The Book of Joe: Yankees mistakes, MLB Speedway Classic, and the Final Stretch!

Hosts Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci begin with the Yankees struggling with fundamentals. What can Aaron Boone do that will make a difference on the field?  Tom wants to know if you think the Tigers are still one of the best teams in baseball.  Can the Mariners run down the Astros in the AL West?  Tom relives his experience at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend and how a rain delay inspired some MacGyver-esque maneuvering from MLB!  Plus, was it the biggest home run in baseball?

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
The Book of Joe Podcast is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hey thereon, Welcome Back to the Book of Joe Podcast
with Me, Tom Berducci and Joe Madden.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey Joe, we got a ton to talk about.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
We have to talk about a baseball game played inside
a racetrack. We've got trade deadline fallout, We've got the
most amazing home run of the week we have to
talk about. But I think we started here before, Joe.
We have to start with the New York Yankees. Have
you been watching this club?

Speaker 3 (00:39):
I have. It's been very interesting to watch it. It's
just so you know, there's talent there, obviously, but there's
still like a disjointed method of play on their part.
I know they've been criticized openly by Jeter and Aird
on television. Actually, I had an answer to those questions
today about accountability and how do you handle it from

(00:59):
the outside in. It's tough. I mean, Boonie's got a
really hard job. And the New York Post today in
his regards to his defense what was going on and
basically what he was saying there in a nicer way,
And I've always adhere to the same concepts pranks publicly
and criticized privately. I'm sure he has talked to these
guys in the more severe tones when he's in the

(01:21):
clubhouse or in his office. That's what I would do.
I mean, actually had sports writers early, not early on,
just throughout my career. Sometimes they would accuse me of
not being tough enough, or not being more accountable, you know,
to the newspapers whatever. We're calling people out. And I
told him I won't do that, but I'll do that privately,
and I did so. I want to believe that Boonie
has had some more severe conversations with these guys because

(01:44):
the mistakes really a lot of mental mistakes, even more
than physical mistakes. I consider them mental. They look physical,
but a lot of times they are mental. And that's
just a matter of focus and bhunos or your mind
drifts off to when you're not when you have not
been successful at the player made me make a mistake
on the field or pitching wise too, But it's just
truly a lot of mental mistakes, and those are the

(02:06):
ones that beat up.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
All right, I'm glad you brought it up, because let's
really we need to dive into this from the manager's perspective.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Players make mistakes. We get that. It's how it's handled. Now. Listen,
I'm a fan of Pat Murphy.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
If Joey Ortiz is making poor swing decisions, he's going
to call him out and say, you know what, he's
sitting today because he's been making poor swing decisions. If
some of his guys are making poor base running decisions,
he's going to acknowledge that. He's not going to sugarcoat it,
and sometimes it's going to cost a guy a game
or two.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I like that. I don't think we should be beyond.
And it's not a criticism.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's saying there's a standard that we hold here and
there is accountability publicly.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
So when I look at Aaron Boone, I agree with you. Joe.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
I'm sure privately these things are being aggressed. Don't get
me wrong here, but I want to take it back
to the play by Jazz Chisholm on the pop up. Okay,
Jess said that he thought the second basement Edwards was
going to deek him.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Okay, here's a question for you, Joe.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
How many times has an infielder let a pop up
fall and the run around first base got the second
base safely? How many times have you seen that in
your life?

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, it's not under those circumstances and can have zero s.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Just Chisholm's explanation does not make sense. You cannot defend
that decision making. And Aaron Boone did. He knows it's wrong.
And I didn't like the fact that instead of getting
on Chisholm, he was getting on his first base coach
and that was public Joe.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
If you look at the Doug out there, he's calling.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Out his first base coach. That's a poor base running decision.
I'm sorry. If even if the second baseman wants to
let that ball drop, you're not gonna make it to
second base. Your job is to make sure you don't
get doubled up. That's exactly what happened. You cannot defend
it by saying there was thoughtfulness behind it. It was
a bad thought It was bad base running. Why he

(03:58):
cannot come out and say that, I don't know.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Well, you're right, I mean, you acknowledge what had happen.
My point is the conversation that you might have with
the player himself. You're not going to go on and
on in a negative manner about the player, but absolutely
you have to concede that, Listen, that was bad. We
can't be doing that. That's a mistake, and I want
to believe he's never going to do that again. And
I did see him admonish the base coach in the dugout,

(04:21):
and that to me, that never goes over. Well. I
don't think I've ever done that where a player on
the field made a mistake and I went right to
the coach and automatically started to get in his face
about something. I could say zero times that I did that.
I have so much respect for coaches, and in a
situation like that, you do the player made that decision
on his own, who had nothing to do with the
first base coach. So you're right. I'm not disputing that. Yes,

(04:44):
you admit to what the mistake was and how it
was wrong and how I have to correct it. And
then my point is that if you have to get
a little bit more in detail, you do that away
from the public, and you get the guy in your
office and a lot of times in the office with
the coach to make sure that it's all handled properly.
Some point. Sometimes David Martinez, and I keep referring to

(05:05):
Davy was such a good bench coach Davie would be
all over that. I couldn't even get to the guy
because Davey would handle that in advance of anybody else
getting to Sometimes the veteran player, he just watches it
happen and he's over the veterans walking down, he under
the dugout. He approaches the player before he ever gets
to the dugout. When you set it up right, A
lot of times that is what does occur. But you're

(05:27):
right not denying that, admit to the mistake. But then
I think for me, I wanted to have that private
conversation with the player.

Speaker 1 (05:34):
I think the bottom line here though, and I like
Aaron bood a lot. I think he's a great communicator.
As I said, I do think he's addressing things privately.
I have no problem with that. That's the way to go.
But I think his job here, and this is not
to appease the media or me. I think his job
here is he needs to change the temperature in the
room somehow.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
Right.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
This is the Yankees team over the last fifty seven games,
that's more than one third of the season, is twenty
five and thirty two. Only the Twins and the White
Sox have been worse through the last one third of
the season than the New York Yankees.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
So whatever is.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
Happening right now, and this is probably not a fundamentally
strong baseball team anyway, but something needs to be addressed
here to just change the tenor of how the Yankees
are playing baseball. I can't tell you I know what
that is, Joe. You've been in these situations. Sometimes it's levity,
sometimes it's getting guys out there early. But I'm telling
you just saying everything's fine. You're trusting in the talent

(06:33):
of this team. What has gone on now for fifty
seven games, it's time that something needs to change.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's not levity, and this situation wouldn't be levity for me.
For me, it's like, when you get to this point,
I would always reference back to what we talked about
in spring training, and furthermore, I talked about this. I'd
come out in the beginning of the second half. You
start going through your spring training drills, when you get
at home. When you're at home, you come out a
little bit earlier, not the whole homestand maybe two maybe

(07:01):
three days that the most you come out, spread them
out and you come or whatever it needs to be covered. Furthermore,
like with individual players. What I liked what I used
to do also would have a bi monthly meeting with
the coaching staff to cover each guy. You'd go like
around the infiel like man Bolt, b Chisholm, Golschmid, whatever,
and I would have the infield coach talk about, Okay,

(07:21):
what is the plan for each one of these guys
for this next two weeks? And then you ask the
hitting coach the same thing. And then of course if
there's a base running problem, but you would go through
the whole process. And I think if you have those
little and I'm not a meeting guy, like I'm saying
with the team, but I was okay with meeting with
the coaches, and you would go through, you would reinforce,
re emphasize the plan per guy, and then you got

(07:44):
to get him out on the field. And we're just
talking about position players now. But the picture is the
same thing. I mean, you see pictures throwing poorly to
the bases. I mean, I don't know how many times recently,
not just the Yankees, I watch in general pictures not
backing up home plate on plays at the plate. The
other day, I think the Yankee did back up and
it worked as he was able to stop runners from advancing.
But that's how how I liked to do things. Was

(08:06):
a matter of meetings. Coaching the coaches, I think is
one of the most important things the manager does. And
then beyond that, you'll know when thinks are slipping. And
I like to reference spring training again and everything we
had talked about there. But then make time on the field.
Why you're at home ten game homestand or let's just
say seven game ten game homestand definitely two maybe three
times seven game homestand once maybe twice. But part of

(08:29):
it could be the position players in entirety, but definitely
the pitchers out there going through some PfP. They don't
like it, but it's got to be done.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
I like the idea of reinforcing the fundamentals the message
you said spring training, you just don't leave it there, right,
it's a god reminder.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
I don't think they're going to turn the Yankees into
a great defensive team over tonight. You know, a question
of how good or bad the Yankees are defensively, it's debatable.

Speaker 2 (08:50):
I mean, I don't know how you feel about defensive metrics.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Joe.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
But you can find anything.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
To back up whatever position you're you know you want
to establish. For the Yankees, for instance, defensive efficiency, that's
the percentage of balls and play that you turn into outs.
Not bad, there's seventh in Baseball. Defensive run saved, they're eleventh.
But out above average, which is the stat cast measurement,
they're twenty first. I think it's probably more of where

(09:14):
they lie. I think they're a back half defensive team.
I don't think they're an upper half Major League Baseball
defensive team. The teams the metrics like defensively Texas, the Cubs,
the Braves, and the Brewers. That makes sense to my eyes, Joe,
when I look at defensive teams who played defense really well.
I like Milwaukee a lot, I like the Cubs a lot,
and those metrics show up. For the Yankees, I just

(09:36):
don't think that's the way they win. And let's face it,
without Aaron Judge, who you know, he's the big difference maker.
You can make some mistakes on the basis and defensively,
and when you've got a guy like Judge hitting three
run homers, you can make up those mistakes. And playing
without him, you see their margin of error is a
lot smaller.

Speaker 3 (09:53):
Part of that. I mean, and again I don't know
this well enough because but I did when I was
managing the Brewers were really good at positioning from Jump Street,
and I think that's a big part of maybe how
these metrics are working out. If you get your guys
in the right spot early. Then for me, it was
always about we catch line drives. That's when when I
was with the Rais back mid two thousands and Thread

(10:15):
around twenty and ten, we were frustrating some teams because
we were at the forefront of positioning in more radical
ways based on our charts where to stand and when
you do do that. For me, my thought was you
were able to catch the harder hit balls because if
your pitcher illicit soft contact, that automatically should make your
defense bigger. So I thought, it's a combination of positioning,

(10:37):
where do I start these guys the teams that I
were frustrating to me as a manager with the teams
that started in the right spots, and then beyond that,
if your pitchers could listit soft contact, you get bigger.
And finally making the routine play. Making the routine play
routinely was something that that goes back to my days
in instructionally is with the Angels, they said, I've always

(10:57):
wanted a boring defense without any chrome. That's the way
I describe it to d Sarcina and Damian Easley and
all the influence had at that time. So there's a
couple of little different things I think that are very
important regarding this stuff. But the group that really starts
their defense right where they position them to begin with
before the pitch is thrown, to me, that stands out well.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Judge is coming back this week, and here's a question
for you, Joe, as a manager. I mean, you trust
your medical people, right, but he has not thrown the
ball overhand yet. He probably will not play defense, at
least for the first week that he's back. And you know,
he had a flexer strain, which for a pitcher is
sometimes you know, the precursor to UCL injury. And I

(11:40):
think that's the fear for the Yankees that what he
does get out there in the yank in the outfield
and has to unleash a throw, then he's putting the
UCL at risk. I don't think there's any way to
mitigate what the risk may be.

Speaker 2 (11:52):
You just hope he's okay, but he looked good for
whatever that's worth taking VP.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
He did that on Friday in Miami, he did it
on Sunday in Tampa. Getting the back of the bat
of the lineup is going to be good. But what
do you do at Stanton? I mean, you're gonna run
Stanton out there on right field now, I mean, I
know he has his flaws, but he still slugs over
five hundred and he's a threat to having that batter's box.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
Yeah, it's Judged versus Stanton in some ways, and you
have to ask the question, do we want to risk
Judge playing in the outfield like you just describe hurting
himself to the point where he can't play at all.
Of course that's not what they're going to do. So
it sounds to me as though Stanton is going to
have to take his reps out there, and then what
you got to do is with the lead late you

(12:34):
get him out. I mean you've got to take those chances. Now.
Sometimes it might be a one run lead, it might
be a two run lead, and he might be coming
up and you don't know if you're going to lose
that lead. I've always held his face with that. With
several outfielders Shobert at that time with the Cubs, when
he first got it going on, he would be the
guy you'd want to replace later in the game. Have
had several really good offensive outfielders that had to be

(12:54):
replaced defensively late. But it's also about what is the
score at that time. And of course, if you're behind,
you let the guy, you let him stay in there.
But if you're head, when do you take him out?
And how much of a cushion do you need. There's
gonna definitely be Stanton's gonna have a caddy. He's gonna
have to play out there for this to really work,
like you're saying, I mean, they just can't walk away
from his bat. So I think that's what you're gonna see.

(13:16):
But I would not push judge at the point they're
probably already. I would think if they if there's even
an inkling to do that, it's gonna be like boom ball,
hit the judge. Second baseman, get out there, who remember
wherever he's playing, get out there, get out really close,
make us throw like twenty five feet. That would have
to be what's gonna happen. It's gonna be something to
that effect. But I think originally it's gonna be stanting

(13:37):
out there with the lead. He's out of there without
a leg to let it roll. But then again, you're
risking you're risking him getting injured too man, just moving
around too much. It could happen to him.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
Also reminds me of the Mets and Rusty Stop with
the nineteen seventy three postseason. He banged up his shoulder
and couldn't throw the infielders, had to go all the
way out there.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, it's been done.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
I did like what Theyggies did at the deadline, Joe
picking up bedn arn Devall to really lengthen the bullpen.
And I talk about this all the time, Joe post season,
Baseball's American Legion Tournament. You know it's bullpen dominance, right,
We know that by now. And it's not enough to
have the twenty fifteen Kansas City bullpen with three big
arms in the back. You need five or six to

(14:17):
get you through the postseason. And the Yankees simply didn't
have that.

Speaker 2 (14:21):
Now.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
Of course, those guys didn't get off to a good
start in their first games in Pinstripes and Cabiro's another guy, Cabiro,
who I liked. They picked up with speed off the bench,
because the Yankees do have.

Speaker 2 (14:30):
A lot of guys you want to run for.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
You know, he had a tough first day as well,
but on the whole, I like those moves and I
think they're better off for it. It was all about
not just the Yankees, around major League Baseball, Joe fortifying bullpens.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yeah, I mean it's pretty amazing. When I first started managing,
my thought was I wanted at least four even her
ahead guys, meaning that I could bring them in comfortably
when the score was tied or we were head. Those
are very valuable pitchers, and if you have a couple
guys that are more deficit kind of guys, you need
those guys too to hopefully maintain a small deficit or
was it bad game, but that's just the way it was.

(15:05):
But you look at the Yankees now, I mean they
have I would if I wrote all the names down,
probably all their guys are potentially even or ahead guys,
which is really unusual. If you have six to seven
even rehead guys, you could really parcel out your work
to the point where nobody's really going to get injured
or overworked. If somebody gets hot, it's hard to stay
away from that guy, if you really like somebody better
than the others. But when you have this kind of

(15:27):
a mix, like you said, you referenced the Broyles that year.
That was two years that was unbelievable. These guys nailed
it down every time. Was You don't see that very often.
But even her ahead guys, there's a difference, and the
Yankees got a bunch of them.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Well.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
There were forty relief pitchers who were traded in the
last three days before the deadline.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
The Mets, for instance, gave up three I believe to
be major league players for Tyler Rodgers, who he doesn't
close games. He's really good as a setup guy, and
he's a rental for two months that they're paying, essentially
starting pitching prices for relief pitchers set up relief I
get it. It's interesting to me, Joe, is that three

(16:07):
of the hardest throwers in the game were traded, you know,
and Devolved, Duran and Helsally all got traded. There were
sixty nine pitchers so far into August Joe into first
of August who have hit one hundred miles an hour
sixty nine twelve years ago, at the same time there
were eighteen. So it's not just about getting relief pitching.
Everybody wants power, everybody wants swing and miss. I mean,

(16:29):
look at the Padres and the Mets did. I got
to say they're the biggest winners at the deadline for me, Joe,
because when you build a team this time of year,
you're building it for October. In some cases teams are
trying to get into the postseason. I get that, but
most part is last chance for gas before October, and
it's about building a bullpen. And right now, to me,
the Padres and the Mets have the two best bullpens
in Major League Baseball.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, this was a philosophical exchange I had several years ago.
Do you want to work the game forward? Do you
want to work at backwards? And I was always about,
you know, working at backwards, meaning you get the bullpen
and work it back to the six or fifth inning.
And it's become even more prevalent right now. And what
you're saying there too, by trading these kind of guys

(17:10):
that have those kind of arms, the organizations are saying
we can make more of those. We're just gonna open
up another can of one hundred mile on hour arms,
and they believe that they can. I believe that's part
of the reason why they're able to do these things,
because it's become prevalent. It's crazy because again, not many
years ago, scouting wise, if you've got a guy throwing
ninety five, that was a big deal. Ninety five, ninety six,

(17:31):
eighty eight to ninety was like an average velocity fastball.
It's probably ninety two ninety three at least right now.
So I believe that's confidence in the fact that they
have more of these guys on the way. So when
it gets to that point, they've already had this in
the back of their mind. If we need something, we're
gonna do it this way because we can make more
of these guys because we have another can up on

(17:52):
the shelf.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
Hey, we're gonna take a quick time out here on
the Book of Joe. We get back.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
I want to continue the discussion about trade deadline fallout,
especially as it relates to the Detroit Tigers. Remember, wasn't
that long ago we were saying they were the best
team in the American League. About now still saying that
we'll dive into that next.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Welcome back to the Book of Joe.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Joe, I'm not sure what you thought of Detroit and
what they did at the deadline. They were unwilling to
pay these high prices for impact closers and set up
guys late in the game, so they added I think
it's six or seven different pitchers, all of whom are
sort of underwhelming.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
That the tremendous confidence they have.

Speaker 1 (18:41):
In pitching coach Chris Fedder and their run prevention department.
I get that they're basically doubling down on what they
can do with picture stuff and having that play up
once they put on a Tiger's uniform, but they didn't
want to get in on these high prices.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
They kind of stayed away from that aisle.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
This is a team now in the last twenty games
is six and fourteen. What concerns me, also, Joe, is
they strike out a lot. When you look at the
Major League strikeout rate percentages, they're right up there. They're
fourth in Baseball, behind only the Rockies, the Angels, and
the Boston Red Sox. That is troublesome when it comes
to playing October baseball. So thumbnail sketch right now, What

(19:16):
do you got on Detroit and whether they are in
fact still the best team in the American League.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Well, you're right. I mean, they obviously need to get
out of whatever this is it is that they're in
right now. I mean, because they came on late last year,
they came on, they were the darlings, they kept Schooble
and all of a sudden things started rolling in the
right direction. Turklesen this year got off to a great start.
They know, different guys begin to surface. Hobby made a
nice comeback, and they have a bunch of guys in there.

(19:42):
They look like a bunch of gamers. To me. They
played the game hard, they played the game right. But
when you make that dramatic shift at the end of
the season, you have to carry it over to the
next year also obviously and finish off, which you didn't
get done the year before. And apparently they're having a
difficult time with that right now. I watch them on occasion.
I do watch them, and I do find them interesting.
It's like they're just could I say, they don't know

(20:05):
that they're trying to figure out how to get this
whatever it was, that little edge back that they had
for a bit because everything went right, everything went right
through the Darlings. They started out this year the same way.
I think it's more of an internal feeling as much
as anything, not only to pay prices for different pictures
and having confidence in your own methods. I'm okay with that,
I really am, because I've been part of teams and
situations where with the race we never had it on.

(20:27):
I mean, we had, like Chad Bradford. The one year
was a big acquisition for us, So I don't know
that I'm so concerned about that. I like the idea
that they believe in themselves. However, it's just a kind
of a scramble mode right now. Because they were the Darlings,
they were on fire. Now they're not, and it's really
hard to turn this thing around when it starts running
in the other direction. So they're just I'm just curious

(20:49):
to say they're going to get themselves out of this.
But I do like the idea that they believe in
their methods and we'll sell it plays out.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yeah, they are, by the way, thirty two and thirty
one against teams with winning records. That's the worst of
all the division leaders. The six Division leaders.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
And the schedule is really favorable right now.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
Their next thirteen games seven against the Twins, three against
the White Sox, and three against the Angels.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
So he got a chance to get healthy here in
the next week and a half.

Speaker 1 (21:17):
Maybe the Seattle Mariners are the best team in the
American League, Joe, I mean I can buy that. You know,
I need to see a little more of it, but
I think I love what they did adding cornerbats with
Suarez and Naylor, and we know about their pitching, and
I like this Seattle team. I like the way they're playing.
I think they can run down the Houston Astros line up.
To me, Joe is now deep that you know, the
guys in the back half of the lineup, and Can Zone

(21:39):
has been hitting for them as well. It's a much
deeper lineup than than we thought the first three months
of the season.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Yeah, that's that's something that they've kind of been lacking
of it. But Rodriguez really reascending right now. Suarez, if
he catches fire, obviously it's a different ballpark now. Hitting
up there as a post where he had been some
curious about that. Rose Rain is the guy that he
seems to have caught his swike back. Every time I
watch he seems to be doing something good, hitting the
all far and he's got that little folded arm thing

(22:06):
and he's bringing his energy to the to the field.
That Rawley's the guy that I was surprised that he
did that, and I don't know, I can't take the
directord that it had anything to do with it, but
he's just slowed down a bit. That's just a real
taxing moment physically and emotionally. I love this guy. I mean,
I've liked him from the first time I saw him
with Demerits when I was still with the Angels and
leaned over to Maddie Wise and he said, that is

(22:28):
some really great bat speed. I thought I didn't even
know how good of a catcher he was going to
be at that time. So they got that position wrap
and I think he's going to come on strong at
the end. But overall, they wonderful pitching. Absolutely. I like Crawford.
There's a lot of guys I do like on that team,
but for now, I think they have an opportunity to
hit like a team that has a chance, or they

(22:49):
can get to the playoffs this year and make some
noise to go more deeply into the playoff season.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
And I know the Astro's got a lot of applause
for the reacquisition of Carlos Korea. The Twins are kicking
in thirty three million, so it's only costing the Astros.
I'm saying only but three years and seventy point four
million dollars, and it's about where he is when you
think about the year he was having with Minnesota, not
a great year, below average ops plus three to nineteen

(23:18):
on base percentage, and defensively at shortstop, he ranked as
the worst fielding shortstop in defensive runs saved minus eleven.
Jacob Wilson was second at minus nine. So he's gone
to third base. Listen, you think he's going to be invigorated.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
I get it.

Speaker 1 (23:34):
Going back into the Pennant Race in Houston, it's essentially
home for him.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
I think it's a move they had to make.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
But right now, I think the Seattle Mariners to me,
Joe can run down to Houston Astros. And I never
rule out the Astros because that's a team that they
know how to play the length of the season and
the postseason as well well.

Speaker 3 (23:51):
I think the Mariners out acquisition them at the end
of the year right now. I mean, I like what
they did more than listen. Craze a nice player and everything,
but he isn't what he had been a couple of
years ago, at least from what I've seen. The idea
of him moving to third base is a good one
overplaying words stop the game isn't quite the same. I
think it's the reinvigoration that you're that they're counting on
the fact that he's going to go there, put that
uniform on, playing that ballparking all of a sudden, you know,

(24:13):
if bells and whistles are just going to show up again.
I don't know, it's it's you know, it's it's a
nice conversation to have. It's one of those conversations you
convinced one another in a in an acquisition room, and
and everybody starts agreeing with whoever has the most dominant voice.
And that sounds like that's the way may it would
have happened. But and also when you talk about the
amount of money that he's going to get, that's probably

(24:34):
something they thought, you listen, we would have got we
would have done that a couple of years ago with
them no problem. This is where it would have been anyway.
So I think it's for me. There's may have been
some rationalization going on there, something that we had to
do in order to keep up with the Joneses, the
acquisitions made by the Mariners, and the over our overall
depth and talent of the Mariner position players, I would
take over them.

Speaker 1 (24:54):
So I'm going to put you on the spot here, Joe,
and myself as well. When we're done with October and
we look back, what are the one or two moves
we're going to say helps.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
Somebody maybe win a Pennant, maybe win a World Series.
I'm going to start first.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
I go to Philadelphia, adding both Harrison Bader, that was
a real need for them, right handed hitting plus defender
for their outfield, and especially yaw On Duran the closer.
I mean, you know what it's like if you're not
sure how to get that endgame going. As a manager,
it's the worst feeling in the world having that security
right now, having that lockdown to me for a team
that really needed that piece. They had paid a heavy price,

(25:31):
but I get it. He's under team control for the
next couple of years. You know, I could go Mason
Miller with the Padres, But I just think San Diego's
offense is not quite what Philadelphia's is. We know about
the Phillies starting pitching, just in terms of need and impact,
I'm going to go with the Phillies move well.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
I just I just we just talked about it. I
do like what the Mariners did a lot, because they've
always come up a little bit short in that offensive area.
For me, it could be a tough ballpark hip and
Suarez and Naylor really that's kind of as that's kind
of gold right there for them. I mean, to get
those kind of corner guys to really solidify that group,
I know it had to have had a really energetic

(26:06):
positive impact on the clubhouse. When these guys walk in
the door, they're exactly what they need to get over
the hump up there. And again that's just considering and
believing that their pitch's gonna do what it had done,
has been doing, and what it is capable of doing,
which I think they will. It's kind of like it's
their time. I mean, I will send the manager. I
think he does a nice job. I think he's a
steady eddy kind of guy, and I'm betting that these

(26:27):
players really going to really respond to him. Well. So
I like the way he's handling things. I like when
I see him out on the field. I like the
way he looks like when he's talking to people. I
like all that stuff. So I think it's their time.
They finally may have gotten the right mix together. There
they you know, they're they're not afraid to make a move.
Obviously their depota's not afraid. But I think they finally
may have gotten the chemistry right.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
I look at San Diego, Seattle and Milwaukee. You talk
about Hungary for a World Series championship, don't undersell that
when those teams are home in the postseason. A lot
of energy in those ballparks, besides having really good teams,
A Joe, have you ever been to a NASCAR event?

Speaker 3 (27:05):
I have not. I've been one time to Daytona and
I was Downder visiting my relatives, and you were having testing.
They take out one car and one car drives around
and they test, you know, how much it spins out
or sways in the turn and all that kind of stuff.
And I mean one car. I thought to myself, my god,
this is like so powerful watching you're listening to one car.

(27:25):
I guess there's like thirty three in the field at
that event at that time, So I can't even imagine,
can't even imagine what that sounds it feels like, because
one I think it was a Ford zipping around that
track was unbelievably powerful.

Speaker 1 (27:38):
Yeah, I got to my first and wasn't a NASCAR event.
Bristol Motor Speedway was my first trip to a NASCAR track.
And of course that's where Major League Baseball played the
Speedway Classic between the Reds and the Braves Rain the
laid game. Of course, Saturday night game became a Sunday
afternoon game. But I was blown away by the track itself, Joe,
I mean, when you're on the track, I mean, the

(27:59):
television does not do justice how steeply that is banked.
The banks are about twenty eight degrees. Is the third
steepest bank on the NASCAR circuit. Only Talladega and Daytona
have higher banks. It's a shorter track, it's slightly more
than a half a mile, so those dudes they're always
flying around turns.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
As soon as they're out of one turn, they're hitting
another turn.

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Just walking up that track and then walking down just
like walking down a skiing Black Diamond trail gives you
really appreciation for what those cars and what those drivers
go through.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Listen, those drivers, to me are absolutely crazy. The split
moment to night and split second split whatever that is,
decisions they have to make at those speeds and the
risks are that they take, and just the understanding of
the machine itself and the pit crews and everything that
goes into that stuff is pretty incredible. Now, I've never attended,

(28:50):
like you said it, never attended an event I would
attend an event. I don't quite understand on TV why
it's so popular, although people don't know why baseball's popper
if you don't like baseball either or a golf right,
But it's really it's wow. I'm just so impressed with
and it is athleticism there, the strength level and the
ability to focus and stamina. There's so much going on there.

(29:13):
Man to stay on that track for that long and
not make a mistake and come out of it alive
and win it, that's pretty impressive.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Yeah, And listen, major League Baseball did a great job
bringing It was the first game ever played major League
game played in Tennessee. The fans were unbelievable, you know,
waiting out this long rain to lay for a game
that eventually wasn't played that night, and then coming back
the next day. It was actually those fans. I get
them all credit in the world. And I know they
had some issues there with staffing in terms of food

(29:42):
services and listen, it rains.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
What are you gonna do? Right?

Speaker 1 (29:45):
The elements got involved in terms of all the planning
that was done. The field looked beautiful, the pregame ceremonies.
They had a forecast that said there was a window
to play the game. The forecast turned out to be wrong.
It happens right. But here's a funny story for you, Joe,
because both teams just thought they were coming in for
that one day, the Saturday, right, So there's no laundry
at the racetrack. You know, when they built the clubhouses,

(30:07):
it's amazing what they did. They built batting cages, training rooms,
you name it.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
But there's no laundry.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
So after the three hour delay, the clubies for each team,
and I know at least for the Braves, they had
to This is like the minor league days, Joe. They
had to pack up all the year. You're talking about
fifty guys in the traveling party, pack up all the year,
bring it back to the hotel, and then pay the
hotel to have the housekeeping do all this laundry so
they could get back the next day and play the game.

(30:36):
And then there was no planning for breakfast for the
players and staff the next day, so they had to
send somebody out to Costco to buy up virtually every
carton of eggs that they could find in Bacon and
put together a breakfast for the guys. Yeah, it really is,
the guys were saying, and they didn't mind. Nobody was complaining.
It brought guys back to the minor league days where
you just make do totally.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
I mean, you know food in the clubhouse and the
minor leags are you kidding me? Pean and peanut butter
and jail said, that's all you had, you brand the
low for bread jar, peanut butter, jar of jelly. There
was none of that. I mean that really became a
thing when I first started out in about ninety four.
There obviously there was stuff in the clubhouses, but it
was very Pitescrian. It was not that the spreads weren't

(31:17):
as elaborate. There wasn't as much catering down to the
players at that time. They were, They did, but not
to the level. Then eventually he just kept getting more,
became like Michelin restaurants in clubhouses, A guy Gallagher among
all of them, probably the greatest influence. And he was
the visiting clubhouse guy for the Tampa Bay Rays. Gee
Guy called Gee Guy, was always step ahead with everybody,

(31:39):
his kids. You drop something on the floor to be
picked up, that your shoes were shined every day. If
every time I came into town, I would go to
my room at the Vanoi and would be a bicycle
already in my room that guy would have there so
that I could ride my bike while I was in
Saint Petersburg. So it just kept getting better. And Cokuza
Loo in New York. Oh my god, I mean it's

(31:59):
that is that is a five star restaurant there that
is unbelievable. Eventually evolved over time. So like you're saying,
they weren't planning on that stuff, but it's kind of funny.
I thought they ended up. He's going to tell me
the ended up at a laundromat at two o'clock in
the morning, which might have been even better, but you
got it. Those are the things, man, you'd have to
and then even just getting a hotel because they didn't
have reservations, or maybe they'd had that thought in advance

(32:22):
if it gets rained out, maybe they had some kind
of contingency. But all this other little stuff, man, it's
just it's all there, and it's taking care of every
day by clubhouse guys, clubbies, some of my best friends ever.
Those guys are such unsung heroes, and I to tell
you what, the players love them. They're all comedians. I
always thought that they could have done a reality show

(32:42):
out of almost any visiting clubhouse that I attended, especially
Cacusis group with the Yankees in New York. They're absolute hysterical.

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, those guys are the guys and gals the backbone
of the game unseen.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
But the game doesn't go on without them. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
The Reds actually chose after they played at home on
Friday afternoon, they chose to stay at home on Friday
and fly in on Saturday to day of the game.
So they had to scramble to get a hotel for
Saturday night because they were planning on just flying out
that same night to Chicago their next series, and it
was interesting. The Braves had sent all of their luggage

(33:18):
on the truck to Atlanta on Saturday afternoon, and as
the rains started coming down, it looked like there was
a possibility the game might be pushed a Sunday. They
had to call the driver of the truck who's halfway
to Atlanta two hundred and forty to fifty miles away,
and say turn around and come back. We might need
our luggage here tonight, and in fact they did.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
It was so good.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
Kudos to all those support personnel who make the game
go around. The game itself turned out to be a
really I thought a fun game. Eli White hit two
home runs. It was interesting that the Braves called up
this kid, his pitcher, Hurston Waldrip.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
He was in Gwinnet.

Speaker 1 (33:52):
He was supposed to pitch for Triple A Gwinet on Sunday.
So they call him up at eleven o'clock at night
Saturday night and they say you're pitching tomorrow at Bristol
Motor Speedway and he's like, well, how do I get there?
Said I'm gonna send a car for you five thirty
in the morning. Now that's like a four and a
half five hour ride from Gwennett County. So this kid

(34:12):
twenty three to twenty four years old, gets in the
car at five point thirty in the morning, gets in
about eleven o'clock in Bristol, and actually it was a
resumption of the game. Is the first pitcher on Sunday?
Just an amazing story. He pitched it great, by the way,
got his first major league win. How fitting is that.
By the way, his name is Hurston Waldrip and the
guy who won the most races that Bristol Motor Speedway

(34:35):
all time with twelve.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Yeah, Darryl Waltrip, you can't make this stuff up.

Speaker 3 (34:39):
No, you can'temy Well, first of all, I mean he
could have been like, got no sleep. I mean it
probably did, get no sleep. But to get up there,
to get that opportunity, his adrenaline was flowing. And good
for him, Bully Frim for doing that. That's an outstanding story.
But all this stuff we're talking about, Tommy and you
know it, it's so entertaining and it's so minor league
and I so love it. I mean, honestly, the big

(35:01):
leagues are wonderful. It's it's kind of fantasy lands. Although
It's tough every day, every day, travel playing every day.
All that stuff tough, but minor leagues is even tougher.
You get on a bus every night, you never know
if you're gonna realize your dream. And you know, I
get paid a whole lot of money. The conditions are
normally substandard. They've gotten better, but at that time very

(35:21):
sub But romantically, I would never change that experience for
anything I think I've ever done. And that was to
play minor league baseball in Davenport, Iowa, and then the Salinas,
California for a couple of years, and then bumping around
the Colleague and Bakersfield and Santa Clair before my playing
career was concluded. So and then you go to the

(35:41):
minor leagues as a manager, and I Hadahole Falls, Idols, Salem, Oregon, Peoria, Illinois,
and then Middleland, Texas. You see it all, man, you
see it all, You hear it all, and I'm here
to tell you, man, I really wish a lot of
the players had had had the opportunities to do that stuff.
I don't think it's not really the same obviously anymore.

(36:02):
And everybody's going to say it's better. Maybe it is.
But the experience of having to cope and take care
of yourself and make decisions and be ready and really
like some standard moments. I remember the whilesaut Wisconsin. We
were asked to dress at the clubhouse. The president of
the league wants to dress there, and I said, we're not.

(36:22):
It's a third floor. I'm not having my guys dress
on a third floor. We're dressing at the hotel. Big argument.
I'm like, I don't know, twenty seven years old at
that time, No, we're not going to do that. The
buke eywa. I mean it would flood, the showers, everything
would flood, and you're walking around with you know, you
talk about athletes' feet, you're just gonna get some kind
of disease. But it's it's such God. I'm just I'm
grateful that I was able to come up at the

(36:44):
time that I did, and I was grateful that I
was able to I have to endure experience those kind
of moments because they are lasting.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
Yeah, you know what, just some of my favorite moments
is I see these major league players going essentially back
to their younger selves.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
And when times were tough, and you actually saw that.

Speaker 1 (37:00):
I'm sure these guys, the Braves and the Reds players,
especially the Braves. They won the game, came out of
this with some stories to tell and memories that will
last the lifetime. You're put into a you know, I
don't want to say it, an uncomfortable situation, because they
did a great job making the field really major league quality.
But it's different, right, It's far out of the routine.
A lot of guys. You know this, Joe, It's easy

(37:20):
to complain through the grind of a season. This game
will give you plenty of reasons to complain, but finding
you know that the silver lining in the cloud is
what makes these guys I think gets you.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
Through the season. And I saw that, especially the Braves.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
You know, they were handled this trophy, the Speedway Classic
Championship trophy, right, I mean essentially it means nothing, but
you would have known that by looking like these guys
that look like they want an American Legion tournament, you know,
posing on the pitcher's mount after the game with the trophy.
They got a big kick out of it. Stories to tell,
especially for a team like the Braves. Let's face it,
they're not really in this race here. It really was

(37:53):
a good show. I thought the players get I give
them credit because they bought into the just kind of
the unusual nature of playing a game at a racetrack.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
Going from Idaho Falls to they might have been left
breast Canada. Get to the border, I don't know. Right
around midnight Meadian border. There's nobody there to check the
passports of my eight Latin players. Nobody, so we obviously
you spend the night on the bus. You spend the
night on the bus of the next shift reports the
next morning, and then you drive on in and play

(38:21):
that night. The time we drive, I was roving and
I went with the Boise Hawks from Boise, Idaho. I
wanted to drive. I love to drive across Oregon is
beautiful desert. Then it turns into this bugle past what's
the Crater Lake and all this stuff, and we get
to Eugene. We get their early rooms are not ready?
Are you kidding me? These guys have been driving in
the bus. I'm like Tom Cox was the manager, but

(38:42):
I'm in charge of the rover. So I got upset
and I said, let's go. We drove over to the beach.
I can't remember the name of the town west of Eugene,
found this joint had enough rooms and I had my
American Express car. Thank God, don't leave home and out
it right. So I put that sucker down and paid
for the rooms for I think two nights that we
stayed there before we went back. I didn't want to

(39:04):
go back to Eugene because they didn't want to set
us up that night. But we have to go. And
it's like, I don't a forty five minute ride or
so then from there back to the ballpark the next night.
But you show you drive all night, and you show
up and no hotel room. This is what happens. This
is the stuff that happens. Man time id ho falls.
We come back off a road trip and I promise
you there was clogs of dirt on the infield, almost

(39:26):
golf ball size. And we're in first place early in
the season. Dickie Scoll fields my shortstop and again I'm
only twenty seven to twenty eight, and I jumped the GM.
I got all over him and he's telling me, you
know what, you're the first manager that's ever complained and
run here. I'm going to call your boss, they said,
please do. He called Mike Port. Within fifteen minutes. The
entire City Department of Idaho Falls is out there on

(39:48):
that infield trying to fix it up. So these are
the things you endure back then, man, and it makes
you better somehow. It makes you better. Talked about the
struggle being smooth all the time not the way to go, man.
You have to be able to creatively deal with these
kinds of situations and it makes you better at what
you do.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
I love those stories.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
And speaking of Oregon, I mentioned earlier Joe the most
amazing home run of the week. We're gonna talk about
that right after this. Welcome back to the Book of Joe.

(40:27):
I'm not sure if you saw this, Joe. This happened
in Portland, Oregon. It was fan appreciation Night. There's a
college wood bat league that's out there, and the game
was between the Portland Pickle All Stars and the Portland Gerkins.
And as part of fan Appreciation Night, by the way,
they have all kinds of as you can imagine promotions.

(40:48):
The night before was Bigfoot is Real and we can
Prove It Night, and they also have a Keep Portland
Weird Night coming up.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
But anyway, this was fan appreciation Night.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
Where they said they would take a random fan out
of the stands and let them hit in the game.
This is a college wood bat league, so sure enough
they bring this dude out of the stands. He's wearing
his shorts and his sneakers, and they give him a jersey.
It doesn't really fit. They just throw it on him,
steps into batter's box. He actually got a walk and
scored a run. Well, the lineup turns over and he

(41:19):
gets another at BT and yeah, he goes yard to
run Jimmy Jack center field. Now, I don't want to
ruin a good story because obviously your radar goes up. Right,
How random is it? Guy out of the stands, I
mean full nine yards. I mean he's hitting a home
run off a college pitcher at a wood bat league

(41:40):
in his shorts and sneakers. That's pretty darn impressive, I think,
as the story turns out, he was very recently a
D three college baseball player.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Whether it was a.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Setup, I don't know, but I know this. He literally,
you can't fake a home run.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
He hit a home run. It happened. That's pretty good
darn cool.

Speaker 3 (41:58):
You come out of the stands and do that, I
don't care. I mean, in sneakers and shorts and just
showing up. Probably didn't take any banking practice, and maybe
he did, I don't know, But sitting up there, I like,
it's Okayve it was a plant. It's still difficult to do,
very difficult to do, and it regardless entertainment, that is
absolutely entertainment there. That's the same old ballpark, isn't it
in Portland that sits down in the pitolttle But of

(42:21):
the right field is the big building with the fitness
facility up on top.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
That's where I named that McCormick or something field someone.

Speaker 3 (42:28):
That's where it was a McCreadie that went through the
fence out there was who was it ran through the
fence and right field.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
It was in Louisville.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
No, that was in Portland that that happened in Portland.
I yeah, but that's the place I went to. Devon
White was struggling. I'm in Pennsylvania hanging out with my
family doing Little Lea clinics and the Rover hitting instructor.
I get a call. I got to go pick up Devo.
I meet him in Portland. I meet him in Portland
and Deva and I worked out in Portland through in
banning practice three or four days in a row, and

(42:54):
obviously eventually got back to the big leagues. But I
loved that place. I loved it had the worst turf
I've ever seen in my life. Was kind of like
green cement. That's what it was. It painted the cement green.
But they had the Jansen swim girl in left field,
the swimmer on the left field fence, and it just
all those different promotions. It's a very creative part of
the world. It's very funny. They can be, you know,

(43:15):
self deprecating at times, but it's really a cool vibe.
So all this stuff. The Mavericks back in the day. Anyway,
they were there for a long time and that was
a big deal. Back then. They drew every night. It's
a very creative atmosphere there. It probably was a setup. Nevertheless,
never let the truth get away of a good story.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
It reminded me of years ago.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
We used to play a game between the media and
the Yankee staff right batting practice pitchers. Sometimes the coaches
would come out. This is when Lou Panella was managing
the team and my buddy Bob Klappish then of the
Bergen Record was pitching, and he's a really good pitcher
and Lou Panella was kind of ragging him from the stands. Now,
louis sitting there in the stands and his sans a belt,

(43:57):
slacks and his Italian loafers, and Bob is like, hey,
if you're so good, why aren't you taking it back?
And lou Penela says, I think I will. Lous steps
up there and his slacks and his loafers, and he
looks at about three or four pitches, I could tell
he's just timing him. He's just followed the ball in
the mitt, follow the ball in the mitt, and then
he decides to swing.

Speaker 2 (44:16):
And I'm telling you, Joe, he hit a bullet off
the left field wall.

Speaker 1 (44:20):
I mean, as cold as cold could be in his
Italian loafers and hit a rocket That was one of
the most impressive at bets I've ever seen. When you
see these guys who just have and they never lose it.
Really maybe against one hundred miles an hour they might,
but that gift of getting that bet, that barrel on
the baseball, it's always there.

Speaker 3 (44:38):
Kurt Russell, Kurt Russell was there. You go, yeah, And
what was his dad's name is? That was a character
actor in Hollywood for years. It was a very popular gig.
Portland's always had this wonderful baseball history and a lot
of creativity. By worked in sailing for a couple of years,
and Salem was like, I think, forty miles south of Portland,

(44:59):
and I loved my little trips up there to Portland.
I think that's the first time I laid eyes on
the Starbucks is right around Portland in the late eighties.

Speaker 2 (45:06):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (45:07):
So there's a lot going on in the game, and
I think we've got everybody caught up on the trade deadline,
the Yankees the most amazing home run of the week.
And that being said, Joe, we always leave the last
word to you. What do you have for us today?

Speaker 3 (45:19):
May I go back into my own archives right here
a little bit?

Speaker 2 (45:22):
Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (45:23):
You know, it's like you're talking about the Yankees, and
I think sometimes and we're just talking about the game
in general. Sometimes we can get too serious. Sometimes we
take ourselves too seriously. Sometimes we make more out of it,
we lose the entertainment factor and we get up up
tight about everything. Man, I get up tight sometimes I
hate when I do. I try to catch myself and
then I move it along from there. It matters in

(45:45):
this game. It will eat you alive, a baseball, golf,
lot of the major league sports will eat you alive
if you permit them. And after all, we've wanted to
do these things since we were children kids. I know
I wanted to be a big league player since I
was six years old. They know that for a factor.
I remember that distinctly, and so then you get this
opportunity and instead of being fun and games, we treated

(46:07):
like life and death. Wrong. So I'm going back to
the twenty sixteen. I'm actually in Chicago doing this today.
But never permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure of
the moment. Sometimes we do that and it impacts our performance.
Chris Bryant loved, loved that, saying KB would stand next
to me and if I thought he was uptied, I
would always lay that out there at him a little bit.

(46:28):
It's funny, how you know, just a little phrase or
words sometimes could totally change your attitude, your perspective, because
it's just the thought. We are what we think all
day long. Whenever we're thinking about who we are, that's
who we are. And if you apply these negative thoughts
and moments to yourself or misrepresent it's gonna drag you down.
So never permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure for

(46:49):
something that you've wanted to do your entire life.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
Always, Joe, those are wise words, and I think, especially
now when I think about the New York Yankees, probably
never more important to remember that.

Speaker 3 (46:58):
Right. Absolutely, they're going to pull out. They're going to
be fine. What does that mean? I mean, I don't know,
they're they're kind of like cracking to be a playoff
team kind of, but not necessarily that you could believe
that they're gonna win the World Series. That's and that's
who they are. That's how they that's their DNA, that's
what they strive for an annual basis that they never conceive.
So it's gonna take something. I mean, judge has to

(47:20):
be judged for that to happen. This now new lockdown
bullpen has to be all of that guild coming back
and make a difference. You know, he's gonna be fine.
He can get all the way deep the other day.
But they have that. I mean, they're pitching, they got
the tools, man, they just got to play a more.
They do, for lack of better terms, a fundamental game
don't worry about home runs as much. Move the base. Well,

(47:40):
look at Milwaukee, God damn Milwaukee and Milwaukee the way
they play offense right now was so refreshing to watch,
and other teams are starting to catch on to that
a little bit too. But just play the whole game.
Play the whole game, Play the complete game, and permit
your pitching and your bullpen to take care of it,
and they'll be back. They're gonna They're gonna get a
hot again. They're gonna get hot because I think their
bullpen's going to permit that to happen.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
Well, Joe, it's shaping up as just an amazing sprint
to the finish because I look in both leagues and
I really don't see a singular standout team. I see
a bunch of teams that could be playing in the
World Series. I'm not sure I can remember a time
where there are so many different permutations for what a
World Series matchup might be. So I agree with you,

(48:20):
the Yankees are going to hit their stride again. I
think they need to find something that changes the tenor
the temperature of the room. They have the talent to
get back there, and there's no question about it, but
they need to find something to flip the script right here.
And the National League is completely and I mean completely
wide open since the Dodgers we don't know about their health.
There's many teams. I mean, five or six teams could

(48:42):
go to the World Series for sure in the National League.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
So it's shaping up just a great finish.

Speaker 3 (48:47):
Last point let alone. But I agree with you on
the Yankees need to flip the switch somehow. I first
thought then slicing it the next opportunity that pops up,
and it's going to pop up where Boonie may have
to be a little bit more demonstrative. He may have
to be and I know what I said earlier, but again,
if there's a real bonehead play out there, he might
have to pull somebody. They're not going to make any

(49:08):
anything other than that. I don't think it's not going
to be like, you know, a couple weeks ago, I
was talking about Fulpi and sending him down and he
started singing the back pretty good. But I watched his
defense defense and it's still it's very sloppy. So I
don't know. I don't know. It's maybe repositioning people. I
don't know, because they got Rosario there. I don't even
know if he's played yet, so maybe it's gonna require something.

(49:29):
You're right, it's gonna require a flip switching moment, and
those things happen, and when they happen, the team can't
catch fire.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
Absolutely. You saw it last year with the Tigers. Always
a pleasure, Joe, great job.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
Thanks timing YouTube Buddy, appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (49:48):
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