Latest / Birdland Territory / Pete Alonso's New York homecoming

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Pete Alonso's New York homecoming · Birdland Territory

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Well, the Orioles started a series at Citi Field Monday night,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and they got a win, 2-1. And so they're faint.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: They're very faint. Wild card hopes are still there, three
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: out with 11 to go. They lose almost all the
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: tiebreakers also. But the news from the night, which was
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: really cool to see, was the reception for Pete Alonso
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: back in New York. It was special. It lasted all game.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: They were rooting hard for him to hit one out.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: against their own team, and there was a mass exodus
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: at the end of the game. They re-batted the last time.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: As you noted, Tim, with the score tied, the Mets
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: fans were leaving the ballpark. What did you guys think
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: of that evening for Pete Alonso?
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was something I don't think I've ever seen before.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: I've seen some, you know, welcoming players back to their
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: former teams. The only thing I can say that was
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: close I've ever seen was Chipper Jones, but that was
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: at home when we faced him, and it was like
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: kind of his– his final tour and they had a
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: bobblehead night. And I mean, like I said, that was
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: at their home stadium though, but to see the Mets
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: fans almost, I think at one point they booed the
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: pitcher for striking them out.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: That was, that was pretty incredible.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: It goes to show like what Pete meant to that
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: organization and really to the fans of New York. It
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: just goes to show. And I just think he was
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: really classy. He didn't, he didn't really take the moment
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: in too long. He acknowledged the crowd and was kind
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: of like, okay, let's go. I think it was more,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: maybe see the emotions didn't get to him and he
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: wanted to play the game, but it was really cool
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: to see.
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: And honestly, well-deserved for Pete.
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: I've never seen anything like that.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: And, and Steve, when I was walking my dog this
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: morning and, and you know, more than anybody like Baltimore
• 1:48
  Speaker 5: fans embrace you and, and Baltimore fans, if you, if
• 1:51
  Speaker 5: you love them, they will love you back 10 times
• 1:54
  Speaker 5: as hard. And, and, You think of players that have
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: left here that have come back, and obviously Adley is
• 2:01
  Speaker 5: the most recent example, and Adley got a fantastic ovation.
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: I'm not saying that he didn't. Nick Markakis really jumped
• 2:09
  Speaker 5: out to me.
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: If you want to go to the.
• 2:11
  Speaker 5: Ravens, I can think of Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs,
• 2:15
  Speaker 5: but that was at such a different level that I've
• 2:19
  Speaker 5: never seen before for a player coming back. And I
• 2:23
  Speaker 5: guess circumstances may be Played a factor for sure The
• 2:27
  Speaker 5: Mets are bad, they're way out of it They were
• 2:30
  Speaker 5: eliminated last night But those fans came To see Pete
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: Alonso Like, they were On their feet Every at-bat that
• 2:40
  Speaker 5: he had The rocket down left field line where it
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: went foul All the fans are groaning And Brett Beatty
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: Their first baseman on the Kerstad Double, he messes it
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: up And they're chanting Pete Alonso, Pete Alonso Like I've
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: never seen anything like that for an opposing player coming
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: back to get that type of reception and then for
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: them to leave in the eighth inning of a tie
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: ball game after Pete's last at-bat.
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: It was unbelievable.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty special by the Mets fans. Even the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Mets cameras on their telecast panned to Lindor. He's clapping
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: on the field for Pete Alonzo. So, I mean, it
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: was really cool. special and here's what it looked like
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: from one angle So Pete could have milked that for
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: more if he wanted to. Because as he stepped into bat,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the cheering was on and on and on and on.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: It didn't die out. So that was really, really special.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: And clearly, as you said, the Mets fans came for Pete,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: not for the ball game last night. And so typical
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Pete Alonzo fashion, as the Mets know and the Orioles
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: are learning and their fans are learning, he handled it
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: all beautifully.
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: It's more obviously what he did on the field for
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: the Mets, but I think he did a lot in
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: the community. He was very outreaching when he was in
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: New York, and I think it's very tough in a
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: big city like New York to really kind of stand
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: out when you're doing these different charitable things like Pete
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: was doing. Last night he gets nominated for the Roberto
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: Comente Award. So I really think the ovation had a
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: lot to do with obviously what he did for the
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Mets on the field, but almost just as much as
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: what he did off the field because he was, I mean,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: such a charitable person to the community and went above
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: and beyond. I mean, he gave all of his home
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: run derby winnings to families of the first responders in
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: New York. And just, he just did a great job
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: as a player, as a man, as a teammate when
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: he was in New York. And the fans, I think,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: just kind of gave that love back to him there.
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: He's just a really great guy and a heck of
• 5:13
  Speaker 5: a ball player. And I know I've brought up this
• 5:14
  Speaker 5: quote a couple of times, you know, on various episodes,
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: but Buck Showalter joining, you know, my show on the fan.
• 5:21
  Speaker 5: And it was the day that the O's signed Pete.
• 5:24
  Speaker 5: And he said, you know, Pete's going to get Baltimore
• 5:26
  Speaker 5: and Baltimore is going to get Pete.
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: And he was so dead on with that quote.
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: And guys watching the game last night.
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: It was sort of a full circle moment, at least
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: for me.
• 5:37
  Speaker 5: From that day that they signed Pete to then where
• 5:40
  Speaker 5: it's like, gosh, what bizarro world are we living in where,
• 5:44
  Speaker 5: where the Orioles are signing away a guy off the
• 5:47
  Speaker 5: high payroll Mets, you know, one of their stars coming
• 5:51
  Speaker 5: over to Baltimore.
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: So pretty crazy stuff.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Well, he played a thousand eight games with the Mets
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: with an eight 57 OPS had some very big post-season hits.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: And all of that was finally remembered last night at
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: city field. We'll talk more about that and some other
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: topics on Birdland territory.
• 6:11
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• 7:12
  Speaker 1: After Monday's 2-1 win over the Mets, the Orioles have
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: 11 left. They're 73-78. They are 4-9 since they got
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: to the 500 mark on August 31st. Among many things
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: to like about Alonzo for the Orioles and their fans
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: is this. He posts up. He's played every game. He
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: started every game. The last Oriole to start every team
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: game was Jonathan Scope in 2016. So Alonzo, knock on
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: wood for him, is going to be able to do that,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: we hope. And so that means something. I mean, back
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: in the day when the Orioles were first becoming winners again, Brad,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: teams you were part of, I mean, Adam Jones showed
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: up every day. That was the mentality. We come to
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: win every day. We don't take days off. Cal Ripken
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: started it. We're carrying that tradition, and Pete Alonzo's carrying
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: it on.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it's even more impactful now because
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: you just don't have that happening anymore. I just feel
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: like there's, you know, 10 guys across the league who
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: are going to start every game this season, and Pete's
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: one of those guys.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: He's proven that for a long time now.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: He's healthy, and I know a lot of times in
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: the analytical world, they're going to say, well, maybe it's
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: more beneficial to take a day off here or there
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: because your stats are going to– there's something about having–
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: you're a guy out there every single game. And I
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: think the teams I was on, you knew there was
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: no surprises. When I walked out to the bullpen, we
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: had six of the same nine guys. I feel like
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: starting every single game in the same positions. And there's some,
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: there's some, it gives you some more comfortable feelings when
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: you see that. And you know, those guys are going
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: to be out there. And that's what Pete is for
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: this team. He's a leader by example, and being out
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: there every day, whether you're hurt, whether you're sore, whether you're,
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: happened the night before the week before he's out there.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: And when he's in the game, you know, he can
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: have an impact on every single game he's in.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: And I think this year it's even more meaningful for Pete.
• 9:02
  Speaker 5: Because you can go back to last year when he
• 9:05
  Speaker 5: was with the Mets and come back to that conversation
• 9:08
  Speaker 5: with Buck and we're asking him about Pete and he
• 9:11
  Speaker 5: talks about hitting the post and he says, look, You're
• 9:14
  Speaker 5: going to have to fight Pete to get him off
• 9:16
  Speaker 5: first base.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: He only DH twice all of last season.
• 9:21
  Speaker 5: Now this year, especially of late, he has been DH more,
• 9:25
  Speaker 5: but that's because he's been fighting through that calf strain
• 9:27
  Speaker 5: that he suffered. Gosh, what a month ago at this point.
• 9:30
  Speaker 5: So I think, to be able to continue to hit
• 9:34
  Speaker 5: the post, and not only that, continue to be effective.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: Keep in mind, he was player of the month in August.
• 9:40
  Speaker 5: He had an OPS of over 1,000 in August while
• 9:43
  Speaker 5: dealing with that calf strain. I think that that is
• 9:47
  Speaker 5: a great piece of leadership for the rest of that
• 9:50
  Speaker 5: clubhouse by Pete.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: It's ironic.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: At a time when the athletes have never been in
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: better shape, have never worked out more and harder, It's
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: hard to play every day. They don't play every day,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: but Pete Alonzo does. He's 31. He's not 22. So
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: whatever he, he's doing things out of the camera to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: prepare himself to do that.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: And I think that's the kind of thing that goes
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: on behind the scenes with the training staff, with the
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: strength and conditioning coaches.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: There's a lot that goes into it.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: And I think it's taken for granted that guys are
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: out there every day. It's almost like a negative connotation
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: when it's like, oh, he played every game. And it's like,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: I don't know where that came from or why that's
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: the case. I just think of, I play with Freddie
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Freeman in Atlanta and now over in LA, the guy
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: plays every single day. And I think you take Freddie
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: Freeman on your team every single day, regardless if he
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: gives you the home runs, you know what he's going
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: to give you. And it's, it's just kind of one
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: of those things. I don't know where the negative connotation
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: has come from it, but it's like, it's almost like
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: teams avoid playing a guy 162 games. And I really
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: think it's one of those things that should be should
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: be celebrated. And I think there's a lot that that
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: individual player has done throughout the season to keep himself
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: in shape. And like you said, Tim, it's not that
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: he's just out there every single game. It's not that
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: he's playing first base every game or DHing. It's he's
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: being productive every single game. And that's where I think
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: the biggest difference is with Pete Alonzo.
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: Absolutely. And Brad, I'm with you.
• 11:18
  Speaker 5: I think now in this analytical world, you say, okay,
• 11:21
  Speaker 5: pencil in, all right, August 2nd, this is probably an
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: off day for Gunner.
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: He's played X amount of games in a row. Okay.
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: This guy's going to sit, that's good.
• 11:29
  Speaker 5: That's just kind of the reality of not even just
• 11:32
  Speaker 5: baseball guys. NBA is as guilty as anybody with the
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: load management, right?
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: You know, nobody playing back to backs, but baseball is so.
• 11:42
  Speaker 5: Unique in terms of the amount of games man it
• 11:45
  Speaker 5: is a marathon it is the furthest thing from a
• 11:48
  Speaker 5: sprint and i think steve it it really with each
• 11:52
  Speaker 5: passing year what cal did is unbelievable like with cal
• 11:57
  Speaker 5: like that no one will ever ever ever sniff or
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: even come probably halfway close to the amount of games
• 12:05
  Speaker 5: that he ended up playing it where we're just marveling
• 12:08
  Speaker 5: over a simple 162 much like uh much less than
• 12:13
  Speaker 5: what cal.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Did Right, and Alonzo's got a streak going of his own. He's, like,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: at 550, 560 consecutive games. So, again, a long way
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: from Ripken. But there's another neat stat for Alonzo, and
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: that's the fact he could be the eighth Oriole to
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: lead the American League in RBIs. He would join Chris Davis,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Miguel Tejada, Eddie Murray, Lee May, Frank and Brooks Robinson,
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: and Jim Gentile in 1961. He was the first to
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: do it. The most recent to do it was Christopher
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Lynn Davis. I believe it was 2013. So it's been
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: a minute since an Oriole led the league in RBIs,
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: but this guy could be the next one. That would
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: be pretty cool too. Yeah.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: That's a hell of a list to be involved with.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Can you, anything that has Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: put me on that list.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: Because, uh, yeah, Eddie Murray too.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: It's just like, yeah, put me on that list because
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: you know, that means they're out there. And that's another
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: thing when you're out there every day, you have a
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: chance to get RBIs and that's what, that's what Pete
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: has been doing all season. He's been, uh, you know,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: he's been, uh, uh, huge bat right in the middle
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: of this lineup. And he's been a huge productive bat
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: driving in guys. And when you drive in over a
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: hundred guys, that's an impressive season. And Pete's been doing that.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: He's been everything and more the Orioles could obviously ask for.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: And like I said, I think last night was kind
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: of a glimpse at maybe the way Oriole fans will
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: look at Pete when his Contract is up because he's
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: a guy that's going to be out there every single
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: day and he's going to put up numbers and you
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: just really become you respect Pete for what he does.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: And I think it's as as, you know, former players
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: and guys that are on the team. It's kind of
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: one of those things you look at that guys that
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: are out there. It might be looked down upon front
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: offices and maybe fans across baseball. But there's a pride factor,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: and I was out there every day. And I know
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: for me, like, kind of 60, 65 games is what
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I shot for every single year. And some teams will
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: look at it like, well, that's too many for a reliever.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: And I'm just like, I want to be out there.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: And when they call my name, I don't ever want
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: there to be an excuse. And I think that's another
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: thing Pete should be lauded for because, There is no excuses.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: He could have very well been.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Gone into there and say, oh, man, my calf is
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: bothering me. I think I need a day or two.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: But he didn't do that. He went out there and
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: I think he was even more productive when he was
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: having those calf injuries in Tampa at the time. And
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: he's been as productive, if not more, since that that
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: little injury flare up happened.
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a great point that this team hasn't been
• 14:31
  Speaker 5: above 500 since April. So, you know, they have been
• 14:34
  Speaker 5: in the mix, but Pete, you're right, Brad. He could
• 14:37
  Speaker 5: have easily said, Hey man, I need a day at
• 14:39
  Speaker 5: this point.
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: I think it would help.
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: But no, I guys, I know we were joking within
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: the past week or so about, you know, RBI is
• 14:46
  Speaker 5: not being a sexy stat anymore.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: Well, it is for me.
• 14:50
  Speaker 5: If you have a guy that can drive in 100 runs,
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: like Pete Alonzo, who has done so in four out
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: of the past five seasons. And that down season, if
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: you will, was 88 RBIs. Yes, I want that guy
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: on my team. And he's going to help me win
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: a lot of ball games. Yeah.
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: We don't see a lot of 100 RBI guys. You
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: know why? Because it's hard to do. So when you
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: have a guy to do it, don't minimize the stat.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Praise him for doing something that so few can do.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: And by the way, he's got two games to hit
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: his 300th home run in Citi Field. That might bring
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the house down if and when that happens. If he
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: could call a shot, maybe he can. He would call
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: it one of the next two nights at Citi Field.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: There are some other things to note in Birdland, and
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: we're going to note them in just a moment.
• 15:44
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• 16:14
  Speaker 7: not even going to fast forward to the postseason. I'm
• 16:15
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  Speaker 8: And it's playoff time, the best time for baseball. And
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• 16:46
  Speaker 1: For me, guys, Samuel Basayo, his play and how they're
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: using him has been puzzling to me for the last
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: few weeks. Clearly, he's hurt. And Albert has admitted that
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: before the game Monday, the shoulder is still an issue.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: So they're massaging that while not playing him much, while
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Carlos Narvaez is not hitting, but he's a good defender,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: we know. And Basayo's eight for his last 59. That's 136.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: He's chasing crazily. But I think we can't forget his
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: 772 first half OPS. And while these numbers are taking
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a dive, he's still for the year almost league average OPS.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: And he still has 17 homers. We can't forget what
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: he is. But right now, I'm worried for him. His confidence,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I think, is taking a hit now while he's playing
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: not at 100 percent.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, Steve, and especially when you're going through
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: your first full season on the Major League roster, you're
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: trying to grasp onto the positives because not everybody's going
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: to come out of the gate and just be this superstar,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: but I think that's in Sammy. I just think he's
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: had a lot of different things this year with, like
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: you said, kind of the weird playing time, the injuries
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: that have come here or there. A lot of that
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: has come from the catching side of things, and I
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: just think you want him to go into this offseason confident,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and if I'm the manager, I just feel like He's
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: got to be out there. Out of these last 11 games,
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: I feel like you've just got to play him nine games.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: I know you said his at-bats haven't been the best
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: and something seems off, but if he's able to play,
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: I want to see him out there as much as
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: possible just to kind of grasp onto something going into
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: the offseason because.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: He showed glimpses of it. You never know.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: It could be one series and all of a sudden, bang,
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: the light goes off again and he goes off and
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: he goes.
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: In the off season in a positive headspace.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: And that's really what I'm just hoping for Sammy, because
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: he's still such a young player and it's his first
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: full season. Just want to see him go out of
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: the season positive and healthy.
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 18:42
  Speaker 5: It's, it's been a tough run for Sam ever since
• 18:45
  Speaker 5: coming off the IL and what mid August at this point,
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: but I don't know.
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: Something's incongruent, I guess.
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: Between with what Craig Albernaz is saying with Samuel Basile, because,
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: Last night, you were facing Tong, a right-handed pitcher, and
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: Sam's not in the lineup.
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: But then he pinch hits, and obviously he's dealing with something.
• 19:10
  Speaker 4: But if it's bad enough for him to not start,
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: why not put him on the IL? I don't know.
• 19:16
  Speaker 5: This situation that's going on right now kind of reminds
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: me a little bit of a few months ago. But look,
• 19:25
  Speaker 5: like we were saying in a prior episode... Sam's a
• 19:29
  Speaker 5: heck of a player, and we saw Sam go on
• 19:32
  Speaker 5: a tear for a lot of this season, especially the
• 19:35
  Speaker 5: month of May. We've seen him in big-time moments. We
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: know the powers, how he's developed defensively, I think should
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: be applauded. Trevor Rogers always speaks so highly of Samuel Basile.
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: You know, he's his battery mate. And it's unfortunate with
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: how the season's ending for him, but I'm still very,
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: very bullish on Samuel Basile long-term.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of things are coming down on him,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: if you will, right now. Again, if you're not playing
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: every night, how can you get hits, get out of
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: your slump when you're not getting the at-bats to get
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: out of your slump But if you physically can't do it,
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: you reach a point where you have to shut it down.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: But they're still playing him, so he must be able
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: to physically do some things. It's really confusing. In addition
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: to that, I think you have a young player now
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: who's sensitive to fans questioning his toughness. And so now
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: he's got that, too. And this may have emanated from
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: the team a bit. Somehow we've labeled this kid. not tough.
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: I don't see that. The player I've known on the farm,
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: and he's playing a position that demands the most toughness,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: and he takes a beating nightly. So I think that
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: is not fair right now to question this young player's toughness.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: It's happening. I don't like it.
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree, Steve.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: And I just think it was brought up kind of
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: unnecessarily and out of the blue. And it was just
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: kind of these internal questions that all of a sudden
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: the media kind of started to pick up on and
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: the answers from the people that were given the answers
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: weren't the greatest. And it just, like you said, it
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: was just, I felt like he was very wrongly labeled.
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: And now it's like you said, I think the fans
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: are kind of just, so is, is he tough?
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: Is he soft?
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: Is he, it's just, it was just unnecessary. And I
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: don't think it's, I think it's the furthest thing from
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: the case. I just think, He got nicked up here
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: or there, and he's a younger player trying to figure
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: out how to get through a season and what is good,
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: what injuries you can play through, and what injuries you
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: maybe need to take a day off from. And it
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: just got kind of brought up there in the middle
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: of the season, these awkward.
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: Spats with the– I don't even know what happened, but
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: it's just– like you said, Steve, very unfairly given towards
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: this kid.
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: I'm guessing if Craig Albernaz had a do-over with how
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: he handled that, what he said, I would think that
• 21:58
  Speaker 5: he would– you know, carefully choose his words, you know,
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: with a second chance.
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: But you're right, Steve.
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: It does kind of bring up these labels because it's
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: out there and then Sam's.
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: Talking to the media and then Craig and now, you know,
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: back to Sam.
• 22:12
  Speaker 5: But we've seen, guys, countless games where, you know, Sam's
• 22:18
  Speaker 5: swinging a bat and you just see the grimace or
• 22:21
  Speaker 5: him running down the first baseline and you can just tell–
• 22:25
  Speaker 5: like there are countless moments I can think of throughout
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: this year where you can see that doesn't look right.
• 22:31
  Speaker 5: Like Sam doesn't look right at this point.
• 22:33
  Speaker 4: And he's a really young kid.
• 22:36
  Speaker 5: What?
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: He just turned 22 years old.
• 22:38
  Speaker 5: This is his first full 162 game season. It's the
• 22:42
  Speaker 5: most demand position. Like you said, Steve, I, I, I'm
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: not questioning Samuel Pasayo's toughness.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: No, no. And, um, but gave him that big contract.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: So they believe in the guy. And when you do that,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: to me, the team should do nothing but build him
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: up in every way, publicly and otherwise. If the fans
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: want to tear him down, that's different. But from the team,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: I just feel like the support is there. Could it
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: be a little better at times? It probably could. And
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: I hope this kid goes into the offseason remembering how
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: good he is and how he got that contract and
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: how he got all those honors. I hope he remembers
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: that as much as the late season struggle. So we're
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: going to see how it's going to work out for
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: a really talented young player, Samuel Basayo, going through a
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: tough time right now. some interesting races. We hope the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: Orioles will find their way closer to the American league
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: wildcard guys. But right now in the American league, there
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: are some races here that, you know, are going to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: go down to the wire. I mean, even in the
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: AL East, the division, the Yankees are only three and
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: a half out. Cleveland's a game and a half back
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: of the White Sox and they're playing each other. The
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: White Sox won last night, Monday night, and Houston's only
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: game ahead of Texas. And then we got, you know, Tim,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: the wildcard race, which is very tight. So, Baseball likes
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: races in the final days and weeks, and we've got
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: a few.
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: To say the least, the American League, we were just
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: talking prior to the show, it could come down to
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: the final day. It very well could come down to
• 24:36
  Speaker 5: the final day, and what a massive series that's ongoing
• 24:39
  Speaker 5: right now between the Guardians and White Sox, and obviously
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: the White Sox took game one, but if you're the
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: guardians if you find a way to take these remaining
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: two games then you're right there well i guess they'd
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: be ahead of the white socks at that point so
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: the central is completely up for grabs and that final
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: wild card spot very much up for grabs.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah when you look at the orioles they're right dead
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: smack in the middle of it they're not technically out
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: of the wild card race but they're playing the brewers
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: they're playing the blue jays they're playing.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: The yankees to finish the season and all those teams.
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: Are dead smack in the middle of every single one
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: of these races so The Orioles are going to play
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: a big part in this, regardless if they make the
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: postseason or not. They're going to have a lot to
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: say of almost who makes the playoffs here, especially in
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: the American League.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: So by the math, the numbers after Monday's game and
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: ahead of Tuesday's games, Cleveland is holding the third wild card,
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: 76 and 75. And again, they still could win their division.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: But right now they're in the playoffs as a wild
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: card by one over Toronto, one and a half over Texas,
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: three over the Orioles defensively. The bad news for the Orioles,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: there's only 11 games left to do anything about it,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and they do lose tiebreakers to almost every other team
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: they're competing with. So it's challenging, but there's still a
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: lot going on down to the final moment, final game day, perhaps,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball. And they'll be on Fox, streaming
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: on Fox One. The race to October starts now, and
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: we have your front row seat to the wildest walk-offs.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Lights out pitching and clutch plays all season long. Follow
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: every can't-miss matchup as teams battle for a spot in
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the postseason. Then stream the 2026 World Series live on
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: Fox 1. At home or on the go, live or
• 26:19
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• 26:20
  Speaker 3: Stream now.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: Start your Fox 1 three-day free trial today at fox1. com.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: In our final minutes, as we know Steve loves to do,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: he will note something from the farm. He can find
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: the right stat here. Here we go. Double-A Chesapeake. Had
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: a great second half, which was hard to notice because
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: they didn't have the greatest first half. But as some
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: pitchers moved up, like Cade Hunter and Jerwa, and they
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: got Ionson in the trade, look at what they did.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Chesapeake pitchers, 336 the last 70 games where they went 41-29.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: That led all the minors in ERA in that 70-game span.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Double-A Chesapeake. Their rotation was better than that. A double-A best,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: 2-6-1 Chesapeake. in the last 40 games, Ianson was good.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: JT Quinn moved up and was good. Uh, as we said, Jarwa, uh,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: so many others, uh, Caden Hunter, it was promising. What
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: was we saw in pitching at double a here down
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: the stretch?
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Steve, I think you could use their great word
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: promising because double a is not that far away from Baltimore.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: So to see them come in, especially as starting pitchers,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: put up a two, six, one over the last 40 games.
• 27:37
  Speaker 3: That's really good.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: That's, uh, That's impressive stuff, and that's what you want
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: to see. Like I said, just one level away from Baltimore.
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: Steve, I don't want to put you on the spot,
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: but I will anyways. Vance Honeycutt, what have you seen
• 27:49
  Speaker 5: out of him, man? I can't believe this was a guy, Brad,
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: who was really, really scuffling at high A. He was
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: hitting well below 200, but they called him up to
• 28:01
  Speaker 5: double A. It was kind of a surprise when it happened,
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: but Steve, he's been crushing it at double A.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: So he starts the year hitting a home run every
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: night in spring training for the Orioles.
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: He's ending a year hitting a home run every night.
• 28:14
  Speaker 4: Oh, my God.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: In the middle of the year, he struck out 40%
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of the time in Frederick.
• 28:19
  Speaker 8: Wow.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: That's the craziest season I've ever seen.
• 28:23
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: So I'm hoping to actually talk to him this week,
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: and I want to get his thoughts on his year.
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: And Vince Honeycutt, I've talked to him a couple times,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: a very articulate, impressive kid to me. He never ducks
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: away from questions about strikeouts. He knows they're coming, and
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: he accepts that. I don't know what happened exactly. It
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: almost seems to me like the change of scenery we
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: talk about for players, like CES, but his change of
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: scenery was just from one farm team to another. It's
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: almost like the Orioles said, man, you didn't earn this,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: but move up and let's see what we can do.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: And it worked.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes seeing more strikes at the AA level,
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: you got to throw a little bit more in the zone.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: It's getting closer to where guys in the big leagues,
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: like you have to throw the ball over the plate.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: When you're in the lower levels.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of pitches that are off the plate
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: that are either called strikes. I don't know if they
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: have ABS down at the lower levels. but they're called
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: strikes and you're, you're, you just haven't honed in on
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: where the strike zone is. And honestly, I've seen it
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: a few times where guys move up levels and you're like,
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: he didn't even do this in high.
• 29:27
  Speaker 3: How is he going to double A?
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: But for some reason, when the guys start throwing it
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: more around the plate, you're able to make more contact.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: And obviously he's got ridiculous power.
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: So maybe that's part of it.
• 29:36
  Speaker 5: And Steve, I hope you are able to talk to
• 29:38
  Speaker 5: him this week because I'd love to hear what, You
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: hear because this is sort of a Similar conversation like
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: we were having With Samuel Basayo right I can't imagine
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: Vance Honeycutt's Confidence was all that great when he's He's
• 29:50
  Speaker 5: scuffling like anything At single A but how He's ending
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: the season his Confidence has to be through the roof
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: At this point, it's unbelievable his finish to the year.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Well, contrast that to Basaya, who's mostly had a good year,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: but is going to maybe go into the offseason with
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: his confidence having taken a hit to Honeycutt, who mostly
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: had a bad year, who's going to go into the
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: offseason thinking he owns double A. So it's really strange,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: but I'm happy for him. And the Orioles have stockpiling
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: center fielders everywhere you look. uh bradfield's the center fielder
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: honeycutt's a center fielder azokar is a center fielder that
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: that's not a bad thing to have because you want
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: to compile short stops and center fielders you can move
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: short stops you can move center fielders so hopefully that
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: will work out for the o's on the farm well
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: guys another one in the books thanks to uh birdland
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: fans for continuing to follow us as our subscriber base
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: keeps growing and our views are great and People like
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: our show, so we really appreciate that so much. And
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: it will keep coming in the offseason, by the way.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: We will not be going away. You'll see us every
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: week after baseball ends for the Orioles. We'll still be
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: cranking out the shows. So thanks for watching today, and
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: we'll see you next time on Birdland Territory.
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: If you made it this far, you'll love this next video.
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: Check it out right here.
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: And make sure you subscribe to Birdland Territory for more
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: Orioles coverage like this multiple times a week.