June 21, 2025 • 38 mins
Big Ben talks about Rafael Devers getting traded from the Boston Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants, the Lakers getting sold for $10 billion to Mark Walter of the Guggenheim Group, another edition of #AskBen, and more!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmahlers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Wow, I'm in. I'm Brian Knowles. The first mistake before
I even cracked the bike. Baby, all right, We're off
to a good start. There you go. All right, it
is I Ben mallor in for Brian know Apparently it
is the Benmahlor Show. And that's right, the beginning of
(00:53):
yet another week. And what a great start to the
week is. We are in the air everywhere with fresh
thoughts and hopefully proper imaging. That's right, as we talk
different even when things go wrong. Coast to coast, border
the border and beyond. On the vast and robustly powerful
(01:13):
microphones of fsre emmundating live from the Whale. How do
you eat a whale? One bite at a time From
the Fox Sports radio studios here and as approved by
Noah in Austin, who knows that this portion of the
Ben Malor Show made possible in part by our friends
at tire Rack. For over forty years, tire Iraq has
(01:35):
been helping customers find the right tires for how, what
and where they drive, ship fast and free back by
free road hazard protection, with convenient installation options like mobile
tire installation tire raq dot com The Way Tire Buying showbeat.
So there was no NBA Finals game, and initially I
(01:57):
was I was slightly concerned. I said, oh my, we
don't really we don't talk much golf around these parts,
and I know the US Open outside Pittsburgh was played,
and not really much of a talker, so I was like,
oh man, there's no NBA game. I was like, yes,
we'll talk some baseball. And then I was like, well,
I was at a baseball game. More on that in
a minute. And then like all these big trades happen.
I was like, wow, that's great. So roughly thirty minutes
(02:22):
prior to the Doyers and the Giants game, a game
that I was at, I started getting all these text
messages from random, random people. I said, we who's bothering me?
It's it's a Sunday, Sunday night, you know, shows not
till later, like you know what's going on. And so
I was. I was in a social situation. I was
(02:44):
trying to be polite. I mean, I learned my manners
back in the day, and I was supposed to be
on your phone the whole time when you're you're at
a meal. So I was like, all right, I'm not
going to look at my phone and anykay, I kept
getting these buzzes like that, huh man, something big must happen.
Last time I got something like this was like the
Luca like somebody died or somebody got traded. Last time
(03:05):
I got a lot of messages like this, it was
the Luca trade. So I was like, oh man. So
I was annoyed at first, and I was like, who's
bothering me? And I'm trying to be polite and all
this stuff and okay, rare in appropriate night of the ballpark,
and then all of a sudden, da, I opened the
phone off. I said, whoa, wow oh man, wowie, because
howie I can't but I was like, whoa, you know,
(03:26):
I get excited and uh Yeah, as as much as
you can possibly get excited as a middle aged person
about a trade. But I was. I was intrigued by this.
This This got some juice. It's got some juice. So
if you have not heard by now, I assume you have.
Everyone's already yapping about this, But maybe you were actually
enjoying the weekend, did some Father's Day stuff, whatever that
(03:48):
might be, and then you were kind of unplucked. So
the trade, we learned that the Boston Red Sox have
traded the face of the franchise. They have said bye
bye to Rafael Devers, fat ass, and they have sent
him to San Francisco in a mega, mega, mega trade. Yes,
(04:10):
the Giants sent back inbound to Boston. They sent right
handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, left hander Kyle Harrison. You're getting
a little excited. Uh, Also outfield prospect James Tibbs the
third sounds like a caller we used to have that
called the show, and a minor league right hander who
(04:32):
we've never heard of. And in return, the Giants pick
up a twenty eight year old malcontent designated hitter. And
the Giants are now two games back of the Doyers
in the NLS standings. They lost five to four at
Chavez Ravine on a toasty warm Sunday there and Devers
(04:57):
having a pretty good sea Offensively, you just look at
the numbers and not look at the context of those numbers.
Dever hitting two seventy two, fifteen home runs fifty eight
runs batted in in seventy three games. He also hit
a solo dinger, and the Red Sox swept the Yankees
at fit Way and then the ultimate f you to Devers.
(05:19):
We just swept the Yankees with you. We think you
sucked though, so we're trading you, is what they did,
and they traded in. The trade was announced long enough
after the game where they didn't have to answer any
questions about it. The trade was leaked to the usual
baseball scribes that are on the inner circle. That trade
(05:39):
was leaked late in the day. Therefore, there was no way,
no way to get any immediate reaction. So let us
discuss the question, how do you grade the mega trade
in baseball? The Red Sox sending rafie El Devers to
the Giants for a gaggle of mostly pitchers. On the script,
(06:00):
pitchers and one position player. So I've got my thoughts
on this. I've got van slike airlines and nineteen sixties pop,
and we will combine all of these things together and
we are going to make garlic fries. My advice to
my friends in the Bay Area is keep Rafael Devers
away from the garlic fries. Okay, he's going to enjoy them.
(06:23):
They're delicious and they're very bad for you. So evenything moderation,
So be careful now. Ay, there are no real winners
in this. There are or losers for that matter. The
Malord report card on this after a minutes long analysis
and deliberation of the trade, the Red Sox get the D.
(06:46):
They get the D on the Mallard report card. The Giants,
I'm not giving them an A for this. They got
the player that we know is good somewhat, but I'm
giving them a B. So I'm gonna start with Boston,
the better story in the losing locker room. We're going
to start with Boston. And the argument is, well, they're
allergic to keeping homegrown players. Here's a homegrown player and
(07:08):
he's the latest to go, just like Mookie Betts. They
traded him. Xander Bogarts went to the Padres So like
all these guys end up in the Nation League West,
like all the old Red Sox are now in the
Nation League West. And it's to me the interesting part
is the confession. We had thought this was a possibility
when Devers refused to change positions and the owner of
(07:31):
the team, the Aristocrat owner John Henry, had to fly
out to Kansas City, where the Red Sox were playing
the Royals, to have a powwow with the player. That
was a dad giveaway things were not going well. That
is not normal protocol for the owner of the team
to travel to have a meeting with the star player
(07:52):
because the star players is not following the plan there.
And so you had that. But it's a confession, and
they bet on the wrong horse. The Red Sox thought
that Devers would be different, apparently, and he was supposed
to be the cornerstone player and middle of the order bat,
homegrown guy, all those things, right, the guy they chose
(08:14):
to build around. They didn't want to keep Mookie Bats,
they didn't want to keep Xander Balguart's. This was the
guy they wanted to Boston and now they have kicked
him out. Send him over to the Logan Airport, get
the hell out of here, You're done, goodbye. And they thought,
well we can build around mat. I can't build around him.
And that is your lefty bat with pop you fit.
(08:35):
You know, the guy that you know is now I
guess shipped off like you're returning something from you bought
on Amazon. You send it there and it ends up
in a bin somewhere and then that's it. But the
refusal to be flexible and the lack of hustle, that's
the double whammie. It's like, well I'm not willing to
(08:56):
work with you, and I'm not going to hustle. Okay.
Not a team guy, a selfish tool bag would be
Rafaeld Devers. He he did write his ticket out of
finn right now. The issue is the Red Sox because
of his value being so low, because he's got a
big contract. He's not a team guy. He doesn't hustle.
(09:18):
That's the Red Sox couldn't get much for him. Like
they got a couple of arms and it's really just
some mystery boxes. What's in the box. It's a mystery box.
Like this guy, Jordan Hicks has been an enigma. Remember
when he came up. I believe it was the Cardinals,
and he was throwing like one hundred miles an hour.
Everyone got all horny, Oh man, this guy's great, and
(09:38):
if only we can get that under control and teach
him another pitch. And here we are. It's probably been five, six,
seven years something like that, and Jordan Hicks is still
bouncing around Major League Baseball and he still throws hard,
and he's got an ERA of six and a half.
He sucks, okay, so you got him. You know, he's
been nothing but a tease. Kyle Harrison is at this point,
(10:01):
until proven OTHERWI is just a generic. He's a young guy.
I think he's early twice, but he's not established, and
he's not projected to be any more than a middle
of the rotation starting pitcher. And he's got numbers that
aren't all that impressive, pitching in a pitcher's ballpark in
San Francisco. And then they got an outfielder who's patting
(10:21):
two forty five for Eugene, which I am told is
a ball that's pretty far away from the major leagues.
And then they got a pitcher who this rookie, rookie
ball pitcher. They got a picture and rookie ball, which
is at least thirteenth grade, I believe. Okay, So the
only reason the Red Sox don't get an F on this,
(10:42):
they get a D, not an F because that's not
very good return on investment, is because your addition by
subtraction a Deva's bad attitude. And they got all these
the next wave of young players. They're worried that Deva
is going to have his bad habits are going to
rub off on these other guys that are the next
wave there and hear things right, Yeah, there's people that
chirp around baseball by the whispers that you know, Devers
(11:06):
is not a good leader. He's immature, He obviously doesn't
take his conditioning very seriously, all that stuff, and then
not willing to change positions, and just coming across as
a complete diva. Who wants that? Does anyone want that?
Does it know? He shows up to spring training looking
(11:26):
like he's really run up the Uber Eats account when
he gets to know the off season there and three
hundred million dollars. Inflexible, inflexible and refusing to help the
team out. And it reminds me of one of the
great quotes of all time in my life from a
player You probably don't remember unless you're old. There was
(11:47):
a guy that played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the
Cardinals named Andy vansl like his kid also played in
the Major League. But Andy Manslke had one of the
great quotes when he was in Pittsburgh and he was
talking about Barry Bonds. Bonds went out to the Giants,
of course in that era, and Van Slyke said, I'd
rather lose without him, meaning Bonds, than win with him.
(12:10):
And that appears to be the mindset of the Red Sox.
Like they just got some slop, they got some Ramen noodles,
they got the Marcel diet, Marcel from Brooklyn Diet for
Rafael Devers. But you have to believe that they were
shopping Devers to every team in baseball and this is
what they got in return. Now, Paige Triot, does Rafael
(12:31):
Devers go out and push the Giants into the upper crust?
Are they now a legitimate threat in the National League
to the Dodgers and the Mets and those type of teams.
They guys have a good record. I have to have
a good record. And so now they've added a player
that we've heard of. So the way I approach this,
(12:51):
it helps close the gap, but only by a few millimeters.
The gap is closed by a few millimeters here on
this And this is a major shot in the arm
though for that team, because it is a team that
is a lot of flotsam and jetsam. And it is
also a reminder that one man's junk is another man's treasure,
like the Red Sox just gave Devers away pretty much.
(13:13):
And the Giants are all excited and all that, and
the Giants, Sara Zos has got a good team, and
I like the fact that Buster Posey the mindset seems
to be in the right place. Maybe that's just my
interpretation of it. And I certainly don't like the Giants.
I like the Dodgers, but that's a motley crew. They
have a motley crew of a roster. And I was
(13:36):
at the game sitting with a couple of pep and
these guys are two of the guys I was with
from New York and they're I don't know any one
of the Giants, and then we're going through the line
and I don't know that guy. That guy. I mean,
they're a nameless team. They are a faceless, nameless team.
And now they have the center of the wagon wheel.
You got to have that middle of the wagon wheel.
So now they have that, and Devors, in theory is
(13:59):
going to be that guy. And you know, so it's
a good morale booster and all that three to zero
three career hitter in playoff baseball for Devers, and so
you figure he's going to hit on you know, looks
can be seeing the Giants. I hope they paid the
extra money to the airlines there, because when Devers arrives
(14:24):
across country flight there to join the Giants, he's pretty
sure he's he violates all of the baggage policies as
far as excess weight in baggage. There's a lot of
extra baggage that Dever springs all right now, final point
and the last word on the Rafael Devers mega trade
(14:45):
as he goes from the Red Sox to the Giants.
So how will Rafael Devers handle the West Coast? Much
is a different experience if you've traveled, if you've been
around the United State, there's much different experience going from
playing for professional sports in Boston to the West Coast
in San Francisco. So it's going to be a bit
(15:05):
of a culture shock. You know, different atmosphere all the
way around there. Fenway Park loud, intense, it's a pinball machine.
And you go out to San Francisco and it's like
Oracle Park, I think it's what they still call it.
Used to be packed belt Park and something else. But
you go out there, majestic, beautiful views, right, I've been
there a few times. McCovey cove, the bright blue sea
(15:28):
out there. You get the city on one side. It's wonderful,
but it's all about being like a nineteen sixties pop
song from Donovan, Mellow Yellow. It's just mellow, laid back,
you know. It's all that it's And so Devers will
he flourish in that environment? Does it matter? Is he's
(15:50):
going to really care? It's it's not a hitter's park.
That's the big thing here. And if you look at
the cops of players that have left the Red Sox
and the numbers when they're Finway to Pennant, Raphaeld Devers
across the board is a much better offensive player at
Finway Park, the pinball machine than he is on the road.
In fact, in his career at Oracle Park, he's in
(16:13):
eighty three hitre he's only played a few games there,
but he's hitting O eighty three small sample size devs
again measuably worse. Then you got the contract. Now it's
not my money. I don't have to pay the money,
so I don't really worry about that. But from a
contractual perspective, for the Giants, you've got a guy you've
picked up who's got a bad attitude already, not a
team guy, doesn't stay in shape, and here you're paying
(16:37):
him the rest of his contract through twenty thirty three,
three hundred and thirteen million dollars to a guy with
a bad attitude. He's not a team guy, who's a
selfish schmuck. So that's who you're paying. So you're betting
that he doesn't matter, because baseball, you can be selfish
and you'll still put up big numbers and all that.
But it's like the old Niners coach Mike Singletary, and
(16:58):
it's like you want you want winners. I want winners.
I can't selfish players, cannot win with them, cannot right,
cannot coach for the whole thing, that whole rant, cannot
do it. I want winners. Go on and go on
and on. I want people to want to win. They said, Well,
Dever's won the World Series in twenty eighteen. Well the
(17:20):
Red Socks we're cheating in twenty eighteen when they won
the World Series. So there is that.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
From the Purple and Gold to the Purple and Sold
selling out, Baby, take that bag of money. Welcome in
the beginning of another night of the Ben Mahler Show.
We are in the air everywhere using audio frequency as
(17:54):
we hang out and play creatively coast to coast, border
to border and beyond on the vast and tantalizingly powerful
microphones of fsre.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Amminating live from the griddle. We're flipping burgers all night
long here the Fox Sports Radio Studios, which are approved
by Slim Tim the Cheesehead in this portion of the
Ben Malers Show on Fox made possible in part by
our friends at ty Iraq. For over forty years, ty
Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires for how,
(18:25):
what and where they drive, ship fast and free back
by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like
mobile tire installation ty iraq dot com The Way Tire
Buying show be so our lead, this hour, play the hits,
play this our lead, this hours. We're back in the
Catburg seat. From the business of sport, the business of basketball.
(18:49):
If you will, big news out, big news, if you
love financial transactions on some spreadsheets somewhere, Man was at
a good day for you. God was at an exciting
day for you. So if you have not heard yet,
and perhaps not, we learned that the Bus family has
decided to say bye bye to the Lakers. What kind
(19:11):
of They will no longer control the majority ownership of
the once proud, now floundering franchise that is the Lakers.
As Mark Walter, the gazillionaire from Chicago who is the
face of the gougenheind group that owns the Dodgers, he's
buying it. He had a chance to buy. He owned
(19:33):
part of the Lakers anyway. It's not like he's coming
out of left field. Mark Walter owned a percentage of
the Lakers, had the option of buying the rest of
the team. I had heard it several years back that
this was likely going to happen and it has happened.
So Mark Walter is going to pay ten billion, ten billion,
(19:54):
and it will be the largest sale when they cross all
the t's and dotey isaik, what's a weakn on docu sign?
But when they do the docu sign, it'll be the
largest sale price for a US professional sports franchise of
all time. The Bus family will keep a little bitty share,
just a little bitty share of the team, just over
(20:14):
fifteen percent. And Genie Buss, we are told, will continue
as the face of the ownership group. They can't get
rid of her. She's like a cockroach. She won't be
Walter the face of the Dodgers ownership as we said there,
and people just thinking he'll just spend endless amounts of
money and it'll just be amazing and all that. So
(20:35):
let us discuss the question, like the pending sale, will
depending sale of the Lakers from the Bus family to
the Mark Walter Guggenheim Group be a dramatic change, because
all I've heard is all my god, happy days are
here again. Happy days are here again. Mark Walter is
(20:57):
the owner, So is it really gonna change? It's gonna
be dramatic, So my thoughts to this. I've got goose
fanatic and farmers market, and we will combine all of
these things together and we're gonna put the biscuit in
the basket. We'll take the biscuit and we'll put the
biscuit in the basket, just like that. So to answer
the question, will this pending sale lead to a dramatic
(21:18):
change now that somebody actually has money the Googen Hind
group will own the Lakers are supposed to gene Bus,
The answer is no, it's not going to be a
dramatic change. In fact, I would say nothing changes. Not
a zip b o bupkus is going to change. And
here's why, right, the Lakers are just going to continue
(21:39):
strutting through the NBA like they own the joint because
that's how they've always operated. And there are different rules
in the NBA that baseball doesn't have in terms of
how much money you can pay deferred money, and deferred
money you can't push it back to lower your salary
cap number to get under these aprons and all that
bull crap. So it's not like the stuff the Dodgers
have been able to get away with. The NBA's got
(22:00):
clauses in there that you can't do that in the NBA,
So all the tricks that the Dodgers have used doesn't work. Now,
I don't know who the top NBA player in Japan is,
but whoever that is, I expect you to end up
on the on the Lakers, like immediately, like later on today,
he'll end up on the Lakers. Consider how much money
they've milked off Otani from from Japan. So the Lakers
(22:23):
are at this point, they continue to be the golden
goose the NBA. We are convinced rigged the Luka Donzig
trade to send him to the Lakers. Let's make sure
with TV ratings are down, the Lakers don't have a star,
no one really, you know, Lebron's washed up nobody. Let's
make sure we hook them up. So they did, and
(22:43):
so how is that gonna change? So they have a
new owner and Genie Boss is kind of kind of
step aside. More than that in a second, but it's
just gonna be more of the same special treatment. The
Lakers have always gotten special treatment. And all that's different
is Mark Walter is the one that's riding the check
and the googenheind group and then that's it. The NBA
(23:04):
has always bent over backwards my entire life for that
pathetic purple and gold crap. It's been that way for
decades and we're talking about multiple generations where it's been
that way. And so you think Adam Silver is going
to allow under his watch them to slide into irrelevance.
Of course, they just went out and gave the Lakers Luca.
(23:26):
Even though he's fat, they gave him Luca. They still
hooked him up. Come on, so anyway, and the other
thing two is the referees will continue to help the
Lakers out. You know, those fifty to fifty calls will
go the direction, they will go the direction of the Lakers,
and the free agent market will still tilt to the
Lakers and all that. And the players nobody's signing with
(23:49):
the Lakers because in the Arder, if that was the case,
no one would have played for the Lakers. And gee
Bust didn't know what she was doing. And the Lakers
continue to get pleasures. Do you think Lebron James when
he went to the Lake because left Cleveland, you think
Lebron said, I really want to play for one of
Jerry Buss's kids. That's what I that's the owner. I
want to play for no right, not at all. Lebron James,
(24:11):
he came there because he wanted to make business deals
with movie people and things, and he did. He's gotten
all that. He made some cheeseball movies. His production company
took off. You know. He has a stupid barber shop
show like all that stuff. But it wasn't because of
the Genie Bus. It was because of la right. So
that's that's the way. Is not that it matters, by
the way, but again it doesn't matter. I mean the
(24:33):
players that flocked to the to the Lakers like a
moth to a flame, and Mark Walter will spend money.
There's a real salary cap although I'm a salarycap truth
when it comes to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
And if they're just willing to listen, the teams are
if you have enough money, you can pay and who cares,
it doesn't really matter that much and you just pay
all the money and and then the other teams can
play and say it's not fair, and then you can't
make certain trades and all that stuff. Now all the
part of this. Can you explain why Genie Buss is
(25:06):
selling the team but is demanding apparently to continue on
in her role as the face of the Laker ownership
group after the cell. Now, the NBA went woke years
ago and they claim they don't have owners. They're so
woke that they have governors, not owners. Every other sport
has owners. NBA has got governors, which is lame. So
(25:28):
we know realities will own a team and they're not governors.
They not voted in anyway. So the point of this
with Genie Buss is rather obvious that this woman is
addicted to the spotlight. Right can we all agree on
that that those court side seats and all the celebrities
(25:49):
coming up and shaking her hand there the red carpet
at the Hollywood premieres that she gets invited to, she
loves it. She want to give that up. You don't
get that if you're not the Lakers owner anymore, you
don't you fade off into the sunset in irrelevance. You're
just another rich person surrounded by other rich people. And
so she can still play the part as the fall
(26:09):
Laker royalty owner and all that. So she gets a
But Genie Buss, think about what she's about to become.
So the team's being sold to Mark Walter. She's going
to continue going to the league meetings and all that stuff.
She's about to become the Philly fanatic. She's going to
be the mascot of the Lakers. She's like the San
Diego chicken back chick out, the Laker mascot wearing a pantsuit,
(26:32):
going to league meetings, you know, waving to the fans,
high fans. Yeah, but Mark Walter is the one who
will be deciding where the money goes and all that stuff.
And it's a symbolic nod. They claim to the Bus
family legacy and all that, but no titles with Genie
(26:52):
Buss's owner. Nobody who knows ball will say that she
wanted that Mickey Mouse bubble doesn't count in a result
in Orlando back in twenty twenty. And my favorite Genie
Bus story is when she well, the Phil Jackson thing
is like next level. But also the Bus family revolt
was that like twenty seventeen. I want to say, remember
(27:15):
there was a revolt. The brothers the other kids got
into a Jim and Johnny and they were all fighting.
There was like a coup to get control of the Lakers.
It was like some kind of mob movie or something
like that, and then they worked it out. They massaged that,
they got through that. She fired I think she fired
the brother. I don't know how you do that because
(27:36):
he owned part of the team. Also got rid of him.
Can Mitch Cupjack he was out, brought in Magic Johnson
that was a hot mess, and got rid of him.
Then now they have this guy skinny jeans, Rob Polenka,
who without NBA intervention would have already lost his job,
but the league helped him out and got him some players.
Otherwise he didn't know what he's doing. And there you go.
(27:57):
So another case old family money, right, the Bus family.
Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in nineteen seventy nine for
less than I think it was. Was it like seventy
million or something like that, nineteen seven nine, which is a
lot of money nineteen seventy nine, but still real estate
guy Jerry Buss, tremendous philanderer, unbelievable with the ladies, Jerry Buss,
and so less than seventy million, and now the team's
(28:20):
going to be sold for ten billion. I wonder what
the capital gains tax on that is. That must be insane, right,
you ten billion wonder what the capital gains to anyway. Regardless,
So Genie Buss again will be the new Laker mascot. Congratulations,
call them the buses and have her face on the uniforms.
There a purely ceremonial role for sure. Now the last
(28:44):
word here the question of why the Lakers sold for
ten billion, and multiple people sending me messages, I don't
understand why the Lakers are worth ten billion and the
Boston Celtics sold just a few months ago for six
point one billion. So why did the Lakers go for
essentially four billion dollars more than the Boston Celtics. And
(29:07):
so the whole valuation I Forbes every year in front
off of sports and sport. It go all these business
sites in sports, many of them have their evaluations they
come out with every year about teams are worth X,
Y and z, and it's it's obviously things are just sorry.
I mean, because there's a lot of rich people who
are a little skittish because they don't know the stock market.
(29:29):
You know, you end up dropping bombs somewhere and the
prices go down, or there's oil problems here and things
get all messed up, and uh so they don't they
look a gun shy on the on the stock market.
So they're, oh, I can buy a team, and if
I buy a team, I not only make money, but
all the other people want to kiss my ass at
the cocktail parties and the Hampton's or Beverly Hills or
(29:51):
South Beach Man that's the lot. So they're willing to
spend ridiculous amounts of money. And so it's like a
farmer's market, right. It's farmers market here. And the Lakers
operate in the second largest media market in the United
States with over thirteen million, the Greater LA Area, the
LA bas In southern California, La Base it's much bigger
(30:11):
than that metro area. And then you got Boston right
in Boston, major market, smaller metro population like the metro
populations like five million or something like that. So it's
like an eight million dollar difference. And despite the Celtics
being much more successful than the Lakers, there's less of
a market. So it's just a business deal. And the
(30:32):
other thing, the biggest thing here is the arena. The
Celtics do not own the garden that they play in,
and it's it's a weird set up. The Lakers because
the Anshootz group owns where what I used to call
Staples Center now it's like the Crypt, I think is
what they call now. They play at the Crypt, which
is appropriate because the franchise is dead. So the Crypt
(30:55):
is owned by the anshoots group, but it's like they
own they actually own part of the Lakers also, so
it's all tied together and all that, and so the
Celtics do not own the arena, which is one of
the reasons. The chatter is the Celtics will eventually leave
likely downtown Boston where they play and go out to
the suburbs somewhere and build a nice, big, shiny arena
and that'll be that the Bruins. The guy that owns
(31:18):
the Bruins actually owns the arena there for the Celtics
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
It's now time for time ask bad Twitter. Is your
questions on Twitter now and way we go to ask Man.
Your questions are answers for the rest of the hour.
These are actual questions sent in by actual listeners. You
can submit a question using hashtag ask the band, And
(31:50):
just for the record, some of you have complained that
the same people have their questions read. I don't pick
the questions, coops the one that picks them, so I
don't control who gets picked who doesn't get picked. So
you guys that are complaining, I don't know what to
tell you. All right, what do we have here? Cool?
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Ask better questions? Oh well, and also we don't do
sports questions, so I just completely skip over those.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
But okay, all right, I don't know what the guy.
I don't know what questions they're asking. They just complain. Whatever.
We're gonna start off with a question from Ferg Dog.
Oh there you go. We've never heard from Ferg Dog.
We don't.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
He wants to know. Are you able to watch an
entire movie without checking your phone?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah? You know I can do that. I mean, if
it's a good movie, the movie sucks, I'm going on
my phone. I will absolutely go to my phone. But
if I'm engaged in the movie, yeah, like old school movies,
I don't really nothing these days. I get my attention
that one. What about you, Lorena?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Movie theaters?
Speaker 6 (32:46):
No in my house, yes, especially if there's a dull moment,
keep my attention.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Wait wait, wait, so you mean yes and no if
you switch that around? So so id the movie theater?
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Not in the theater, you will not check your phone.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
But on a regular movie, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I'm the same way. I can.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I can go a whole movie without checking my phone
if I'm in the theater. But at home I'm picking
up my phone.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, my problem in theater is a boring movie. I
fall asleep. I'm gone. It's a dark room, comfortable seat,
air conditioned, I'm sleeping. All right, what's next? What are
we ever to ask?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Man?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Your questions are answers Bobby and Florida. Hi, Bobby, you'd
like to know now that summer heat is here? Yeah?
Would you rather cool off in the ocean, a lake
or a pool? Yeah? So, I'm a big pool guy.
There's not really a lake that I go to. I've
only been to a lake a few times. Ocean's okay.
(33:42):
I don't really like the ocean around here because it's polluted,
So I guess I'll go pool Lorena.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
Yeah, any of those, as long as it's not a river.
I don't like super fast running water like that. Not
a strong, strunk swimmer.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
No, did you have a lake in Oregon when you
were growing up.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
Yeah, we had a couple of them, but you weren't
supposed to swim in them. One of them had a
really high merree content.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Yeah, lakes are kind of disgusting.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Yeah, because they're sitting water.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yeah, gotcha cool. I'll be totally honest.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
I'm not a fan of like any of them, but
I would pick Pool over with the other two.
Speaker 5 (34:13):
More of an air conditioner type of guy.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Huh Yeah, nice tropical. I got a nice exotic luxury
pool though, with fountains. Yeah, that's nice resort. Yeah, so
way to go. I walk around the beaches here and
I get oil on my feet. I can't imagine what's
in the water. If I'm getting oil my feet from
the sand. What is next to do we have here?
Late night drug tester, high, Late night drug tester. You
(34:36):
would like to know in honor of National Clean your
Aquarium Day? Yes, have you ever had pet fish? Well?
Technically yes, although reality no, there were a few times that,
Like the little community fair thing that we had when
I was growing up, I won a goldfish and we
had a little tank and that, you know, typical story cliches.
(35:00):
The goldfish lasted about a day and then that was
it died. So in my head, I had a fish
and aquarium and I have been to the pet store
and they look amazing. Those aquariums are awesome. And what
was that show on Discovery Channel or one of those
they did they build?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Really?
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, the guys in Vegas, but they're from New York
and they build these crazy. That's a good show. That's
something you do if you're really really rich. And I'm
not really really rich, So no, what about you, Lorrena?
Speaker 6 (35:29):
As a kid, I remember having one, but it might
have been a.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Dream, a dream. Yeah, you dream about a fish tank?
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Really, I'm pretty sure we had one, though.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Did you ever have goldfish? I had goldfish? I think
I give them a little plastic bags when I was
a kid, and one of them and then they were
dead within.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Two I just remember the fish that suck on the walls.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Is that what they sound like?
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, oh cool? What about you? Yes?
Speaker 4 (35:52):
As a child at my family home, we had a
we had two fish tanks, one the downstairs one as
a regular fresh water tank and the upstairs was a
salt water tank.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
And who cleaned them?
Speaker 4 (36:05):
We got suckerfish so that they would clean the tank.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Not smart. Yes, all right. What is next year is
ask man. Your questions are answers for the rest of
the hour.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Donkey sausage, Hi, donkey, you would like to know sandals
or sneakers.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I'm team sandals man all the time. I wear a
year round sam I come in here, I'm always sporting
the sandals no matter what.
Speaker 6 (36:31):
Loreina, I love a good pair of sandals, but my
feet get really cold, so I am kind of a
sneaker girl.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Nah.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
That's the reason you get in the radio is to
wear sandals. Otherwise you do TV or wear shoes. What
about you, Coop, I'm the same as Loraina. I typically
like I never get cold. To get like.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I love the cold, but my feet get ridiculously cold
for some reason.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
So cold.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't really have that problem. I'm always too warm
no matter what. So that What is next is ask Ben.
Your questions are our answers to the rest of the
After you like this, we do it every week. If
you don't like it, we only do it once a week.
If you really really like it, we have something that
is nothing like this. On the fifth hour mail Bag
on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
What's next, Lady Sideburns is trying to start some stuff,
Lady Sideburns. Lady Sideburns would like to know which color
would you least enjoy being handcuffed too for twenty four hours?
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Which caller? Yes? All of them, every one of them.
Now let me see. Well, blind Scott would be at
the very top. And the amount of emails that Blind
Scott sends me, I can't imagine having to I mean,
that would be a horror show.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
What about you, Lorena, don't ask them questions?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Oh yeah, Leprechaun yet, Yeah, mine's pretty easy. Will you
be calling in sick? All yours is hollering James.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
I might be out of town, who knows.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, by the way, Leprechaun send me. He wants to
come in for two nights. I said no, Yeah, I
said no, we're not even supposed.
Speaker 5 (37:58):
To really have been alive. Get a job, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Real quick? Next, what's cool?
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Donkey Sausage wants to know have you ever considered being
a ref or umpire for like a high school.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Gamer or something like that. Well, I wasn't a Y
s o U soccer referee for you really back in
the day. Yeah, for if you if you did not
go very well, I was a bad referee, what about you? No,
no cool, nah, no nah. It's easy side money. Although
you get yelled at a lot. People goof on you
and a soccer mom. There you go, bring the oranges
(38:28):
and then those peanut butter and jellies like the crustables.
You can bring the crustables or
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Mahler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmahlers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Wow, I'm in. I'm Brian Knowles. The first mistake before
I even cracked the bike. Baby, all right, We're off
to a good start. There you go. All right, it
is I Ben mallor in for Brian know Apparently it
is the Benmahlor Show. And that's right, the beginning of
(00:53):
yet another week. And what a great start to the
week is. We are in the air everywhere with fresh
thoughts and hopefully proper imaging. That's right, as we talk
different even when things go wrong. Coast to coast, border
the border and beyond. On the vast and robustly powerful
(01:13):
microphones of fsre emmundating live from the Whale. How do
you eat a whale? One bite at a time From
the Fox Sports radio studios here and as approved by
Noah in Austin, who knows that this portion of the
Ben Malor Show made possible in part by our friends
at tire Rack. For over forty years, tire Iraq has
(01:35):
been helping customers find the right tires for how, what
and where they drive, ship fast and free back by
free road hazard protection, with convenient installation options like mobile
tire installation tire raq dot com The Way Tire Buying showbeat.
So there was no NBA Finals game, and initially I
(01:57):
was I was slightly concerned. I said, oh my, we
don't really we don't talk much golf around these parts,
and I know the US Open outside Pittsburgh was played,
and not really much of a talker, so I was like,
oh man, there's no NBA game. I was like, yes,
we'll talk some baseball. And then I was like, well,
I was at a baseball game. More on that in
a minute. And then like all these big trades happen.
I was like, wow, that's great. So roughly thirty minutes
(02:22):
prior to the Doyers and the Giants game, a game
that I was at, I started getting all these text
messages from random, random people. I said, we who's bothering me?
It's it's a Sunday, Sunday night, you know, shows not
till later, like you know what's going on. And so
I was. I was in a social situation. I was
(02:44):
trying to be polite. I mean, I learned my manners
back in the day, and I was supposed to be
on your phone the whole time when you're you're at
a meal. So I was like, all right, I'm not
going to look at my phone and anykay, I kept
getting these buzzes like that, huh man, something big must happen.
Last time I got something like this was like the
Luca like somebody died or somebody got traded. Last time
(03:05):
I got a lot of messages like this, it was
the Luca trade. So I was like, oh man. So
I was annoyed at first, and I was like, who's
bothering me? And I'm trying to be polite and all
this stuff and okay, rare in appropriate night of the ballpark,
and then all of a sudden, da, I opened the
phone off. I said, whoa, wow oh man, wowie, because
howie I can't but I was like, whoa, you know,
(03:26):
I get excited and uh Yeah, as as much as
you can possibly get excited as a middle aged person
about a trade. But I was. I was intrigued by this.
This This got some juice. It's got some juice. So
if you have not heard by now, I assume you have.
Everyone's already yapping about this, But maybe you were actually
enjoying the weekend, did some Father's Day stuff, whatever that
(03:48):
might be, and then you were kind of unplucked. So
the trade, we learned that the Boston Red Sox have
traded the face of the franchise. They have said bye
bye to Rafael Devers, fat ass, and they have sent
him to San Francisco in a mega, mega, mega trade. Yes,
(04:10):
the Giants sent back inbound to Boston. They sent right
handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, left hander Kyle Harrison. You're getting
a little excited. Uh, Also outfield prospect James Tibbs the
third sounds like a caller we used to have that
called the show, and a minor league right hander who
(04:32):
we've never heard of. And in return, the Giants pick
up a twenty eight year old malcontent designated hitter. And
the Giants are now two games back of the Doyers
in the NLS standings. They lost five to four at
Chavez Ravine on a toasty warm Sunday there and Devers
(04:57):
having a pretty good sea Offensively, you just look at
the numbers and not look at the context of those numbers.
Dever hitting two seventy two, fifteen home runs fifty eight
runs batted in in seventy three games. He also hit
a solo dinger, and the Red Sox swept the Yankees
at fit Way and then the ultimate f you to Devers.
(05:19):
We just swept the Yankees with you. We think you
sucked though, so we're trading you, is what they did,
and they traded in. The trade was announced long enough
after the game where they didn't have to answer any
questions about it. The trade was leaked to the usual
baseball scribes that are on the inner circle. That trade
(05:39):
was leaked late in the day. Therefore, there was no way,
no way to get any immediate reaction. So let us
discuss the question, how do you grade the mega trade
in baseball? The Red Sox sending rafie El Devers to
the Giants for a gaggle of mostly pitchers. On the script,
(06:00):
pitchers and one position player. So I've got my thoughts
on this. I've got van slike airlines and nineteen sixties pop,
and we will combine all of these things together and
we are going to make garlic fries. My advice to
my friends in the Bay Area is keep Rafael Devers
away from the garlic fries. Okay, he's going to enjoy them.
(06:23):
They're delicious and they're very bad for you. So evenything moderation,
So be careful now. Ay, there are no real winners
in this. There are or losers for that matter. The
Malord report card on this after a minutes long analysis
and deliberation of the trade, the Red Sox get the D.
(06:46):
They get the D on the Mallard report card. The Giants,
I'm not giving them an A for this. They got
the player that we know is good somewhat, but I'm
giving them a B. So I'm gonna start with Boston,
the better story in the losing locker room. We're going
to start with Boston. And the argument is, well, they're
allergic to keeping homegrown players. Here's a homegrown player and
(07:08):
he's the latest to go, just like Mookie Betts. They
traded him. Xander Bogarts went to the Padres So like
all these guys end up in the Nation League West,
like all the old Red Sox are now in the
Nation League West. And it's to me the interesting part
is the confession. We had thought this was a possibility
when Devers refused to change positions and the owner of
(07:31):
the team, the Aristocrat owner John Henry, had to fly
out to Kansas City, where the Red Sox were playing
the Royals, to have a powwow with the player. That
was a dad giveaway things were not going well. That
is not normal protocol for the owner of the team
to travel to have a meeting with the star player
(07:52):
because the star players is not following the plan there.
And so you had that. But it's a confession, and
they bet on the wrong horse. The Red Sox thought
that Devers would be different, apparently, and he was supposed
to be the cornerstone player and middle of the order bat,
homegrown guy, all those things, right, the guy they chose
(08:14):
to build around. They didn't want to keep Mookie Bats,
they didn't want to keep Xander Balguart's. This was the
guy they wanted to Boston and now they have kicked
him out. Send him over to the Logan Airport, get
the hell out of here, You're done, goodbye. And they thought,
well we can build around mat. I can't build around him.
And that is your lefty bat with pop you fit.
(08:35):
You know, the guy that you know is now I
guess shipped off like you're returning something from you bought
on Amazon. You send it there and it ends up
in a bin somewhere and then that's it. But the
refusal to be flexible and the lack of hustle, that's
the double whammie. It's like, well I'm not willing to
(08:56):
work with you, and I'm not going to hustle. Okay.
Not a team guy, a selfish tool bag would be
Rafaeld Devers. He he did write his ticket out of
finn right now. The issue is the Red Sox because
of his value being so low, because he's got a
big contract. He's not a team guy. He doesn't hustle.
(09:18):
That's the Red Sox couldn't get much for him. Like
they got a couple of arms and it's really just
some mystery boxes. What's in the box. It's a mystery box.
Like this guy, Jordan Hicks has been an enigma. Remember
when he came up. I believe it was the Cardinals,
and he was throwing like one hundred miles an hour.
Everyone got all horny, Oh man, this guy's great, and
(09:38):
if only we can get that under control and teach
him another pitch. And here we are. It's probably been five, six,
seven years something like that, and Jordan Hicks is still
bouncing around Major League Baseball and he still throws hard,
and he's got an ERA of six and a half.
He sucks, okay, so you got him. You know, he's
been nothing but a tease. Kyle Harrison is at this point,
(10:01):
until proven OTHERWI is just a generic. He's a young guy.
I think he's early twice, but he's not established, and
he's not projected to be any more than a middle
of the rotation starting pitcher. And he's got numbers that
aren't all that impressive, pitching in a pitcher's ballpark in
San Francisco. And then they got an outfielder who's patting
(10:21):
two forty five for Eugene, which I am told is
a ball that's pretty far away from the major leagues.
And then they got a pitcher who this rookie, rookie
ball pitcher. They got a picture and rookie ball, which
is at least thirteenth grade, I believe. Okay, So the
only reason the Red Sox don't get an F on this,
(10:42):
they get a D, not an F because that's not
very good return on investment, is because your addition by
subtraction a Deva's bad attitude. And they got all these
the next wave of young players. They're worried that Deva
is going to have his bad habits are going to
rub off on these other guys that are the next
wave there and hear things right, Yeah, there's people that
chirp around baseball by the whispers that you know, Devers
(11:06):
is not a good leader. He's immature, He obviously doesn't
take his conditioning very seriously, all that stuff, and then
not willing to change positions, and just coming across as
a complete diva. Who wants that? Does anyone want that?
Does it know? He shows up to spring training looking
(11:26):
like he's really run up the Uber Eats account when
he gets to know the off season there and three
hundred million dollars. Inflexible, inflexible and refusing to help the
team out. And it reminds me of one of the
great quotes of all time in my life from a
player You probably don't remember unless you're old. There was
(11:47):
a guy that played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the
Cardinals named Andy vansl like his kid also played in
the Major League. But Andy Manslke had one of the
great quotes when he was in Pittsburgh and he was
talking about Barry Bonds. Bonds went out to the Giants,
of course in that era, and Van Slyke said, I'd
rather lose without him, meaning Bonds, than win with him.
(12:10):
And that appears to be the mindset of the Red Sox.
Like they just got some slop, they got some Ramen noodles,
they got the Marcel diet, Marcel from Brooklyn Diet for
Rafael Devers. But you have to believe that they were
shopping Devers to every team in baseball and this is
what they got in return. Now, Paige Triot, does Rafael
(12:31):
Devers go out and push the Giants into the upper crust?
Are they now a legitimate threat in the National League
to the Dodgers and the Mets and those type of teams.
They guys have a good record. I have to have
a good record. And so now they've added a player
that we've heard of. So the way I approach this,
(12:51):
it helps close the gap, but only by a few millimeters.
The gap is closed by a few millimeters here on
this And this is a major shot in the arm
though for that team, because it is a team that
is a lot of flotsam and jetsam. And it is
also a reminder that one man's junk is another man's treasure,
like the Red Sox just gave Devers away pretty much.
(13:13):
And the Giants are all excited and all that, and
the Giants, Sara Zos has got a good team, and
I like the fact that Buster Posey the mindset seems
to be in the right place. Maybe that's just my
interpretation of it. And I certainly don't like the Giants.
I like the Dodgers, but that's a motley crew. They
have a motley crew of a roster. And I was
(13:36):
at the game sitting with a couple of pep and
these guys are two of the guys I was with
from New York and they're I don't know any one
of the Giants, and then we're going through the line
and I don't know that guy. That guy. I mean,
they're a nameless team. They are a faceless, nameless team.
And now they have the center of the wagon wheel.
You got to have that middle of the wagon wheel.
So now they have that, and Devors, in theory is
(13:59):
going to be that guy. And you know, so it's
a good morale booster and all that three to zero
three career hitter in playoff baseball for Devers, and so
you figure he's going to hit on you know, looks
can be seeing the Giants. I hope they paid the
extra money to the airlines there, because when Devers arrives
(14:24):
across country flight there to join the Giants, he's pretty
sure he's he violates all of the baggage policies as
far as excess weight in baggage. There's a lot of
extra baggage that Dever springs all right now, final point
and the last word on the Rafael Devers mega trade
(14:45):
as he goes from the Red Sox to the Giants.
So how will Rafael Devers handle the West Coast? Much
is a different experience if you've traveled, if you've been
around the United State, there's much different experience going from
playing for professional sports in Boston to the West Coast
in San Francisco. So it's going to be a bit
(15:05):
of a culture shock. You know, different atmosphere all the
way around there. Fenway Park loud, intense, it's a pinball machine.
And you go out to San Francisco and it's like
Oracle Park, I think it's what they still call it.
Used to be packed belt Park and something else. But
you go out there, majestic, beautiful views, right, I've been
there a few times. McCovey cove, the bright blue sea
(15:28):
out there. You get the city on one side. It's wonderful,
but it's all about being like a nineteen sixties pop
song from Donovan, Mellow Yellow. It's just mellow, laid back,
you know. It's all that it's And so Devers will
he flourish in that environment? Does it matter? Is he's
(15:50):
going to really care? It's it's not a hitter's park.
That's the big thing here. And if you look at
the cops of players that have left the Red Sox
and the numbers when they're Finway to Pennant, Raphaeld Devers
across the board is a much better offensive player at
Finway Park, the pinball machine than he is on the road.
In fact, in his career at Oracle Park, he's in
(16:13):
eighty three hitre he's only played a few games there,
but he's hitting O eighty three small sample size devs
again measuably worse. Then you got the contract. Now it's
not my money. I don't have to pay the money,
so I don't really worry about that. But from a
contractual perspective, for the Giants, you've got a guy you've
picked up who's got a bad attitude already, not a
team guy, doesn't stay in shape, and here you're paying
(16:37):
him the rest of his contract through twenty thirty three,
three hundred and thirteen million dollars to a guy with
a bad attitude. He's not a team guy, who's a
selfish schmuck. So that's who you're paying. So you're betting
that he doesn't matter, because baseball, you can be selfish
and you'll still put up big numbers and all that.
But it's like the old Niners coach Mike Singletary, and
(16:58):
it's like you want you want winners. I want winners.
I can't selfish players, cannot win with them, cannot right,
cannot coach for the whole thing, that whole rant, cannot
do it. I want winners. Go on and go on
and on. I want people to want to win. They said, Well,
Dever's won the World Series in twenty eighteen. Well the
(17:20):
Red Socks we're cheating in twenty eighteen when they won
the World Series. So there is that.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
From the Purple and Gold to the Purple and Sold
selling out, Baby, take that bag of money. Welcome in
the beginning of another night of the Ben Mahler Show.
We are in the air everywhere using audio frequency as
(17:54):
we hang out and play creatively coast to coast, border
to border and beyond on the vast and tantalizingly powerful
microphones of fsre.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Amminating live from the griddle. We're flipping burgers all night
long here the Fox Sports Radio Studios, which are approved
by Slim Tim the Cheesehead in this portion of the
Ben Malers Show on Fox made possible in part by
our friends at ty Iraq. For over forty years, ty
Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires for how,
(18:25):
what and where they drive, ship fast and free back
by free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like
mobile tire installation ty iraq dot com The Way Tire
Buying show be so our lead, this hour, play the hits,
play this our lead, this hours. We're back in the
Catburg seat. From the business of sport, the business of basketball.
(18:49):
If you will, big news out, big news, if you
love financial transactions on some spreadsheets somewhere, Man was at
a good day for you. God was at an exciting
day for you. So if you have not heard yet,
and perhaps not, we learned that the Bus family has
decided to say bye bye to the Lakers. What kind
(19:11):
of They will no longer control the majority ownership of
the once proud, now floundering franchise that is the Lakers.
As Mark Walter, the gazillionaire from Chicago who is the
face of the gougenheind group that owns the Dodgers, he's
buying it. He had a chance to buy. He owned
(19:33):
part of the Lakers anyway. It's not like he's coming
out of left field. Mark Walter owned a percentage of
the Lakers, had the option of buying the rest of
the team. I had heard it several years back that
this was likely going to happen and it has happened.
So Mark Walter is going to pay ten billion, ten billion,
(19:54):
and it will be the largest sale when they cross all
the t's and dotey isaik, what's a weakn on docu sign?
But when they do the docu sign, it'll be the
largest sale price for a US professional sports franchise of
all time. The Bus family will keep a little bitty share,
just a little bitty share of the team, just over
(20:14):
fifteen percent. And Genie Buss, we are told, will continue
as the face of the ownership group. They can't get
rid of her. She's like a cockroach. She won't be
Walter the face of the Dodgers ownership as we said there,
and people just thinking he'll just spend endless amounts of
money and it'll just be amazing and all that. So
(20:35):
let us discuss the question, like the pending sale, will
depending sale of the Lakers from the Bus family to
the Mark Walter Guggenheim Group be a dramatic change, because
all I've heard is all my god, happy days are
here again. Happy days are here again. Mark Walter is
(20:57):
the owner, So is it really gonna change? It's gonna
be dramatic, So my thoughts to this. I've got goose
fanatic and farmers market, and we will combine all of
these things together and we're gonna put the biscuit in
the basket. We'll take the biscuit and we'll put the
biscuit in the basket, just like that. So to answer
the question, will this pending sale lead to a dramatic
(21:18):
change now that somebody actually has money the Googen Hind
group will own the Lakers are supposed to gene Bus,
The answer is no, it's not going to be a
dramatic change. In fact, I would say nothing changes. Not
a zip b o bupkus is going to change. And
here's why, right, the Lakers are just going to continue
(21:39):
strutting through the NBA like they own the joint because
that's how they've always operated. And there are different rules
in the NBA that baseball doesn't have in terms of
how much money you can pay deferred money, and deferred
money you can't push it back to lower your salary
cap number to get under these aprons and all that
bull crap. So it's not like the stuff the Dodgers
have been able to get away with. The NBA's got
(22:00):
clauses in there that you can't do that in the NBA,
So all the tricks that the Dodgers have used doesn't work. Now,
I don't know who the top NBA player in Japan is,
but whoever that is, I expect you to end up
on the on the Lakers, like immediately, like later on today,
he'll end up on the Lakers. Consider how much money
they've milked off Otani from from Japan. So the Lakers
(22:23):
are at this point, they continue to be the golden
goose the NBA. We are convinced rigged the Luka Donzig
trade to send him to the Lakers. Let's make sure
with TV ratings are down, the Lakers don't have a star,
no one really, you know, Lebron's washed up nobody. Let's
make sure we hook them up. So they did, and
(22:43):
so how is that gonna change? So they have a
new owner and Genie Boss is kind of kind of
step aside. More than that in a second, but it's
just gonna be more of the same special treatment. The
Lakers have always gotten special treatment. And all that's different
is Mark Walter is the one that's riding the check
and the googenheind group and then that's it. The NBA
(23:04):
has always bent over backwards my entire life for that
pathetic purple and gold crap. It's been that way for
decades and we're talking about multiple generations where it's been
that way. And so you think Adam Silver is going
to allow under his watch them to slide into irrelevance.
Of course, they just went out and gave the Lakers Luca.
(23:26):
Even though he's fat, they gave him Luca. They still
hooked him up. Come on, so anyway, and the other
thing two is the referees will continue to help the
Lakers out. You know, those fifty to fifty calls will
go the direction, they will go the direction of the Lakers,
and the free agent market will still tilt to the
Lakers and all that. And the players nobody's signing with
(23:49):
the Lakers because in the Arder, if that was the case,
no one would have played for the Lakers. And gee
Bust didn't know what she was doing. And the Lakers
continue to get pleasures. Do you think Lebron James when
he went to the Lake because left Cleveland, you think
Lebron said, I really want to play for one of
Jerry Buss's kids. That's what I that's the owner. I
want to play for no right, not at all. Lebron James,
(24:11):
he came there because he wanted to make business deals
with movie people and things, and he did. He's gotten
all that. He made some cheeseball movies. His production company
took off. You know. He has a stupid barber shop
show like all that stuff. But it wasn't because of
the Genie Bus. It was because of la right. So
that's that's the way. Is not that it matters, by
the way, but again it doesn't matter. I mean the
(24:33):
players that flocked to the to the Lakers like a
moth to a flame, and Mark Walter will spend money.
There's a real salary cap although I'm a salarycap truth
when it comes to the NFL.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
And if they're just willing to listen, the teams are
if you have enough money, you can pay and who cares,
it doesn't really matter that much and you just pay
all the money and and then the other teams can
play and say it's not fair, and then you can't
make certain trades and all that stuff. Now all the
part of this. Can you explain why Genie Buss is
(25:06):
selling the team but is demanding apparently to continue on
in her role as the face of the Laker ownership
group after the cell. Now, the NBA went woke years
ago and they claim they don't have owners. They're so
woke that they have governors, not owners. Every other sport
has owners. NBA has got governors, which is lame. So
(25:28):
we know realities will own a team and they're not governors.
They not voted in anyway. So the point of this
with Genie Buss is rather obvious that this woman is
addicted to the spotlight. Right can we all agree on
that that those court side seats and all the celebrities
(25:49):
coming up and shaking her hand there the red carpet
at the Hollywood premieres that she gets invited to, she
loves it. She want to give that up. You don't
get that if you're not the Lakers owner anymore, you
don't you fade off into the sunset in irrelevance. You're
just another rich person surrounded by other rich people. And
so she can still play the part as the fall
(26:09):
Laker royalty owner and all that. So she gets a
But Genie Buss, think about what she's about to become.
So the team's being sold to Mark Walter. She's going
to continue going to the league meetings and all that stuff.
She's about to become the Philly fanatic. She's going to
be the mascot of the Lakers. She's like the San
Diego chicken back chick out, the Laker mascot wearing a pantsuit,
(26:32):
going to league meetings, you know, waving to the fans,
high fans. Yeah, but Mark Walter is the one who
will be deciding where the money goes and all that stuff.
And it's a symbolic nod. They claim to the Bus
family legacy and all that, but no titles with Genie
(26:52):
Buss's owner. Nobody who knows ball will say that she
wanted that Mickey Mouse bubble doesn't count in a result
in Orlando back in twenty twenty. And my favorite Genie
Bus story is when she well, the Phil Jackson thing
is like next level. But also the Bus family revolt
was that like twenty seventeen. I want to say, remember
(27:15):
there was a revolt. The brothers the other kids got
into a Jim and Johnny and they were all fighting.
There was like a coup to get control of the Lakers.
It was like some kind of mob movie or something
like that, and then they worked it out. They massaged that,
they got through that. She fired I think she fired
the brother. I don't know how you do that because
(27:36):
he owned part of the team. Also got rid of him.
Can Mitch Cupjack he was out, brought in Magic Johnson
that was a hot mess, and got rid of him.
Then now they have this guy skinny jeans, Rob Polenka,
who without NBA intervention would have already lost his job,
but the league helped him out and got him some players.
Otherwise he didn't know what he's doing. And there you go.
(27:57):
So another case old family money, right, the Bus family.
Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in nineteen seventy nine for
less than I think it was. Was it like seventy
million or something like that, nineteen seven nine, which is a
lot of money nineteen seventy nine, but still real estate
guy Jerry Buss, tremendous philanderer, unbelievable with the ladies, Jerry Buss,
and so less than seventy million, and now the team's
(28:20):
going to be sold for ten billion. I wonder what
the capital gains tax on that is. That must be insane, right,
you ten billion wonder what the capital gains to anyway. Regardless,
So Genie Buss again will be the new Laker mascot. Congratulations,
call them the buses and have her face on the uniforms.
There a purely ceremonial role for sure. Now the last
(28:44):
word here the question of why the Lakers sold for
ten billion, and multiple people sending me messages, I don't
understand why the Lakers are worth ten billion and the
Boston Celtics sold just a few months ago for six
point one billion. So why did the Lakers go for
essentially four billion dollars more than the Boston Celtics. And
(29:07):
so the whole valuation I Forbes every year in front
off of sports and sport. It go all these business
sites in sports, many of them have their evaluations they
come out with every year about teams are worth X,
Y and z, and it's it's obviously things are just sorry.
I mean, because there's a lot of rich people who
are a little skittish because they don't know the stock market.
(29:29):
You know, you end up dropping bombs somewhere and the
prices go down, or there's oil problems here and things
get all messed up, and uh so they don't they
look a gun shy on the on the stock market.
So they're, oh, I can buy a team, and if
I buy a team, I not only make money, but
all the other people want to kiss my ass at
the cocktail parties and the Hampton's or Beverly Hills or
(29:51):
South Beach Man that's the lot. So they're willing to
spend ridiculous amounts of money. And so it's like a
farmer's market, right. It's farmers market here. And the Lakers
operate in the second largest media market in the United
States with over thirteen million, the Greater LA Area, the
LA bas In southern California, La Base it's much bigger
(30:11):
than that metro area. And then you got Boston right
in Boston, major market, smaller metro population like the metro
populations like five million or something like that. So it's
like an eight million dollar difference. And despite the Celtics
being much more successful than the Lakers, there's less of
a market. So it's just a business deal. And the
(30:32):
other thing, the biggest thing here is the arena. The
Celtics do not own the garden that they play in,
and it's it's a weird set up. The Lakers because
the Anshootz group owns where what I used to call
Staples Center now it's like the Crypt, I think is
what they call now. They play at the Crypt, which
is appropriate because the franchise is dead. So the Crypt
(30:55):
is owned by the anshoots group, but it's like they
own they actually own part of the Lakers also, so
it's all tied together and all that, and so the
Celtics do not own the arena, which is one of
the reasons. The chatter is the Celtics will eventually leave
likely downtown Boston where they play and go out to
the suburbs somewhere and build a nice, big, shiny arena
and that'll be that the Bruins. The guy that owns
(31:18):
the Bruins actually owns the arena there for the Celtics
in Boston.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
It's now time for time ask bad Twitter. Is your
questions on Twitter now and way we go to ask Man.
Your questions are answers for the rest of the hour.
These are actual questions sent in by actual listeners. You
can submit a question using hashtag ask the band, And
(31:50):
just for the record, some of you have complained that
the same people have their questions read. I don't pick
the questions, coops the one that picks them, so I
don't control who gets picked who doesn't get picked. So
you guys that are complaining, I don't know what to
tell you. All right, what do we have here? Cool?
Speaker 4 (32:05):
Ask better questions? Oh well, and also we don't do
sports questions, so I just completely skip over those.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
But okay, all right, I don't know what the guy.
I don't know what questions they're asking. They just complain. Whatever.
We're gonna start off with a question from Ferg Dog.
Oh there you go. We've never heard from Ferg Dog.
We don't.
Speaker 4 (32:23):
He wants to know. Are you able to watch an
entire movie without checking your phone?
Speaker 1 (32:30):
Yeah? You know I can do that. I mean, if
it's a good movie, the movie sucks, I'm going on
my phone. I will absolutely go to my phone. But
if I'm engaged in the movie, yeah, like old school movies,
I don't really nothing these days. I get my attention
that one. What about you, Lorena?
Speaker 5 (32:45):
Movie theaters?
Speaker 6 (32:46):
No in my house, yes, especially if there's a dull moment,
keep my attention.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Wait wait, wait, so you mean yes and no if
you switch that around? So so id the movie theater?
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Not in the theater, you will not check your phone.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
But on a regular movie, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I'm the same way. I can.
Speaker 4 (33:05):
I can go a whole movie without checking my phone
if I'm in the theater. But at home I'm picking
up my phone.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Well, my problem in theater is a boring movie. I
fall asleep. I'm gone. It's a dark room, comfortable seat,
air conditioned, I'm sleeping. All right, what's next? What are
we ever to ask?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Man?
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Your questions are answers Bobby and Florida. Hi, Bobby, you'd
like to know now that summer heat is here? Yeah?
Would you rather cool off in the ocean, a lake
or a pool? Yeah? So, I'm a big pool guy.
There's not really a lake that I go to. I've
only been to a lake a few times. Ocean's okay.
(33:42):
I don't really like the ocean around here because it's polluted,
So I guess I'll go pool Lorena.
Speaker 5 (33:47):
Yeah, any of those, as long as it's not a river.
I don't like super fast running water like that. Not
a strong, strunk swimmer.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
No, did you have a lake in Oregon when you
were growing up.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
Yeah, we had a couple of them, but you weren't
supposed to swim in them. One of them had a
really high merree content.
Speaker 1 (34:00):
Yeah, lakes are kind of disgusting.
Speaker 5 (34:02):
Yeah, because they're sitting water.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yeah, gotcha cool. I'll be totally honest.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
I'm not a fan of like any of them, but
I would pick Pool over with the other two.
Speaker 5 (34:13):
More of an air conditioner type of guy.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Huh Yeah, nice tropical. I got a nice exotic luxury
pool though, with fountains. Yeah, that's nice resort. Yeah, so
way to go. I walk around the beaches here and
I get oil on my feet. I can't imagine what's
in the water. If I'm getting oil my feet from
the sand. What is next to do we have here?
Late night drug tester, high, Late night drug tester. You
(34:36):
would like to know in honor of National Clean your
Aquarium Day? Yes, have you ever had pet fish? Well?
Technically yes, although reality no, there were a few times that,
Like the little community fair thing that we had when
I was growing up, I won a goldfish and we
had a little tank and that, you know, typical story cliches.
(35:00):
The goldfish lasted about a day and then that was
it died. So in my head, I had a fish
and aquarium and I have been to the pet store
and they look amazing. Those aquariums are awesome. And what
was that show on Discovery Channel or one of those
they did they build?
Speaker 2 (35:17):
Really?
Speaker 1 (35:18):
Yeah, the guys in Vegas, but they're from New York
and they build these crazy. That's a good show. That's
something you do if you're really really rich. And I'm
not really really rich, So no, what about you, Lorrena?
Speaker 6 (35:29):
As a kid, I remember having one, but it might
have been a.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
Dream, a dream. Yeah, you dream about a fish tank?
Speaker 5 (35:35):
Really, I'm pretty sure we had one, though.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Did you ever have goldfish? I had goldfish? I think
I give them a little plastic bags when I was
a kid, and one of them and then they were
dead within.
Speaker 5 (35:44):
Two I just remember the fish that suck on the walls.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Is that what they sound like?
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Okay, oh cool? What about you? Yes?
Speaker 4 (35:52):
As a child at my family home, we had a
we had two fish tanks, one the downstairs one as
a regular fresh water tank and the upstairs was a
salt water tank.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
And who cleaned them?
Speaker 4 (36:05):
We got suckerfish so that they would clean the tank.
Speaker 1 (36:09):
Not smart. Yes, all right. What is next year is
ask man. Your questions are answers for the rest of
the hour.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Donkey sausage, Hi, donkey, you would like to know sandals
or sneakers.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I'm team sandals man all the time. I wear a
year round sam I come in here, I'm always sporting
the sandals no matter what.
Speaker 6 (36:31):
Loreina, I love a good pair of sandals, but my
feet get really cold, so I am kind of a
sneaker girl.
Speaker 4 (36:38):
Nah.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
That's the reason you get in the radio is to
wear sandals. Otherwise you do TV or wear shoes. What
about you, Coop, I'm the same as Loraina. I typically
like I never get cold. To get like.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I love the cold, but my feet get ridiculously cold
for some reason.
Speaker 5 (36:54):
So cold.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
I don't really have that problem. I'm always too warm
no matter what. So that What is next is ask Ben.
Your questions are our answers to the rest of the
After you like this, we do it every week. If
you don't like it, we only do it once a week.
If you really really like it, we have something that
is nothing like this. On the fifth hour mail Bag
on Sunday.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
What's next, Lady Sideburns is trying to start some stuff,
Lady Sideburns. Lady Sideburns would like to know which color
would you least enjoy being handcuffed too for twenty four hours?
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Which caller? Yes? All of them, every one of them.
Now let me see. Well, blind Scott would be at
the very top. And the amount of emails that Blind
Scott sends me, I can't imagine having to I mean,
that would be a horror show.
Speaker 5 (37:40):
What about you, Lorena, don't ask them questions?
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Oh yeah, Leprechaun yet, Yeah, mine's pretty easy. Will you
be calling in sick? All yours is hollering James.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
I might be out of town, who knows.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, by the way, Leprechaun send me. He wants to
come in for two nights. I said no, Yeah, I
said no, we're not even supposed.
Speaker 5 (37:58):
To really have been alive. Get a job, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Real quick? Next, what's cool?
Speaker 4 (38:03):
Donkey Sausage wants to know have you ever considered being
a ref or umpire for like a high school.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Gamer or something like that. Well, I wasn't a Y
s o U soccer referee for you really back in
the day. Yeah, for if you if you did not
go very well, I was a bad referee, what about you? No,
no cool, nah, no nah. It's easy side money. Although
you get yelled at a lot. People goof on you
and a soccer mom. There you go, bring the oranges
(38:28):
and then those peanut butter and jellies like the crustables.
You can bring the crustables or
Host
Ben Maller
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.