Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / Small-Market Teams CAN Compete, Division Series Headlines, Clutchest Playoff Performers

Transcript

Small-Market Teams CAN Compete, Division Series Headlines, Clutchest Playoff Performers · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, everybody.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome to another edition of Cardinal Territory. I'm Jim Hayes.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: I'm malleable alongside Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. Malleable means
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: I can bend and shape with whatever is thrown my
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: way in terms of scheduling this program. So here we are.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: And gentlemen, the postseason is upon us. I picked out
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: some that I thought was interesting to talk about. You
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: guys can slap it aside because I'm malleable. I'll move
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: on to something else. I don't know if you saw it,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: but the Brewers and the Padres, game one, they're playing
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: in Milwaukee. I believe that's American family field, but I
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: don't call it that because they don't pay me to
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: say that. But anyway, Ty France hit a ball that
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: sure felt like a homer. It sure looked like a homer.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: I think everyone thought it was a homer. StatCast says
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: it might not have been a homer. StatCast is not
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: always right, by the way.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: And it hit.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: The support stuff in the roof, a cable of some sort,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: and became a lazy fly ball out.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, let's say you were a player for
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the Padres.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: And Lance, I just want to get you fired up
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: because it's a better show when you're pissed off.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: If you were a player and that happened, I know
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: they go over the ground rules with the manager in
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: the beginning and everything. I don't know if anyone's listening.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Would you have been pissed off If you're on a
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: team that thought you had a homer, now if you're
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: a pitcher for the other team, if you were a
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: pitcher for San Diego, right, you might have been happy
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: about it if that was the case for a pitch
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you made for Milwaukee. But I'm saying if you were
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: a pitcher in San Diego and a pitch you threw
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: ended up hitting a cable and was an out, you
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: might be. How would that make you feel, though, if
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: you're a player for San Diego and you had a
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: homer taken off the board by a cable?
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: Um, it'd be frustrating, extremely frustrating. Um, you would look
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: at probably all the ways of how you got screwed
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: over and over again. Um, I looking at it and
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: all that, I've never seen anything hit a roof at
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: a Miller park as I like to call it ever. Um,
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: so I was kind of surprised by it or seeing
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: anything close to it. Um, I think usually if it's
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: that far in the area that it was, I'd be
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: interested to see if it was going foul to the
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: way that the, where it hit and, and came back
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: and was caught. It'd be interesting if it would even
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: have been a fair ball. But what do I know?
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: But as a pitcher on Milwaukee side, I would be like, man,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: just another, you know, long out can of shit is
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: what I would have called it and walked off the field.
• 2:55
  Speaker 4: You actually would have yelled that at Ty France.
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: Probably.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I would have said, I don't know what you're bitching about.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: That's a can of shit.
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: But then again, if you go look at Ty's number
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: against me, there's not a whole lot of contact.
• 3:07
  Speaker 5: So I don't know. I don't know if I would even.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Have said that.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: Then you definitely would have yelled at him.
• 3:11
  Speaker 5: I probably would have said, go get your glove after
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: strike three.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: So that would have been it. Absolutely. What about you?
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: That's great.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: What about you, Kyle? Would you be pissed off? Would
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: you yell a can of shit? Oh, by curse.
• 3:25
  Speaker 6: Wow, Jim.
• 3:27
  Speaker 4: Oh, my gosh.
• 3:27
  Speaker 7: We got you fired up today. I agree with Lance.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: I don't know that I've ever seen anything at, uh,
• 3:43
  Speaker 4: Miller park, American family field, whatever you want to call it. Uh,
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: I don't think I've ever seen anything hit those wire supports. Um,
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: It always looks like it can, but then every fly
• 3:53
  Speaker 4: ball that's hit that's super high, you're like, oh, wow,
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: that wasn't even close to it. So the fact that
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: Ty France did it and it was that close to
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: the foul pole while doing it, that's incredible. I thought
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: it was really interesting that StatCast said it might not
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: have been a homer when it hit that. It came
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: pretty much straight down and Churio standing on the track.
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: I'd say that probably means it was going to be
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: far enough to go over the fence. And the only
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: other ball that they compared it to is a Jock Peterson,
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: 49 degree, 100 and whatever, home run in Texas down
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: the line. So that ball was straight down the line.
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: American family field, much more hitter friendly, I feel like,
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: than Texas, even down the line. So I think that
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: ball is going to be a homer. But it's just
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: you got the crazy ground rules like there, Tropicana. I
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: don't know if there's any other indoor places that you
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: can actually hit the ceiling. But, yeah, pretty wild that
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: that game kind of hung in the balance of a
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: ground rule right there. And had it been fouled like
• 4:57
  Speaker 4: Lance said, it's a dead ball and you replay. So
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: kind of a tough break. And it looks like with
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: now that the Brewers being up 2-0, it could be
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: a really big swing in what happens in this series.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: So we'll talk about the Brewers, but I want to
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: ask you about.
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: How's it not a redo, by the way? Just throwing
• 5:17
  Speaker 5: that out there. How's it not a.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: What do you mean?
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: If it's foul, it is. But, I mean, it's just
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: like in the trop. If it's a fair ball, you
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: play it.
• 5:25
  Speaker 5: If something hits the ceiling, it's like, hey, re-pitch. That's
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: my opinion.
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: I would guess, now that they've seen this happen, well,
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: maybe the Brewers don't want to do this, but... MLB
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: or somebody is probably going to put a yellow line
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: or something on those and say if it hits past
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: this point and it's fair and it's a homer. Just thinking.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: So Lance, just your feeling.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I'm going to call a Miller part two because you
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: got me fired up today. I don't like that ballpark
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: anyway because it's got the retractable roof. And when the
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: roof is closed, it's really dark in there. Like that
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: could be the darkest ballpark. You guys played there. What's
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: it like playing in that? And then when they open
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: it partially, there's shadows and everything. What do you remember
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: about playing there, Lance?
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: I always thoroughly enjoyed pitching there. I don't know if
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: my numbers say so. I feel like they will. But
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: it was a place where I felt like I could
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: throw hard. The mound, uh, had it, it just stood
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: up well. It had a good, good look to it. Um,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: so yeah, if it's darker in their shadows, that's usually
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: means it's more against the hitters. Um, but it's also
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: like I said, it is a hitters friendly park, especially
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: when they open the out there outfield.
• 6:48
  Speaker 5: Uh, windows and it seems a gust out there.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Um, but I mean, the most thing that I remember
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: was when Tony La Russa kicked out the visiting clubhouse
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: manager because somehow he thought he was relaying signs to
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: their clubhouse to then relay to the hitter all whilst
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: the pitch was coming. So, yeah, there's some memorable things
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: that have happened in Milwaukee. But I've celebrated quite a
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: bit in Milwaukee. You know, the most memorable one being 2011–
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: championship series. So, you know, I have fond memories of
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: that ballpark now that I think about it.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I forgot.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I forgot about that. How about you, Kyle? What about
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: you pitching in that joint?
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: I do agree with Lance. I enjoyed pitching there. I
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: also don't know if my numbers backed that up. But
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: what's crazy about Milwaukee is how dark it does feel.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: When they open the roof for a day game, that
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: might be the brightest field you will play on. And
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: that's when those shadows come in and start to darken up.
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: I don't understand why, but it is maybe the biggest
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: contrast in shadows. Because when that roof is open for
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: a noon or a one o'clock game, before those shadows hit,
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: it is like spotlights on that infield. I do like
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: how you can open the windows in the back. I
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: do think with the roof open and the windows open,
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: or excuse me, roof closed windows open. I think it
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: does fly out of there pretty good with, with the
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: air moving right out of there. But, um, I mean,
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: for as old of a park as it is, um,
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: I thought it was a pretty good setup in general.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about the Brewers.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: I mean, they're up 2-0 on a Padres team that
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: I pretty sure has a hundred million dollars more in
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: payroll than the Brewers. We always like to talk about
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: that because we've got labor situation coming up, but, uh,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: I think the Brewers are 18th in payroll, and they
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: just might be the team to beat.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: How do you look at the Brewers, Lance?
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, they're the number one team in the
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: National League, so by the regular season numbers, they are
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: the team to beat. I was thinking the Padres winning
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: the first round had some mojo going that they would be,
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: you know, if they would have won game one, if
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: that was a homer, you know, where are we at?
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: But now you're looking at a 2-0 going back to
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: San Diego. It's tough sledding for the Padres. to win
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: that series. And when we want to talk about the payrolls,
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: here we go. If the Brewers get to the World
• 9:17
  Speaker 3: Series on the National League side, let's say Chicago Guardians
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: or Rays get to the American League side World Series,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: then everything that the owners have bitched about, they can
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: literally kiss our ass is what's going to happen. So
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: this could be an amazing World Series. And I hope that,
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: let's say if we have Rays, Brewers in the World Series,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: Everything that every owner and every fan has bitched about
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: all year can prove that it doesn't matter.
• 9:48
  Speaker 5: There we go. So there's where I'm at on everything.
• 9:51
  Speaker 5: What about you, Kyle?
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: It looks like to me, according to SportTrack, you have
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: four teams. in the top ten. in the ds and
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: you have four teams in the bottom 11 of payroll
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: in the ds this has been my biggest gripe that
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: for the reason that i've called into 101 espn and
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: talked to jamie rivers and those guys and stalter really
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: salters the one that gave me too much trouble but
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: like there is more parity in baseball with the payroll
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: then then people give it credit for right Cleveland, last
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: in payroll, all right? They just lost to the White
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: Sox game one, but they won the division. Tampa Bay, what,
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: third best, fourth best team in baseball? No. Shoot, they
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: might have been the second best, right behind Milwaukee. 28th
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: in payroll, right? I think, like Lance said, this is
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: going to be awesome. If Milwaukee, who sits at number 19,
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: and the Rays, who sit at number 28, two of
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: the best teams in the game if they make it
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: to the World Series, which I actually– we'd have to
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: roll the tape back. I'm pretty sure that's what I
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: might have predicted going on for the World Series. But
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I just think, like Lance said, it's–
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: I understand that top payroll teams have done really well,
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: as they should– Top payroll means you should have really
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: good players. But these teams, when you give the freedom
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: to organize and generate a team how you want, it
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: proves that you can do it. And some of these
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: teams at the bottom haven't been trying. And then you
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: have some of these teams at the bottom that have.
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: Then you have a team like Chicago that hits on
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: draft picks and hits on trades, and they can do
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: it a different way. Who's to say that the White
• 11:41
  Speaker 4: Sox should be forced to spend $ 180 million to get
• 11:45
  Speaker 4: on the floor when they can do it at $ 103 million, right?
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: I'm all for if the White Sox have to be
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: at $ 180 million. But I think this shows that it
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: can be done if you've got the right people involved
• 11:55
  Speaker 4: and you draft correctly.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: So the White Sox have a really low payroll.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: I thought it was under $ 100 million.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's more since– whatever I looked at.
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: Well, but I mean, they, they could have, it could
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: be under, but it could be some of the guys
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: that they're paying for. Maybe that aren't on the roster.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, they brought in Luis Castillo. So that took
• 12:18
  Speaker 4: them over. But I mean, they've got three guys, four
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: guys now that are making over 10 million, you know,
• 12:24
  Speaker 4: Ben attendee Murakami and Hicks and then Castillo. And they
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: brought him in.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Those are, those are, those are value players. Those are
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: not big contract guys anymore. But let's talk about the
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: White Sox because I root for them because I like
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: the Cardinals as I like you guys. I like the
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: players that I've gotten to know over the years. And
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: the White.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Sox have Hicks. They have Fetty.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: They have Gritchick. And they have one other guy that
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: I'm rooting for. I'm trying to– oh, I said– oh,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Tommy Pham. They have Tommy Pham. And so I root
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: for those guys. I think they're a fun team to watch. Lance,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: do you like the White Sox? I know you pitched
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: your best years for the White Sox.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: No, I mean, you're looking at, yeah, I like what
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: they're doing and what they've put together. Yeah, I have
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: my highest Cy Young voting in Chicago. So, yeah, the
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: South Side of Chicago has a beautiful place in my heart.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: Fans are great. I love what they bring to the table.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: Very passionate fan base, to be honest with you. They're
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: a little rowdy, too, so I enjoy that. But when
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: it's all said and done, their turnaround from losing 120
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: games to being in the playoffs is pretty cool. They've
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: revamped their whole system and how they do everything. I
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: think Will Venerable has done a great job, and Kyle
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: and I have played against him and know what he's about.
• 13:50
  Speaker 3: So I think they've turned the corner in a lot
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: of good ways moving forward. So it's kind of fun
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: to see a team do that in this day and
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: age because everyone gripes about how, the payrolls and this
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: and that and making the playoffs. So it's doable if
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: it's done right. And it's, you know, it's took them,
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: you know, they took some beatings over the last couple
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: of years before they got here. So when you see
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: players take those beatings and then come out and do
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: the things they've done this year, it's fun to watch.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: So some of those kids were in minor league camp
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: and big league camps when I was there or were
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: getting drafted when I was there. So it's fun to
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: see that group come up and have some success.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: What about you, Kyle?
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: I'd be really interested to see.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm sorry.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Sorry, Jim. I'd be really interested to see what the
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: locker room says about the veteran leadership in there and
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: how they have kind of helped, you know, get this
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: season going in a certain direction, right? You got Benintendi,
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: who's been there. Okay, he's 31. Jordan Hicks has been
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: around the game. Sean Newcomb's been around the game. Betty,
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: we already talked about him last show and this show. Gritchick,
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: like you said, Tommy Pham. It really reminds me a
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: little bit of what Baltimore tried to do in 2023
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: when they brought in myself and a couple other veterans
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: to work and to play alongside of a really young core, right?
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: It would just be interesting to see what those players
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: say and how they said that their impact has been.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: And then you bring in a guy like Luis Castillo
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: at the deadline, which has a huge track record. And
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: I guarantee no matter how he pitched that put a
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: shot in the arm and that team as a boat
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: of confidence saying our management went out and got one
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: of the historically best starting pitchers over the last five
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: or six years. We're ready to go. Let's go get it.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: I like that too.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: I also like when I, I, I like when teams say,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: I don't care if we're going to balance in the
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: early rounds, right? We're going to get in and see
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: what we can do. Because once you're in, you never know.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: We're going to take a break here, and we're going
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: to come back and talk about what it's like to
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: pitch in the postseason. Because my guess is it's a
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: totally different animal. You're watching Cardinal Territory on the Foul
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Territory Network.
• 16:01
  Speaker 6: The 2026 MLB playoffs are here. And guess what? Seat
• 16:06
  Speaker 6: Geek has you covered. Let's go. If you're looking to
• 16:09
  Speaker 6: go to a playoff game, which I know everybody is,
• 16:12
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• 16:15
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• 16:18
  Speaker 6: If that green light is on, that means it's the
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: seat to go. If it's red, that means no. Guess what?
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: There's some big teams going. Kratzy, tell us about it.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: I'm definitely going to a Brewers game.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: There's no bad seats in Milwaukee. because the stadium is
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: right on top of the field. It feels like you're
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: in the grass.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And you know what?
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: If your team lost this year, go get yourself some
• 16:39
  Speaker 4: concert tickets.
• 16:40
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• 16:42
  Speaker 6: code for you. You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10%
• 16:46
  Speaker 6: off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10%
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: off any tickets with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you
• 16:53
  Speaker 6: click the link in the description to download the app
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: and have the code automatically added to your account so
• 16:58
  Speaker 6: you can use it later.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: Go to SeatGeek.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: So both you guys have pitched in the postseason, along
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: with getting into the playoffs. For veteran guys, you kind
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: of know the deal. But my guess is there's a
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: ton of distractions, what with making sure the family has
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: proper accommodations, third cousins that you don't even know are
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: hitting you up for tickets. Lance, outside of the pressures
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: of being on the field in our make-or-break season, situation
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: where there's a lot of money at stake for everyone
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: on that roster what's it like pitching in the postseason.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: Um it's a uh beautiful hectic uh time of the
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: year there's really no other way to say it you're
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: uh people don't realize you have to like if you're
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: on the road you have to put your tickets in
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: advance and stuff like that there's a lot of a
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: lot of moving parts that you have to deal with
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: um that time of year um that are different than
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: the regular season but that's what you play for so Um,
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: there's an excitement, there's chaos, there's everything. Um, so the
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: team that gets through it at the end and wins
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: it all is a team that's able to overcome all
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: of the things and play good baseball. So I think
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: it's one of the, uh, one of the better things in,
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: in sports because of the different cities, uh, how many games,
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: all that stuff that, that goes on in the game
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: of baseball to do it. Um, so it's fun, man,
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: but it's chaotic and, uh, it's, uh, you know, there's,
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: it's just hectic. And it's, it feels like it goes
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: like that too. That's the crazy part about it. When
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: you're in it, you're like, Oh my God, this is
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: the longest day ever until the game starts. And then
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: you look back, um, after 14 years in the league
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: and you're like, man, it went like that. And I
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: barely remember some of the stuff that I, that I
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: wish I remembered a little bit more.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: What about you, Kyle? There is some chaos in there,
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: isn't there?
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: There is, um, Early on in my career, when we
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: first made it in 2017 and 2019, I believe both
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: of those years, you actually had to put in and
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: purchase your full post-season tickets at once so if you
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: wanted four tickets you bought four tickets for every game
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: for all rounds and then whatever you didn't use you
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: got reimbursed for but that made it a little bit
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: easier but you know a little bit more difficult because
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: you know you had to pick right then but then
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: it wasn't like like you mentioned third cousin you it's
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: not like you could just get extra tickets when you
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: got to the next round It was OK, guys, which
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: of my family are going to be here? We're going
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: to have four tickets and we're going to shift in
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: and be malleable, as Jim Hayes likes to say, and
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: see who can make it to which game so that
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: everybody can have some fun. Later on, it got a
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: little bit different and you could get some more tickets
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: if you needed to. But still wasn't easy because, you know,
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: every home game sold out, you know, getting extra tickets.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: at citizens bank park for the 2022 playoffs was unheard
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: of so um but you know it's that year also
• 19:57
  Speaker 4: was interesting because we i think we finished the season
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: on the road We then had to go to St.
• 20:03
  Speaker 7: Louis.
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: We then had to go straight to Atlanta. And I
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: want to say we were on like a 14-day road
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: trip when all said and done by finishing on the road.
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: So the playoffs can bring a lot of unpredictability. But
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: pitching in the playoffs– Nothing like it. You know, the
• 20:21
  Speaker 4: Yankee Stadium in 2017 in the wildcard round, you know,
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: I gave up a run, so it wasn't, you know,
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: too enjoyable. No, not 17, 19, sorry. Incredible with what,
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: you know, that stadium was like when, you know, we
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: scored three or four in the first, and then Irvin
• 20:38
  Speaker 4: Santana gives up three or four in the first, and
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: it goes back and forth. But, yeah, it's pitching in
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: the playoffs, like Lance said, that's why you do it. Um,
• 20:47
  Speaker 4: that's what we play for. And it, it brings the
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: extra sauce and the extra juice and extra adrenaline every
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: single time.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: So you guys are veterans, but Lance, let me ask
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: you this. So, and I've interviewed a million guys, first
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: post season, whatever. See if you can remember back that,
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: but everyone always said, yeah, it's nerve wracking until you're
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: on the mound. Cause you've been on the mound a
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: million times in your life and it all settles in.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: And it's once you're in it, it's just another game.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Is that really.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: True or is there a chance that when it's your
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: first taste of the postseason as you try to recall it,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: are you kind of pooping yourself a little bit from nerves?
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Be honest. No.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: The crazy part about it is my rookie year in
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: 11 was probably the easiest postseason I ever had because
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: I was so young and dumb that you didn't even
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: think about it. It was like, give me the rock
• 21:39
  Speaker 3: and let me go chuck it. You get older and
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: you start overthinking shit and then you're just like, You know,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: this could be my last one. I might not ever
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: get another chance. When you're 24 years old, I was like, oh,
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: we'll do this every year.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: This is cool.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: What about you, Kyle? What do you remember? Because that
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense to me.
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, my first outing in the postseason wasn't
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: until 2019, six years in, so I wasn't on the
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: 17 roster because it was just a one-game wildcard at
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: that point. I was starting in the DS, not in
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: the wildcard, so I didn't even get a pitch. But, yeah,
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, I think that was pretty nerve-wracking because it
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: was the first time we'd won the division, you know,
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: for the first time that, you know, getting in the game,
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: there's just a lot more expectations than being in Yankee Stadium.
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: It was pretty nerve-wracking, but.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: I mean, I didn't get a start in the postseason,
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: so that might have changed things a little bit.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: You know, in 2022.
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: That first outing was kind of, I'm not going to
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: say it was mop up, but I mean, that's probably,
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: that was my role there, you know, in San Diego with,
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: you know, a couple of guys on and down by
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: three runs. So, you know, that one wasn't as nerve wracking,
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: but the World Series one was crazy. That one was
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: nerve wracking. And it was, there was every bit of,
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: You know, understanding that, okay, I'm pitching in a World
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: Series game with the lead, and it's like we need
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: to get three outs here and get off the field.
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: So there's– but I think it's some perspective and it's
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: the mental side of the game that you work on
• 23:13
  Speaker 4: so hard. If you're able to let that kick in,
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: then it can be another outing. And then, you know,
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: as I was walking off the field each time, I
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: was trying to soak it in because, like Lance said,
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: you just never know when it's your last time.
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: Great. That's great stuff. All right, last thing, last topic.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: I'm just plucking this out of left field, right field,
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: because I was just curious about it, because you watch
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: guys that have a track record of coming through in
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the clutch, right? Guys that always seem to get the
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: big hit. So in your opinion, of all the guys
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: you face, Lance, who is the most clutch hitter, at
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: least against you? Who is the guy that always seemed
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: to come through in the clutch.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: That you faced?
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: Oh, man.
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: I'm trying to think, I will mean, to be honest
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: with you at the end of my career, uh, Jose
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: Ramirez for, for the guardians, it seemed to always like it,
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: he just, it didn't, the game wasn't too quick for him. Um,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: I think when you find guys like that, they're, they're
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: a pain at all times, um, no matter what the
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: situation is. So Jose Ramirez there, I mean, there's a
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: lot of them that were, were, you know, pains in my,
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: my butt over the course of the, over my career,
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: but he seemed to be a, uh, he always seemed
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: to come up at the wrong time too. Like when
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: I wasn't feeling my best either. So it's like, sometimes
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: those guys are just like just the thorn in your
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: side and they, they always get you when you're at
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: your weakest and it kind of sucks.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: That's great. Who was it for you, Kyle?
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: Jose was one guy I was going to say, but
• 24:47
  Speaker 4: then as I was thinking about the kind of every
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: situation that this guy was in, Miguel Cabrera always hit
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: to the situation and, And I feel like if it
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: was just getting the ball in play, he was going
• 25:01
  Speaker 4: to do it. If he needed to drive a ball–
• 25:04
  Speaker 4: He was going to do it. So, you know, I
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: don't know what his technical clutch numbers would be. But, man,
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: you just knew that that guy was going to execute
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: what the situation called for. And I don't know how
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: many times there'd be a guy on second base and
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: less than two outs or no outs. And, you know,
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: I know he's going to hit a ground ball a second.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: So how can I make him pull a ground ball
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: to short and not be able to get that guy over?
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: and you could ram a sinker right in off the
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: plate on the white line, and that guy would pull
• 25:34
  Speaker 4: his hands in and hit his ground ball to second
• 25:35
  Speaker 4: base and run a seven-second home to 90 and be
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: laughing the whole way because he knew exactly what I
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: was trying to do, and he still executed and got
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: him over. And he'd be smiling the whole way to
• 25:46
  Speaker 4: the dugout, happiest guy on the field for a ground
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: ball to second base.
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: I'm going to say this, though. I got something for
• 25:53
  Speaker 3: the most clutch thing that I ever saw in person.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: which was the 2011 or 2013 world series with, uh,
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: David Ortiz. That was the most obnoxious thing I've ever
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: seen in my life. Yep.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I think that didn't matter what you did to him.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: Even when you walked him, he somehow got you in trouble.
• 26:11
  Speaker 5: I don't know how he did it.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: You could walk him.
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: And then somehow he transferred it to, uh, to Johnny
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: Gomes to do something special. It was like, what in
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: the hell is this guy doing?
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: It's fair.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: So we started the show with malleable. I got to
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: tell you that, uh, Both of you were ebullient today,
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: and I appreciate that because that made for a great show. Okay,
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: that's going to do it for this edition of Cardinals Territory.
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: We'll see you next time. Hopefully, that episode won't suck.