he noticed that uniform is like, that's kind
40:21
of cool. I was like, okay, well that's there. Yeah,
40:23
that's probably what they're trying to do. And I get that because they look
40:27
like I could see kids wanting to get that kind of jersey. By the
40:30
way, we did see one guy at the Grindcore show and Pig Destroyer with
40:36
the Philly connect hat. I guess kind of, hey, yeah, he
40:39
very nice. Here here you go. You know, I guess you're right.
40:45
I think I'm probably more of a traditionalist as well, because I mean,
40:47
just look at the Kelly Green jerseys, the Eagles Kelly Green jerseys.
40:51
Everybody loves them because it's a traditional based jersey. And look how well that
40:55
entire campaign did over the course of this past year, and especially when they
41:00
wore him for the first time and got how many freaking years and I ended
41:04
up getting one. I ended up getting one as a gift for Christmas.
41:06
It's great. Davonte Smith jersey Kelly Green. Wait, you know, it's
41:10
funny to I remember back in college, my roommate Elwen and I got an
41:15
argument one time because he no no about Penn States. I just remember Elwin's
41:20
and his arguments. We could argue for two hours about one simple thing,
41:25
right, This was one of them, very opinionated guy, and I love
41:30
him for it. The Penn State helmets, he loved them. Yeah,
41:35
super plain like, just as so were the jerseys. The whole uniform was
41:38
just so easy and simple, and I was always like they should be there
41:43
should be a little more to it. Yeah, but he was like,
41:45
why, Like I see that that's Penn State. And I was kind of
41:50
and now I'm like this age, I'm like, he was right, That's
41:52
exactly what those uniforms should because they still are. And it makes like,
41:57
you know, like like other like see uh Boise Boise State, right,
42:01
Oh yeah, they have this this insane ship going on with Oregon as well.
42:07
They have like a new new jersey every week, but Penn State has
42:10
been Penn State since day one, and it's like that's fucking cool. Yeah
42:15
he was wrong, he was right, but yeah, I kind of I
42:17
kind of leaned towards that, and uh, but I'm also old and there
42:22
you and I don't buy. I don't buy jerseymore, Jeff, because I
42:24
I've ruined too many careers you have. I've been good man. I don't
42:30
know why, because I'm usual. I'm usual. I'm basically the born loser,
42:35
right, So I have been buying jerseys. My worst Eagles jersey was
42:40
Jordan Matthews, and like, yeah, it was raw, it's rough,
42:45
it's rough. But I always say, well, Carson Wentz, who when
42:47
we liked him back in the day, it was his first touchdown pass in
42:51
the NFL was to Jordan Matthews. So that's that's all I can say for
42:54
that. But I've got some other great ones like Lan Johnson his rookie year.
42:58
I got his rookie year. I've got Fletcher Cox again. Uh well,
43:04
I've got my McNab jersey that doesn't fit me anymore. But I only
43:10
kept one jersey out of like the ten I ever bought. I still have
43:14
a t O jersey. Yeah, but yeah, my worst one by I
43:21
bought a Tony Hunt jersey at a game, Like why would I do that?
43:27
I might have had a few beers. I'm a feeling you did.
43:30
Yeah, I was in the I was in the Yeah, I was at
43:34
oh. It was in Miami Dolphins Eagles game. It was raining the entire
43:37
day. Lennon and I basically spent the entire time in like in the where
43:42
you buy jerseys, yeah, in the pro shop and just sneaking beers in
43:45
because it was so cold and shitty and rainy out. And I was like,
43:49
you know what, after eight beers, that Tony Hunt jersey's making a
43:51
lot of sense to me. I'm gonna buy this. Yes, let us
43:58
know what you think of the city, can I jersey? I'd love to
44:00
hear from your Philadelphia sports table at gmail dot com and tell us your worst
44:04
jersey purchase. Yes, I would love to know that worst jersey purchase and
44:08
if you still have the jersey and if you wear it. I had a
44:14
Mike Lieberthal jersey for quite some time. I don't mind Mike Liberthalt. It
44:19
made sense at the time, But this is wearing it. No. Six
44:22
maybe not the best. Oh yeah, that was probably rough. All right,
44:27
buddy, I'm gonna let you go your final thoughts for let you let
44:30
you out here and let you head to bed tonight. No go sixers,
44:34
man, I again, please don't force me to define this series loss within
44:40
the context of Eagles playoff losses. Yeah, like, just show up tomorrow
44:45
night, play some with them, with some effort. Give me something to
44:47
cheer for, Like, don't don't just back down. That's the thing that
44:52
pissed me off the most. Yeah, I think, I think for the
44:53
entire series. Don't back down at this point, Like, you gotta win,
44:57
you gotta win games. Here, let's hope Toby doesn't bring his pin
45:00
wheel. Why is the pinwheel like associated with being a pussy? I don't
45:08
know. And he's like this first thing went in my head. It was
45:13
him going he's like eating a lollipop. Yeah, that's probably what it should
45:17
be. And I'm thinking of like, uh, what do you call it?
45:20
Pony? Let me call this thing the tails, the pigtails. Yeah,
45:27
all right, buddy, I'll let you go here at bric polet on
45:30
Twitter slash x. Give Eric a follow. Uh he does some great retweeting.
45:34
I'll tell you right, I'll tell you right now. So all right,
45:37
we're gonna take a quick break, pay some bills, will be back
45:38
in just a bit. All right, we are back and we're gonna get
45:43
to what we're thrown down on the table. This week some Phillies talk.
45:46
We've got one of our favorites coming to us here in just a bit,
45:52
let's get to it. That's what we're thrown down on the table and now
45:55
on the table. It is great to have her back on the podcast to
46:00
get into this Philadelphia Phillies team, what we've been seeing from them on the
46:05
field, in the batter's box, on the mound, coming to us from
46:08
Yahoo's Sports, and also the Hit and Season podcast. I listen on Apple
46:13
podcasts over at Billy Pen. Why Why, We've got the one and only
46:17
Liz Roscher. Liz, how you doing. I'm great, Thank you so
46:21
much for having me. As always, great to have you back on the
46:23
show. I absolutely love the three of you. I wish I could have
46:27
you on every week. You John, Justin, You're all fantastic. I
46:31
genuinely love when a new podcast drops in my feed and I get to hear
46:37
not just your voices, but the content that you are putting out there,
46:39
because you know people have actually been like, Jeff, why do you promote
46:45
other podcasts so much? And you're on because we're a collective community and we
46:49
are all passionate Philly sports fans or Phillies fans, what have you? We
46:53
all just want some good content. You guys do a great job. Y'all
46:55
do a great job. Hey, that's so kind of you. Thank you.
47:00
This podcast is excellent as well. I've been enjoying your draft content.
47:04
Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Well, look, got
47:07
to talk about this Phillies team here, and I really wanted to bring you
47:10
on to talk about the pitching that we've been seeing from this team, first
47:14
and foremost, and what we have seen, what we haven't seen, and
47:16
that's what we want to get into. First, Tylan Walker is gonna be
47:21
returning to the Phillies. We've gotten the news about that. There's been so
47:23
much talk and debate about what his return is going to mean to this team,
47:27
Liz, you know, and what it's going to mean to the pitching
47:30
staff, how they're going to play him or have to play him because of
47:34
the fifty four million dollars that he's due over the next three seasons. What
47:38
are your overall thoughts on Tylan Walker coming back to the Phillies, starting rotation
47:43
and ultimately what it means for the team. It's it's weird, Tylan Walker,
47:51
you know. I think all of our feelings have changed a bit since
47:54
the end of last season, and he was left off, or if he
47:59
wasn't left off the playoff roster, he was just simply not used. And
48:02
I think that's probably a wise decision. But he didn't from what we could
48:07
tell, he didn't feel very well utilized, and I think fans who heard
48:13
about that had some feelings about it. And with Spencer Turnbull having done so
48:17
well lately, I think people are not quite eager to see him come back.
48:22
And I'll admit I am. I am worried about what we'll see.
48:29
I know, and I don't know how he looked in his most recent rehab
48:31
start. I know in one of his first ones, he was he was
48:35
barely hitting ninety on the radar gun, and that's it's a red flag.
48:40
It's a red flag like if Jamie Moyer at fifty or however old he was.
48:46
That's faster. Kids grow faster than you. I feel as if it's
48:51
the conversation that needs to be had, But I do trust the Phillies and
48:58
Walker isn't going to get better just sitting in the dugout doing nothing. Yeah,
49:04
you know, he has to pitch and I trust the Phillies' staff and
49:09
the other members of the rotation and J. T. Real Mutau to help
49:14
him and work with him. And that's something remembering that has helped me stay
49:19
a little bit more positive because I think in the past we've all been kind
49:22
of depressed when a player isn't doing well, yeah, and we're just like,
49:29
hey, there's rich Doube, go see him. And that's not like
49:31
you listen. Rich Douby is like, you know, he's a World Series
49:36
winning pitching coach. I think, you know, we love him. But
49:39
I the guys that we had then were really, really good. You know
49:45
that the hit the pitching code. I know the hitting coaches back in that
49:50
era really they were sifting through them because the one consistent of the Phillies in
49:53
that era is that they couldn't hit, So there was not a lot of
49:58
faith in the staff. I think now things are a lot different, and
50:00
I think it's really important too, Liz. I got to mention it because
50:06
I'm skeptical as well. But depth is important. It is a long,
50:10
long season, and who knows a Spencer is going to be cooking at all
50:15
cylinders like he is now. Who knows what is going to happen with uh,
50:20
who knows what's gonna happen with Zach Zach Wheeler. You know, something
50:22
could happen where you have a depth issue. And look, I would prefer
50:30
if maybe if Tyln Walker necessarily isn't the go to guy you know all the
50:34
time or at specific points in the rotation. But depth is gonna be at
50:37
some point an issue, and I think people need to realize that completely agree.
50:43
I mean, we're all very spoiled right now with Spencer Dornball. He's
50:45
doing really really well. But Matt Winkleman of phileas Minor thoughts, hees a
50:52
prospect guy. He is awesome, very excellent at this. He on Twitter
51:00
a few days ago wrote a little bit about Spencer Turnbull and why what he's
51:04
doing is not just unsustainable, it's not necessarily an accurate reflection of what he's
51:09
really capable of long term. Yeah, and that was disappointing and tough to
51:14
hear. But Matt is very smart and very thoughtful and does not say stuff
51:21
like that without you know, actual evidence to back it up. And so
51:24
you are absolutely right, we will need depth because there will be a falloff
51:30
for Turnbull, like knowing that and accepting that means that I am not going
51:35
to it will be less hard to accept when it happens, because it doesn't
51:38
mean like it doesn't mean he's going to be like that always. He's just
51:43
not going to be as good as we've seen him. Gently, Absolutely,
51:45
I completely agree. But on a flip side of things, we are seeing
51:50
something on the mound from one Ranger Suarez, who is pitching like a true
51:57
ace. It's been incredible his games as of like I mean, the era
52:00
is what one point three six in his scoreless streak is at twenty five innings,
52:06
which is truly remarkable, the longest streak by a Phillies starting pitcher since
52:10
Cliff Lee did it back in twenty eleven when he went over. I think
52:15
it was like thirty and one third or maybe thirty and two thirds innings scoreless
52:19
innings. I should say again, during twenty eleven, Ranger Suarez is just
52:23
killing it, Liz. Should we be expecting a drop off from him,
52:29
however, or are we starting to witness that next true ace for this Philadelphia
52:32
Phillies starting rotation. What are your thoughts here? I don't know if it's
52:37
true ace, but he's definitely good. Yes, yeah, I don't think
52:43
we should expect a massive drop off. He is not Spencer Turnbull and we've
52:45
seen him for years like we've seen we've seen him for years. We've seen
52:52
him build up, expand his roster pitches. He's gotten much better at at
53:00
defense. He might be the first pitcher since Cliff Lee to actually channel the
53:07
attitude and demeanor of Cliff Lee. The I don't give a care. I'm
53:12
very casual because that's it's just how he's in the best headspace to pitch.
53:16
He doesn't want to be stressed, right, you know. For him,
53:20
pitching is you know, an enjoyable activity and he's at his best when he's
53:25
enjoying it. And so I'm really excited to see what the summer is going
53:30
to look like with him. I don't think he's going to be able to
53:34
keep it up at this pace, but I think he's going to be really
53:37
good. And it's it's that piece we know the Phillies had to have,
53:42
Like no one has been talking about it because we've got Wheeler and Nola and
53:45
there really isn't you know, the type of money you'd need for like an
53:51
upper level number three starter. Yeah, and the one that you want to
53:54
have for a few years, because the Phillies aren't interested in paying a lot
53:58
of money for just a guy who's there for you to help them in a
54:00
big way. They want something longer term. And now I just forgot my
54:09
train of thought. That's okay, No, that's okay. You talk about
54:12
him being that upper upper third, you know it. Yeah, I mean,
54:16
go ahead. I had some follow up, but yeah, finish your
54:20
thought. He's no one was talking about that. They needed it, and
54:23
now he's just sort of appeared and the Phillies need him. The Phillies need
54:28
a strong third starter, and now they have one, and so we don't
54:30
even have to have that conversation, right I do wonder what kind of bind
54:35
it actually does, though, put the front office in because when you look
54:37
at what he has done thus far, I mean, when you're talking about
54:42
the third spot in the rotation, you look at other teams in the National
54:45
League, there aren't too many out there like him, Like, seriously,
54:49
there aren't too many Rangers. Suarez is out there, who's that third starter
54:52
in the rotation at the top of his game? Right now? I wonder
54:55
if that does put the front office in a little bit of a bind.
55:00
I don't think. I mean maybe money wise, but like John Middleton is
55:06
not he knows he's not in a position to look a gift horse in the
55:08
mouth, if you know, he's his team has been gifted with a player,
55:13
and he is a gifted with a staff that didn't give up on him,
55:16
right, and that continued to work with him and try to make him
55:20
better. And so I mean, so what it's going to cost more money?
55:24
I think we've seen over the last few years by what he's done and
55:28
what he's said, that Middleton does not care if he has to scround up
55:31
another ten extra ten million to pay Ranger, scratch you or whatever, He's
55:37
going to do it. He's going to do it because he really is.
55:39
I mean, not a lot of owners say what he said in twenty three,
55:45
which is, you know, I can't take it with me. I
55:47
want this, this is what I want to do with my money. This
55:51
is fun. Yes, yes, you know here say that made me feel
55:54
like I don't have to be worried that this team is going to make the
55:58
right moves anymore. Yeah, yeah, good points, good points for sure,
56:01
Liz and looks as we're moving out along in our conversation here. You
56:05
know, too often we tend to focus on things that aren't great within our
56:09
beloved Philly sports teams. And that's why I wanted to keep talking about the
56:14
Phillies pitching staff and one gentleman who I mentioned earlier, and Zach Wheeler.
56:19
I mean, what an incredible start to the season and first month. I
56:22
don't want to completely crap on You can take certain aspects of the Phillies team
56:28
and completely crap on it. I didn't want to do this here. We're
56:30
talking Rangers Suarez talking about Zach Wheeler. Here, Zach Wheeler a two point
56:35
three zero era in five starts, and yes, well the offense hasn't really
56:39
been there when he's been on the mound. It goes to show what an
56:44
incredible acquisition he was years ago, and how his contract extension was absolutely perfect
56:50
timing for the Phillies. Here. Just wanted to get your thoughts on Zach
56:52
Wheeler, what he's really meant to the starting rotation, to the team in
56:57
general. We have something good here and have good things in the world of
57:00
Philly sports and in Phillies Nation here. What are your thoughts We can this
57:06
is proof, Yeah, you know, like this was probably one of I
57:10
mean, you can give Matt Clintach credit for Bryce Harper, I still think
57:14
that that was mostly middle Middleton, Yeah, doing the work on that.
57:17
I don't think Bryce Harper could care less about Melintach right now. And so
57:22
this is really the the signing that he should get a lot of credit for,
57:27
because this is the signing that, truly the rotation was nothing. Really
57:34
it was Nola and no one and we were I think a lot of us
57:37
were trying to convince ourselves that we could make it work with just him,
57:39
but that was not going to work. And Clintach picking him up when the
57:45
Mets just wanted nothing more to do with him. I know, what a
57:50
mistake. Yes, and in truth, like there's no way that they could
57:53
have turned him into the picture he is now. I don't believe he ever
57:58
pitched as well for that as he's pitching for the Phillies now. Yeah,
58:02
so he is. And I just lost my train of thought again. This
58:07
is embarrassing listeners. This is the middle of the day podcast, and you
58:12
can tell that I have not had lunch yet. Lunch sugar is low in
58:16
the afternoon yes, in the afternoon. We are recording this Wednesday afternoon.
58:22
I absolutely I'm less competent now than I am when we do recording at ten
58:28
o'clock at night. And I'm just like all of my daytime ADHD medication has
58:32
worn off, and I'm like bringing up random stuff. I'm please forgive me
58:37
for losing my train of thought. Yet. Yeah, it's fine, it
58:39
really is. I love what you said. Wheeler is amazing. Is deserves
58:45
a lot of credit. Yes, And we need to be grateful. We
58:49
need to be grateful that the Mets decided to say, hey, we don't
58:52
need him anymore. We don't know what talent is. We don't know how
58:54
to develop talent. Thank you, New York Mets. They don't know how
58:59
to develop talent. He never would have been able to become this pitcher.
59:01
And Wheeler has credited this, this coaching staff and the other members of the
59:07
rotation with helping him achieve this version of himself as you know, as a
59:13
pitcher. Yeah, so I mean the extension, like what a what an
59:16
incredible offseason the Philly has had with pitching because they re signed two of the
59:22
guys that they desperately needed that have become like Aaron Nola was, you know,
59:28
drafted by us. But Wheeler doesn't matter that he played for the Mets.
59:30
He belongs to us now because he pretty much implied that he wants to
59:36
retire at the end of his contract, which good for him on top.
59:39
Yes, absolutely, I gotta tell you, Liz Weir, we're a long
59:43
ways away from twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. I think about that station.
59:50
I think about that all the time. I do because I remember back then.
59:53
I kept telling myself it is not going to be like this forever.
59:57
Yeah, we all know what, Well, some day something's in the get
1:00:00
better, and when it does, I want to make sure I remember all
1:00:01
of it and remember to enjoy it, because we all know it's not there
1:00:07
to stay. Yeah. Lennon and I started this podcast in April of twenty
1:00:10
thirteen, and I'll tell you around twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, it sucked
1:00:15
talking about the Phillies, but we said consistently, like you just mentioned,
1:00:21
you know, it's gonna get better. At some point, it's gonna happen.
1:00:22
It's gonna get better. And damn it took a long time, but
1:00:27
holy cow, we're here. We're here. For sure. Well, look,
1:00:30
yeah, as we're moving on, as we're moving along too, there's
1:00:32
a gentleman and we're just all lollipops and rainbows here today, Folks on this,
1:00:38
but I have me back on when the Phillies have cooled down sometime in
1:00:43
the middle of May or the end of May, right, and it'll just
1:00:45
be the exact opposite of this conversation. Well, look, Johann Rojas,
1:00:50
folks wanted to just run them out of town during spring training. This guy
1:00:54
has had an incredible past couple of weeks. As we know, he's looking
1:00:59
more and more common infident Liz than ever before when attacking certain pitches at the
1:01:02
plate. We're seeing it consistently again over these past couple of weeks. He
1:01:07
is, of course showing this progress here, but the real question is can
1:01:10
this be sustained. I'm wondering what are your thoughts on what you've seen over
1:01:15
the past couple weeks and whether or not he's really able to embrace where he
1:01:19
is at in the batter's box and what he can get to this team offensively.
1:01:23
I think what we're seeing is him embracing it and finally being able to
1:01:29
take the lessons he's been hearing and the stuff he's been watching, and like
1:01:32
the practice he's doing and actually apply it in game. Yeah, which is
1:01:38
that's the real difficult part. Like the difference between like regular people and athletes
1:01:45
professional athletes is they are givens a way to get better and they work hard
1:01:52
to incorporate it and it actually works. Normal Not everybody has the ability to
1:01:58
do that, and it takes a lot of mental capability, and so it's
1:02:04
really up to Rojas if he's going to sustain this. We have to hope.
1:02:09
He's got a hit in one, two, three, four, six,
1:02:16
six of his past eight games. It's pretty good. He didn't have
1:02:19
a hit last night, but I mean it's looking pretty good. He's been
1:02:23
running a lot. He ran into a wall last night, yes, my
1:02:29
god, and stayed out. I thought he was dead. I thought he
1:02:32
was d ed dead. I shouldn't be laughing. I thought he was too.
1:02:37
But he's developing here as a player, and I think that people forget
1:02:42
and tend to forget that in the game of baseball, things take time.
1:02:45
And we unfortunately live in a city or we follow a sports teams in a
1:02:51
city where they're so impatient that folks are so impatient at times that we got
1:02:57
to remember we got to be patient with Ross here. Yeah. I mean
1:03:00
it's not we have all been here the whole time, right. We remember
1:03:05
the number of prospects that came up and did nothing or did a whole bunch
1:03:07
of stuff and then nothing like. We remember that, and so this is
1:03:12
the same. It's just hard to apply it now when you see like everyone
1:03:15
going gangbusters. It's hard to be like and this one guy over here still
1:03:20
needs to learn yep. But you know that's the way it is. And
1:03:23
there's no better place for him to be where he is right now because he's
1:03:29
got the whole team behind him pushing him and lifting him up. That's the
1:03:32
one thing that the Phillies seem really good at doing for each other is lifting
1:03:37
each other up when things are not at their best. That's culture. That's
1:03:43
culture right there, that's culture. I feel like you see it with You
1:03:46
see it with Brandon Marsh, you see it with Trey Turner, you see
1:03:51
it with Al Bahum. You see people always going and being like, no,
1:03:54
it's all right, we're gonna get it next time, or oh it's
1:03:57
all right, you know, not a big deal. You miss Oh you
1:04:00
ran into a wall. That's fine. It's a great culture for sure.
1:04:04
Again, folks, we're talking to Liz Rocher from Yahoo Sports. Can also
1:04:10
hear her voice over on the Hit and Season podcast feed why y Billypenn dot
1:04:15
Com. I listen on Apple Podcasts to her. Justin Klue our good friend
1:04:19
as well John Staalness, and they're doing great, great stuff over there,
1:04:25
ketch Liz on the Twitter slash x at Liz Rocher. She is a great
1:04:29
great follow and Liz. As we close out our discussion here, you know,
1:04:32
we've been seeing some guys playing some very good baseball, making some very
1:04:36
good contact this season from an offensive perspective. Trey Turner, Alec Baum,
1:04:42
Brandon Marsh, guys that have really been kind of helping to keep this team.
1:04:45
You know, I would say quote afloat over these past weeks here,
1:04:49
but I'm wondering, you know, what's one area of this team offensively that
1:04:54
really does concern you as we're heading into May and why there is one thing
1:05:00
and that thing's name is Nick Castianos. Yes, yeah, I could pick
1:05:05
a category, but at the moment, I'd rather just focus on one player
1:05:10
who just continues to seem very lost, and I don't. I don't think
1:05:15
anyone knows why. And we said it last year with Trey Turner. He
1:05:19
just has to get through it. But the difference here is that we have
1:05:26
seen Trey Turner has been excellent much more recent I think than Nick Castianos,
1:05:32
if that makes sense. Like we've seen top level Trey Turner more recently than
1:05:36
we've seen top level Nick Castianos. And the longer that gap gets, the
1:05:42
more I get worried. Yeah, you know, because I justin said it
1:05:47
on one of our podcasts not long ago. He's the only guy where you
1:05:51
I were. He worries that it might really not come back. He's like,
1:05:56
it's gone right now, but where is it gone? And yeah,
1:06:01
I mean I know that he's He's a he's a character for sure, and
1:06:05
I enjoy him very much as a player and a personality. But I mean,
1:06:11
I guess there's nothing I think I can say other than I am concerned.
1:06:15
I have no advice for him, I have no solutions for him or
1:06:17
anyone. Just I am concerned, and I am certain you will keep working
1:06:23
very hard. I think he will too. He recently said. Over the
1:06:28
course of this past week. He said, everything's harder without results, even
1:06:32
bleeders that find their holes and you're helping the team, you're on base.
1:06:36
Results make everything easier. But I'm happy with my process right now. Interesting
1:06:45
use of words. He's happy with his process right now. The fans were
1:06:48
not too happy with his process right now at this particular point in time.
1:06:53
I get where he's coming from. I believe it will come back. We
1:06:57
saw his first when he first came here that first year, and we saw
1:07:00
the slumps that he went through. He ended up getting it back. I
1:07:03
completely get where you're coming from where Justin was coming from terms of the comments
1:07:10
about you know, will he maybe not get it back. I believe he
1:07:14
will. And maybe that's just the hope within me as a Phillies fan,
1:07:16
But I think as baseball players, they go through this type of stuff,
1:07:20
and I think we're gonna end up seeing how resilient he actually is at the
1:07:25
end of the day. Truth, I think he's very resilient. I've got
1:07:29
faith in him. Yeah, despite my frustration, I've got a lot of
1:07:31
faith in him again, folks. Liz Rocher from Yahoo Sports Hitting Season podcasts
1:07:36
over at Billy pennwhyy at Liz Rocher on Twitter slash x, my friend.
1:07:43
It was great talking to you. It was great talking to you well.
1:07:45
As always, this is a delight. I'm always happy to come on.
1:07:48
Well. Thank you so much. I'm hoping you can come on down the
1:07:51
road. We'll talk more Phillies, hopefully when they're you know, maybe on
1:07:55
trade deadline or something like that, we can talk and hopefully who knows what's
1:08:00
happen with this team, but I'd love to talk to you again, my
1:08:01
friend, of course, and that's gonna do it for us this week.
1:08:05
Make sure to share the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show with your friends and family
1:08:10
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1:08:27
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1:08:31
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