Latest / Foul Territory / Chase Utley joins FT + Halloween night Game 7 MLB scheduling debate
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Former great ballplayer Chase Utley joining us, 16 seasons in
- 0:08Speaker 1: the show, six-time All-Star, 08 World Series champ, now special
- 0:11Speaker 1: assistant to the Dodgers president of baseball ops. Chase, great
- 0:15Speaker 1: to have you on the show. How you doing?
- 0:17Speaker 2: I'm doing well, guys. Great to be on here. Kratzy,
- 0:20Speaker 2: good to see you. Fraze, how you doing, bud?
- 0:23Speaker 3: What's going on?
- 0:26Speaker 1: So, Chase, I'll just start here because it's World Series Day.
- 0:29Speaker 1: What do you think of this matchup?
- 0:32Speaker 2: Matchup is interesting. very similar teams to be, to be
- 0:36Speaker 2: honest with you from an offensive standpoint and defensive standpoint.
- 0:40Speaker 2: So it will be, it will be, I think a
- 0:43Speaker 2: great series. The, I think Pat Murphy has done an
- 0:47Speaker 2: incredible job of leading that team and making them believers.
- 0:51Speaker 2: And Kevin Cash, who I played against quite a bit
- 0:53Speaker 2: has been done a phenomenal job in Tampa Bay for,
- 0:56Speaker 2: for a number of years. I don't know who I,
- 0:59Speaker 2: who I pick. If the, if, Milwaukee plays like they
- 1:03Speaker 2: did against the Dodgers. They're going to be tough to beat.
- 1:06Speaker 2: I think the one outlier probably, for me at least,
- 1:09Speaker 2: is the run control game. I don't know if, Kratzy,
- 1:12Speaker 2: you could probably comment on this, but they're both super
- 1:15Speaker 2: aggressive on the bases, but it seems like the Brewers
- 1:18Speaker 2: have the ability to kind of stop that aggression a
- 1:21Speaker 2: little bit better than the Rays. So my guess is
- 1:23Speaker 2: it'll come down as a big stolen base in a
- 1:25Speaker 2: big moment with a key hit.
- 1:28Speaker 4: I want to kind of jump like right into it here.
- 1:31Speaker 4: As a hitter, you've been in these situations before in
- 1:33Speaker 4: the World Series. I've never been there before. You've been
- 1:36Speaker 4: there a couple times. My big question to you is, one,
- 1:39Speaker 4: how much homework are you doing on this other team?
- 1:41Speaker 4: And two, are you more worried about starters, relievers? I
- 1:46Speaker 4: know you guys have your meetings. Pretend you're back in
- 1:50Speaker 4: your element. You're playing for the World Series. What is
- 1:54Speaker 4: it that these hitters have to do? And is it
- 1:57Speaker 4: just too much overload? Or is it just go out
- 1:59Speaker 4: and play? Are you looking for certain things for, you know,
- 2:02Speaker 4: you got your starters, but you also got to know
- 2:03Speaker 4: the relievers. So can you just give the mindset of
- 2:06Speaker 4: what the players are going through?
- 2:08Speaker 2: Yeah, the mindset, I mean, you have to deal with
- 2:10Speaker 2: the task at hand, and that initially is the starter. So,
- 2:12Speaker 2: you know, evaluating the starter, putting a game plan together
- 2:16Speaker 2: for yourself and your teammates to figure out a way
- 2:19Speaker 2: to get them out of the game as quick as possible.
- 2:20Speaker 2: That's the way we did it back in the good
- 2:23Speaker 2: old days. That's changed a little bit. I think the
- 2:26Speaker 2: middle relief is much stronger than it used to be.
- 2:29Speaker 2: So sometimes the middle relief is just as good as
- 2:32Speaker 2: the starter. But ideally grinding the starter, getting him out
- 2:34Speaker 2: of the game as quick as possible. And then you
- 2:38Speaker 2: play the matchup game throughout the rest of the game.
- 2:41Speaker 2: And at that point, grinding the bats, putting the ball
- 2:44Speaker 2: in play, especially in the postseason, I think goes a
- 2:47Speaker 2: long way.
- 2:48Speaker 5: Chase was never, nobody was more prepared than Chase. I
- 2:51Speaker 5: saw him work in the video room. You were pretty prepared, Crapsy.
- 2:57Speaker 5: We were there.
- 2:59Speaker 2: We were there.
- 2:59Speaker 5: We were getting, look, you, you did it. You were,
- 3:03Speaker 5: you were my idol, even though you were only a
- 3:04Speaker 5: year older than me. I looked down to you. I mean,
- 3:07Speaker 5: looked up, wait a minute, which is it? Cause you're
- 3:08Speaker 5: shorter than me. But my question is, do you think
- 3:13Speaker 5: teams grind enough? You just said, you just said they
- 3:16Speaker 5: got to grind these at bats out. Do you think
- 3:18Speaker 5: teams grind enough? Or do you think in general players
- 3:22Speaker 5: are more inclined to go get their numbers and now
- 3:26Speaker 5: we're seeing a different type of game in the playoffs
- 3:30Speaker 5: that teams are willing to grind through at bats like
- 3:34Speaker 5: you were talking about?
- 3:36Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, to be honest with you, I think
- 3:37Speaker 2: the teams that get to the postseason, the teams that
- 3:40Speaker 2: have success during the season, have the ability to make
- 3:43Speaker 2: adjustments and those adjustments are grinding out at bats. Not
- 3:47Speaker 2: every game dictates that, but I think there are certain
- 3:50Speaker 2: pitchers that you face that You really want to make
- 3:53Speaker 2: him work, and the teams that get to the postseason
- 3:56Speaker 2: typically do that.
- 3:59Speaker 4: My question to you, I know you've seen Jacob Mizorowski.
- 4:03Speaker 4: I mean, the guy is absolutely nails. What would be
- 4:08Speaker 4: your approach against a guy like that? I mean, I
- 4:10Speaker 4: faced a role as Chapman in his prime, and he's
- 4:12Speaker 4: still kind of in his prime, a lefty. I don't
- 4:15Speaker 4: want to speak for you, but I would just love
- 4:18Speaker 4: to know, game one, you're batting lead off, here we go.
- 4:22Speaker 4: Are you jumping first pitch? Are you ready to rock
- 4:25Speaker 4: on that first pitch fastball?
- 4:26Speaker 3: Do you want to see one?
- 4:27Speaker 4: What would be your approach against a guy that throws,
- 4:29Speaker 4: you know, over 100 miles an hour each time he
- 4:32Speaker 4: goes out there?
- 4:33Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, for me personally, I always like to
- 4:35Speaker 2: see some pitches. I guess it would depend on how
- 4:39Speaker 2: much information I have on, like, prior, if I faced
- 4:42Speaker 2: him before. Do I have any at-bats on him to
- 4:44Speaker 2: kind of get an idea of what his fastball looks like?
- 4:46Speaker 1: But he's tough, man.
- 4:47Speaker 2: I mean, to your point, he throws 100, 104, 105. um, with,
- 4:51Speaker 2: with a pretty good slider off of that. And, and so, yeah,
- 4:55Speaker 2: to be honest, I would probably try not to miss
- 4:57Speaker 2: the fastball. That's the, that's the goal. Don't miss the fastball.
- 5:01Speaker 5: You'd be ready for it. Even with your silver hair,
- 5:03Speaker 5: that's no longer blonde. You would definitely, you wouldn't miss it.
- 5:06Speaker 5: You wouldn't miss it. Stop. Don't even, you would still be,
- 5:09Speaker 5: I hope not.
- 5:10Speaker 1: The goal would be not to miss it.
- 5:11Speaker 2: Put the barrel on and as soon as possible.
- 5:13Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 5:13Speaker 5: Cause you don't want to face a 98 Monarch cutter
- 5:16Speaker 5: in on your knuckles, but not, not ideal. Did you
- 5:19Speaker 5: enjoy your playoff runs as a player? Now you're a
- 5:22Speaker 5: special assistant to the general manager, whatever the heck you
- 5:26Speaker 5: do now. Did you enjoy your playoff runs? Cause you
- 5:29Speaker 5: were a young guy in 08 and you guys made
- 5:32Speaker 5: a run for a long time and then you matured
- 5:34Speaker 5: and you went through a few more playoff runs, but
- 5:36Speaker 5: did you enjoy them? I did.
- 5:39Speaker 2: I think now looking back on him, I didn't enjoy
- 5:42Speaker 2: him as much as I probably could have.
- 5:44Speaker 1: But like you said, I was young.
- 5:46Speaker 2: Your goal is to figure out ways to win and
- 5:48Speaker 2: get your body or your mind ready to compete on
- 5:53Speaker 2: that stage. I think having some success in Philadelphia was amazing,
- 5:59Speaker 2: and you start to realize how much that success spreads
- 6:01Speaker 2: out through the city, not only just the players on
- 6:04Speaker 2: the field, but everyone within the organization and the entire
- 6:07Speaker 2: fan base and how much that makes a difference to
- 6:09Speaker 2: their lives. And coming to the Dodgers, playing in a
- 6:13Speaker 2: few postseasons with them, I was able to kind of
- 6:15Speaker 2: sit back a little bit and take it in more
- 6:18Speaker 2: than I did as a frontline player. But yes, this
- 6:23Speaker 2: is the time of year. I miss aspects of the game.
- 6:27Speaker 2: I miss the clubhouse, but I also miss the postseason
- 6:30Speaker 2: quite a bit.
- 6:32Speaker 5: If you were the manager of these two teams, how
- 6:34Speaker 5: would you pursue the conversations that you're having. The Rays
- 6:40Speaker 5: a little bit different. The Rays went through a grind
- 6:42Speaker 5: of a six-game series with the rain out and playing
- 6:45Speaker 5: possible four days in a row to the Brewers sitting forever.
- 6:50Speaker 5: How would you approach it if you were the manager?
- 6:55Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, kind of do what they've been doing.
- 6:57Speaker 2: There's a reason they're in the World Series. I think
- 7:00Speaker 2: Murph does a great job of getting his guys to
- 7:02Speaker 2: pull on the same way on the rope. and having
- 7:06Speaker 2: that identity that they have of grinding at bats out.
- 7:09Speaker 2: And Kevin Cash, his players love him. So they obviously
- 7:14Speaker 2: had less time to recover, but also they're probably a
- 7:18Speaker 2: little more fresh in terms of game speed. So it'll
- 7:21Speaker 2: be interesting to see how the Brewers come out with
- 7:24Speaker 2: having this much time off. My guess, they've had a
- 7:26Speaker 2: bunch of simulated games, but that's not quite the same
- 7:28Speaker 2: as the real thing.
- 7:30Speaker 5: Were you surprised at how the Brewers dispatched your Dodgers?
- 7:37Speaker 2: Listen, the Brewers played amazing against the Dodgers. I mean,
- 7:41Speaker 2: they beat them on all aspects, and the Dodgers were ready,
- 7:44Speaker 2: and I think that Milwaukee was hot. Obviously, their pitching
- 7:50Speaker 2: was extremely tough. Once you got into their bullpen, there
- 7:53Speaker 2: was no.
- 7:54Speaker 1: Real, real relief.
- 7:56Speaker 2: They grinded it out at bats, which I thought was
- 7:58Speaker 2: really impressive against the Dodgers pitchers, who were also phenomenal,
- 8:02Speaker 2: and they really The run game, for me, the run
- 8:05Speaker 2: game is the difference for them. They have the ability.
- 8:08Speaker 2: They get on base, they walk, they put the ball
- 8:11Speaker 2: in play, they're on base, and they're stealing bases. So
- 8:14Speaker 2: if you can control their run game, you can kind
- 8:16Speaker 2: of limit some damage. But if you can't, it's going
- 8:18Speaker 2: to be tough.
- 8:19Speaker 5: All right, so this summer I saw you in August
- 8:23Speaker 5: when you got put in the Phillies Hall of Fame.
- 8:25Speaker 5: Wall of Fame, what is it? I don't even know
- 8:27Speaker 5: what it is. You got the jersey.
- 8:28Speaker 1: The Wall of Fame, Kratzy, Wall of Fame.
- 8:30Speaker 5: Okay, you got the cool jersey. I get the regular
- 8:32Speaker 5: jersey and you get the like gold Chase Utley jersey.
- 8:36Speaker 5: But there was reports that the Phillies contacted you about
- 8:41Speaker 5: their managerial opening. How did that come about? What's that
- 8:45Speaker 5: decision like? What are those conversations like?
- 8:49Speaker 2: Well, I mean, one, I don't see really real upside
- 8:52Speaker 2: in acknowledging these different types of rumors. But I can
- 8:57Speaker 2: say over the past several years, I've had a number
- 9:00Speaker 2: of inquiries on my interest in getting back on the field.
- 9:06Speaker 2: And my answer has been honestly the same throughout. I'm
- 9:09Speaker 2: enjoying watching my two young boys grow up. As you know,
- 9:15Speaker 2: this time goes quickly. And I want to be around.
- 9:18Speaker 2: I want to be around for them. And I'm also
- 9:22Speaker 2: in the process of starting a business that is interesting.
- 9:25Speaker 1: It's eye-opening.
- 9:26Speaker 2: So I have my hands full currently at some point
- 9:31Speaker 2: down the line, maybe that changes, but currently I'm happy
- 9:34Speaker 2: where we're at.
- 9:35Speaker 5: Do you think somebody like you has been off the field,
- 9:39Speaker 5: makes it an easy transition to hop into being a
- 9:41Speaker 5: manager one day? Like we saw with Booney, he was,
- 9:44Speaker 5: Aaron Boone was in the booth and then he's come
- 9:47Speaker 5: in and have success. Do you think it's just something
- 9:50Speaker 5: that is ingrained in some people and other people you
- 9:53Speaker 5: have to go through? Chase Utley in the minor leagues
- 9:56Speaker 5: just doesn't have the same ring to it. So Is
- 9:58Speaker 5: there a... transition period that you need if that were
- 10:03Speaker 5: to be the case at some point?
- 10:05Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think it's dependent on the person.
- 10:08Speaker 2: At the end of the day, you need a strong
- 10:10Speaker 2: supporting staff around you, no matter what position you're taking.
- 10:14Speaker 2: I think bringing the smartest and brightest people around you
- 10:17Speaker 2: to make decisions is is important. Um, but yeah, there
- 10:21Speaker 2: is something to be said about leading, leading men. Uh,
- 10:24Speaker 2: I don't think it's as easy as some people believe
- 10:26Speaker 2: it is. Um, but it's a, it's an interesting, uh, play. Uh,
- 10:32Speaker 2: I think there's a number of fantastic managers out there,
- 10:35Speaker 2: obviously two in the world series, um, and managers that
- 10:38Speaker 2: I played for, you know, Charlie, Charlie was amazing. Dave Roberts, uh,
- 10:42Speaker 2: does a phenomenal job. So there are some, uh, you know,
- 10:46Speaker 2: really extreme special managers out there currently.
- 10:50Speaker 3: All right.
- 10:50Speaker 5: Well, then let's get to the actual playoff teams and
- 10:54Speaker 5: your playoff teams. When you were in 08, when you
- 10:57Speaker 5: guys won the World Series, nobody thought Jamie Moyer was
- 11:01Speaker 5: going to give you actual innings in the World Series,
- 11:04Speaker 5: and yet he did. Nobody thought Brett Myers was going
- 11:07Speaker 5: to give you a huge at-bat against CeCe Sabathia. Do
- 11:11Speaker 5: you feel like it's less about the ability when you
- 11:14Speaker 5: get there and more about the mindset or the collective group,
- 11:21Speaker 5: or do you think it is just you need superstars,
- 11:24Speaker 5: you got Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino's having an
- 11:27Speaker 5: MVP type of year, Ryan Howard, and those are the
- 11:30Speaker 5: teams that win?
- 11:33Speaker 2: No, you need a full team effort. I mean, you know, Gretzky,
- 11:37Speaker 2: talent obviously is helpful, but you need to have a
- 11:40Speaker 2: full buy-in and trying to figure out ways to win
- 11:43Speaker 2: a game, regardless of what you need to do. sometimes
- 11:47Speaker 2: that's being selfish, sometimes that's being selfless, recognizing those moments
- 11:52Speaker 2: and trying to take advantage of it. Not trying to
- 11:55Speaker 2: make that game bigger than it is, even though that's
- 11:58Speaker 2: the challenging part. But listen, you play a bunch of
- 12:01Speaker 2: games during the season. It's no different, either it's a
- 12:04Speaker 2: little bit bigger stage and you start to kind of
- 12:06Speaker 2: recognize in those big moments who can handle them, who can't.
- 12:11Speaker 5: What's the best playoff atmosphere you played in?
- 12:15Speaker 2: I mean, listen, playing in Philadelphia in the playoffs, I'm
- 12:18Speaker 2: not sure it gets a whole lot better than that.
- 12:21Speaker 2: Winning a World Series there was amazing. But I've played
- 12:25Speaker 2: in Tampa in the World Series, and that place can
- 12:27Speaker 2: be loud and intimidating. Also played in Milwaukee in the playoffs,
- 12:32Speaker 2: and that place can be exceptionally loud. So two great
- 12:35Speaker 2: fan bases, and I'm excited for them because they haven't
- 12:37Speaker 2: been in the World Series for quite some time. So
- 12:40Speaker 2: happy for their cities that they're getting to experience this.
- 12:44Speaker 1: Chase, do you think there are any ways to simplify
- 12:47Speaker 1: for fans why some teams figure it out in the
- 12:50Speaker 1: playoffs after a certain period of time? Like right now
- 12:53Speaker 1: you're with the Dodgers. I think some people forget. First off,
- 12:55Speaker 1: if you go back, what, 12, 14 years, like the
- 12:58Speaker 1: Dodgers had some rough times. Then they were consistent playoff teams,
- 13:01Speaker 1: but not necessarily getting over the top, right? And then
- 13:03Speaker 1: they were able to do that in these past two years.
- 13:06Speaker 1: I say this with a club like the Phillies in mind,
- 13:10Speaker 1: how they've had this really good core in place. But
- 13:13Speaker 1: aside from the one World Series appearance, they haven't been
- 13:15Speaker 1: able to put it over the top. Yankee fans are
- 13:17Speaker 1: enraged because they're used to winning World Series titles all
- 13:20Speaker 1: the time. And now it's really been a long time
- 13:22Speaker 1: for them. So do you think there's any secret sauce
- 13:25Speaker 1: to explain how a team's able to get over the
- 13:28Speaker 1: hump when they're in the playoffs year after year?
- 13:30Speaker 2: Well, one, I'd like to say that it's not easy.
- 13:33Speaker 2: It's not easy to One, get to the playoffs. Two,
- 13:36Speaker 2: get to the World Series. And listen, I think you
- 13:41Speaker 2: see the teams that are getting to the postseason, they
- 13:44Speaker 2: do a great job from a talent evaluation standpoint, from
- 13:48Speaker 2: a game planning standpoint, and bringing players in that can
- 13:52Speaker 2: help them in a number of different facets. And yes,
- 13:59Speaker 2: the Yankees haven't been in the World Series for a
- 14:00Speaker 2: long time. They have a great team. It does take
- 14:03Speaker 2: And I would imagine you two can understand this. You
- 14:05Speaker 2: need a little bit of luck on your side as well.
- 14:07Speaker 2: You need balls to kind of bounce the right way
- 14:09Speaker 2: for you to win those big moments at times. At
- 14:12Speaker 2: the end of the day, as a team, you need
- 14:14Speaker 2: to stay positive and confident in your ability and your teammates' ability.
- 14:18Speaker 5: All right, two-part question. I don't know if you heard
- 14:22Speaker 5: it when we were off before we brought you on.
- 14:25Speaker 5: Bryce Terang was saying, you know what? I kind of,
- 14:29Speaker 5: I resemble that comment. saying that he kind of reminds
- 14:33Speaker 5: people kind of remind him of Chase Utley. What do
- 14:37Speaker 5: you think of that? And when you watch him play,
- 14:39Speaker 5: are you like, okay, I like that or nah, not
- 14:43Speaker 5: a comparison.
- 14:46Speaker 2: I like, I like Bryce. He conducts a real professional bat,
- 14:51Speaker 2: which is obviously refreshing to see, but he's a great
- 14:53Speaker 2: second base. It seems like he's in the right spot
- 14:55Speaker 2: at the right time. He has, he has athleticism on
- 14:59Speaker 2: his side, which is obviously helpful. And he seems like
- 15:02Speaker 2: a grinder. I don't know him personally, but just by
- 15:04Speaker 2: watching what he does and what I've heard about some
- 15:08Speaker 2: of the guys he's played with in the past, he's
- 15:11Speaker 2: a guy you want on your team. So when I
- 15:12Speaker 2: hear all that, put that all together, yeah, I'm definitely
- 15:15Speaker 2: a Bryce Terang fan.
- 15:16Speaker 5: All right, a guy on the other side hit a
- 15:19Speaker 5: huge home run. Wasn't necessarily a go-ahead homer, but Caminero's
- 15:23Speaker 5: home run. I know how you feel about home run trots.
- 15:28Speaker 5: Have you loosened up in your old age about the
- 15:31Speaker 5: home run trot slash celebration? And this is from a
- 15:34Speaker 5: guy who probably never celebrated a home run, maybe more
- 15:39Speaker 5: than your one in Tampa in 08, where you put
- 15:42Speaker 5: the bat down and you were like, yeah, I knew
- 15:44Speaker 5: I got that.
- 15:47Speaker 2: I have come around a bit at my old age. Kratzy,
- 15:50Speaker 2: thank you for pointing that out. Listen, I had a
- 15:53Speaker 2: certain mentality as a player. And that was act like
- 15:57Speaker 2: you've been there before. That's what I was taught growing up.
- 15:59Speaker 2: And that's what I took through my career. But that
- 16:04Speaker 2: narrative has changed a bit over the years. So it
- 16:08Speaker 2: is more exciting from a fan to watch someone celebrate.
- 16:12Speaker 2: I think there's a point to it that's a little overzealous. But,
- 16:18Speaker 2: you know, that's what I think that's what the fans
- 16:20Speaker 2: want to see. I don't know if I would be
- 16:23Speaker 2: doing that still if I was playing today, but I
- 16:25Speaker 2: don't know.
- 16:26Speaker 3: I don't know.
- 16:26Speaker 2: I was I was taught a certain way and I
- 16:29Speaker 2: kept it going that direction for a number of years. So, yes,
- 16:34Speaker 2: the disrespect part on the pitcher, I think, is doesn't
- 16:37Speaker 2: really happen much anymore. And I'm not sure pitchers care
- 16:40Speaker 2: like they used to care. So if they don't care,
- 16:43Speaker 2: then we shouldn't care.
- 16:44Speaker 3: I like that.
- 16:46Speaker 5: Good answer. Otani. in my opinion, watching something was compromised
- 16:51Speaker 5: with his lower half. I know you're a Dodgers employee,
- 16:53Speaker 5: so I'm not going to say, oh, what did you
- 16:55Speaker 5: hear or anything like that. I know for a fact
- 16:58Speaker 5: that you played while you were hurt. And I know
- 17:00Speaker 5: for a fact that you didn't want anybody to know
- 17:02Speaker 5: about it. And I think it was something that I
- 17:05Speaker 5: admired about you and I took for the rest of
- 17:07Speaker 5: my career that, you know what, you might be hurting,
- 17:10Speaker 5: but you're not injured. Is that something that is... detrimental
- 17:15Speaker 5: to the team? And how do you make those decisions
- 17:19Speaker 5: as a team, but also as a player?
- 17:24Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a tough one. I mean, at the end
- 17:26Speaker 2: of the day, you need to be able to look
- 17:27Speaker 2: yourself in the mirror and say, am I helping the
- 17:30Speaker 2: team going out the way I'm doing versus someone else
- 17:34Speaker 2: taking my place? And as you said, Kratzy, yeah, I mean,
- 17:38Speaker 2: we all play through aches and pains and issues. And
- 17:43Speaker 2: I think the guys that have the ability to figure
- 17:44Speaker 2: out the guys that have the ability to figure out
- 17:46Speaker 2: how to adjust to those ailments and still have some
- 17:50Speaker 2: type of success and making a contribution that day, those
- 17:56Speaker 2: guys are the ones that have success throughout the year
- 17:59Speaker 2: because no one really feels 100% every single day. I
- 18:02Speaker 2: would say half the season you feel 95% and the
- 18:05Speaker 2: other half you feel 85%. So my guess is you
- 18:09Speaker 2: just have to figure out a way to navigate those
- 18:12Speaker 2: ailments effectively Um, and for me, I never wanted to
- 18:15Speaker 2: give any information to the opposing team. So I didn't
- 18:17Speaker 2: want anyone to know that I was hurt to your,
- 18:20Speaker 2: to your point. Um, some days it helped me some
- 18:22Speaker 2: days that hurt me. Um, but overall I was proud
- 18:25Speaker 2: of how I've kind of battled through.
- 18:26Speaker 3: A bunch of things.
- 18:28Speaker 5: Chase, I don't want you to shut your eyes. So
- 18:30Speaker 5: for this, I just want you to pretend you're shutting
- 18:32Speaker 5: your eyes because America wants to see those gleamy blue, green,
- 18:37Speaker 5: whatever the heck color they are now. But yeah, When
- 18:41Speaker 5: you go 2008 World Series, what's the memory that's ingrained
- 18:47Speaker 5: in your mind? Is it your play where you got,
- 18:51Speaker 5: I forget who it was, out at the plate? Was
- 18:53Speaker 5: it the last out? What is ingrained in your memory
- 18:57Speaker 5: about that series?
- 19:02Speaker 2: Honestly, Kratzy, I think it was moments before the final
- 19:07Speaker 2: out was made. The crowd was going nuts. And this
- 19:11Speaker 2: sense of, it was kind of awkward. It was nuts.
- 19:14Speaker 2: It was completely chaotic in the moment. Eric Hinsky's at bat.
- 19:18Speaker 2: Brad Lidge had been lights out for us all year long.
- 19:22Speaker 2: So you just had that feeling that this is going
- 19:24Speaker 2: to happen. And this feeling of calmness came over me,
- 19:27Speaker 2: I don't know, 10 seconds before that last pitch was
- 19:30Speaker 2: made that I'll never, never forget. It's hard to describe.
- 19:34Speaker 2: Maybe you guys have had that in the past. But
- 19:36Speaker 2: with all the chaos, this calmness came over me that
- 19:40Speaker 2: I can't forget.
- 19:41Speaker 1: That's really cool. Well, Chase, we appreciate the time. Thank
- 19:45Speaker 1: you for joining us. What do you have there, Kratz?
- 19:47Speaker 1: You got a show and tell.
- 19:48Speaker 5: What do I have? Oh, I thought.
- 19:49Speaker 1: What do you got, Kratzy?
- 19:52Speaker 5: I stole this from you. You didn't know. You didn't
- 19:55Speaker 5: know I stole it. I stole your bat.
- 19:58Speaker 2: What's it say on that?
- 19:58Speaker 5: 2E Kratz. It's been real.
- 20:04Speaker 1: It's been real.
- 20:05Speaker 3: It was real.
- 20:06Speaker 5: You wrote this on all your bats, so that's why
- 20:07Speaker 5: I stole it.
- 20:08Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a generic, generic, generic for sure. But I
- 20:11Speaker 2: did enjoy playing with you, Kratzy. I really did.
- 20:13Speaker 1: I don't know how you did it.
- 20:15Speaker 2: Six foot four catcher bending down like you did.
- 20:19Speaker 1: Impressive.
- 20:20Speaker 2: How are those meetings doing?
- 20:21Speaker 5: Tremendous. I never played, Chase. Chase, the most I played
- 20:25Speaker 5: was with you when you were there. And then I
- 20:27Speaker 5: left the Phillies and they were like, well, this guy's
- 20:30Speaker 5: not very good. So we're just going to let him
- 20:31Speaker 5: watch the game. So I had a really good close
- 20:34Speaker 5: seat for a lot of games.
- 20:36Speaker 1: Well, I enjoyed watching you, Kratzy. Thanks for having me.
- 20:41Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 20:42Speaker 1: Thank you, Chase. They would have made him play a
- 20:43Speaker 1: lot more now as they rest catchers more, but yeah,
- 20:45Speaker 1: Kratz still has his noggin. So he is keeping it
- 20:48Speaker 1: real every day on this show, but yes, appreciate you
- 20:51Speaker 1: joining us, Chase. Really helpful and good insight. So hope
- 20:54Speaker 1: you enjoyed it too. Awesome.
- 20:56Speaker 5: I did.
- 20:56Speaker 1: Have a good one, fellas. Thanks.
- 20:58Speaker 3: You too.
- 21:03Speaker 1: Hot corner time. Let's sizzle. Todd father. I know you
- 21:05Speaker 1: love Halloween. So what we want to do over the
- 21:08Speaker 1: next few minutes is talk about the World Series schedule
- 21:11Speaker 1: and if it's being done correctly. We start game one
- 21:15Speaker 1: of the World Series tonight on a Friday. If this
- 21:19Speaker 1: series goes seven, we will have a World Series game
- 21:22Speaker 1: on Halloween, and it has happened many times in the past.
- 21:26Speaker 1: And as someone who probably is past his prime in
- 21:28Speaker 1: terms of coolness, I did have a coolness prime at
- 21:31Speaker 1: one point where I was around people that would set
- 21:34Speaker 1: the tone for for what people talk about on social media, right?
- 21:38Speaker 1: There's a certain age group that often leads the charge there.
- 21:42Speaker 1: And I'll tell you one thing that I heard not
- 21:44Speaker 1: as cool as maybe 10 years ago. The point is
- 21:46Speaker 1: there's one thing that I would always hear. Why the
- 21:49Speaker 1: heck is MLB putting one of its biggest games against
- 21:52Speaker 1: one of the biggest holidays in all of the world,
- 21:57Speaker 1: the country, whatever you want to call it. It's such
- 22:00Speaker 1: a popular going out holiday too.
- 22:02Speaker 4: Right?
- 22:02Speaker 1: This isn't Thanksgiving at home with the fam, Christmas at
- 22:04Speaker 1: home with the fam. This is a going out holiday
- 22:07Speaker 1: for really anybody. I would say probably from 15 to
- 22:11Speaker 1: upwards of whatever, whoever likes to go out 50, 60,
- 22:14Speaker 1: whatever there's Halloween parties, there's parents taking their kids out
- 22:18Speaker 1: and yeah, eight o'clock. Maybe you're not doing that on
- 22:20Speaker 1: the East coast, but you're certainly doing that at five
- 22:22Speaker 1: o'clock on the West coast. Todd father, talk me through
- 22:24Speaker 1: why this happens and why I would even, I would
- 22:27Speaker 1: even do another off day somewhere, make it weird just
- 22:30Speaker 1: to avoid Halloween overshadowing the biggest game in our sport.
- 22:35Speaker 3: Well, first off, you bring up a lot of points.
- 22:37Speaker 4: One thing I want to point out, yeah, you were
- 22:39Speaker 4: cool once and then it dies down a little bit,
- 22:41Speaker 4: but it does kick back up when you have a
- 22:43Speaker 4: child and all of a sudden that you're the coolest
- 22:46Speaker 4: thing in town. So you will kick back in the
- 22:49Speaker 4: gear for you. So be ready for that and relinquish
- 22:52Speaker 4: that and don't let go until they're older. Second thing,
- 22:57Speaker 4: Halloween in Tom's River, we have a parade on the 31st.
- 23:02Speaker 4: We don't go trick-or-treating. We trick-or-treat on the 30th. It's
- 23:05Speaker 4: always been like that. So the parade is pretty cool too.
- 23:10Speaker 4: Like people are out. They're not home. The parade's not
- 23:12Speaker 4: going to end at 8 o'clock. It's going to end later.
- 23:14Speaker 4: That doesn't help anybody. The West Coast thing, the Midwest,
- 23:20Speaker 4: all that. it doesn't make a difference what time it is.
- 23:23Speaker 4: You are going to miss a monster crowd. So what,
- 23:25Speaker 4: the people in Milwaukee are not supposed to go trick-or-treating
- 23:28Speaker 4: that day? Yeah, I don't agree with this. I don't,
- 23:31Speaker 4: I mean, who, I just don't understand. And for this
- 23:34Speaker 4: severity of a game, yeah, they do, basketball does Christmas
- 23:39Speaker 4: and Thanksgiving for football.
- 23:42Speaker 3: I don't know. It's hard.
- 23:45Speaker 4: It's hard to figure out what's going on and how
- 23:48Speaker 4: and why they do it. But, You know, everything comes
- 23:51Speaker 4: with a cost. That's all I'll say about that one.
- 23:54Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's regular season. And also that's an inside holiday.
- 23:58Speaker 1: This is an outside holiday. And this is not just regular.
- 24:01Speaker 1: This isn't regular season. This isn't postseason. This is potentially
- 24:05Speaker 1: game seven of the World Series. It's not like nobody's
- 24:08Speaker 1: going to watch it.
- 24:10Speaker 4: It could be one of the greatest games to ever watch.
- 24:13Speaker 4: And it's on Halloween. So you're going to have to,
- 24:17Speaker 4: if you're, Rays are on the East Coast. Brewers are
- 24:20Speaker 4: an hour behind. So, you know, that's why I guess
- 24:22Speaker 4: it gets dark quicker. So once it gets dark, I guess,
- 24:25Speaker 4: you know, it's on a Saturday, which helps. I think
- 24:28Speaker 4: that's the only thing.
- 24:30Speaker 1: Yeah, but for me, I'm not worried about the Brewers
- 24:32Speaker 1: and the Rays fans. They're going to watch. I'm worried
- 24:34Speaker 1: about the rest of the country, Kratz, and how we
- 24:37Speaker 1: keep this as a national sport and not try to
- 24:39Speaker 1: make it such a regional sport. If you want to
- 24:41Speaker 1: grab national attention, I promise you going up against Halloween
- 24:45Speaker 1: is a losing battle. Again, I would rather have it
- 24:48Speaker 1: bumped up, and I get it. It's a Saturday. You
- 24:51Speaker 1: don't want to go up against the NFL. I don't
- 24:52Speaker 1: want to beat around that bush. The NFL is the
- 24:56Speaker 1: biggest nightmare for MLB. They don't want to have games
- 24:59Speaker 1: up against football.
- 25:02Speaker 5: Okay.
- 25:03Speaker 1: Let's maneuver this to not be on Halloween as a secondary.
- 25:08Speaker 5: I think you're making too big of a deal out
- 25:11Speaker 5: of it. Do you know when the Super Bowl is
- 25:12Speaker 5: this year?
- 25:14Speaker 1: Valentine's Day.
- 25:15Speaker 3: Valentine's Day.
- 25:16Speaker 1: Hey, newsflash, we're not the NFL. I want to make
- 25:20Speaker 1: sure we're very clear about that. MLB is not the NFL.
- 25:25Speaker 1: And that's a different holiday, too. I'm not concerned about
- 25:27Speaker 1: Valentine's Day.
- 25:29Speaker 3: Is Valentine's Day a holiday?
- 25:31Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 25:31Speaker 3: Would you consider that a holiday?
- 25:34Speaker 1: But it's no Halloween, my friend. It is not touching Halloween.
- 25:38Speaker 3: I mean, there's a Mother's Day. There's a Valentine's Day.
- 25:41Speaker 3: The women got it. They get it. They get everything.
- 25:43Speaker 1: But everybody goes to– or Super Bowl parties are very popular, right?
- 25:47Speaker 1: We don't have World Series parties like that on a
- 25:49Speaker 1: national scale. I think when we try to compare our
- 25:53Speaker 1: sport to football, it's a losing battle. We're going to
- 25:55Speaker 1: do this in off-season too where we try and make
- 25:58Speaker 1: comps to certain things that football does. Losing battle. They
- 26:01Speaker 1: are in two different stratospheres. It's just what it is.
- 26:05Speaker 5: I agree. And this is going to be the biggest game.
- 26:09Speaker 5: It's a potential biggest game. So my thing is what
- 26:12Speaker 5: you had said. Like, we could schedule around it. We
- 26:15Speaker 5: could definitely schedule. It's not like you're, oh man, you know,
- 26:18Speaker 5: the World Series is going to be affected by Thanksgiving
- 26:21Speaker 5: and Halloween. We have two holidays during the World Series.
- 26:24Speaker 1: No.
- 26:24Speaker 5: Like, they essentially treat the NFL as a holiday and
- 26:29Speaker 5: Major League Baseball can't figure out how to get Sundays back. Like,
- 26:34Speaker 5: there's one game at 8 o'clock. There'll be one World
- 26:36Speaker 5: Series game. I think the answer is somewhere in starting
- 26:40Speaker 5: these games yesterday and Possibly. How about this? Create some anticipation.
- 26:49Speaker 5: Create some anticipation with a, hey, you know what? We're
- 26:51Speaker 5: going to game seven. This doesn't happen every year. Off day.
- 26:55Speaker 5: If game seven is going to fall on Halloween, make
- 27:00Speaker 5: that off day. Let's do it November 1st. And then
- 27:03Speaker 5: you have that anticipation building up. Each team is healthy.
- 27:07Speaker 5: Will there be a Will there be some like, oh, well,
- 27:10Speaker 5: that wasn't fair. This team, it bodes better for them. Yeah,
- 27:14Speaker 5: but it creates that anticipation. The two weeks before the
- 27:17Speaker 5: Super Bowl creates that anticipation. It allows teams to get healthy.
- 27:22Speaker 5: So I have no problem with an extra day. I
- 27:25Speaker 5: have no problem with an extra day before if you
- 27:28Speaker 5: get to a game seven, allowing it to just build
- 27:31Speaker 5: and culminate to like everybody's like, I've had two days.
- 27:35Speaker 5: I can't wait for this game.
- 27:38Speaker 4: Right.
- 27:38Speaker 1: The problem in this particular case is that the day
- 27:42Speaker 1: after is Sunday, and that's the nightmare for the league.
- 27:47Speaker 5: But it's game seven.
- 27:50Speaker 1: I'm just stating what's going on here.
- 27:52Speaker 4: Both ways are right, but yes, 100%. It's not the
- 27:57Speaker 4: king of all.
- 27:59Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
- 28:00Speaker 4: People love football. They die for that football. They love baseball,
- 28:05Speaker 4: but I think it's totally different. Because guess what? They're
- 28:08Speaker 4: playing in the cold times. It's not warm anymore. You
- 28:10Speaker 4: know what I mean? That's all people think about is football.
- 28:13Speaker 4: And that's just the nature of the beast. You know
- 28:16Speaker 4: what I mean?
- 28:17Speaker 1: Maybe we should just end the season sooner, Ty.
- 28:19Speaker 3: I was just going to say that. But I don't know.
- 28:21Speaker 4: I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
- 28:23Speaker 4: That's something for a different day. Maybe the season should end,
- 28:27Speaker 4: you know, the end of September.
- 28:30Speaker 3: I don't know.
- 28:31Speaker 5: I don't know.
- 28:31Speaker 3: Something to talk about. The World Series. October 1st. You
- 28:35Speaker 3: know what I mean? Something like that.
- 28:36Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 28:36Speaker 3: But that's October 1st.
- 28:39Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 28:40Speaker 1: I'm just asking for like, can we just make sure
- 28:42Speaker 1: this season ends by October 30th or something like that
- 28:45Speaker 1: each year?
- 28:48Speaker 5: Yeah. It's definitely possible. I think.
- 28:52Speaker 1: Some people think this is ridiculous, Kratz. This is a
- 28:54Speaker 1: ridiculous conversation. I don't because I mean, even behind the scenes.
- 28:58Speaker 1: I'll take everyone behind the scenes. there's so much activity
- 29:03Speaker 1: in our little chat, our little company chat, more so
- 29:06Speaker 1: than we usually see. That should describe how people feel.
- 29:11Speaker 1: I'm fired up about it because of where I am
- 29:15Speaker 1: in life and what I've experienced over the past 10 years,
- 29:17Speaker 1: being around people that like baseball, they don't love baseball,
- 29:21Speaker 1: and they ignore baseball on Halloween for years. They're like,
- 29:25Speaker 1: what's going on? Oh, there's a World Series game tonight?
- 29:27Speaker 2: Okay.
- 29:29Speaker 4: I just think at the end of the day, Knowing
- 29:31Speaker 4: where we're at and how football is so dominant on
- 29:35Speaker 4: the weekends, have it on a on a weekday Wednesday
- 29:38Speaker 4: night where nobody's watching there's no football there's there is
- 29:42Speaker 4: football but it's not the big dog people will dominate
- 29:46Speaker 4: that the viewing would be phenomenal Wednesday night a Friday
- 29:49Speaker 4: night oh my god how about a Friday night wow
- 29:52Speaker 4: I something along those lines that and it's going to
- 29:55Speaker 4: be an eight o'clock game why not make it Friday
- 29:57Speaker 4: night where people are out you know doing whatever.
- 30:01Speaker 3: If not, they're out. They could stay up. Most people
- 30:03Speaker 3: don't work on the weekends. Most. I'm not saying all,
- 30:05Speaker 3: but Friday night would have been perfect.
- 30:09Speaker 1: Yeah, and since 1990, there have been 10 game sevens
- 30:12Speaker 1: in 35 years, so one every three and a half.
- 30:15Speaker 1: Throwing that out there and still telling you that if
- 30:17Speaker 1: we do have a game seven, I don't want it
- 30:19Speaker 1: on Halloween.
- 30:21Speaker 5: I don't care.
- 30:21Speaker 1: There's some hills worth dying on, and some people don't care,
- 30:24Speaker 1: but I'm.
- 30:25Speaker 3: Not doing it.
- 30:25Speaker 5: Don't make Valentine's Day.
- 30:27Speaker 1: I'm not making more or less money on this topic.
- 30:30Speaker 1: I'm just telling you that in my mind, it's a
- 30:32Speaker 1: little bit embarrassing when I feel like I'm so connected
- 30:35Speaker 1: to a sport. And then I'm talking to the general
- 30:38Speaker 1: public and they're like, that's kind of funny. Your biggest
- 30:41Speaker 1: game of the year is on Halloween. Did anyone look
- 30:45Speaker 1: up the calendar? I'm telling you, I hear it all
- 30:47Speaker 1: the time and I'm not the only one. There are
- 30:49Speaker 1: people out there listening right now that are really feeling this.
- 30:51Speaker 1: There are people that are like, you guys are ridiculous.
- 30:53Speaker 1: This is so stupid. I'm sitting at home and watching
- 30:55Speaker 1: every game, but there's others feeling differently.