July 19, 2025 • 41 mins
Big Ben talks about rumors surrounding a LeBron James trade and reports that 4 teams are in the mix, Cal Raleigh winning the Home Run Derby, Maller's Mountain of Money: Harrison Ford Edition, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
As Lebron's world turns, I know, I don't know what
he about, Lebronmellia. We talk about the stories that are
the stories of the day. Welcome in the beginning of
another hour of the Benmahler Show. We are in the
air everywhere, preaching to the choir as we are telling
(00:57):
you like it is all. The rest of our industry
is fast asleep. They're not hanging out with us. Coast
to coast, border to border and beyond on the vast
and unreasonably powerful microphones of fsre am mondating live from
(01:19):
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I'd be so our lead. This hour is from the
Lebron File, not to be confused with some other kind
(02:02):
of files. But no, this is all about Lebron, and
we are contractually obligated, as it turns out, for an
obligatory Malard monologue, much to the approval of Eugene in Chicago,
who is anticipating this spicy margarita edition of a Malard
monologue on Lebron, James and his life in times. Here's
(02:26):
some new developments over the weekend. New developments, new developments,
new developments. While we were away from the watchtower guarding
the overnight graveyard of sports takes, there were some new
things that took place here. So if you didn't follow along,
don't worry. That's what we're here for. We got your back.
We kept tabs on what was going on so you
would not have to so chatter over the weekend, little
(02:48):
chit chat over the weekend that indicated that there are
a four pack, four pack of teams that are attempting
to acqui Lebron James. No, those teams are in no
formal order, the Dallas mav Rex, the Golden State Warriors,
(03:11):
the Cleveland Cadavers, and the Clippers supposedly, so that story
came out though those teams have emerged as possible suitors
for Lebron James. That happened over the weekend. Now, those
four teams, if you believe the chatter, if you believe
the Internet chatter, those four teams contacted Lebron's conciliary right
(03:32):
his Boddy there, Rich Paul, who is the If you
want to talk to the mob boss, you got to
go through the consigli area and that would be Rich Paul.
And that is where we are right now. So let
us discuss the question for the panel, the blue Ribbon panel.
Where are you at on the Fearsome Fursome Pursuingbron James.
(03:56):
All right, so I've got Vintage Cookie Jar, Dali Lama
and Philadelphia Original and we will combine all of these
things together and we are gonna make the Gobaul. We're
gonna make the Gobba goal for our friend in Florida.
So number I said, number right. Yes, Now we provide
(04:16):
a skeptical eye for the regular guy. Now I even
have buyfocals on, so I have extra skepticism, is what
I have on here. But this is not the Lebron
sweep steaks. It was presented as the Lebron Sweepstakes. I
don't buy that that narrative. I'm not I'm not going there.
It's it's more like the Lebron flea market. Now, you
(04:37):
can find a nice thing every now and again at
the flea market, and that's what this is. It's the
Lebron James flea market. And it's like, what's what's going
on there? What's on the table at the flea market?
You're like, do I want that kind of fade a
little bit? I'm not sure about that. Uh, And it
was well, this is not the shiny new toy. We're
not We're not auctioning off the shiny new toy. This
(05:01):
is Lebron James at this point is a vintage cookie jar.
It's cracked a little bit faded, now it still has
some value. There's still some value there. And if you
squint hard enough at the vintage cookie jar and you
look at it and you ignore the fact that the
cookies inside turns stale. Right around the time they got
(05:23):
that little Mickey Mouse bubble ring that doesn't really count
back at Disney World, like a nice little souvenir there. Yay,
you get a ring wee not a real one. Not
a real one, as we learned from the Oklahoma City
thunder Guard, not every one. So Lebron James the greatest
player of his generation, not the greatest of all time,
as he trails Michael Jordan and others. He's also across
(05:47):
the rubicon the dreaded four. He's in the dreaded forties
age range at this particular point, Lebron James. And so
you put it all together, and while he still can
put up numbers for you, and the kind of a
numbers that if you work over at ESPN, right, you
think Lebron's like the Dalai Lama, you do, you treat
him like the Dalai Lama and all that, and you
(06:09):
can't wait to hear what he has to say about
every effing thing you gotta get to the bottom of
Lebron James, all right. So the impact is measured now
more in a moment's rather than months of greatness. There's
individual moments on a given night. Lebron can put up
some big numbers and all that stuff, but it's one
of those buyer beware situations for anyone that does business
(06:31):
with Lebron James. It is a buyer beware situation because
that cookie jar, remember we told you Lebron is like
the flea market vintage cookie jar Lebron. It looks okay
from a distance on a shelf. You're like, that's not
that bad, and I could buy that. It's a couple
of bucks. I gotta pay cash, no credit card. It's
a couple of bucks. And the lids chipped again though
(06:53):
a little bit. And you look at it and the
basis and you get a little closer to see a
little crack there on the base of it, and it
really only opens when it wants to. And so that's
not particularly great and all that stuff, and the four
teams that are supposedly in on this. It's a nostalgia play.
It would be a nostalgia play for Lebron and that's
(07:14):
what you're going for at this particular point. Sell some stuff,
you become in the conversation. You're always in the conversation. Now,
Lebron's camp is trying really hard to control the narrative.
They are working overtime to try to control the stories
about Lebron, and they know how the offseason NBA world
(07:34):
works and so they're the experts on all that. So
Rich Paul is the one feeding the pipeline. He's the
one out there, and in our opinion, Rich Paul's the
one that is the puppet master directing everything here in
terms of media consumption on preferred destinations for Lebron James
now in order a home cooking with the Cadavers, right,
(07:58):
go back to Ohio for a third time when one
more championship with the Cavaliers fade to black Boom, done right,
And of course that would be like Lebron going back
to Cleveland for a third time. It's like they're the
ex girlfriend that keeps texting it, hey, you up at
the three in the morning or whatever. I don't know,
but it's nostalgic to go back to Cleveland and do
(08:21):
it again and all that stuff. It's also a bit delusional.
Then I would say the old Geezers Club, which would
be the Golden State Warriors, hang out in San Francisco,
and you got Steph Curry on one side, Draymond Green
on the other, Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Buckets is still there,
and Lebron and Draymond can do podcasts together, and they
can fire Steve Kerr and hire some podcast guide to
(08:41):
coach the Golden State Warriors like the Lakers did for Lebron,
and they'll get along good Lebron and Draymond Green until
they try to hijack the clipboard from whoever the coaches,
whether that's Steve Kerr or somebody else. Then it's gonna
get ugly, and then you've got the reunited. It feels
so good with Anthony David to go to Dallas and
(09:02):
then stick it to the Lakers as a mav wreck
with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving and all those injured
guys that are on the Mavericks right now, and they
instead of Taco Tuesday, they can have Tex Mex Wednesday
in Dallas, Anthony Davis and Lebron. How great would that be?
Of course, we all know Lebron would prefer to play
for the Clippers. Everyone wants to play for the Clippers.
It's hip to clip who wouldn't want to play for
(09:23):
the Clippers. But we're gonna eliminate the Clippers. And here's why.
Here's why we're gonna limit the Clippers because there's no
way the Lakers are gonna allow that to happen. There's
zero chants like the Clippers have a better owner, they
have a better arena, they have a better fan base.
Everyone knows that in town in La. They're not gonna
allow Lebron to go over there and embarrass the Lakers
(09:43):
even more. So, that's not gonna happen, right, So Jeanie Buss,
he's still supposedly in charge, not gonna do that, right,
Not not gonna allow that to happen, to go over
to Inglewood in the hood in Inglewood and play for
the Clippers. So we'll eliminate them now, page two. So
we'll go to Vegas the Summer League, which is going
on over the weekend there, and Lebron was sitting courtside.
(10:07):
You see this over the weekend. I glanced at it.
There's Lebron sitting courtside watching his kid that sucks at
basketball play for the Lakers summer League team because he's
a NEPO baby and he won a sweepstakes raffle to
get on the Lakers. So there's BRONI out there who sucks,
but you know, let's make a wish. So he's out
there playing for the Lakers, and Lebron's watching him. They
played the I Guess the Pelicans or a version a
(10:29):
facsimile of the Pelicans in the Summer League. Now ESBN
invited Lebron James. They invited Lebron. You see this. They
invited Lebron on air to address the speculation which has
been running rampant about where Lebron's gonna go. Is you
upset with this person, that person, the other person? And
so Lebron did he say, yes, I will go on television.
(10:50):
I would like to talk b I have nothing to
say or see no comment. Lebron said, quote, if you
picked b you win. He said, quote, I ain't got
nothing to talk about. He must have learned that in
high school and Acron, I ain't got nothing to talk about.
So question, why did Lebron James refuse the opportunity the
(11:10):
platform to speak about his situation while in attendance at
the Las Vegas Summerly. He had his sullen look on
his face, bad body language from Lebron as he was
sitting courtside there in Vegas. So the answer is by
saying nothing, by Lebron saying nothing and passing up the opportunity.
(11:33):
Lebron gave a masterclass and I'm in control control one
oh one. By not saying anything, he could have popped
on Television's true, he was given the opportunity, was given
the platform Lebron to jump over there on television and
pretend like everything's good, and he chose not to do it.
He had ESPN essentially throwing themselves at him and just
(11:54):
you know again, he said, I'm not doing it. I'm
not gonna go there. And he missed the opportunity, right,
the old Dolly Lama line. While you could have been
you know, they treated him like the Dali Lamba. But Lebron,
he could have taken a fire extinguisher and put out
the fire. Right, take the fire extinguisher, put out the fire.
But he likes the fire. It's like he's warming marshmallows
(12:17):
on a stick in the fire. And so instead, he
worked to pour some kerosene on top of the fire.
Burn baby burn. And it's like a cloak and dagger
type mission. You have the useful idiots. You toss out
these bread crumbs, you drop these little bread crumbs, but
you don't do it you if somebody else do it
for you. So you drop the bread crumbs out there,
(12:39):
and you post cryptic things on the Gram and all
that stuff, and you let the media do the dirty work,
the heavy lifting for you and all that. And so
you don't talk because you don't have to talk. Right,
other people are talking. I'm talking about you. Everyone's talking
about you. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah. Right, the machine, the machine of basketball content,
(13:00):
is discussing Lebron James. Now this is the same guy
that years ago had the remember the zero dark thirty
snick and the playoff run, and of course we know
that often didn't last and it work so well, So
he stopped doing that, but he treated it like it
was a ritual, like Marti Gras for Lebron before the playoffs.
(13:20):
There and so Lebron chose not to speak. Not the
silence was not silence, it was strategy. That was what
what Lebron was doing here. And by refusing to go
on camera and not using your own voice to get
the message out and all that stuff in Vegas where
you want to be seen, right, you go to Vegas
(13:41):
to be seen, the party and all that stuff, and
everything's a show in Vegas, and Lebron's part of the show,
and he knew exactly what he was doing. Classic passive
aggressive behavior by Labron. James yet again, let the drama swirl, swirl, swirl, swirl,
and that's what he was doing there, and just say
back and watches the speculation, and it just is everywhere
(14:04):
there's a residence, there's a heat. It's like coming off
the blacktop there on the on the court, and he's
keeping it cool, right, he's sitting there, he's got his
arms fold. He's unbothered, at least he wants you to
believe he's unbothered by everything that's going on now. Using
my Rosetta stone, using my malleor Rosetta stone to translate
Lebron and what he meant in plain English in layman's terms,
(14:29):
when Lebron said, I ain't got nothing to talk about.
That was his quote. I ain't got anohing to talk
about it. That means I know you're all panicking about
where I'm going to be traded or if I'm going
to be traded and all that, and I'm just watching
you squirm, and I've got an evil laugh just like that.
We know the routine. We all know. Every man, woman
(14:52):
and child knows the routine.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
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It's me Rob Parker.
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The Parker with Rob Parker on the.
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Speaker 1 (15:32):
So I leave this hour from suburban Atlanta Truest Park
in Georgia, and I've not been to Truest Park in Atlanta.
I've talked to people that have been there. They said
it's great. I remember when the Braves were leaving Turner
Field going out to the Burbs and people were like, Oh,
it's gonna suck. And now that Braves did a good
(15:53):
job of that. And by all accounts, I've not heard
one bad thing about that experience that people that have
been there. I love it. Tommy in Atlanta, who's not
allowed to call it show anymore because he's evil Tracny
and Boss does not allow him to call while he
drives his truck around Atlanta at night, and he's a
fan of the show. I'm sure he loves it. Everyone
(16:14):
loves it. But they was all Star Monday Night, way
all Star Monday Night, which means, for our purposes, the
twenty twenty five home run derby and good bye, mister baseball,
see you later. Now. I don't know if you watched
this or not. He usually does pretty well in the
television ratings, but everything's watered down. Everything's watered down these days,
(16:39):
so maybe not. But we watched so you would not
have to. And the reason we watched there was nothing
else on. If there had been something else on, we
probably would have watched it, but there really wasn't so
I assume you know by now that great night for
the Seattle Mariners. Congratulations the Mariners. Now I don't get
to the World Series. They've never been, but this is
(17:02):
their event back in the day. I remember, I'm old enough.
I remember Ken Griffy Jr. Dominating the derby with his
hat on backwards. And now another Mariner legend, the big dumper,
cal Raley getting it done. It was a family a
fairy and his daddy had his brother out there. Cal
Raley the first catcher ever to win the All Star
(17:22):
Home Run Derby. Holy Mike Piazza and Pud Rodriguez and
all other catchers have gone years gone by, as cal
Raley outlasted the player that many thought was going to
win this from Tampa Bay, Junior cam and Aro. Good name,
and he's got big things ahead once he leaves Tampa
(17:43):
Bay and goes to a different team. But the final
round of the Home Run Derby as cal Ray hit
not one, not two, not three, four, five, six, eighteen
dingers for cal Raley, and cam and Aro had fifteen,
and so he'll have to set her for a smaller
check from Major League Baseball. More on that in a minute,
but cal Rawly does join King Griffy Junior the Hall
(18:06):
of Famer, the only two Mariners to win that particular event.
And the thing that I love about this as a
talk show host is that this was a rig deal.
There was controversy, how do you rig the home run derby?
How does one do that? Well, I don't have rigged
(18:26):
is the right word. But cal Ray was almost eliminated,
should have, could have, would have been eliminated in the
very first round of the derby. He would have been
eliminated by the Athletics Brent Rooker. Now let me explain
if you did not watch and you have not been
paying attention here. So at the end of round one,
(18:47):
cal Raley and Brent Rooker from West Sacramento's A's not
just Sacramento, it's West Sacramento. So they the same amount
of home runs. They were tied with seventeen home runs. However,
Major League Baseball said, well the tiebreaker, the tiebreaker goes
to cal Raley by the slimmest of slim margins, by
(19:09):
the hair on my chinny chin chin, and I'm not kitting.
Major League Baseball claimed that the longest home run by
cal Raley traveled four hundred and seventy point six y
one feet. They said that Brent Rooker of the A's
his longest home runt went four hundred and seventy feet
(19:29):
point five to three. I'm not making any of this up.
I am not I'm not making this up. So let
us discuss the question do you buy the conspiracy theories
that have popped up on the interweb that Major League
Baseball took care of cal Raleigh to make sure that
(19:50):
he was not eliminated in the first round of the
home run derby? Did the deep state of Major League
Baseball pull some Shenanigans to help push cal Raley along?
So on this one, I've got quantum physics, slum dog Millionaire,
and Sasquatch, and we will combine all of these things
(20:10):
together and we are gonna make a hot pastrami sandwich
and now now a cold pastrami sandwich. A hot pastrami sandwich.
I'm on a Hogi roll. That is what we're gonna make.
So a to answer the question do you buy into
the conspiracy? Now, I would assume that you listen occasionally
show and you know that I am selective. I do
not totally dismiss conspiracy. I don't I have a collection
(20:33):
as Alfie Alien Opinter can prove of tinfoil hats. In fact,
I have been immortalized on the Internet for my tinfoil
hat love on this one. I'm in. I am absolutely in, in,
in in in all right, So let me let me
go through this. I'm nodding my head. Yes, you can't
see me because it's radio. If you can, you're a stalker.
(20:54):
I'm calling the cops. So guilty as charged, Guilty as
charge of this. In a same world, the world that
I like to think that I'm part of, you would think,
if there's a tie, what do you do? What do
you do? You go to a swing off? That's what
you do. Two hitters tied swing off And that was
(21:16):
originally See this is the thing that buys into the conspiracy.
If you were watching the broadcast originally, who's the guy
with the hairpiece, Carl Ravage, Karl Ravitch. He was on
TV there Sanna. He thought there was gonna be a
swing off on the TV broadcast. They were talking about
a swing off. Then the plot thickened.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Do do do Do Do Do Do Doo? They changed
their story. Big brother got involved. Yep, they changed their story.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Baseball decided they were gonna get cute Kutzy, They got Kilzie.
They pulled out the stat cast ruler. Cal Raley advances
because of the nerds. Makes you wonder. Right now, I'm
not saying for sure that Major League Baseball rigged the
(22:07):
home run derby because I don't want to get sued. However,
the evidence is there. You can decide for yourself whether
or not the home run derby was rigged like a
slot machine in Vegas back when the mob ran Vegas
and they didn't have resort fees and charged for parking,
and it was a great town back in the day. However,
here's the thing. When you're telling me, you're telling me
(22:30):
that cal Raleigh squeaked past Brent Rooker by, let me
check the math on this. Zero point zero eight feet
less than an inch. Now, I know that every inch matters.
I've heard that before. But less than an inch let
me repeat that for those of in the back of
the room that are a little intoxicated. Less than an
(22:52):
inch does that not raise an eyebrow? It does for me,
It does for me, it it does. We're talking about baseball.
This is not supposed to be quantum physics. I know
the nerds at baseball got a chubby that they got
to decide this based on the stat cast allegedly. So
we're measuring moonshots right to the moon. We're measuring this
(23:17):
and it comes down to the width of the width
of a NAT's eyelash decides who advances in round one
of the Home Run Derby and the conspiracy part of
it when you toss in. Originally on the television broadcast,
they assumed there would be a swing off, they said
on the broadcast. And so here we are with the
bigger name player. We can all agree on that. Every man,
(23:41):
woman and Chawi can agree the bigger name player in
this between Brent Rooker and cal Rawley is cal Raleigh.
Cal Rawley's not gonna win the MVP, but he's having
an MVP season, switch hitting catcher, great nickname, the big dumper.
What's not to like? Right, He's in the MVP ways
with Aaron Judge and he advances to the second not
originally it was what do you advanced? She advances. He
(24:04):
ends up going on and winning the Home Run Derby
crown by a Razor thin March. We are talking again.
Less than an inch Okay, less than an inch like
a paper cut, is what we're talking about here, and
and that ended up being the thing that that descided it.
And so all things being equal, if we agree, this
(24:30):
is a television show. Okay, it's a TV show. And
the story is cal Raley that this is his magical
career year. He's put it all together. He'll never play
as good as this for Seattle, and this is his
career year. You don't have two career years. You had
one career year. So that that's the case. And then
(24:52):
you look at Brent Rooker, who's also a good player,
and he's had solid numbers. He's got a nice contract,
making a lot of money. But the baseball mantra is
anybody advances not wearing an Athletics jersey. Do you understand
the Athletics are the shame of the family of Major
(25:12):
League Baseball. They're an embarrassment. Okay, they play in a
minor league ballpark in a town that baseball's so embarrassed
about they won't even say the name. That's how little
major League Baseball thinks of Sacramento. They're so shamed by Sacramento.
It is such a ward on their ass that they
will not say Sacramento Athletics. You're not allowed to say it.
(25:34):
They're just the athletics. But where do they play? They're
just athletics. It's so shameful and so is it beyond
the realm of possibility that Major League Baseball said, I
don't know. Nobody will question it. Nobody ever questions the
stat cast numbers. Ever, so you've got the ugly, redheaded
step children in the athletics. Brent rookerd plays for them,
(25:57):
who are baseball orphans until eventually then they get to
get to Vegas and so Cal No, I'm not gonna
hear it say Seattle is a mecca of baseball. We
like to use the line that came from Cowboy coach
Jimmy Johnson back in the day where he famously said
of Seattle at Southern Alaska when he had to go
(26:17):
up there for an NFC championship game. However, side by signed,
if you put Cal Raleigh and Brent Rooker side by side, right,
you put them side by side. Cal Rawley's like Taylor Swift. Okay,
It's just that's the that's the case there so that's
(26:38):
where we are now. The other thing, and this has
been going on for a little bit, but we were
reminded of it. We forget about it once the derby
comes and goes. But where are you at on Major
League Baseball handing cal Raleigh the winner of the home
run derby a one million dollar cartoon side check and
they win. The winner of the home run derby won
(26:59):
one million dollars in this case cal Raley, So where
are you at on that? They also add the championship
belt and the chain which you got to tell you,
cal Raley didn't look that cool with the with the
chain of they were hoping for cool, they didn't. Cal
Raley didn't look that cool. He didn't anyway. So this
is the million dollar prize from Major League Baseball. This
(27:24):
is the people over there in New York who run
Major League Baseball, who think they are marketing geniuses. Yet again, Hey,
you know what at NBA they give out more money
for the dunk contest. Why don't we take a page
out of their playbook? And then you got the the
wrestling people seem to like that a lot. They have
the belt and people like bling blinge. So let's put
(27:47):
a chain. We'll have a big thing there and that'll
be the way we do it. We'll get we're gonna
make that Derby cool again. We're gonna make the home
run Derby cool again. So get the bags of dog,
get the jewelry out, and it's all. Put some fireworks
in there for the home run Derby, give out some
oversized gloves to fans, and we're in. So we're at
(28:09):
the point now in the story where you now need
to bribe players to get them to take part in
the All Star Game festivities. So again, it's just baseball
trying to be like basketball. They're trying to be cool.
They're not cool. Baseball is never cool. I like baseball,
but they're never cool. It can be really cool as
a baseball player, and trying to be a little flashy
(28:31):
with the jewelry, trying to get that in there. And
but the thing about this is, and maybe I'm wrong
on this, you can correct me if i am, I'll
give it the number a little bit. But it's like
Major League Baseball selling the home Run Derby as slum
dog millionaire, like giving the illusion this is it's gonna
be a rags to riches story, like in their head.
The marketing people at Major the Baseball is like, yeah, listen,
(28:53):
somebody who's like on a rookie contract is gonna win
the derby and they're gonna make more money for winning
the derby then they make playing for whatever team they
played for. Spoiler alert. It did not work. It did
not work, and it wouldn't have worked anyway. Like if
somebody they thought was going to win, one of these
guys on the rookie contract would have won, it still
(29:15):
would not have worked. Right. The rags to richest thing
doesn't work. Now, I'm old enough. When I was a kid,
there were still baseball players that got jobs in the
offseason selling cars or I don't think they cleaned toilets,
but they had jobs in the offseason, some of them did.
But now everyone's loaded. Everyone's rich that plays baseball. There's
(29:36):
no poor people that play Major League Baseball doesn't exist, right,
do you know? The minimum salary in Major League Baseball
this season is seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars. If
I knew somebody that made seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
I'd say, holy crap, what's it like to be rich?
(29:58):
My god? So baseball's so out of touch. They're so
obtuse to people at marketing in Major League Baseball, Like,
did they really think that Joe Schmoe sitting on their
ass eating eating bond bonds, watching the home run derby
on their sofa was gonna think? Well, I really feel
good this rags to riches story. Here is a poor,
(30:20):
helpless baseball player only making seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
and now they got a million dollars. And of course
it backfired. It was ruled because cal Raley, let me
check my notes here, seventeen and a half million dollar salary,
one hundred million dollar contract, and he won the home
run derby. Yeah, so I just gave the check to
his younger brothers said here go buy some stock, buy
(30:43):
some stock with dividends, knock yourself out, all right now,
last word, all right, last word, So cal Rally, big
win there, big win. Now this has created I already
got a couple of emails from our friends that listen
to the Great Pacific Northwest here, because there's nothing quite
like a Mariner fan. Now you might not know Marion
fans because you might live far away from Seattle with
the Marina fan is already pacing around their apartment, biting
(31:08):
their nails, wondering whether or not, Yes, cal Raley is
going to now start sucking and ride the vomit comet.
You know, Robbie. The Mariner fans freaking, Oh my god,
he swung through the fences. He's gonna fit the Jinks.
What about the Jenks, the so called Derby Jinks? Right,
that that's a thing people now spoke Marina fans, Oh
(31:29):
my god, we can't have nice things. Cal Raley's gonna
blow because of the Derby Jinks. So thumbs up, thumbs down.
Should Mariner fans be paranoid about cal Raley going into
slump City because of the home run Derby Jinks? So
I'm going thumbs down on this. I'm gonna go thumbs
(31:52):
down on this. Now. This is an old wisetail that
has been passed down from previous generations about the home
run and the theory is that the players that participate
in the home run Derby the All Star Slugfest, right,
the people that are out there, they come back cursed
that they have home run PTSD and it just messes
(32:15):
with their mind. Theirs swings are in shambles, and their
timing is off, and their stands go down, down, down,
down down. That's how it goes. But let me help
my brothers and sisters in the great Pacific Northwest. Here.
I will put on my shrink cap. I will be
Benny the Shrink and I will help you out. I'm
gonna do it. I'm gonna do I'm gonna cut through
(32:37):
the psycho babble. If you take a deep breath, you
can do it. You take take a deep breath. Uh,
you put the ant acids down, You put the bottle there.
You stop buying the hogwash, just stop.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
The jinx is about as real as next time you
go out to Safego Field, Sasquatch, an actual Sasquatch throws
out the first pitch at America Game. There's a better
chance of Sasquatch. Hey, I'm not talking about a mascot.
I'm talking about the real Sasquatch coming out Bigfoot throwing
out of the first pitch. There's a better chance of that. Now,
(33:15):
I get it. People love a good story, right, Stories
are the greatest Everyone we learned from stories. We all
learn from stories. It doesn't matter where you come from.
But the idea that the Derby, that the MLB Home
Run Derby is going to screw up cal Riley so
much that he's going to be terrible. And I know
why this has been the thing because there were players
(33:36):
years ago that had bad second half, right, but the
correlation ain't causation on this one, and the numbers back
it up. The actual data. Now, if you go, we
have a long home run Derby history year, and not
just some internet chatter, but actual data has shown there's
no consistent drop off in performance by those that are
(33:59):
in the home run Derby. Now, are there players that
go into a prolonged slump? Yes, there are, absolutely. There's
others though, like Peede Alonzo, a regular in the Homo Derby,
wasn't in this year, or Aaron Judge who keep Monster
mushing even though they were in the Homer Derby. So
it's essentially a coin flip, not a curse. It's a
coin flip. And if the big dumper comes out and
(34:23):
takes a dump for the Seattle Mariners there on the
field in late July and August and all that stuff,
it's not because of some mythical Derby voodoo. It's not
because of that it's because baseball is a grime. We
get into those dog days of summer and it's brutal.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Now,
Mailer's Mountain of Money? Do you have what it takes
to get to the top?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Probably not by the shore. Welcome in our contestants. We
have any Meenie, miney mone.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
We have Dave in Cincinnati. What's going on? Dave? Welcome?
What man? Dave? You tell me? Dave?
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Just get ready for work?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Right to win this game? All right? Who do you
want to partner up with?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Dave?
Speaker 1 (35:13):
You got me? You got cool? You know I need you? Ben?
All right, we're in it to win it day. We're
in it to win it. And we have Kelly in
the moin Hello, Kelly, Hi, Ben, how's everything going? Donut
formerly known as Donut Kelly? Yes, all right, and Kelly, Well,
(35:34):
I will be with you. You will be with your
Coop's excited. I've been studying, Ben, how's that going for you?
I could use a little more works. Okay, you're studying sports,
getting closer though learning about sports? Okay, One are the
categories here, Coop?
Speaker 6 (35:50):
All right, this is the Harrison Ford edition. He turned
eighty three years old on Sunday. The Categoryana Jones is
in his eighties.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
The categories are Star Wars, as Crusade, water to Wine,
and forty two?
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Dave, what's kind of great? Would you like.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
Crusade to save?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
All right, Kelly, how about you? I'm sorry?
Speaker 6 (36:13):
Wellard again, Star Wars, water to wine and forty two.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Water to wine.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
All right, all right, let's say your category, Coop. Very nice,
our Dave. You picked last crusade. Yes, these athletes came
out of retirement for one last hurrah, one last moment
in the sun. Are you ready to Dave? We need
the first and last name. We'll put forty five seconds
on the clock and we're on our way.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Go.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Larry Bird's rival in the NBA in the nineteen eighties,
Magic John, greatest boxer of all time. He changed his
name in the middle of the Yes, a favorite tight
end of Tom Brady in the glory days of the Patriots. Yes,
start tight end with the Cowboys. He quit to go
on Monday and football and everyone almost Yes. Yes, the
(37:03):
Minister of Defense for the Philadelphia Eagles. He went to
Green Bay because God. Yes, all star second basement for
the Chicago Cubs of the nineteen eighties. Was a Rule
five pick from the Phillies. White guy hit a lot
of home runs at Wrigley Field. All right, pitcher for
the Negro League. Pitcher went to major leagues. His first
(37:25):
name was a was The first name was a bag.
Would you've gotten that, Dave, His first name was a
bag bag, Yeah, Satchel Page, schel Page. I was very
proud of myself. That was a good hint. That, all right.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
And Ryan Sanmdberg was the other one that you missed
there he did alright, there, he did pretty well. All right, Kelly,
we have water to wine.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
One sixty was our squad.
Speaker 6 (37:49):
Yes, these athletes were all part of miracle plays. Okay,
all right, forty five seconds on the clock, Kelly, it's
begin Giants quarterback brother of Peyton.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (38:02):
Uh, this guy was the rival of Magic Johnson in
the eighties. Yes, this guy was the quarterback for the
Steelers in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Terry Bright.
Speaker 6 (38:13):
Yes, uh this guy. Uh, he had the miracle catch.
His nickname was to say hey kid. He died recently. Yes, uh,
this guy was the quarterback that threw the touchdown pass
to Stefan Diggs during the Minneapolis Miracle. Oh the other one,
I answered, answering, No, okay, we're gonna get that. This
(38:35):
guy was the Minneapolis Miracle. He had the touchdown. He
was also stopped one yard short of the Super Bowl
man case case. Keenum was the quarterback and Kevin Dyson
was the stop short.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
What was it seventy points?
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Really?
Speaker 1 (38:54):
I don't know that was more than that? All right? Fine?
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Oh yeah, I'm sorry, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah, sorry, what is it? I apologize? I didn't guys
it was one hundred?
Speaker 6 (39:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Yeah, you were very we were very loud.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
Okay, Kelly, do you want Star Wars or forty two
Star Wars?
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Okay? Uh?
Speaker 6 (39:13):
These athletes have all won an All Star Game or
Pro Bowl MVP forty five segments begin star on the
Golden State Warriors. Right now, except yes, he is the
quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Right now.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
He was He was a quarterback for the Browns before
he's on the commercials.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
All right.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Most famous Japanese player before Otawanni. Yes, this guy was
Barry's dad, the home run King.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
His dad.
Speaker 6 (39:49):
Yes, this guy was part of the two Towers in Houston,
but not not him, the other one. No, all right,
this guy was the co back after Kurt Warner on
the Rams.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
How many is that?
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Good job?
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Good job?
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
It was eighty points eighty eight more one? All here,
you're going twenty All right, here we go, Dave. These
athletes all were number forty two. Are you ready, Dave?
All right? Brooklyn Dodgers number forty two retired by everybody. Yes,
the closer for the Yankees, the sand Man in the nineties. Yes,
(40:31):
you said it.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Oh, we did it.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Say it? Marion safety for the forty nine ers in
the eighties. He cut off his finger for the forty
nine ers.
Speaker 4 (40:43):
No, my god, it's Ronny La, Roddie, Ronnie l got
a goal to take.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
We got a goal in the take. We won the game.
We got a golden take. Alright,
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 Benmalers 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 (00:32):
As Lebron's world turns, I know, I don't know what
he about, Lebronmellia. We talk about the stories that are
the stories of the day. Welcome in the beginning of
another hour of the Benmahler Show. We are in the
air everywhere, preaching to the choir as we are telling
(00:57):
you like it is all. The rest of our industry
is fast asleep. They're not hanging out with us. Coast
to coast, border to border and beyond on the vast
and unreasonably powerful microphones of fsre am mondating live from
(01:19):
the abyss, deep deep in the abyss of audio fun
as approved by the late night drug tester who knows
a thing or two about that and this portion of
the Ben Maler Show on Fox, made possible by our
friends at tire Rack. For over forty years, it's two generations.
Tiraq has been helping customers find the right tires for how,
(01:42):
what and where they drive, ship fast and freeback by
free road hazard protection with convenient installation options like mobile
tire installation, tire raq dot com, The Way Tire Buying Show.
I'd be so our lead. This hour is from the
Lebron File, not to be confused with some other kind
(02:02):
of files. But no, this is all about Lebron, and
we are contractually obligated, as it turns out, for an
obligatory Malard monologue, much to the approval of Eugene in Chicago,
who is anticipating this spicy margarita edition of a Malard
monologue on Lebron, James and his life in times. Here's
(02:26):
some new developments over the weekend. New developments, new developments,
new developments. While we were away from the watchtower guarding
the overnight graveyard of sports takes, there were some new
things that took place here. So if you didn't follow along,
don't worry. That's what we're here for. We got your back.
We kept tabs on what was going on so you
would not have to so chatter over the weekend, little
(02:48):
chit chat over the weekend that indicated that there are
a four pack, four pack of teams that are attempting
to acqui Lebron James. No, those teams are in no
formal order, the Dallas mav Rex, the Golden State Warriors,
(03:11):
the Cleveland Cadavers, and the Clippers supposedly, so that story
came out though those teams have emerged as possible suitors
for Lebron James. That happened over the weekend. Now, those
four teams, if you believe the chatter, if you believe
the Internet chatter, those four teams contacted Lebron's conciliary right
(03:32):
his Boddy there, Rich Paul, who is the If you
want to talk to the mob boss, you got to
go through the consigli area and that would be Rich Paul.
And that is where we are right now. So let
us discuss the question for the panel, the blue Ribbon panel.
Where are you at on the Fearsome Fursome Pursuingbron James.
(03:56):
All right, so I've got Vintage Cookie Jar, Dali Lama
and Philadelphia Original and we will combine all of these
things together and we are gonna make the Gobaul. We're
gonna make the Gobba goal for our friend in Florida.
So number I said, number right. Yes, Now we provide
(04:16):
a skeptical eye for the regular guy. Now I even
have buyfocals on, so I have extra skepticism, is what
I have on here. But this is not the Lebron
sweep steaks. It was presented as the Lebron Sweepstakes. I
don't buy that that narrative. I'm not I'm not going there.
It's it's more like the Lebron flea market. Now, you
(04:37):
can find a nice thing every now and again at
the flea market, and that's what this is. It's the
Lebron James flea market. And it's like, what's what's going
on there? What's on the table at the flea market?
You're like, do I want that kind of fade a
little bit? I'm not sure about that. Uh, And it
was well, this is not the shiny new toy. We're
not We're not auctioning off the shiny new toy. This
(05:01):
is Lebron James at this point is a vintage cookie jar.
It's cracked a little bit faded, now it still has
some value. There's still some value there. And if you
squint hard enough at the vintage cookie jar and you
look at it and you ignore the fact that the
cookies inside turns stale. Right around the time they got
(05:23):
that little Mickey Mouse bubble ring that doesn't really count
back at Disney World, like a nice little souvenir there. Yay,
you get a ring wee not a real one. Not
a real one, as we learned from the Oklahoma City
thunder Guard, not every one. So Lebron James the greatest
player of his generation, not the greatest of all time,
as he trails Michael Jordan and others. He's also across
(05:47):
the rubicon the dreaded four. He's in the dreaded forties
age range at this particular point, Lebron James. And so
you put it all together, and while he still can
put up numbers for you, and the kind of a
numbers that if you work over at ESPN, right, you
think Lebron's like the Dalai Lama, you do, you treat
him like the Dalai Lama and all that, and you
(06:09):
can't wait to hear what he has to say about
every effing thing you gotta get to the bottom of
Lebron James, all right. So the impact is measured now
more in a moment's rather than months of greatness. There's
individual moments on a given night. Lebron can put up
some big numbers and all that stuff, but it's one
of those buyer beware situations for anyone that does business
(06:31):
with Lebron James. It is a buyer beware situation because
that cookie jar, remember we told you Lebron is like
the flea market vintage cookie jar Lebron. It looks okay
from a distance on a shelf. You're like, that's not
that bad, and I could buy that. It's a couple
of bucks. I gotta pay cash, no credit card. It's
a couple of bucks. And the lids chipped again though
(06:53):
a little bit. And you look at it and the
basis and you get a little closer to see a
little crack there on the base of it, and it
really only opens when it wants to. And so that's
not particularly great and all that stuff, and the four
teams that are supposedly in on this. It's a nostalgia play.
It would be a nostalgia play for Lebron and that's
(07:14):
what you're going for at this particular point. Sell some stuff,
you become in the conversation. You're always in the conversation. Now,
Lebron's camp is trying really hard to control the narrative.
They are working overtime to try to control the stories
about Lebron, and they know how the offseason NBA world
(07:34):
works and so they're the experts on all that. So
Rich Paul is the one feeding the pipeline. He's the
one out there, and in our opinion, Rich Paul's the
one that is the puppet master directing everything here in
terms of media consumption on preferred destinations for Lebron James
now in order a home cooking with the Cadavers, right,
(07:58):
go back to Ohio for a third time when one
more championship with the Cavaliers fade to black Boom, done right,
And of course that would be like Lebron going back
to Cleveland for a third time. It's like they're the
ex girlfriend that keeps texting it, hey, you up at
the three in the morning or whatever. I don't know,
but it's nostalgic to go back to Cleveland and do
(08:21):
it again and all that stuff. It's also a bit delusional.
Then I would say the old Geezers Club, which would
be the Golden State Warriors, hang out in San Francisco,
and you got Steph Curry on one side, Draymond Green
on the other, Jimmy Butler, Jimmy Buckets is still there,
and Lebron and Draymond can do podcasts together, and they
can fire Steve Kerr and hire some podcast guide to
(08:41):
coach the Golden State Warriors like the Lakers did for Lebron,
and they'll get along good Lebron and Draymond Green until
they try to hijack the clipboard from whoever the coaches,
whether that's Steve Kerr or somebody else. Then it's gonna
get ugly, and then you've got the reunited. It feels
so good with Anthony David to go to Dallas and
(09:02):
then stick it to the Lakers as a mav wreck
with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving and all those injured
guys that are on the Mavericks right now, and they
instead of Taco Tuesday, they can have Tex Mex Wednesday
in Dallas, Anthony Davis and Lebron. How great would that be?
Of course, we all know Lebron would prefer to play
for the Clippers. Everyone wants to play for the Clippers.
It's hip to clip who wouldn't want to play for
(09:23):
the Clippers. But we're gonna eliminate the Clippers. And here's why.
Here's why we're gonna limit the Clippers because there's no
way the Lakers are gonna allow that to happen. There's
zero chants like the Clippers have a better owner, they
have a better arena, they have a better fan base.
Everyone knows that in town in La. They're not gonna
allow Lebron to go over there and embarrass the Lakers
(09:43):
even more. So, that's not gonna happen, right, So Jeanie Buss,
he's still supposedly in charge, not gonna do that, right,
Not not gonna allow that to happen, to go over
to Inglewood in the hood in Inglewood and play for
the Clippers. So we'll eliminate them now, page two. So
we'll go to Vegas the Summer League, which is going
on over the weekend there, and Lebron was sitting courtside.
(10:07):
You see this over the weekend. I glanced at it.
There's Lebron sitting courtside watching his kid that sucks at
basketball play for the Lakers summer League team because he's
a NEPO baby and he won a sweepstakes raffle to
get on the Lakers. So there's BRONI out there who sucks,
but you know, let's make a wish. So he's out
there playing for the Lakers, and Lebron's watching him. They
played the I Guess the Pelicans or a version a
(10:29):
facsimile of the Pelicans in the Summer League. Now ESBN
invited Lebron James. They invited Lebron. You see this. They
invited Lebron on air to address the speculation which has
been running rampant about where Lebron's gonna go. Is you
upset with this person, that person, the other person? And
so Lebron did he say, yes, I will go on television.
(10:50):
I would like to talk b I have nothing to
say or see no comment. Lebron said, quote, if you
picked b you win. He said, quote, I ain't got
nothing to talk about. He must have learned that in
high school and Acron, I ain't got nothing to talk about.
So question, why did Lebron James refuse the opportunity the
(11:10):
platform to speak about his situation while in attendance at
the Las Vegas Summerly. He had his sullen look on
his face, bad body language from Lebron as he was
sitting courtside there in Vegas. So the answer is by
saying nothing, by Lebron saying nothing and passing up the opportunity.
(11:33):
Lebron gave a masterclass and I'm in control control one
oh one. By not saying anything, he could have popped
on Television's true, he was given the opportunity, was given
the platform Lebron to jump over there on television and
pretend like everything's good, and he chose not to do it.
He had ESPN essentially throwing themselves at him and just
(11:54):
you know again, he said, I'm not doing it. I'm
not gonna go there. And he missed the opportunity, right,
the old Dolly Lama line. While you could have been
you know, they treated him like the Dali Lamba. But Lebron,
he could have taken a fire extinguisher and put out
the fire. Right, take the fire extinguisher, put out the fire.
But he likes the fire. It's like he's warming marshmallows
(12:17):
on a stick in the fire. And so instead, he
worked to pour some kerosene on top of the fire.
Burn baby burn. And it's like a cloak and dagger
type mission. You have the useful idiots. You toss out
these bread crumbs, you drop these little bread crumbs, but
you don't do it you if somebody else do it
for you. So you drop the bread crumbs out there,
(12:39):
and you post cryptic things on the Gram and all
that stuff, and you let the media do the dirty work,
the heavy lifting for you and all that. And so
you don't talk because you don't have to talk. Right,
other people are talking. I'm talking about you. Everyone's talking
about you. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah. Right, the machine, the machine of basketball content,
(13:00):
is discussing Lebron James. Now this is the same guy
that years ago had the remember the zero dark thirty
snick and the playoff run, and of course we know
that often didn't last and it work so well, So
he stopped doing that, but he treated it like it
was a ritual, like Marti Gras for Lebron before the playoffs.
(13:20):
There and so Lebron chose not to speak. Not the
silence was not silence, it was strategy. That was what
what Lebron was doing here. And by refusing to go
on camera and not using your own voice to get
the message out and all that stuff in Vegas where
you want to be seen, right, you go to Vegas
(13:41):
to be seen, the party and all that stuff, and
everything's a show in Vegas, and Lebron's part of the show,
and he knew exactly what he was doing. Classic passive
aggressive behavior by Labron. James yet again, let the drama swirl, swirl, swirl, swirl,
and that's what he was doing there, and just say
back and watches the speculation, and it just is everywhere
(14:04):
there's a residence, there's a heat. It's like coming off
the blacktop there on the on the court, and he's
keeping it cool, right, he's sitting there, he's got his
arms fold. He's unbothered, at least he wants you to
believe he's unbothered by everything that's going on now. Using
my Rosetta stone, using my malleor Rosetta stone to translate
Lebron and what he meant in plain English in layman's terms,
(14:29):
when Lebron said, I ain't got nothing to talk about.
That was his quote. I ain't got anohing to talk
about it. That means I know you're all panicking about
where I'm going to be traded or if I'm going
to be traded and all that, and I'm just watching
you squirm, and I've got an evil laugh just like that.
We know the routine. We all know. Every man, woman
(14:52):
and child knows the routine.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
FI Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
It's me Rob Parker.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Check out my weekly MLB podcast, Inside the Parker for
twenty two minutes of piping hot baseball talk, featuring the
biggest names of newsmakers in the sport. Whether you believe
in analytics or the I tast We've got all the
bases covered. New episodes drop every Thursday, So do yourself
a favor and listen to Inside.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
The Parker with Rob Parker on the.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
So I leave this hour from suburban Atlanta Truest Park
in Georgia, and I've not been to Truest Park in Atlanta.
I've talked to people that have been there. They said
it's great. I remember when the Braves were leaving Turner
Field going out to the Burbs and people were like, Oh,
it's gonna suck. And now that Braves did a good
(15:53):
job of that. And by all accounts, I've not heard
one bad thing about that experience that people that have
been there. I love it. Tommy in Atlanta, who's not
allowed to call it show anymore because he's evil Tracny
and Boss does not allow him to call while he
drives his truck around Atlanta at night, and he's a
fan of the show. I'm sure he loves it. Everyone
(16:14):
loves it. But they was all Star Monday Night, way
all Star Monday Night, which means, for our purposes, the
twenty twenty five home run derby and good bye, mister baseball,
see you later. Now. I don't know if you watched
this or not. He usually does pretty well in the
television ratings, but everything's watered down. Everything's watered down these days,
(16:39):
so maybe not. But we watched so you would not
have to. And the reason we watched there was nothing
else on. If there had been something else on, we
probably would have watched it, but there really wasn't so
I assume you know by now that great night for
the Seattle Mariners. Congratulations the Mariners. Now I don't get
to the World Series. They've never been, but this is
(17:02):
their event back in the day. I remember, I'm old enough.
I remember Ken Griffy Jr. Dominating the derby with his
hat on backwards. And now another Mariner legend, the big dumper,
cal Raley getting it done. It was a family a
fairy and his daddy had his brother out there. Cal
Raley the first catcher ever to win the All Star
(17:22):
Home Run Derby. Holy Mike Piazza and Pud Rodriguez and
all other catchers have gone years gone by, as cal
Raley outlasted the player that many thought was going to
win this from Tampa Bay, Junior cam and Aro. Good name,
and he's got big things ahead once he leaves Tampa
(17:43):
Bay and goes to a different team. But the final
round of the Home Run Derby as cal Ray hit
not one, not two, not three, four, five, six, eighteen
dingers for cal Raley, and cam and Aro had fifteen,
and so he'll have to set her for a smaller
check from Major League Baseball. More on that in a minute,
but cal Rawly does join King Griffy Junior the Hall
(18:06):
of Famer, the only two Mariners to win that particular event.
And the thing that I love about this as a
talk show host is that this was a rig deal.
There was controversy, how do you rig the home run derby?
How does one do that? Well, I don't have rigged
(18:26):
is the right word. But cal Ray was almost eliminated,
should have, could have, would have been eliminated in the
very first round of the derby. He would have been
eliminated by the Athletics Brent Rooker. Now let me explain
if you did not watch and you have not been
paying attention here. So at the end of round one,
(18:47):
cal Raley and Brent Rooker from West Sacramento's A's not
just Sacramento, it's West Sacramento. So they the same amount
of home runs. They were tied with seventeen home runs. However,
Major League Baseball said, well the tiebreaker, the tiebreaker goes
to cal Raley by the slimmest of slim margins, by
(19:09):
the hair on my chinny chin chin, and I'm not kitting.
Major League Baseball claimed that the longest home run by
cal Raley traveled four hundred and seventy point six y
one feet. They said that Brent Rooker of the A's
his longest home runt went four hundred and seventy feet
(19:29):
point five to three. I'm not making any of this up.
I am not I'm not making this up. So let
us discuss the question do you buy the conspiracy theories
that have popped up on the interweb that Major League
Baseball took care of cal Raleigh to make sure that
(19:50):
he was not eliminated in the first round of the
home run derby? Did the deep state of Major League
Baseball pull some Shenanigans to help push cal Raley along?
So on this one, I've got quantum physics, slum dog Millionaire,
and Sasquatch, and we will combine all of these things
(20:10):
together and we are gonna make a hot pastrami sandwich
and now now a cold pastrami sandwich. A hot pastrami sandwich.
I'm on a Hogi roll. That is what we're gonna make.
So a to answer the question do you buy into
the conspiracy? Now, I would assume that you listen occasionally
show and you know that I am selective. I do
not totally dismiss conspiracy. I don't I have a collection
(20:33):
as Alfie Alien Opinter can prove of tinfoil hats. In fact,
I have been immortalized on the Internet for my tinfoil
hat love on this one. I'm in. I am absolutely in, in,
in in in all right, So let me let me
go through this. I'm nodding my head. Yes, you can't
see me because it's radio. If you can, you're a stalker.
(20:54):
I'm calling the cops. So guilty as charged, Guilty as
charge of this. In a same world, the world that
I like to think that I'm part of, you would think,
if there's a tie, what do you do? What do
you do? You go to a swing off? That's what
you do. Two hitters tied swing off And that was
(21:16):
originally See this is the thing that buys into the conspiracy.
If you were watching the broadcast originally, who's the guy
with the hairpiece, Carl Ravage, Karl Ravitch. He was on
TV there Sanna. He thought there was gonna be a
swing off on the TV broadcast. They were talking about
a swing off. Then the plot thickened.
Speaker 5 (21:36):
Do do do Do Do Do Do Doo? They changed
their story. Big brother got involved. Yep, they changed their story.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Baseball decided they were gonna get cute Kutzy, They got Kilzie.
They pulled out the stat cast ruler. Cal Raley advances
because of the nerds. Makes you wonder. Right now, I'm
not saying for sure that Major League Baseball rigged the
(22:07):
home run derby because I don't want to get sued. However,
the evidence is there. You can decide for yourself whether
or not the home run derby was rigged like a
slot machine in Vegas back when the mob ran Vegas
and they didn't have resort fees and charged for parking,
and it was a great town back in the day. However,
here's the thing. When you're telling me, you're telling me
(22:30):
that cal Raleigh squeaked past Brent Rooker by, let me
check the math on this. Zero point zero eight feet
less than an inch. Now, I know that every inch matters.
I've heard that before. But less than an inch let
me repeat that for those of in the back of
the room that are a little intoxicated. Less than an
(22:52):
inch does that not raise an eyebrow? It does for me,
It does for me, it it does. We're talking about baseball.
This is not supposed to be quantum physics. I know
the nerds at baseball got a chubby that they got
to decide this based on the stat cast allegedly. So
we're measuring moonshots right to the moon. We're measuring this
(23:17):
and it comes down to the width of the width
of a NAT's eyelash decides who advances in round one
of the Home Run Derby and the conspiracy part of
it when you toss in. Originally on the television broadcast,
they assumed there would be a swing off, they said
on the broadcast. And so here we are with the
bigger name player. We can all agree on that. Every man,
(23:41):
woman and Chawi can agree the bigger name player in
this between Brent Rooker and cal Rawley is cal Raleigh.
Cal Rawley's not gonna win the MVP, but he's having
an MVP season, switch hitting catcher, great nickname, the big dumper.
What's not to like? Right, He's in the MVP ways
with Aaron Judge and he advances to the second not
originally it was what do you advanced? She advances. He
(24:04):
ends up going on and winning the Home Run Derby
crown by a Razor thin March. We are talking again.
Less than an inch Okay, less than an inch like
a paper cut, is what we're talking about here, and
and that ended up being the thing that that descided it.
And so all things being equal, if we agree, this
(24:30):
is a television show. Okay, it's a TV show. And
the story is cal Raley that this is his magical
career year. He's put it all together. He'll never play
as good as this for Seattle, and this is his
career year. You don't have two career years. You had
one career year. So that that's the case. And then
(24:52):
you look at Brent Rooker, who's also a good player,
and he's had solid numbers. He's got a nice contract,
making a lot of money. But the baseball mantra is
anybody advances not wearing an Athletics jersey. Do you understand
the Athletics are the shame of the family of Major
(25:12):
League Baseball. They're an embarrassment. Okay, they play in a
minor league ballpark in a town that baseball's so embarrassed
about they won't even say the name. That's how little
major League Baseball thinks of Sacramento. They're so shamed by Sacramento.
It is such a ward on their ass that they
will not say Sacramento Athletics. You're not allowed to say it.
(25:34):
They're just the athletics. But where do they play? They're
just athletics. It's so shameful and so is it beyond
the realm of possibility that Major League Baseball said, I
don't know. Nobody will question it. Nobody ever questions the
stat cast numbers. Ever, so you've got the ugly, redheaded
step children in the athletics. Brent rookerd plays for them,
(25:57):
who are baseball orphans until eventually then they get to
get to Vegas and so Cal No, I'm not gonna
hear it say Seattle is a mecca of baseball. We
like to use the line that came from Cowboy coach
Jimmy Johnson back in the day where he famously said
of Seattle at Southern Alaska when he had to go
(26:17):
up there for an NFC championship game. However, side by signed,
if you put Cal Raleigh and Brent Rooker side by side, right,
you put them side by side. Cal Rawley's like Taylor Swift. Okay,
It's just that's the that's the case there so that's
(26:38):
where we are now. The other thing, and this has
been going on for a little bit, but we were
reminded of it. We forget about it once the derby
comes and goes. But where are you at on Major
League Baseball handing cal Raleigh the winner of the home
run derby a one million dollar cartoon side check and
they win. The winner of the home run derby won
(26:59):
one million dollars in this case cal Raley, So where
are you at on that? They also add the championship
belt and the chain which you got to tell you,
cal Raley didn't look that cool with the with the
chain of they were hoping for cool, they didn't. Cal
Raley didn't look that cool. He didn't anyway. So this
is the million dollar prize from Major League Baseball. This
(27:24):
is the people over there in New York who run
Major League Baseball, who think they are marketing geniuses. Yet again, Hey,
you know what at NBA they give out more money
for the dunk contest. Why don't we take a page
out of their playbook? And then you got the the
wrestling people seem to like that a lot. They have
the belt and people like bling blinge. So let's put
(27:47):
a chain. We'll have a big thing there and that'll
be the way we do it. We'll get we're gonna
make that Derby cool again. We're gonna make the home
run Derby cool again. So get the bags of dog,
get the jewelry out, and it's all. Put some fireworks
in there for the home run Derby, give out some
oversized gloves to fans, and we're in. So we're at
(28:09):
the point now in the story where you now need
to bribe players to get them to take part in
the All Star Game festivities. So again, it's just baseball
trying to be like basketball. They're trying to be cool.
They're not cool. Baseball is never cool. I like baseball,
but they're never cool. It can be really cool as
a baseball player, and trying to be a little flashy
(28:31):
with the jewelry, trying to get that in there. And
but the thing about this is, and maybe I'm wrong
on this, you can correct me if i am, I'll
give it the number a little bit. But it's like
Major League Baseball selling the home Run Derby as slum
dog millionaire, like giving the illusion this is it's gonna
be a rags to riches story, like in their head.
The marketing people at Major the Baseball is like, yeah, listen,
(28:53):
somebody who's like on a rookie contract is gonna win
the derby and they're gonna make more money for winning
the derby then they make playing for whatever team they
played for. Spoiler alert. It did not work. It did
not work, and it wouldn't have worked anyway. Like if
somebody they thought was going to win, one of these
guys on the rookie contract would have won, it still
(29:15):
would not have worked. Right. The rags to richest thing
doesn't work. Now, I'm old enough. When I was a kid,
there were still baseball players that got jobs in the
offseason selling cars or I don't think they cleaned toilets,
but they had jobs in the offseason, some of them did.
But now everyone's loaded. Everyone's rich that plays baseball. There's
(29:36):
no poor people that play Major League Baseball doesn't exist, right,
do you know? The minimum salary in Major League Baseball
this season is seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars. If
I knew somebody that made seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
I'd say, holy crap, what's it like to be rich?
(29:58):
My god? So baseball's so out of touch. They're so
obtuse to people at marketing in Major League Baseball, Like,
did they really think that Joe Schmoe sitting on their
ass eating eating bond bonds, watching the home run derby
on their sofa was gonna think? Well, I really feel
good this rags to riches story. Here is a poor,
(30:20):
helpless baseball player only making seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars,
and now they got a million dollars. And of course
it backfired. It was ruled because cal Raley, let me
check my notes here, seventeen and a half million dollar salary,
one hundred million dollar contract, and he won the home
run derby. Yeah, so I just gave the check to
his younger brothers said here go buy some stock, buy
(30:43):
some stock with dividends, knock yourself out, all right now,
last word, all right, last word, So cal Rally, big
win there, big win. Now this has created I already
got a couple of emails from our friends that listen
to the Great Pacific Northwest here, because there's nothing quite
like a Mariner fan. Now you might not know Marion
fans because you might live far away from Seattle with
the Marina fan is already pacing around their apartment, biting
(31:08):
their nails, wondering whether or not, Yes, cal Raley is
going to now start sucking and ride the vomit comet.
You know, Robbie. The Mariner fans freaking, Oh my god,
he swung through the fences. He's gonna fit the Jinks.
What about the Jenks, the so called Derby Jinks? Right,
that that's a thing people now spoke Marina fans, Oh
(31:29):
my god, we can't have nice things. Cal Raley's gonna
blow because of the Derby Jinks. So thumbs up, thumbs down.
Should Mariner fans be paranoid about cal Raley going into
slump City because of the home run Derby Jinks? So
I'm going thumbs down on this. I'm gonna go thumbs
(31:52):
down on this. Now. This is an old wisetail that
has been passed down from previous generations about the home
run and the theory is that the players that participate
in the home run Derby the All Star Slugfest, right,
the people that are out there, they come back cursed
that they have home run PTSD and it just messes
(32:15):
with their mind. Theirs swings are in shambles, and their
timing is off, and their stands go down, down, down,
down down. That's how it goes. But let me help
my brothers and sisters in the great Pacific Northwest. Here.
I will put on my shrink cap. I will be
Benny the Shrink and I will help you out. I'm
gonna do it. I'm gonna do I'm gonna cut through
(32:37):
the psycho babble. If you take a deep breath, you
can do it. You take take a deep breath. Uh,
you put the ant acids down, You put the bottle there.
You stop buying the hogwash, just stop.
Speaker 5 (32:52):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
The jinx is about as real as next time you
go out to Safego Field, Sasquatch, an actual Sasquatch throws
out the first pitch at America Game. There's a better
chance of Sasquatch. Hey, I'm not talking about a mascot.
I'm talking about the real Sasquatch coming out Bigfoot throwing
out of the first pitch. There's a better chance of that. Now,
(33:15):
I get it. People love a good story, right, Stories
are the greatest Everyone we learned from stories. We all
learn from stories. It doesn't matter where you come from.
But the idea that the Derby, that the MLB Home
Run Derby is going to screw up cal Riley so
much that he's going to be terrible. And I know
why this has been the thing because there were players
(33:36):
years ago that had bad second half, right, but the
correlation ain't causation on this one, and the numbers back
it up. The actual data. Now, if you go, we
have a long home run Derby history year, and not
just some internet chatter, but actual data has shown there's
no consistent drop off in performance by those that are
(33:59):
in the home run Derby. Now, are there players that
go into a prolonged slump? Yes, there are, absolutely. There's
others though, like Peede Alonzo, a regular in the Homo Derby,
wasn't in this year, or Aaron Judge who keep Monster
mushing even though they were in the Homer Derby. So
it's essentially a coin flip, not a curse. It's a
coin flip. And if the big dumper comes out and
(34:23):
takes a dump for the Seattle Mariners there on the
field in late July and August and all that stuff,
it's not because of some mythical Derby voodoo. It's not
because of that it's because baseball is a grime. We
get into those dog days of summer and it's brutal.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Now,
Mailer's Mountain of Money? Do you have what it takes
to get to the top?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Probably not by the shore. Welcome in our contestants. We
have any Meenie, miney mone.
Speaker 5 (35:00):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
We have Dave in Cincinnati. What's going on? Dave? Welcome?
What man? Dave? You tell me? Dave?
Speaker 5 (35:09):
Just get ready for work?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Right to win this game? All right? Who do you
want to partner up with?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Dave?
Speaker 1 (35:13):
You got me? You got cool? You know I need you? Ben?
All right, we're in it to win it day. We're
in it to win it. And we have Kelly in
the moin Hello, Kelly, Hi, Ben, how's everything going? Donut
formerly known as Donut Kelly? Yes, all right, and Kelly, Well,
(35:34):
I will be with you. You will be with your
Coop's excited. I've been studying, Ben, how's that going for you?
I could use a little more works. Okay, you're studying sports,
getting closer though learning about sports? Okay, One are the
categories here, Coop?
Speaker 6 (35:50):
All right, this is the Harrison Ford edition. He turned
eighty three years old on Sunday. The Categoryana Jones is
in his eighties.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (35:58):
The categories are Star Wars, as Crusade, water to Wine,
and forty two?
Speaker 1 (36:04):
Dave, what's kind of great? Would you like.
Speaker 5 (36:07):
Crusade to save?
Speaker 1 (36:09):
All right, Kelly, how about you? I'm sorry?
Speaker 6 (36:13):
Wellard again, Star Wars, water to wine and forty two.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Water to wine.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
All right, all right, let's say your category, Coop. Very nice,
our Dave. You picked last crusade. Yes, these athletes came
out of retirement for one last hurrah, one last moment
in the sun. Are you ready to Dave? We need
the first and last name. We'll put forty five seconds
on the clock and we're on our way.
Speaker 6 (36:41):
Go.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Larry Bird's rival in the NBA in the nineteen eighties,
Magic John, greatest boxer of all time. He changed his
name in the middle of the Yes, a favorite tight
end of Tom Brady in the glory days of the Patriots. Yes,
start tight end with the Cowboys. He quit to go
on Monday and football and everyone almost Yes. Yes, the
(37:03):
Minister of Defense for the Philadelphia Eagles. He went to
Green Bay because God. Yes, all star second basement for
the Chicago Cubs of the nineteen eighties. Was a Rule
five pick from the Phillies. White guy hit a lot
of home runs at Wrigley Field. All right, pitcher for
the Negro League. Pitcher went to major leagues. His first
(37:25):
name was a was The first name was a bag.
Would you've gotten that, Dave, His first name was a
bag bag, Yeah, Satchel Page, schel Page. I was very
proud of myself. That was a good hint. That, all right.
Speaker 6 (37:42):
And Ryan Sanmdberg was the other one that you missed
there he did alright, there, he did pretty well. All right, Kelly,
we have water to wine.
Speaker 1 (37:47):
One sixty was our squad.
Speaker 6 (37:49):
Yes, these athletes were all part of miracle plays. Okay,
all right, forty five seconds on the clock, Kelly, it's
begin Giants quarterback brother of Peyton.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (38:02):
Uh, this guy was the rival of Magic Johnson in
the eighties. Yes, this guy was the quarterback for the
Steelers in the seventies.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
Terry Bright.
Speaker 6 (38:13):
Yes, uh this guy. Uh, he had the miracle catch.
His nickname was to say hey kid. He died recently. Yes, uh,
this guy was the quarterback that threw the touchdown pass
to Stefan Diggs during the Minneapolis Miracle. Oh the other one,
I answered, answering, No, okay, we're gonna get that. This
(38:35):
guy was the Minneapolis Miracle. He had the touchdown. He
was also stopped one yard short of the Super Bowl
man case case. Keenum was the quarterback and Kevin Dyson
was the stop short.
Speaker 1 (38:51):
What was it seventy points?
Speaker 6 (38:53):
Really?
Speaker 1 (38:54):
I don't know that was more than that? All right? Fine?
Speaker 4 (38:56):
Oh yeah, I'm sorry, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Yeah, sorry, what is it? I apologize? I didn't guys
it was one hundred?
Speaker 6 (39:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (39:02):
Yeah, you were very we were very loud.
Speaker 6 (39:05):
Okay, Kelly, do you want Star Wars or forty two
Star Wars?
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Okay? Uh?
Speaker 6 (39:13):
These athletes have all won an All Star Game or
Pro Bowl MVP forty five segments begin star on the
Golden State Warriors. Right now, except yes, he is the
quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Right now.
Speaker 6 (39:33):
He was He was a quarterback for the Browns before
he's on the commercials.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
All right.
Speaker 6 (39:39):
Most famous Japanese player before Otawanni. Yes, this guy was
Barry's dad, the home run King.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
His dad.
Speaker 6 (39:49):
Yes, this guy was part of the two Towers in Houston,
but not not him, the other one. No, all right,
this guy was the co back after Kurt Warner on
the Rams.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
How many is that?
Speaker 4 (40:06):
Good job?
Speaker 1 (40:07):
Good job?
Speaker 4 (40:08):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
It was eighty points eighty eight more one? All here,
you're going twenty All right, here we go, Dave. These
athletes all were number forty two. Are you ready, Dave?
All right? Brooklyn Dodgers number forty two retired by everybody. Yes,
the closer for the Yankees, the sand Man in the nineties. Yes,
(40:31):
you said it.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
Oh, we did it.
Speaker 1 (40:33):
Say it? Marion safety for the forty nine ers in
the eighties. He cut off his finger for the forty
nine ers.
Speaker 4 (40:43):
No, my god, it's Ronny La, Roddie, Ronnie l got
a goal to take.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
We got a goal in the take. We won the game.
We got a golden take. Alright,
Host
Ben Maller
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