March 20, 2025 • 34 mins
Big Ben talks about free agent WR Stefon Diggs meeting with the New England Patriots, the record number of TV viewers for the Dodgers & Cubs Tokyo Series to kick off the MLB season, Maller to the Third Degree, #AskBen, 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 3 (00:42):
Hey you.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Dig it well, digs it if you will, welcome in
not beginning of another night of the Benmahlor Show. We
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hold a sting operation coast to coast, port of the
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(01:10):
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(01:30):
and over.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Ten thousand recommended in stars. I know not a burner.
He always sees those.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Number ten thousands eyeballs pop out of his head, not
a burner tire iraq dot com the Way tire buying.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Showb So our lead this hour is from a polarizing
figure in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's still NFL shopping season.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
We're a little over a month away from the draft
and some movement on the flea market of football that
I thought was interesting and I have editorial control.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
So maybe he saw it or heard about it, maybe not.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
But we've learned now that the controversial wide receiver by
the name of Stefon Diggs, who authored up the Minneapolis
Miracle and it's been downhill ever since then, back in
his Viking days. But Stefan Diggs, who was not retained
by the Houston football team. They didn't make any effort
to keep him. He's free to roam around the NFL.
(02:34):
And we are told that at this hour Stefan Diggs
has boots on the ground in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Commonwealth.
He is visiting with the new England football team that
used to win Super Bowls, but now they're known as
the Patsies if you will here and walby Patriots and Digs.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They haven't agreed to a contract.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
They're gonna have a little meet and greet there, maybe
some eggs, possibly some I don't know what else they're
going to be eating, but it is supposedly headed that direction.
Now keep in mind there was a story the other
day that Stefan Diggs was talking to the Raiders and
hadn't been too much too much noise about Stefan Diggs.
But part of the reason for that, and part of
(03:18):
the reason that Stefan Diggs is available and can be
yours if the price is not right. But the reason
he's in the New England area is because he's getting
poked and prodded medical exams. Because Stefon Diggs a knee
went shredded, shredded ligaments, acl boom goes to the dynamite
(03:42):
and so that he's out, and he's been out for
four months post operation and will be out much longer.
So let us discuss the question free agent wide receiver
Stefawn Diggs in Foxborough at this late hour to meet
with the Patriots. How do you assess this one? So
I've got cookbook, garage, opener, and kindergarten and we will
(04:07):
combine all of these things together and we are going to.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Make a bowl of cherries is what we're going to
make now.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Very rarely adding Stefan Diggs to your team is a
bowl of cherries, unless you happen to do a talk
radio show, and then Stefan Diggs is really good for business,
really really good for business. So my first thought on
this is that the plot thickens with New England being
involved here, and I would factor this part of the
(04:36):
story as a mixed messages story because if you remember,
let's go back in the hot up time machine, the
EBB and flow of the stories of the NFL off season, the.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Human drama of gas baggery and blowhards.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So the story the other day was that the Patriots
could have had Dk Metcalf, could have traded with Seattle.
Certainly we're interested. If they wanted DeVante Adams, they could
have gotten him. They chose not to sign those guys
because they're alpha wide receivers. They're alpha wide receivers, they're abrasive.
They would not mix well with Drake May, the neophyte
(05:16):
quarterback of the Patriots. So those guys are a glass
if you look at Dk Metcalf and DeVante Adams to
was side by side with Stefan Dicks, They're a glass
of fat free milk compared to a venomous cocktail for
the player that's visiting town and Sefon Diggs, the level
(05:38):
of toxicity is insane.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I still get a kick.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I flashed back to some of those those calls from
Andy the comic book guy, that Bill's Mafia guy, who
was trying to explain to me, oh no, there's nothing
Bill's love Stefan Dicks. They could not wait to get
rid of his ass. They should have gotten rid of me,
you're earlier. But Bill's Mafia or some of those guys
were completely hornswaggled by Stefan Diggs. But if you look
at his track record from Minnesota where he flamed out
(06:06):
there to Buffalo and then on to Houston, the one
common denominator in all of those locations is Stefan Diggs. Now,
in two of those locations, the team actually was better
off when Diggs left town, Minnesota better off, and also
Buffalo better off when Digs exitedge stage left. But and
(06:27):
for all the individual success, there's a former All pro
is at a bunch of thousand yard seasons. When you
look a little bit closer, a little bit close, you
ask the question, why does the player keep bouncing around?
Why does he bounce from side to side to side
to side. And then you look at the cookbook and
you're like, oh, why is there a cookbook here? But
(06:48):
you look at the cookbook and you see the ingredients
in the recipe and it's it's equal parts temperamental. You've
got a little mild content over there. You've got classic
mood swings, look at me, diva, activity in fighting, and
then dissension, all of those things and you put them
(07:10):
all on the pot and what you get is a
hot mess.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
You get a hot mess. And he was also a
terrible playoff performer in Buffalo, I mean he was bad.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So you put this all together and pretty much everywhere
he's been it's wash, rinse, and repeat. You're like going
at the laundromat there and you're doing the laundry now,
turning the page, but.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Not turning the page four. So why, since this is the.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Flavor of the day, why would the Patriots want a
bad actor like Stefan Diggs on their team? Knowing the
track record that Diggs is a volcano and you know
it's going to erupt.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You're not sure exactly when.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It might be in week four, it might be in
week eight, maybe it's twelve, maybe it's sixteen, maybe to
the playoffs. But at some point there'll be molten lava. Kaboom,
the volcano go. So there's an actual sound of the volcano.
But Robert Craft is shopping.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
That's the owner.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
He likes the orchids of Asia Day spat there in Florida.
But Robert Craft is shopping at the discount rack.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Forer Go. The player is priced to sell.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And I actually got an email from one of our
p ones there in the Boston area.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
Actually's out of the sticks. But he sent me said, Ben,
I know you're going to talk about Stefan Diggs of
the show. Make sure you mentioned the only reason they
want him is because he's gonna work cheap. And that's
definitely part of the stow. Stefan Diggs is at a
fork in the road, the old crossroads here.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
He's thirty two. Next season, he suffered the season ending
ACL injury. Played eight games with the Texans, and prior
to that injury in Week eight, Stefon Diggs forty seven catches.
He had about five hundred yards receiving in three touchdowns.
It wasn't amazing. It was okay, it wasn't amazing, But
(08:58):
there was also some underlying ten between the player and
the quarterback CJ.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Stroud. It was going down.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
A similar path to the issues that Josh Allen had
in Buffalo. So when you think diplomacy, you do not
think you do not think Stefon Diggs.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Nevertheless, the Patriots can give Stefon Diggs something that few
other NFL teams can give him, and that is the
garage opener that opens up the back room, which is
the wide receiver room.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So you just clicked the little clicker, They're in the.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Garage door opener, and he would immediately be at the
very top of the totem poll for wide receivers in Foxborough.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
That is one of the more depressing things.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You can look at the depth chart at wide receiver
for the Patriots who used to be good. I'm old
enough to remember when the Patriots used to be the
class of the NFL.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
They suck. They're back to being the Patriots when I
was a kid. The Patsy's Kayshawn Booty, Kendrick Bourne.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sounds like a James Bond character. De Mario Douglas doesn't
that sound like an old school taxi driver. Those are
the top wide receivers on the depth chart. So needless
to say, Stefan Diggs could walk in there or hop
in there on one leg.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And he'd be the.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Number one wide receiver in that wide receiver room for
the New England papers A right now, last word here,
So we quickly, we quickly go to Stefan diggs old
team in Houston, and the Texans made a roster move. Now,
normally we try to avoid talking about offensive linemen at
all costs. It's a futile act. But I thought this
(10:45):
was interesting. The coverage it got was rather bizarre to me.
So the Texan signed a left tackle by the name
of Cam Robinson who played in Jacksonville and Minnesota. He
finished up last year with Minnesota. Sounded a one year contract,
so it's a one year contract. And the coverage on
this was rather bizarre. I used the b word bizarre
(11:07):
he saw any of it or consumed any of it,
but really glowing stories about what a savvy move this
was for the Houston football team. So, free agent tackle
Cam Robinson landing with the Texans. Do you find that significant?
Is this significant that Cam Robinson is going to the Texans.
So it is significant in that it is a warm body.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Okay, it's a warm body.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
In an effort to plug a glaring hole that they
got Rial Laramy Tunzel. They thought he was getting too
old or was going to be too old soon. They
wanted to be proactive, not reactive, so they got Rial
Laramy Tunzel and he didn't have a great year last year,
so they traded him to the Commanders for a haul
of draft picks and Cam Robinson, his addition, is like
(11:55):
a kindergarten project. It's a scissors and pace job for
the offensive line. Because when I saw these shorts, the
reason I bring this up is because I thought maybe
my memory was going you know, I'm doing overnight radio
here and not sleeping that well, maybe my memory is
going away, because I very clearly remember Robinson playing in
(12:16):
Minnesota and being a turnstile.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
He was a matador oay ole olay ole.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
As he was trying to block defensive players, and so
it's like, what are we doing? And I went back
and I went through some of the numbers that are
that are out there, and Cam Robinson allowed the highest
one on one pressure rate among all offensive tackles in
the NFL last year once he got to the Twin Cities.
In fact, from the time he put on the Viking
(12:45):
uniform to the end of the year, he allowed seventeen percent.
One he got beat seventeen percent of the time. Said, well,
that's not that much. The league average nine point eight percent,
So he was eight point two percent.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Higher if my math is correct.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
According to the Nerd stats there that is a chicken product.
That is chicken fertilizer. That is chicken fertilizer is what
that is. So congratulations, you did sign a warm body
Houston Texans. You signed Cam Robinson. And occasionally maybe he'll
block someone. It's possible he'll block someone.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But even with.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
That, I still maintain my position that most sacks, most
not all, but most sacks are on the quarterback, not
the offensive line, although you can't have bad offensive linemen,
and that's certainly part of the equation.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
To our lead.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
This hour is from baseball. We are allowed to talk baseball.
The season is underway two games in and now they'll take.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
A week off before they play more real baseball.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
But our lead this hour is from Japan, the two
games soft launch of Baseball twenty twenty five as they
export export baseball to Japan. So I know of you
saw any this, it was perfect for us. We did
the show and then I get to listen to it
on the way home and then watched it a little
(14:21):
bit and that was good.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I enjoyed that, very convenient for my schedule.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So show Heotani hit a fan assistant home run. Didn't
look like a home run to me, but they called
it a home run. And you can't take a home
run away from Otani and Japan, there'd be an uprising.
So Tani hit home run, Dodgers Tommy Edmund hit one
Key k Hernandez, Dodgers beat the Cubs, and so they
(14:47):
win again, Dodgers two and OHO Cubs zho and two
Cubs on pace to go owing one hundred and sixty two.
Dodgers on pace to be the greatest team of all time.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
But it's all part of a more wider angle.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
ODO here the story within the story, but you look
at the wide angle on this so let's discuss the question.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
What is your tab now's over?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
What is your takeaway from the Dodgers and Cubs and
the Tokyo series which has been completed.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I've got.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Warner Brothers, Dinner Table and Santa's and we will combine
all of these things together and we're going to make
some neon orange nacho cheese. Is what We're gonna make,
delicious neon orange nacho cheese.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Now, I like.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Nachos at the ballpark. The problem you gotta eat them
pretty fast. You gotta be speed racer, because if you
don't even fast, they get all soggy and disgusting. And
it's a dance with a devil, is what it is
when you're trying to eat those soggy nachos. So anyway,
num burr, no, no.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
No, see it's number it's no no, it's number one.
Number one.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
There we go, all right, mission accomplished, Mission to comp that.
My first thought, which is number one, is mission accompany.
There it is again Major League Baseball. They went there
for one reason, and one reason only, to grow the brand.
That's why they gave opening day away, and in return,
(16:24):
they ended up laughing all the way to the Bank
Major League Baseball. Barn storming for bucks is what I
call it. They were milking the cow, the cash cow,
the Shoho Tani cash cow, and watching these two games
and listening to them, but watching them as well from
from Tokyo. It was like a Warner Brothers movie. It
(16:45):
was a remake of Ocean's eleven. It was like a
casino heist for Major League Baseball. Every game in Tokyo
was sold out, tickets going for thousands of dollars and
the highest ticket press was like twenty thousand dollars. I
don't know what kind of loser would take twenty thousand
dollars for that, but anyway, merchandise sales. There were people
lined up around the building it there were people lined up.
(17:09):
It reminded me the photos in the video I saw online.
It was like back during the pandemic when people were
lined up to buy toilet paper and water, very similar,
in an effort to move more product. Just to show
you that this was only about the marketing. It wasn't
about getting the Dodgers and Cubs over there to give
them good baseball and what about that? It was about
(17:31):
which fine, just to call it like it is. The
marketing weasels at Major League Baseball. These were two Cub
games home games. They were not doing. It wasn't one one.
I thought it was one to one. Dodgers gave up
a home game, Cubs gave up a home game. No,
the Cubs gave up two home games. Dodgers gave up
no home games. So the Dodgers were the road team
(17:52):
in both games. But yet if you saw a game two,
the Dodgers wore their home Dodgers Stadium white uniforms and
the Cubs or their road grace even.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Though they were the home team. Do you know why
they did that? You know, you do know what? Okay,
you do?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Well, maybe you don't. The players were display case mannequins.
Major League Baseball's marketing arm as I understand, it mandated
that the Dodgers had to wear their home uniforms in
one of the games because they wanted to sell to
the good people of Japan those two hundred and fifty
dollars Dodger jerseys, the white Otani jersey. They showed off
(18:30):
the gray one, but they wanted to sell the white
one as well. And all of this work the Tokyo
series shattered the viewership record.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
The numbers on this are insane to the membrane.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
In fact, the number that's been bragged about by Baseball
this is just for Game one. Twenty five million men,
women and children watch in Japan, the Tokyo game, Game one.
I wonder how many people watch in America. I bet
it wasn't many. I bet it wasn't many. I was watching,
But I'm pretty sure not a lot of people on
(19:11):
the East Coast at six.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
In the morning, or in Chicago at five in the morning.
Certainly in the.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
West Coast in LA at three in the morning are
going to change their whole body clock around to watch
a regular season baseball game. I'd love to I don't
have that number in front of me. I have to
look that up, the number, the rating in America.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
You know it wasn't good.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You know it wasn't good because Major League Baseball was
bragging about how many people were watching in Japan. They
weren't bragging about how many people were watching in America.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
They said it was.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
The largest audience for any American baseball game in Japan
since Game seven of the World Series, the team cheated
from Houston in twenty twenty seventeen. So to rephrase how
big a number that twenty five million is. That is
roughly twenty percent of the entire population of Japan was
(20:04):
watching the Dodgers and the Cubs. Okay, twenty percent of
the country was watching. That is why Major League Baseball
went there. Now, they can't go there next year because
they've got that fugazy World Baseball Classic.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
But they'll be back. I mean, I would not be
shocked if the Dodgers pretty much.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Every other year open up in Japan or pick your
country somewhere far far away in that part of the world.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Now, page two, so we flip the script.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
A little bit and we go to Anaheim, a very
depressing place not far from Fullerton, which is not depressing,
but Fullerton, Siberia with ferg Dog and Alf, the alien
of Pinter's Nemesis, and all the characters that live there.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So now let me explain why I'm going Anaheim.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I'm not going to Anaheim talking about good baseball, No,
because that's bad baseball. The Angels, that's a baseball team.
The Angels. They did something that got our attention. The Angels,
we are told, have mandated a new set of rules
for the clubhouse, and it's a new year, new rules.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
But there's one rule.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
That stands out more than all the others. The players
in twenty twenty five are not allowed to be on
their cell phones at their lockers.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
No bueno, no go.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
So Mike Trout, he came out and said that he
thinks it's worked really well so far. They haven't even
played a regular season game yet. So the Angels, let
me sum this up for you this way. The Angels
have instituted a new rule this season with the players
in the clubhouse. They are not allowed to be on
their cell phones at their locker. So what is the
(21:53):
core of this score story? What is the core of
this story? The Angels banning he's smartphone usage at the locker. So,
for me, the core of the story is Ron Washington. Yes,
Ron Washington, longtime baseball man, is the manager, and he
is from the Old Country. He's about to turn seventy
(22:16):
three years old. He made his Major League baseball debut
for the Dodgers in nineteen seventy seven. It's been a
minute so for him, he'd much rather read the Yellow
Pages than wikipedie. And he's old school, right, He's in
the Old Country. He wants face to face, not TikTok.
(22:36):
He wants face to face talk, not TikTok. So Ron Washington,
the manager in Anaheim, is looking to artificially cultivate team camaraderie.
Washington's a smart enough man to know the team blows.
It's a bad baseball team. They got crap bag players,
stiffs like well, Anthony Renault's not even playing this year,
but he's he's kind of on that and that team
(22:58):
olupset is he? I mean, all he does is sit
is a lot. You're not supposed to be on his phone.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
So anyway, he knows that you're not going to.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Win based on talent with the Angels, so you might
as well try to make up some ground there and
be a tight knit unit. But protecting the sanctity of
the clubhouse kind of like the dinner table. You got
to limit the brain rot and a lot of families
have rules no smartphone at the dinner table.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
You band the cell phone, and.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
You're supposed to improve those connections at bond right, you
reclaim time and this digital agent. So Ron Washington is figuring, hey,
and we're not gonna win games because on talent, because
we're not very good the angels, So you know, why not,
we might as well just be friendly with each other
and interact with each other and there'll be some kind
of weird bond. Now I am skeptical. I am skeptical
(23:48):
that this is going to work.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And here's why.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I would estimate that most people consume dinner anywhere from
thirty to sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That's the normal time to have a meal.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I would say it's closer to thirty than sixty,
I would hope, depending on how much you just keep talking.
But most of the time it's a thirty to sixty
minute experience when you have dinner.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Am I correct on that when you have dinners it
thirty probably is right.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
You're with other people, with your friends and your family whatever,
thirty sixty minutes. Major League Baseball players are in the
clubhouse now. Normally the home team gets there around two
o'clock in the afternoon for a night game, and they're
there all the way up off and on off and
on games about two and a half hours.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Now. There's some batting practice.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
But they're in their locker area for about half the time.
I would say, so from two o'clock till ten o'clock
half the time they're there.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So here's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I want to take out a little yell at yellow
posted note.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
All right, I'm going to make Ron Washington happy. Otherwise
i'd tell you to.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Just put a note on your phone because Ron's antiphone,
the Angels manager.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
So take out a yellow posted note. Let's file this
one away.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Let's check back on the posted note on June first,
when the Angels are ten to fourteen games back in
the American League West, which is gonna be hard to do.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
It's gonna be hard to be that far back.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
In the American League West because the cheating a holes
who we're gonna get to in a minute, they're not
as good. Seattle always finds a way to f things up.
And then you've got the Sacramento as that have Sacramento dysmorphia.
They're so embarrassed by being in Sacramento they don't want
to admit they're in Sacramento, even though there is a
halfway house.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Before they get to Vegas. So it's a fugazy situation there,
all right. So it's hard, it's.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Hard for that to really fall that far behind because
the division sucks so much, but methinks it will backfire.
All right, final point, Well we just mentioned it.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Let's go to Houston, the den of iniquity, where their.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Manager Joah Spata confirming that longtime infielder and convicted cheater
Jose al boovey Jose Alboo. So this dope is going
to open the season as the cheating as one one
thousand and two, one thousand and three, one thousand.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Holes primary left fielder. Now this comes.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
As Altuve back to back spring training games dropped routine
little league style flyballs, little league style flyballs, drop skis
back to back days in spring training he dropped fly balls,
routine flyballs with runner on third base less than two
(26:42):
outs and al tuove was anticipating the play that he
had to catch the ball, had to secure the catch
and throw the ball to home plate, and he failed
to secure the catch. Now Altuve convicted with blood on
his hands, blood on his hands, and a buzz are
under his uniform. Allegedly he has made all all of
(27:05):
his defensive starts seventeen and forty nine across fourteen dirty
major league baseball seasons at second base.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
But not anymore, not anymore.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Altube was last season, the second worst defensive second baseman
in baseball last year, and so Jose Altube. He has
been absolutely terrible this spring in the outfield. However, the
Astros say they are going to use Altuve Albouve as
(27:36):
their primary left.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Fielder this season. Do you feel bad for al Tube?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
So absolutely not. Did you expect me to say yes,
You must be new to the show. You've got to
be new to these parts. If you expected me to
say yes, Altube is forever on Santa's naughty list, and
I am enjoying shotenfreude. I'm enjoying shotenfreude since Major League
Baseball didn't have the balls to punish Altuve.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
In fact, they protected him. I love the fact that this.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Cheating fraud Altuve is embarrassing himself on his way out
of baseball, that he's been demoted. He has been demoted.
Don't let a falling star fall on you. It is
the little league walker shame. It is the little league
walker shame. You put your crappiest player out in left field.
(28:30):
Get out there in left field. Altuve is covered.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
With the cooties. He's got the cooties.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You hate to see it unless you love to see it,
and then you're not that upset about it. All Right,
I need a sizzle reel of Altuve dropping balls in
the outfield.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That's what I need, and I'm gonna get it. I'm
gonna get it.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
But the scouting report when you play the cheating Astros
will be to hit the ball in the left field,
make Albouve, make a play, make out booby, makeup plate.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We oh, here we go, Here we go, Here we go,
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Here we maller?
Speaker 3 (29:10):
How about that to the third degree? This is one
big bet. Gets grilled Kololo.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
George Pickens took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a
picture of himself standing on the field with Tom Brady,
and it's got people speculating that Pickens is hinting at
wanting to play for the Raiders. Ben, is this picture
a big deal, a little deal or no deal?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So's it's a little deal. It just tells you that
George Pickens needed attention. He's an attention whore and he
wanted people to talk about George Pixon. Pickens so he
set out a vague photo, so we all took debate. No,
I mean, he can't leave until next year.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
So he's just trying to get attention.
Speaker 6 (29:48):
Next, Draymond Green has now joined a growing contingent of
NBA fans in writers that think that Nikolay Jokic and
Shay Gilgets Alexander should be co MVPs. Ben, do you
see any chance of that actually happening?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Well, that's disrespect to Shade Yogis Alexander Yogas.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Alexander's your MVP. The former Clippers going to win.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
The award, and there's voter fatigue for Jokic and all that.
Sga is your MVP, So stop with the Jokic stuff.
Nice performance by Yokic against your Lakers, by the way,
in that game last night.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
Next on Monday, the Timberwolves play by play announcer got
sent held during the broadcast when he said Jami Bickerstaff
had been fined one hundred thousand dollars by the NBA.
But have you ever been fooled into talking about a
fake report in the air?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
I have come close, but I have never actually done it.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
The one thing that I have done, no one's perfect
I did talk about his story as a news story
that was like ten years old, but I didn't check
the date on it. Somebody sent it to me and
I didn't check the date, which was embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But I've never done that. How did we do?
Speaker 6 (30:46):
He passed?
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Yeah, I have worked with people that have been senteled,
though embarrassing.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to listen live.
It's now time for honey, Honey.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Twitter.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Send us your questions on Twitter now and it is
asked Ben.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Your questions are answers for the rest of the hour.
These are actual questions by actual listeners that use the
hashtag ask Man. It's all made possible by Rocket. Rocket
is giving every home one address. Rocket dot com, a single,
seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance,
(31:37):
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Speaker 6 (31:46):
Cool All right?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Ferg Dog would like to know, Hi, Fergie, have you
ever called a sex hotline?
Speaker 3 (31:57):
No, I'm much too cheap for that. No, I have not.
I assume Mary you want to answer that. May have
you made a phone call married to any hotlines?
Speaker 6 (32:06):
M h Actually, oh oh, I feel like I did
when I was a little.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Really oh man, that's not good because I think I
just saw it on TV.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
And I never like, I didn't know what it was,
what it was.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
You just wanted someone to talk to. I understand.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yes, I was like like eight, yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
I hear you, all right, Cooper back in the day.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Uh No, by the time, like I would have had,
you know, any like it just it was available, you know,
on the internet.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Big stud Yeah. No.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
But you know what I used to do though, I
used to call those those guys that did those sleazy
infomercials on the weekend sports radio shows.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Free Pick of the Day, right, yeah, And you had
to listen.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
You had to listen to like a ten minute commercial
and at the very end they're like, oh take you
NL lay the points and then it was always wrong
the pick, and then they call you.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
They keep calling. It was so I hated it.
Speaker 6 (32:58):
So the one time I did call this hotline was
when I was in the early days of me working here.
Somebody called up and said, hey, did you know if
you dial just this number instead of that number, that
it goes to a sex hotline?
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Yeah, yeah yeah, And I was like, what I remember that? Yeah,
the Fox Sports radio number. If you're if you're one
number off, you'll be very surprised what you hear.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Right Next, All right, this question is from Rob in
the three two one.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Hi.
Speaker 6 (33:25):
Rob wants to know Ben. Have you ever solved the
Rubik's Cube? Uh?
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Yeah, but I mean not faster. We used to futs
around with that when we were kids, and I did.
I don't think I could do it again. And it
took me probably about three weeks to get it solved,
So it doesn't really count every night I fights around
with it.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
Next, Gunner would like to know where everybody went to college.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Saddleback College, the Harvard of the West Coast, a wonderful
school produced Mark Grace to the Chicago Cobbs and Anthony
Carter the Miami Heat back in the day.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
And how about you Mary Mack.
Speaker 6 (34:02):
I went to Los Angeles Film.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Ooh, yees too, Hollywood? All righty for Hollywood?
Speaker 1 (34:08):
How about you Cooperloo, cal State Northridge, The Matador's all right,
what's next. Let's ask Ben. Your questions are answers for
the rest of the hour.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Donkey Sausage wants to know. Do you sing in the shower?
Speaker 3 (34:20):
No? I do not. I try to get out of
there as quickly as I can, marry. Do you sing
in the shower? Yes? All right, Coop, Yes, okay. Next.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
Alf alien is soup a meal.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Only if it's like Manza ball or French onion or lentil.
But like, if it's just broth, it's not a meal,
Mary Mac quick, guy, Coop.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
It can be, it can't be.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
It's got to be a thick soup though, Like Dad,
what's that Italian soup?
Speaker 3 (34:46):
That meatball soup? That's pretty good
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 Benmatlers 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 3 (00:42):
Hey you.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Dig it well, digs it if you will, welcome in
not beginning of another night of the Benmahlor Show. We
are in the air everywhere, cheek to cheek as we
hold a sting operation coast to coast, port of the
voter and to beyond on the vast and unmeasurably powerful
(01:10):
microphones of fsre amminating live from the Fiesta. We're doing
it live, a faceoff fiesta. We're broadcasting live from tirack
dot com studios. Tirack dot com will help you get
there in unmatched selection, fast free shipping, free road hazard protection,
(01:30):
and over.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Ten thousand recommended in stars. I know not a burner.
He always sees those.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Number ten thousands eyeballs pop out of his head, not
a burner tire iraq dot com the Way tire buying.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Showb So our lead this hour is from a polarizing
figure in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
It's still NFL shopping season.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
We're a little over a month away from the draft
and some movement on the flea market of football that
I thought was interesting and I have editorial control.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
So maybe he saw it or heard about it, maybe not.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
But we've learned now that the controversial wide receiver by
the name of Stefon Diggs, who authored up the Minneapolis
Miracle and it's been downhill ever since then, back in
his Viking days. But Stefan Diggs, who was not retained
by the Houston football team. They didn't make any effort
to keep him. He's free to roam around the NFL.
(02:34):
And we are told that at this hour Stefan Diggs
has boots on the ground in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the Commonwealth.
He is visiting with the new England football team that
used to win Super Bowls, but now they're known as
the Patsies if you will here and walby Patriots and Digs.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
They haven't agreed to a contract.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
They're gonna have a little meet and greet there, maybe
some eggs, possibly some I don't know what else they're
going to be eating, but it is supposedly headed that direction.
Now keep in mind there was a story the other
day that Stefan Diggs was talking to the Raiders and
hadn't been too much too much noise about Stefan Diggs.
But part of the reason for that, and part of
(03:18):
the reason that Stefan Diggs is available and can be
yours if the price is not right. But the reason
he's in the New England area is because he's getting
poked and prodded medical exams. Because Stefon Diggs a knee
went shredded, shredded ligaments, acl boom goes to the dynamite
(03:42):
and so that he's out, and he's been out for
four months post operation and will be out much longer.
So let us discuss the question free agent wide receiver
Stefawn Diggs in Foxborough at this late hour to meet
with the Patriots. How do you assess this one? So
I've got cookbook, garage, opener, and kindergarten and we will
(04:07):
combine all of these things together and we are going to.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Make a bowl of cherries is what we're going to
make now.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Very rarely adding Stefan Diggs to your team is a
bowl of cherries, unless you happen to do a talk
radio show, and then Stefan Diggs is really good for business,
really really good for business. So my first thought on
this is that the plot thickens with New England being
involved here, and I would factor this part of the
(04:36):
story as a mixed messages story because if you remember,
let's go back in the hot up time machine, the
EBB and flow of the stories of the NFL off season, the.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Human drama of gas baggery and blowhards.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
So the story the other day was that the Patriots
could have had Dk Metcalf, could have traded with Seattle.
Certainly we're interested. If they wanted DeVante Adams, they could
have gotten him. They chose not to sign those guys
because they're alpha wide receivers. They're alpha wide receivers, they're abrasive.
They would not mix well with Drake May, the neophyte
(05:16):
quarterback of the Patriots. So those guys are a glass
if you look at Dk Metcalf and DeVante Adams to
was side by side with Stefan Dicks, They're a glass
of fat free milk compared to a venomous cocktail for
the player that's visiting town and Sefon Diggs, the level
(05:38):
of toxicity is insane.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I still get a kick.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I flashed back to some of those those calls from
Andy the comic book guy, that Bill's Mafia guy, who
was trying to explain to me, oh no, there's nothing
Bill's love Stefan Dicks. They could not wait to get
rid of his ass. They should have gotten rid of me,
you're earlier. But Bill's Mafia or some of those guys
were completely hornswaggled by Stefan Diggs. But if you look
at his track record from Minnesota where he flamed out
(06:06):
there to Buffalo and then on to Houston, the one
common denominator in all of those locations is Stefan Diggs. Now,
in two of those locations, the team actually was better
off when Diggs left town, Minnesota better off, and also
Buffalo better off when Digs exitedge stage left. But and
(06:27):
for all the individual success, there's a former All pro
is at a bunch of thousand yard seasons. When you
look a little bit closer, a little bit close, you
ask the question, why does the player keep bouncing around?
Why does he bounce from side to side to side
to side. And then you look at the cookbook and
you're like, oh, why is there a cookbook here? But
(06:48):
you look at the cookbook and you see the ingredients
in the recipe and it's it's equal parts temperamental. You've
got a little mild content over there. You've got classic
mood swings, look at me, diva, activity in fighting, and
then dissension, all of those things and you put them
(07:10):
all on the pot and what you get is a
hot mess.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
You get a hot mess. And he was also a
terrible playoff performer in Buffalo, I mean he was bad.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So you put this all together and pretty much everywhere
he's been it's wash, rinse, and repeat. You're like going
at the laundromat there and you're doing the laundry now,
turning the page, but.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Not turning the page four. So why, since this is the.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Flavor of the day, why would the Patriots want a
bad actor like Stefan Diggs on their team? Knowing the
track record that Diggs is a volcano and you know
it's going to erupt.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
You're not sure exactly when.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It might be in week four, it might be in
week eight, maybe it's twelve, maybe it's sixteen, maybe to
the playoffs. But at some point there'll be molten lava. Kaboom,
the volcano go. So there's an actual sound of the volcano.
But Robert Craft is shopping.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
That's the owner.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
He likes the orchids of Asia Day spat there in Florida.
But Robert Craft is shopping at the discount rack.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Forer Go. The player is priced to sell.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
And I actually got an email from one of our
p ones there in the Boston area.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
Actually's out of the sticks. But he sent me said, Ben,
I know you're going to talk about Stefan Diggs of
the show. Make sure you mentioned the only reason they
want him is because he's gonna work cheap. And that's
definitely part of the stow. Stefan Diggs is at a
fork in the road, the old crossroads here.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
He's thirty two. Next season, he suffered the season ending
ACL injury. Played eight games with the Texans, and prior
to that injury in Week eight, Stefon Diggs forty seven catches.
He had about five hundred yards receiving in three touchdowns.
It wasn't amazing. It was okay, it wasn't amazing, But
(08:58):
there was also some underlying ten between the player and
the quarterback CJ.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Stroud. It was going down.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
A similar path to the issues that Josh Allen had
in Buffalo. So when you think diplomacy, you do not
think you do not think Stefon Diggs.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Nevertheless, the Patriots can give Stefon Diggs something that few
other NFL teams can give him, and that is the
garage opener that opens up the back room, which is
the wide receiver room.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
So you just clicked the little clicker, They're in the.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Garage door opener, and he would immediately be at the
very top of the totem poll for wide receivers in Foxborough.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
That is one of the more depressing things.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You can look at the depth chart at wide receiver
for the Patriots who used to be good. I'm old
enough to remember when the Patriots used to be the
class of the NFL.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
They suck. They're back to being the Patriots when I
was a kid. The Patsy's Kayshawn Booty, Kendrick Bourne.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Sounds like a James Bond character. De Mario Douglas doesn't
that sound like an old school taxi driver. Those are
the top wide receivers on the depth chart. So needless
to say, Stefan Diggs could walk in there or hop
in there on one leg.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
And he'd be the.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Number one wide receiver in that wide receiver room for
the New England papers A right now, last word here,
So we quickly, we quickly go to Stefan diggs old
team in Houston, and the Texans made a roster move. Now,
normally we try to avoid talking about offensive linemen at
all costs. It's a futile act. But I thought this
(10:45):
was interesting. The coverage it got was rather bizarre to me.
So the Texan signed a left tackle by the name
of Cam Robinson who played in Jacksonville and Minnesota. He
finished up last year with Minnesota. Sounded a one year contract,
so it's a one year contract. And the coverage on
this was rather bizarre. I used the b word bizarre
(11:07):
he saw any of it or consumed any of it,
but really glowing stories about what a savvy move this
was for the Houston football team. So, free agent tackle
Cam Robinson landing with the Texans. Do you find that significant?
Is this significant that Cam Robinson is going to the Texans.
So it is significant in that it is a warm body.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Okay, it's a warm body.
Speaker 1 (11:31):
In an effort to plug a glaring hole that they
got Rial Laramy Tunzel. They thought he was getting too
old or was going to be too old soon. They
wanted to be proactive, not reactive, so they got Rial
Laramy Tunzel and he didn't have a great year last year,
so they traded him to the Commanders for a haul
of draft picks and Cam Robinson, his addition, is like
(11:55):
a kindergarten project. It's a scissors and pace job for
the offensive line. Because when I saw these shorts, the
reason I bring this up is because I thought maybe
my memory was going you know, I'm doing overnight radio
here and not sleeping that well, maybe my memory is
going away, because I very clearly remember Robinson playing in
(12:16):
Minnesota and being a turnstile.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
He was a matador oay ole olay ole.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
As he was trying to block defensive players, and so
it's like, what are we doing? And I went back
and I went through some of the numbers that are
that are out there, and Cam Robinson allowed the highest
one on one pressure rate among all offensive tackles in
the NFL last year once he got to the Twin Cities.
In fact, from the time he put on the Viking
(12:45):
uniform to the end of the year, he allowed seventeen percent.
One he got beat seventeen percent of the time. Said, well,
that's not that much. The league average nine point eight percent,
So he was eight point two percent.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Higher if my math is correct.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
According to the Nerd stats there that is a chicken product.
That is chicken fertilizer. That is chicken fertilizer is what
that is. So congratulations, you did sign a warm body
Houston Texans. You signed Cam Robinson. And occasionally maybe he'll
block someone. It's possible he'll block someone.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
But even with.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
That, I still maintain my position that most sacks, most
not all, but most sacks are on the quarterback, not
the offensive line, although you can't have bad offensive linemen,
and that's certainly part of the equation.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
To our lead.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
This hour is from baseball. We are allowed to talk baseball.
The season is underway two games in and now they'll take.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
A week off before they play more real baseball.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
But our lead this hour is from Japan, the two
games soft launch of Baseball twenty twenty five as they
export export baseball to Japan. So I know of you
saw any this, it was perfect for us. We did
the show and then I get to listen to it
on the way home and then watched it a little
(14:21):
bit and that was good.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I enjoyed that, very convenient for my schedule.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So show Heotani hit a fan assistant home run. Didn't
look like a home run to me, but they called
it a home run. And you can't take a home
run away from Otani and Japan, there'd be an uprising.
So Tani hit home run, Dodgers Tommy Edmund hit one
Key k Hernandez, Dodgers beat the Cubs, and so they
(14:47):
win again, Dodgers two and OHO Cubs zho and two
Cubs on pace to go owing one hundred and sixty two.
Dodgers on pace to be the greatest team of all time.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
But it's all part of a more wider angle.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
ODO here the story within the story, but you look
at the wide angle on this so let's discuss the question.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
What is your tab now's over?
Speaker 1 (15:09):
What is your takeaway from the Dodgers and Cubs and
the Tokyo series which has been completed.
Speaker 3 (15:16):
So I've got.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Warner Brothers, Dinner Table and Santa's and we will combine
all of these things together and we're going to make
some neon orange nacho cheese. Is what We're gonna make,
delicious neon orange nacho cheese.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Now, I like.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
Nachos at the ballpark. The problem you gotta eat them
pretty fast. You gotta be speed racer, because if you
don't even fast, they get all soggy and disgusting. And
it's a dance with a devil, is what it is
when you're trying to eat those soggy nachos. So anyway,
num burr, no, no.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
No, see it's number it's no no, it's number one.
Number one.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
There we go, all right, mission accomplished, Mission to comp that.
My first thought, which is number one, is mission accompany.
There it is again Major League Baseball. They went there
for one reason, and one reason only, to grow the brand.
That's why they gave opening day away, and in return,
(16:24):
they ended up laughing all the way to the Bank
Major League Baseball. Barn storming for bucks is what I
call it. They were milking the cow, the cash cow,
the Shoho Tani cash cow, and watching these two games
and listening to them, but watching them as well from
from Tokyo. It was like a Warner Brothers movie. It
(16:45):
was a remake of Ocean's eleven. It was like a
casino heist for Major League Baseball. Every game in Tokyo
was sold out, tickets going for thousands of dollars and
the highest ticket press was like twenty thousand dollars. I
don't know what kind of loser would take twenty thousand
dollars for that, but anyway, merchandise sales. There were people
lined up around the building it there were people lined up.
(17:09):
It reminded me the photos in the video I saw online.
It was like back during the pandemic when people were
lined up to buy toilet paper and water, very similar,
in an effort to move more product. Just to show
you that this was only about the marketing. It wasn't
about getting the Dodgers and Cubs over there to give
them good baseball and what about that? It was about
(17:31):
which fine, just to call it like it is. The
marketing weasels at Major League Baseball. These were two Cub
games home games. They were not doing. It wasn't one one.
I thought it was one to one. Dodgers gave up
a home game, Cubs gave up a home game. No,
the Cubs gave up two home games. Dodgers gave up
no home games. So the Dodgers were the road team
(17:52):
in both games. But yet if you saw a game two,
the Dodgers wore their home Dodgers Stadium white uniforms and
the Cubs or their road grace even.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
Though they were the home team. Do you know why
they did that? You know, you do know what? Okay,
you do?
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Well, maybe you don't. The players were display case mannequins.
Major League Baseball's marketing arm as I understand, it mandated
that the Dodgers had to wear their home uniforms in
one of the games because they wanted to sell to
the good people of Japan those two hundred and fifty
dollars Dodger jerseys, the white Otani jersey. They showed off
(18:30):
the gray one, but they wanted to sell the white
one as well. And all of this work the Tokyo
series shattered the viewership record.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
The numbers on this are insane to the membrane.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
In fact, the number that's been bragged about by Baseball
this is just for Game one. Twenty five million men,
women and children watch in Japan, the Tokyo game, Game one.
I wonder how many people watch in America. I bet
it wasn't many. I bet it wasn't many. I was watching,
But I'm pretty sure not a lot of people on
(19:11):
the East Coast at six.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
In the morning, or in Chicago at five in the morning.
Certainly in the.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
West Coast in LA at three in the morning are
going to change their whole body clock around to watch
a regular season baseball game. I'd love to I don't
have that number in front of me. I have to
look that up, the number, the rating in America.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
You know it wasn't good.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
You know it wasn't good because Major League Baseball was
bragging about how many people were watching in Japan. They
weren't bragging about how many people were watching in America.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
They said it was.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
The largest audience for any American baseball game in Japan
since Game seven of the World Series, the team cheated
from Houston in twenty twenty seventeen. So to rephrase how
big a number that twenty five million is. That is
roughly twenty percent of the entire population of Japan was
(20:04):
watching the Dodgers and the Cubs. Okay, twenty percent of
the country was watching. That is why Major League Baseball
went there. Now, they can't go there next year because
they've got that fugazy World Baseball Classic.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
But they'll be back. I mean, I would not be
shocked if the Dodgers pretty much.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Every other year open up in Japan or pick your
country somewhere far far away in that part of the world.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Now, page two, so we flip the script.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
A little bit and we go to Anaheim, a very
depressing place not far from Fullerton, which is not depressing,
but Fullerton, Siberia with ferg Dog and Alf, the alien
of Pinter's Nemesis, and all the characters that live there.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
So now let me explain why I'm going Anaheim.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I'm not going to Anaheim talking about good baseball, No,
because that's bad baseball. The Angels, that's a baseball team.
The Angels. They did something that got our attention. The Angels,
we are told, have mandated a new set of rules
for the clubhouse, and it's a new year, new rules.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
But there's one rule.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
That stands out more than all the others. The players
in twenty twenty five are not allowed to be on
their cell phones at their lockers.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
No bueno, no go.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
So Mike Trout, he came out and said that he
thinks it's worked really well so far. They haven't even
played a regular season game yet. So the Angels, let
me sum this up for you this way. The Angels
have instituted a new rule this season with the players
in the clubhouse. They are not allowed to be on
their cell phones at their locker. So what is the
(21:53):
core of this score story? What is the core of
this story? The Angels banning he's smartphone usage at the locker. So,
for me, the core of the story is Ron Washington. Yes,
Ron Washington, longtime baseball man, is the manager, and he
is from the Old Country. He's about to turn seventy
(22:16):
three years old. He made his Major League baseball debut
for the Dodgers in nineteen seventy seven. It's been a
minute so for him, he'd much rather read the Yellow
Pages than wikipedie. And he's old school, right, He's in
the Old Country. He wants face to face, not TikTok.
(22:36):
He wants face to face talk, not TikTok. So Ron Washington,
the manager in Anaheim, is looking to artificially cultivate team camaraderie.
Washington's a smart enough man to know the team blows.
It's a bad baseball team. They got crap bag players,
stiffs like well, Anthony Renault's not even playing this year,
but he's he's kind of on that and that team
(22:58):
olupset is he? I mean, all he does is sit
is a lot. You're not supposed to be on his phone.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
So anyway, he knows that you're not going to.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Win based on talent with the Angels, so you might
as well try to make up some ground there and
be a tight knit unit. But protecting the sanctity of
the clubhouse kind of like the dinner table. You got
to limit the brain rot and a lot of families
have rules no smartphone at the dinner table.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
You band the cell phone, and.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
You're supposed to improve those connections at bond right, you
reclaim time and this digital agent. So Ron Washington is figuring, hey,
and we're not gonna win games because on talent, because
we're not very good the angels, So you know, why not,
we might as well just be friendly with each other
and interact with each other and there'll be some kind
of weird bond. Now I am skeptical. I am skeptical
(23:48):
that this is going to work.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And here's why.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
I would estimate that most people consume dinner anywhere from
thirty to sixty minutes.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
That's the normal time to have a meal.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And I would say it's closer to thirty than sixty,
I would hope, depending on how much you just keep talking.
But most of the time it's a thirty to sixty
minute experience when you have dinner.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
Am I correct on that when you have dinners it
thirty probably is right.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
You're with other people, with your friends and your family whatever,
thirty sixty minutes. Major League Baseball players are in the
clubhouse now. Normally the home team gets there around two
o'clock in the afternoon for a night game, and they're
there all the way up off and on off and
on games about two and a half hours.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Now. There's some batting practice.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
But they're in their locker area for about half the time.
I would say, so from two o'clock till ten o'clock
half the time they're there.
Speaker 3 (24:48):
So here's what I want to do.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
I want to take out a little yell at yellow
posted note.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
All right, I'm going to make Ron Washington happy. Otherwise
i'd tell you to.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
Just put a note on your phone because Ron's antiphone,
the Angels manager.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
So take out a yellow posted note. Let's file this
one away.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Let's check back on the posted note on June first,
when the Angels are ten to fourteen games back in
the American League West, which is gonna be hard to do.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
It's gonna be hard to be that far back.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
In the American League West because the cheating a holes
who we're gonna get to in a minute, they're not
as good. Seattle always finds a way to f things up.
And then you've got the Sacramento as that have Sacramento dysmorphia.
They're so embarrassed by being in Sacramento they don't want
to admit they're in Sacramento, even though there is a
halfway house.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
Before they get to Vegas. So it's a fugazy situation there,
all right. So it's hard, it's.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Hard for that to really fall that far behind because
the division sucks so much, but methinks it will backfire.
All right, final point, Well we just mentioned it.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Let's go to Houston, the den of iniquity, where their.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Manager Joah Spata confirming that longtime infielder and convicted cheater
Jose al boovey Jose Alboo. So this dope is going
to open the season as the cheating as one one
thousand and two, one thousand and three, one thousand.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
Holes primary left fielder. Now this comes.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
As Altuve back to back spring training games dropped routine
little league style flyballs, little league style flyballs, drop skis
back to back days in spring training he dropped fly balls,
routine flyballs with runner on third base less than two
(26:42):
outs and al tuove was anticipating the play that he
had to catch the ball, had to secure the catch
and throw the ball to home plate, and he failed
to secure the catch. Now Altuve convicted with blood on
his hands, blood on his hands, and a buzz are
under his uniform. Allegedly he has made all all of
(27:05):
his defensive starts seventeen and forty nine across fourteen dirty
major league baseball seasons at second base.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
But not anymore, not anymore.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Altube was last season, the second worst defensive second baseman
in baseball last year, and so Jose Altube. He has
been absolutely terrible this spring in the outfield. However, the
Astros say they are going to use Altuve Albouve as
(27:36):
their primary left.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Fielder this season. Do you feel bad for al Tube?
Speaker 1 (27:43):
So absolutely not. Did you expect me to say yes,
You must be new to the show. You've got to
be new to these parts. If you expected me to
say yes, Altube is forever on Santa's naughty list, and
I am enjoying shotenfreude. I'm enjoying shotenfreude since Major League
Baseball didn't have the balls to punish Altuve.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
In fact, they protected him. I love the fact that this.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
Cheating fraud Altuve is embarrassing himself on his way out
of baseball, that he's been demoted. He has been demoted.
Don't let a falling star fall on you. It is
the little league walker shame. It is the little league
walker shame. You put your crappiest player out in left field.
(28:30):
Get out there in left field. Altuve is covered.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
With the cooties. He's got the cooties.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
You hate to see it unless you love to see it,
and then you're not that upset about it. All Right,
I need a sizzle reel of Altuve dropping balls in
the outfield.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That's what I need, and I'm gonna get it. I'm
gonna get it.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
But the scouting report when you play the cheating Astros
will be to hit the ball in the left field,
make Albouve, make a play, make out booby, makeup plate.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maler
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We oh, here we go, Here we go, Here we go,
Here we go.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
Here we maller?
Speaker 3 (29:10):
How about that to the third degree? This is one
big bet. Gets grilled Kololo.
Speaker 6 (29:18):
George Pickens took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a
picture of himself standing on the field with Tom Brady,
and it's got people speculating that Pickens is hinting at
wanting to play for the Raiders. Ben, is this picture
a big deal, a little deal or no deal?
Speaker 1 (29:31):
So's it's a little deal. It just tells you that
George Pickens needed attention. He's an attention whore and he
wanted people to talk about George Pixon. Pickens so he
set out a vague photo, so we all took debate. No,
I mean, he can't leave until next year.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
So he's just trying to get attention.
Speaker 6 (29:48):
Next, Draymond Green has now joined a growing contingent of
NBA fans in writers that think that Nikolay Jokic and
Shay Gilgets Alexander should be co MVPs. Ben, do you
see any chance of that actually happening?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Well, that's disrespect to Shade Yogis Alexander Yogas.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
Alexander's your MVP. The former Clippers going to win.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
The award, and there's voter fatigue for Jokic and all that.
Sga is your MVP, So stop with the Jokic stuff.
Nice performance by Yokic against your Lakers, by the way,
in that game last night.
Speaker 6 (30:19):
Next on Monday, the Timberwolves play by play announcer got
sent held during the broadcast when he said Jami Bickerstaff
had been fined one hundred thousand dollars by the NBA.
But have you ever been fooled into talking about a
fake report in the air?
Speaker 3 (30:31):
I have come close, but I have never actually done it.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
The one thing that I have done, no one's perfect
I did talk about his story as a news story
that was like ten years old, but I didn't check
the date on it. Somebody sent it to me and
I didn't check the date, which was embarrassing.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
But I've never done that. How did we do?
Speaker 6 (30:46):
He passed?
Speaker 1 (30:47):
Yeah, I have worked with people that have been senteled,
though embarrassing.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to listen live.
It's now time for honey, Honey.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Twitter.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Send us your questions on Twitter now and it is
asked Ben.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Your questions are answers for the rest of the hour.
These are actual questions by actual listeners that use the
hashtag ask Man. It's all made possible by Rocket. Rocket
is giving every home one address. Rocket dot com, a single,
seamless home ownership platform to help you find, buy, sell, finance,
(31:37):
even refinance your home. Everything you need, all under one roof.
Visit rocket dot com, the new home for all things
home ownership, Rocket Own the dream.
Speaker 6 (31:46):
Cool All right?
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Uh?
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Ferg Dog would like to know, Hi, Fergie, have you
ever called a sex hotline?
Speaker 3 (31:57):
No, I'm much too cheap for that. No, I have not.
I assume Mary you want to answer that. May have
you made a phone call married to any hotlines?
Speaker 6 (32:06):
M h Actually, oh oh, I feel like I did
when I was a little.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Really oh man, that's not good because I think I
just saw it on TV.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
And I never like, I didn't know what it was,
what it was.
Speaker 3 (32:18):
You just wanted someone to talk to. I understand.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yes, I was like like eight, yeah, I hear you.
Speaker 3 (32:24):
I hear you, all right, Cooper back in the day.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Uh No, by the time, like I would have had,
you know, any like it just it was available, you know,
on the internet.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Big stud Yeah. No.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
But you know what I used to do though, I
used to call those those guys that did those sleazy
infomercials on the weekend sports radio shows.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Free Pick of the Day, right, yeah, And you had
to listen.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
You had to listen to like a ten minute commercial
and at the very end they're like, oh take you
NL lay the points and then it was always wrong
the pick, and then they call you.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
They keep calling. It was so I hated it.
Speaker 6 (32:58):
So the one time I did call this hotline was
when I was in the early days of me working here.
Somebody called up and said, hey, did you know if
you dial just this number instead of that number, that
it goes to a sex hotline?
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Yeah, yeah yeah, And I was like, what I remember that? Yeah,
the Fox Sports radio number. If you're if you're one
number off, you'll be very surprised what you hear.
Speaker 6 (33:18):
Right Next, All right, this question is from Rob in
the three two one.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
Hi.
Speaker 6 (33:25):
Rob wants to know Ben. Have you ever solved the
Rubik's Cube? Uh?
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Yeah, but I mean not faster. We used to futs
around with that when we were kids, and I did.
I don't think I could do it again. And it
took me probably about three weeks to get it solved,
So it doesn't really count every night I fights around
with it.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
Next, Gunner would like to know where everybody went to college.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Saddleback College, the Harvard of the West Coast, a wonderful
school produced Mark Grace to the Chicago Cobbs and Anthony
Carter the Miami Heat back in the day.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
And how about you Mary Mack.
Speaker 6 (34:02):
I went to Los Angeles Film.
Speaker 3 (34:04):
Ooh, yees too, Hollywood? All righty for Hollywood?
Speaker 1 (34:08):
How about you Cooperloo, cal State Northridge, The Matador's all right,
what's next. Let's ask Ben. Your questions are answers for
the rest of the hour.
Speaker 6 (34:17):
Donkey Sausage wants to know. Do you sing in the shower?
Speaker 3 (34:20):
No? I do not. I try to get out of
there as quickly as I can, marry. Do you sing
in the shower? Yes? All right, Coop, Yes, okay. Next.
Speaker 6 (34:28):
Alf alien is soup a meal.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Only if it's like Manza ball or French onion or lentil.
But like, if it's just broth, it's not a meal,
Mary Mac quick, guy, Coop.
Speaker 3 (34:41):
It can be, it can't be.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
It's got to be a thick soup though, Like Dad,
what's that Italian soup?
Speaker 3 (34:46):
That meatball soup? That's pretty good
Host
Ben Maller
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