April 9, 2021 • 34 mins
From the east to the west, the newsroom to the sports desk, Bally Sports San Diego host Mike Pomeranz has done it all. Mike joins the guys from San Diego to talk about a wind change with the Padres and how we gather information from news sources today.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kaboom. If you've thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants
of the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He
treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the
rich pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now, hold your horses. We are back
at it. The weekend is underway. It is a Friday
edition of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller and David Gascon.
Unfortunately west of the four or five, because four hours
a night not enough on the overnight. This the spinoff show.
(00:44):
You found it, You have found the talk of the
podcast world. We do this eight days a week, and
every Friday we attempt to have a conversation, a chit
chat with someone, someone in the wacky world of sports
that we like, or know or want to know. And
(01:06):
that is what today's podcast is all about. We will
tell you who we're chatting with in a minute. Guest count.
But we have survived another week of the radio a
wars the radio Wars. Here we are surviving and back
at it again. In the podcast. Now, are we moving
the Mallard Mansion to a a more um diverse city
(01:27):
and state since we have done so with Major League
Baseball's All Star Game? Are we doing that with the
Mallar militia and the Mallard Mansion? The third roiotam, that's
the third route out there. I don't know what you're
talking about. Man, I you know, life goes quick. You
know you gotta gotta stay up with the stay up
with the noise. There, my man, stay up with them
against Rob Manfred could have moved at to Tampa right now.
(01:49):
Rob Manford, My goodness. Uh, we should just do a
podcast bashing Rob Manford. But this would not be the
podcast to be doing that today. This would not be it.
But we have some long opinions about Major League Baseball
and their decision to move the All Star Game. And
the good news is we've been proven correct and the
amount of criticism that Major League Baseball has gotten has
been immence. But we do love baseball despite all the noise,
(02:13):
at least I do. I have been enjoying the I
don't know about you, but I've been I've been enjoying
the hell out of the baseball season. I've been watching
tons of games here, and you know, during the day,
I wake up and for most people it's the afternoon.
For me, it's the morning, and I'll flip a game
on and I don't care whether it's a Marlin's game
(02:34):
or a Mariners game or whoever. Check out a little baseball.
I love it great. A little add that Oakland got
its first one of the season off of the Dodgers,
But as soon as I know Kenley Jensen came into
the ninth inning and a runner got on Matt Chapman,
I knew ball game was over blown save and a
loss was coming the Dodgers way. It is fascinating that
(02:54):
Kenley Jansen, who was at one point wonderful, is still
encouraged to go out and be the closer when he's
been very mediocre. It boggles the mind. Really. For years,
Kenley Jansen has been doing a tightrope walk on the
regular and despite Dave Roberts knowing the risk of sending
Jansen out there, he continues to do it. And now,
(03:17):
the way I look at this not that we're breaking
this down because we're gonna talk some some baseball. With
the Dodge arrival in a minute here. But the thing
about the dynamic with the Dodgers, my theory is every
time Jansen goes out and pukes all over the mount
I don't get upset because I feel like we're closer
to him being removed as the closer, Like he's getting
near the end of the rope there. So I think
(03:38):
that's a good thing. So every time he blows a save,
that means later on someone else player X, whether they
trade for that player, it's somebody else in the bullpen
will get the opportunity to sink their teeth in as
the closer. So that's that's what I like, no doubt.
I mean that in Baltimore beat the Yankees the other day,
to Red Sox got off to a horrific start. I mean,
(03:59):
it's not all bad. I saw Nick Castellanos get ejected
or not injected, suspended for a couple of games because
he was talking at home played after sliding in safely
on a wild pitch doing the mad dog. He was
doing the mad dog. Can't do the mad dog in baseball.
The Cardinals won't allow it. The Cardinal way. It's gonna
be all buttoned up. The St. Louis cars it's always
(04:19):
that Yaddi Ra Molina who's always griping and complaining about
playing baseball the right way, the cardinal way. You know,
it's so annoying, so annoyed, But I can't pip yourself.
When you slide in safely at home in game two
of one sixty two, you can celebrate. You can live
life there. People in the crowd there that paid their money.
(04:40):
They want to be entertained. And it is plausibly the
entertainment business. Last I heard it was the entertainment business.
But now anyway, entertaining as it is. Do you think
there's mass panic in San Diego? And are you hoping
for mass panic? No? Listen, I love San Diego. I
got my start in radio in San Diego. I have
(05:02):
fond memories of hanging out at the old Jack Murphy
Stadium qual Calm whatever they called it at the end there,
and I'd buy the cheapest ticket and I'd sit wherever
I wanted because the padres had usual fire sale there.
You watched Tony Gwyn and a bunch of nobody's. It
was Tony Gwyn in the three Stooges are in this
(05:22):
case the eight other stooges that were out there. But no,
I don't have any animosity towards the Potteries. Now the
Dodgers are gonna end up winning, and I'm obviously more
loyal to the Dodgers, But the Padres are a monster,
a rags to riches situation for the Padres, and where
they were a couple of years ago, and where they
are right now from the outhouse to not the penthouse,
(05:43):
but they're they're close to the penthouse there. They can
they can see the country club up ahead, and they
were in the trailer park, so they've they've gotten a
lot better. And we're gonna have a conversation here with
one of the Podre broadcasters, a staple over the last
decade in San Diego and very smooth. I like this
guy because he's got big pipes, he's a he's an
(06:06):
old news guy, did the did the nightly news, did
the morning news in Minnesota and in New York as well.
Mike palmerants is gonna hang out with this right now. Now?
Do you do you do you know him in the
past year? Do you go back with him? Gascon? Do
you have a history with him? Well, I mean, like
yourself I got my start in San Diego with Extra
(06:29):
Sports thirteen sixty, which was the old flagship station that
you were at for the San Diego Chargers, and our
afternoon drive shows would have Mike on on the regular.
And then yeah, I did a couple of events with
Mike um a few years ago, the Los Angeles Kings
the Anaheim Ducks. They had a massive hockey day where
the Kings played in the afternoon, Ducks played at night,
(06:50):
and in between that their junior clubs played and Mike
and I were on the broadcast for that from uh
the Anaheim ice practice facility for the Ducks, So we
were on that together. And Yeah, I've known Mike for
quite a bit. Good dude and this extremely nice man.
He's everything that you are not. He's positive, he's encouraging,
he's engaging. He talks on the phone. He calls people back. Well,
(07:14):
I I wa way tough guy. I called you up
this week. Did you answer your phone? I was working out.
Did you call me back? I did? You did not? Did?
That's a lie. I will screw that call back. I
am looking at my phone right here, I'm holding my iPhone.
I do not see a return call from my phone call.
I did not get a call back, no callback. So
(07:37):
you just lie you want you want to bet on that,
You're gonna have to wash your mouth out with soap
and water. Okay, you just told a lie. You're not
allowed to lie on a podcast. It's a bad job
by you. You're breaking the podcast rules, is what you're doing.
Can we get to the guests please? Yes, we will
get to but not really guests, just someone hanging out
with friends. But let me just point out though, as
you know, I'm very critical. I think most people that
(07:59):
do broadcasting socking or terrible and all that this is
someone who actually thinks pretty good. Uh. I watched his
work with the Padre pregame and postgame. He does some
play by play as well. Mike Palmerants is his name?
See him on balles? What are they calling it? Ballys
San Diego? Is that what they're calling Valley Sports San
Diego Sports San Diego. Yeah, they changed all the Fox
(08:20):
Sports regional networks to the Bally's brand and Mike Pomerants
joining us and it's a good time to talk Padre baseball.
And I was in San Diego back in the day.
The Padres didn't spend a whole bunch of money and
all that. But boy, have things changed in a large way.
What is different now? What is the big difference between
(08:42):
the Padres now who are spending big money the Padres
of the past season of watching uh, watching his teable
for one, instead of hopes and prays that they might win,
their actual expectations. That I think it's the biggest difference.
And it's not just the fans, it's I think organizationally
and the players actually have a feeling that they expect
(09:03):
to win when they come to the ballpark, as opposed to,
you know, say the right thing for the public and
then hoping it works itself out. At to me is
the most noticeable change in the obvious is quite clear
to I think every team now playing as you're starting
to see fans filter in there, and uh, it seems
like their expectations are certainly are certainly greater, and there's
just an atmosphere of fun and excitement. So it's been
(09:28):
it's been a completely different vibe for sure. Yeah, So
what has changed now? I worked in San Diego and
I was around the Potters and they always spent a
ton of money. You know, they had some good players,
but they didn't back in those days. They didn't go overboard.
They always used the small market thing. They couldn't spend
a lot of money. But Fernando Tatis the contract that
(09:48):
he signed this offseason, uh not that long ago here,
Uh amazing, one of the biggest contracts in baseball history.
What's the dynamic now? How how have things change the
far as the ownership is concerned for the Padres. But
isn't that literally the million dollar question? Uh? Pete Seidler
has has taken over the primary rains and Ron Fowler
(10:12):
has has moved into some other capacity. So so it
seems like Mr Sildler has decided that he's gonna be
final revenue or created himself and has decided he's going
to spend it. You're right, it's unlike anything the market
has seen in a while. Averting you think it's started
if you're if you're really analytical about it. I suppose
was Eric Hosmer signing because I think he signed an
eight year, a hundred and forty four million dollar deal.
(10:34):
Maybe we go back to Will Myers who had I
think a sixty million dollars left on his deal right now,
But you go Hosmer and you go Machado, And so
the Tatis deal wasn't entirely shocking that the money might come,
but I think the duration of fourteen year deal at
what three forty uh surprised a little bit in the industry,
(10:56):
mostly because of Fernando's injury history and lack of actual
big league experience, But the money being there, I don't
think he was in shocking this time around. The real shocker,
as it felt down here to us, was really the
Manny Machado deal three hundred million over ten years. No
one UH in this area seemed to think that it
was coming, and really nobody did, I think across baseball.
(11:16):
If I remember right, Kenny Williams, the guy was running
the White Sox, so the was who was also bidding
on Machado. When he found out about that deal, he
almost crashed his golf cart in spring training because no
one thought it was coming. But it's a different vibe
for sure. Now. Yeah, as far as Fernando Tis, you
mentioned the injury history. I know it's early in the
season and he's currently on the the injured list, but
(11:39):
you know what's what's the vibe around this? Is this
gonna be a season long situation. Could this end up
in surgery? What's the real story there with Fernando Dutist
that you're hearing, Well, what we're hearing is is pretty
much what I think the public is now hearing from
Major Crawler, the general manager, and that is right now,
they're going to stay away from surgery usual, but they're
(12:01):
open to that possibility that if this continues and recurs
as it has basically three or so times at a
span of one of us about three or four weeks um,
if it becomes an issue on and on, they may
have to go the surgical route. Though the right now
they're trying everything they can opt it. He's on a
ten day I l he's eligible to come off the
teams on a road trip now. They start playing tomorrow
(12:23):
in Texas. They'll be back in time to take on
the Dodgers here after they go to Texas and then Pittsburgh,
and he'll be eligible to come off the list then.
But whether he'll be strong enough and ready, I think
that's uh, that's the great question. And everybody here is
a fan, and I think a watcher of this team
always looks at him with a cautious eye. Because his
(12:43):
history is so great. He had the stress fracture in
his back last year, plus a hamstring or two years
ago the hamstring injury as well. Then he had a
hand problem in the minor leagues. He's never played a
full season. I think right now he only has about
a hundred and forty six or so games under his belt,
um going into what is now his third year, So
there's a cautious eye. I think right now everybody is hopeful.
(13:05):
There are some guys who played through this, but not necessarily. Well,
everybody brings up Cody Bellinger, especially folks in l A.
But if you look at Bellinger, yeah he was on
the field, but he's still not hitting, even after last
year where he had the issues even then to the
championship series. So there's questions to whether when you come back,
what kind of player are you? And I think that's
(13:25):
where we're all watching Fernando closely. Mike, so as temperate
as fans are in San Diego, And obviously you covered
the team for such lum print the time. What is
the expectation and do you think they'll hit that mark? Well,
the expectation is it's a playoff team. Um. I don't
think they're getting too caught up in the numbers, because,
as you guys know, I mean, the projections are insane
(13:47):
everywhere because most of the league, it seems, isn't even trying. Um,
they didn't, most teams didn't spend this past offseason. Most
they are just trying to get their finances in order.
So you've got three clubs in the National League West
nearly capable of losing ninety games each uh and basically
the same for the American League West, which for the
Padres is going to be their primary focus when it
(14:07):
comes to inter league play. So there are a lot
of wins out there on the table. You could easily
say this is a ninety win team if everybody is
buying large healthy and obviously I say that knowing full
well what we just discussed, um, but I would say
the expectation is they've got to be at least a
wild card team. They know the Dodgers of the team
(14:28):
to beat in the West. I don't think it's a
great mystery, but now that we don't have the expanded
playoffs like we did last year, I think the expectation
here is clearly this is at least the first if
not the second wild card at the very least. So
with that being said, I know there's high hopes for
you Darvish to deliver same thing with Blake Snell. But
where is Chris Pattick? Mix and all of this pack
(14:49):
has been the one guy where two years ago he
blew the doors off of everybody, last year he regressed
in then this year at a slow start. Yeah, it's
a it's a big question mark for them for sure, UM,
because the expectations are that they win. Obviously the leash
isn't gonna be as long. He came up with a
lot of fanfare. Don't we see that a lot? Maybe
too often with these young guys. UM used to be
(15:11):
he didn't hear about prospects until they produced at the
big league level, really, but in recent years with social media,
there's this expectation and he came in with a lot
of that and a lot I think is unfair on
a young player until they started to finally get traction
and the league tells you how good you are instead of, uh,
the organization of the fans. So for Chris, he came
up as a two pitch pitcher, fastball change up. UM.
(15:34):
The league figured him out probably about halfway through his
first season, and if you remember, the good offensive teams
hit him pretty well even in his first year. The
patient teams and the Dodgers were one of those clubs
at the time, um and still are and those teams
that are waiting him out, and you know how it
is if you're a starting pitcher and you're reduced to
two pitches at that level, it's gonna be really hard
(15:56):
to get through a lineup. So my anticipation is that
he's going to get a handful more starts um to
see if he can finally establish a little consistency, and uh,
they may have to make some changes, you know, into
May June if he if he can't do that. I
don't want to be premature and say I don't have
any inside information that he's on a on a chopping
(16:16):
block immediately, but the patient's level is going to be different.
Right when you're expecting to win is when as opposed
to whether you're hoping to win. And that's where the
padres are right now. Yeah, I think maybe some sentiment
crosses over from the National Football League In the NBA,
where guys come in right away and they hit the
ground running, So why can't they do that in major
league baseball. Yeah. It's the thing about baseball that has
(16:39):
changed so dramatically as we know, is the little things
that you were supposed to learn in the minor leagues
aren't even required at the big league level anymore. For example,
nobody really steals. You don't bunt. There is no situational hitting.
It's max velocity. You swing out of your shoes and
somebody's gonna click one, and it's often the guy you
least expect, and it's a battle of walks, strikeout Homer's.
(17:00):
So you're seeing guys up there with the fast twitch
fibers years old, twenty two that don't seem to require
as much seasoning, meaning learning the game as they did
years ago. Uh, you just you. If you can hit
the velocity and you can make a few routine plays,
it seems like you're more likely to get a shot.
(17:20):
UM the NFL is is is as much for shelf
life and injury right as anything else. You got to
get him on the field, because who knows how long
you last in such a physical sport. UM baseball. You're
starting to see it more and more. UM teams are
sinking money in the prospects and then up you know
they're they're thinking is Uh, they're like Derrito's, you keep crunching,
will make more. If we've got guys blown out to injury,
we'll just put a bunch behind them. Uh. And you're
(17:42):
seeing teams run through cultures like uh, you know, like
nobody's business. I think as a result. Yeah, and you
mentioned the way baseball is played, and we we've all
you know, guys our age have complained about this, said
how you know what's going on with this? But they
are trying that they're talking about changing it and trying
to get more back the way the game had been
played in the past, with stolen bases and hitting behind
(18:04):
runners and actually bunting occasionally and things like I remember
about fifteen, maybe even more than that years ago, Uh
manager Terry Collins. Uh it was he was managing as
I guess it was long before that, but he there
was a situation that called for a bunt and he
didn't he didn't use the bunt, and and then one
(18:25):
of the writers after the game said why didn't you
do that? And he then explained that the guys didn't
know how to bunt, so they just didn't practice it.
And uh, I mean, what's it gonna take, Mike in
your open You've been around baseball a long time now
with the pottery, what do you think it's gonna take
to get the game back to not completely the way
it was, but a little bit closer to that style
play where it's not just swing from your heels and
(18:47):
try to hit a home runs home run derby every night. Oh.
It really is so that they say, right, the three
true outcomes just home runs, walks, and strikeouts. And I
think you got You're you're asking the great question, Ceo Epstein,
you just moved for in the Cubs front office, as
you know, to the league has verbalized that need to
make the game more exciting and interesting to fans. How
do you do it? Is the toughest question. Bob Manford
(19:10):
and his group, as you know, putting all these ideas
and experiments in the minor leagues to try to pick
up the pace. But it's not so much the pace
of play that I find challenging and what we hear
from the fans, and remember we're watching a hundred and
sixty two plus every single year. It's not the pace,
it's the fact that nothing's happening in that span of time.
If it's if there's movement in excitement, you don't even
(19:32):
notice it's a three hour ball game. But if it's
walks and strikeouts and you're waiting for a homer, three
hours feels like eight hours. And I think there's no
real easy answers somehow, whether by lowering the mound, whether
by adjusting the strike zone, whether by backing up the mound,
uh something, maybe to give the hitter a little better
chance to put it in play, eliminating the shift wouldn't hurt,
(19:53):
or making it such that left handed hitters had a
fighting chance. You're seeing a bunch of really good fleets
do non athletic things that's never good for any sport.
They're just standing there. The ball is never in play,
and fans love right the highlight play. You're looking to
see somebody who's more gifted than you are athletically do
something you can't do, and you're not seeing enough of
(20:16):
it in baseball. How do you get there? Buddy? I
have no earthly idea what the definitive answer is, but
they've got to do something to get the ball in play.
What can't stand going to the park like any of us,
and watching Mike Trout spitting sunflower seeds on the off
chance he might get one ball in a two three
game series. Um, and that's just not good for the game.
(20:37):
So hopefully they'll figure it out how they do it.
But if I had the answer, man, you'd be going
through six people to get to me for an interview
because I'd be the genius of the sport. That's a
good point. The booking process would be much more difficult
if that was the case. The thing I've heard, Mike,
and you're around the players, I guess with COVID guidelines
will get to that later, maybe not as much because
you gotta do everything on zoom. But what I had
(20:57):
heard in the past was, you know, the sacrificing and
the bunting. The players argument is they don't pay for that.
Baseball teams pay for home runs. They don't pay if
you're the guy that hits behind the runner and you bunt.
And so that's the counter arguments like, why are the
players really going to change their approach if the industry
doesn't pay for those skills? So you're actually leaving money
(21:20):
on the table. That's that's the issue. I've heard. Yeah,
it's a it's a. It seems to be valid. I mean,
look all the way up from the time these kids
are old enough to pay attention to what's going on.
You're going through high school where they're now ranked and
rated based on velocity and and how learn how hard
they can hit a baseball, and so they're not concerned
with learning the game. They're concerned with measurables do I throw,
(21:43):
Whether I can throw a pitch behind in the counter
work a corner is inconsequential. I'll get drafted if I
throw hard enough. Something goes once you get to the
money's right. It's like you had said, if I'm hitting
home runs and I'm generating power on the one of
two or three times out of ten, I actually make contact,
that will get promoted in the paycheck. But if I
can hit behind the runner and sacrifice and steal and
(22:04):
read situations, it's not as appreciated as it was because
you look at the numbers at the big league level
and they'll tell you a stolen base. If you're not
stealing at a sev clip, it's not worth the risk.
The trade off. Isn't there a guy scoring from second
on a base hit um statistically is gonna whole come
(22:25):
greater um then being at third, So why would you
sacrifice him from second to third? That's what we're seeing
now in the extra innings. Are new shocked. I know
I am with the extra inning rule where they put
a runner on second base, how infrequently teams will try
to push him over to third and then just score
the one run on the sack fly instead of three
straight guys. Unless it's the picture up, we'll just take
(22:46):
big rips, hoping to make it a two run difference
instead of the of the solo run um. It is
a strange situation, but you're right in that if the
game doesn't pay for the skill, why would the player
work to develop it. The flip on that is the
club's knowing they've got six years basically of ownership of
a player. The players almost playing right into the hands
(23:10):
of ownership as far as finances go, because they'll say,
at the end of your six years, we've gotten you
for your prime years of your athleticism in your fast twitch,
We'll let you go. We're not gonna pay the big salary.
You get a couple one or two offs. Right that
we read about with the big contracts, but the middle
player is getting squeezed out of the game right now.
It's the cheap guy and the tatis bets kind of
(23:31):
contract guy that's going to hang around. And that's that's
still my goods of the game because those smart, really
good contributor type players the middle Major league is getting
squeezed out. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Paciffect.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm PACI Effect
(23:52):
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. Mike,
I know you're in season number two of Major League
Beginnings of podcast us that you and Mark Sweeney and
MLB VET host on Apple iTunes. Can you give us
a little bit of the conversation behind the scenes between
you and Mark? Yeah, yeah, thank you for asking about that.
By the way, we've had a ton of fun with it.
(24:14):
Uh So Sweeney, as you know, fourteen years in the
big leagues. He and his age and longtime agent Barry
axel Rod, who was well known in the industry and
at Craig Diggione Bagwell and Mark Grace and Rick Sutcliff
and on and on. They had this idea to write
a book. Um. Instead they decided to turn into a
podcast and invited me to join them. And the whole ideas.
(24:34):
We talk to guys and gals around any sport really
who have reached what they consider to be the pinnacle
or are major players, so to speak, in their field.
So we bring them on. Sometimes they're Hall of famers,
sometimes they're executives, sometimes there from other sports, uh, and
we kind of get to their what we consider to
be there at least metaphorical Major league beginning wherever they
(24:57):
got started, and walk them through these uh fan tastic
tales that they rarely get a chance to ask to
talk about because everything they get asked is always topical. Well,
this is more of an evergreen thing. You want to
know the history behind Kimming the general manager, now the Marlins,
we have that kind of thing for you, um, the
first time they're in the clubhouse, the introduction to the leagues,
(25:18):
the people who took them under their wings, that type
of stuff. So we've been able to put together a
nice roster. We drop it once a week, usually on
a Wednesday, um a nice roster guests, and the feedback
has been great. I really appreciate you asking about it.
The folks get a chance to to check it out,
subscribe and rate it. You know that goes. We really
appreciate it now, Mike, which you think give us a feedback? Yeah, Mike,
(25:39):
I was gonna say, you actually come from a unique
transition where most people don't know this, but you were
actually a news guy before you became a sports guy.
But sports has been in your life, your entire life,
I guess as a young adult and now as a
as a professional. UM Bend's got a lot of fans
in in the Minnesota region, and I know that you've
worked in that area as well. What's it been like,
(26:01):
I guess, covering news as a whole and then making
your way down to sunny San Diego. Man, what it's
been a heck of a ride. I've learned. I've been
really bad at a lot of things, uh, in my career,
but it's been fun to experiment, you know, as minor
league and couldn't make the big leagues, and then I
flipped over to broadcasting and wanted to become a reporter
and was you know, obviously I was in a named player.
(26:23):
So I went into news and set of sports and
fell in love with it and was a reporter and
anchor for twenty years. So the where we ended up
in Minnesota. We'd come from New York City and CBS
and w CBS in New York and got an opportunity
to work in my wife's hometown in Minneapolis. And the
quality of life, as anybody who's in that area knows,
(26:46):
is so high. It's such a great place to live.
You do a little bit of a winner, but you
have a ton of fun doing it um and we
really enjoyed it. Had our daughters grew up around family,
and it was just a wonderful experience. And then I
started entertain aiming the notion of getting back into sports
in some capacity, and a buddy of mine, who was
running the network that handled the Twins and the Timberwolves,
(27:10):
et cetera up in that area, asked me if I
wanted to kind of freelance for him a little bit.
I did it, fell in love with it. He came
out here, started up to San Diego stations. I was
handling the new agreement with the Padres and asked me
if I wanted to tag along. I said, sure, I'll
take a shot at it. I pretty much sucked at
everything else I've tried. How much worse could I be?
Gave it a go, and uh, buddy, I'm still I'm
(27:31):
still very lucky every week that they throw a paycheck
at me. I'm very fortunate to be around it. But
I don't miss the winners, but I do miss the people. Well,
what about the skill set of being the news anchor?
And you worked in New York and he said, obviously
Minnesota there, but the difference between being the sports guy
and being the news anchor on the nightly news of
the morning news, what's the what's the change? How big
(27:54):
it changes? Obviously huge change, But what's what was that
like for you? Well, that's a good question, and it's
a I think several folks have done it. I think
we all kind of say the same thing. And it's
for one thing. You know, in news, right, you feel
like you're imparting information that well that could potentially affect
somebody's life, the real life uh stuff, um, not the
(28:17):
entertainment side of things. So I think that type of
heaviness if for some people in news, I know it
did for me can kind of weigh on it again.
I did it for twenty years, and after a while
I thought, my goodness, man, this is really really heavy.
I like getting to the root of things, but the
industry had changed a bit um as far as the
resources these networks were throwing at the product, and it
(28:40):
was getting a little tougher. I think for journalists to
do their job and feel like they have the backing
of companies that were rooted in journalism as opposed to
being purchased by venture capitalists and being run with different
budgetary concerns, and then flip it over to sports, it
was like, hey, you know what the coolest part about
it was after somebody has put fifteen hours in on
a factory floor and they just want to be entertained,
(29:02):
uh and informed on their favorite team. It was really
nice to be able to be part of putting a
smile on somebody's face who's had to deal with some
real life stuff. So after serving the medicine as you
you know, you might say for twenty years as a journalist,
UM given him the stuff they had to have where
they may not like informationally, it's really nice to be
(29:23):
on the other side of that. So you know what,
we're the dessert for you. You put in a hard day,
your your world has been a little trickier than you'd like.
Why don't you take your mind off and enjoy the
ball game. We'll try to make it fun for you.
And and it's been a really nice flip. But the
hardest part of that transition, I think has just been
letting go of the seriousness in life that I think
(29:45):
I started to allow UH to kind of take me
over in a negative way. I think I started to
look at things just through far too heavy and dark
a prism and realize, hey, man, it's a short time
you get on the planet. You might want to like
not Mike, and enjoy it a bit. And that's what
sports has given me, Mike, given the fact that you
were in that realm for such a long print of
(30:06):
time and now you see what's outside of that. Do
you trust the news? Great question? Great question. I trust
the people. UM, it's certain outlets that they're trying to
do the best they can. I certainly have my opinion
is that which outlets those are. UM, I'm very selective
(30:27):
as to who I choose. I search out what I
feel to be the most objective, and I know the
natural tendency in this day and age is to search
out your news source, uh and and look at the
whoever is going to say the thing that you most
agree with, and look at that as a valid news source.
I've kind of trained in the old school where I
try to look for the objectivity in it um and
I do find it. It's tricky. I trust the sources
(30:51):
I've come to trust over time. They've they haven't really
failed me, but they're they're certainly winnowed down now right.
There are fewer of those, but I still believe they're
out there, and I know that there are people out
there trying every day to do the right thing. I
don't think anybody goes out there with malice to present
too much of a jaded case. I think, save for
(31:11):
a few, um, and I'm being very careful not to
name names in this, I think most objective outposts and
outlets who have traditionally been that way, Um, the New
York Times, I know I can throw out there as
some as an organization I know tries day in and
day out to get it right. Uh. Those types of
(31:32):
sources are the ones I go and so yeah, I
still trust, but my pool of trust has gotten a
lot shallower. Well and Mike following we just talked about
baseball getting back to, you know, the more of the
way it was. But the news businesses, as you said
you worked in a long time, is it ever going
to go back? Because there's money to be made being
on team Read or Team Blue like you, you can
(31:55):
make money doing that. So what would encourage anyone to
go back to being you know, the neutral arbitrator if
you will, of the of the news, if you can
just make a lot of money being on one side
and another being a partisan. You're right, You're right. I
don't know that there is an answer. I think it's
going to take somebody who's somewhat altruistic, uh, some type
of just philanthropic billionaire who says, you know what, I'm
(32:19):
not looking at this as a looking at this as
a as a place I have got to make the
same margins profit wise that we've made in the sixties, seventies, eighties.
I'm looking at this is something I'm doing to do
the right thing. And I don't know that that person
or people are necessarily out there in mass because nobody
gets into private business to lose money. But it's almost
(32:40):
like it's going to take that um and it may
come down to just fewer and fewer sources willing to
do that. But that's the great question, man, there's so much.
Look at what we watch every night. It's hot take
after hot take after hot take, and it's not thought out,
it's not well researched a lot of it. It's just
screaming and yelling, trying to get balls, trying to get ratings.
(33:01):
You get enough folks who will buying the conspiracy to
save your side. Whether it's red or blue or what
your color as your team is, it doesn't matter, um
And that seem to sell. It's it's not a positive outlook.
But I'm hopeful that somebody somewhere with the money to
back it will say, you know what, enough is enough. Someplace,
somehow has got to be the middle of the road.
(33:22):
And we used to have that saying in journalism, and
you guys know it. It's if I get complaints, uh,
equally from both sides of an issue, and I know
I'm doing my job properly, that means I'm somewhere in
the middle where I'm supposed to be. And you don't
see a lot of that, and there is some risk
to that. Into your greater point, it's not a revenue
generator to be objective. Um, it's a shame. But the
(33:45):
current audience is like, look, we want it lazy, We
wanted spoon fead and nobody likes to be argued with
and feel wrong and they want to participation trophy and
feel like, you know, the world's on their side. So
they're gonna tune into a station that feeds them whatever
they feel like that line needs to be. It's it's
tricky out there for sure. All right, Well, Mike, thank you,
appreciate it for coming on. Good luck with your podcast
(34:08):
and continued success with the padres, and we'll see you
down the line. Thank you, thanks many, Hey appreciate the time,
and uh enjoy the season and hopefully catch up with
you again if not in the postseason. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at
two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two
(34:29):
am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app.
Kaboom. If you've thought four hours a day, minutes a
week was enough, I think again. He's the last remnants
of the old republic, a sole fashion of fairness. He
treats crackheads in the ghetto cutter the same as the
rich pill poppers in the penthouse, to clearinghouse of hot takes,
break free for something special. The Fifth Hour with Ben
(00:24):
Maller starts right now, hold your horses. We are back
at it. The weekend is underway. It is a Friday
edition of the Fifth Hour with Ben Maller and David Gascon.
Unfortunately west of the four or five, because four hours
a night not enough on the overnight. This the spinoff show.
(00:44):
You found it, You have found the talk of the
podcast world. We do this eight days a week, and
every Friday we attempt to have a conversation, a chit
chat with someone, someone in the wacky world of sports
that we like, or know or want to know. And
(01:06):
that is what today's podcast is all about. We will
tell you who we're chatting with in a minute. Guest count.
But we have survived another week of the radio a
wars the radio Wars. Here we are surviving and back
at it again. In the podcast. Now, are we moving
the Mallard Mansion to a a more um diverse city
(01:27):
and state since we have done so with Major League
Baseball's All Star Game? Are we doing that with the
Mallar militia and the Mallard Mansion? The third roiotam, that's
the third route out there. I don't know what you're
talking about. Man, I you know, life goes quick. You
know you gotta gotta stay up with the stay up
with the noise. There, my man, stay up with them
against Rob Manfred could have moved at to Tampa right now.
(01:49):
Rob Manford, My goodness. Uh, we should just do a
podcast bashing Rob Manford. But this would not be the
podcast to be doing that today. This would not be it.
But we have some long opinions about Major League Baseball
and their decision to move the All Star Game. And
the good news is we've been proven correct and the
amount of criticism that Major League Baseball has gotten has
been immence. But we do love baseball despite all the noise,
(02:13):
at least I do. I have been enjoying the I
don't know about you, but I've been I've been enjoying
the hell out of the baseball season. I've been watching
tons of games here, and you know, during the day,
I wake up and for most people it's the afternoon.
For me, it's the morning, and I'll flip a game
on and I don't care whether it's a Marlin's game
(02:34):
or a Mariners game or whoever. Check out a little baseball.
I love it great. A little add that Oakland got
its first one of the season off of the Dodgers,
But as soon as I know Kenley Jensen came into
the ninth inning and a runner got on Matt Chapman,
I knew ball game was over blown save and a
loss was coming the Dodgers way. It is fascinating that
(02:54):
Kenley Jansen, who was at one point wonderful, is still
encouraged to go out and be the closer when he's
been very mediocre. It boggles the mind. Really. For years,
Kenley Jansen has been doing a tightrope walk on the
regular and despite Dave Roberts knowing the risk of sending
Jansen out there, he continues to do it. And now,
(03:17):
the way I look at this not that we're breaking
this down because we're gonna talk some some baseball. With
the Dodge arrival in a minute here. But the thing
about the dynamic with the Dodgers, my theory is every
time Jansen goes out and pukes all over the mount
I don't get upset because I feel like we're closer
to him being removed as the closer, Like he's getting
near the end of the rope there. So I think
(03:38):
that's a good thing. So every time he blows a save,
that means later on someone else player X, whether they
trade for that player, it's somebody else in the bullpen
will get the opportunity to sink their teeth in as
the closer. So that's that's what I like, no doubt.
I mean that in Baltimore beat the Yankees the other day,
to Red Sox got off to a horrific start. I mean,
(03:59):
it's not all bad. I saw Nick Castellanos get ejected
or not injected, suspended for a couple of games because
he was talking at home played after sliding in safely
on a wild pitch doing the mad dog. He was
doing the mad dog. Can't do the mad dog in baseball.
The Cardinals won't allow it. The Cardinal way. It's gonna
be all buttoned up. The St. Louis cars it's always
(04:19):
that Yaddi Ra Molina who's always griping and complaining about
playing baseball the right way, the cardinal way. You know,
it's so annoying, so annoyed, But I can't pip yourself.
When you slide in safely at home in game two
of one sixty two, you can celebrate. You can live
life there. People in the crowd there that paid their money.
(04:40):
They want to be entertained. And it is plausibly the
entertainment business. Last I heard it was the entertainment business.
But now anyway, entertaining as it is. Do you think
there's mass panic in San Diego? And are you hoping
for mass panic? No? Listen, I love San Diego. I
got my start in radio in San Diego. I have
(05:02):
fond memories of hanging out at the old Jack Murphy
Stadium qual Calm whatever they called it at the end there,
and I'd buy the cheapest ticket and I'd sit wherever
I wanted because the padres had usual fire sale there.
You watched Tony Gwyn and a bunch of nobody's. It
was Tony Gwyn in the three Stooges are in this
(05:22):
case the eight other stooges that were out there. But no,
I don't have any animosity towards the Potteries. Now the
Dodgers are gonna end up winning, and I'm obviously more
loyal to the Dodgers, But the Padres are a monster,
a rags to riches situation for the Padres, and where
they were a couple of years ago, and where they
are right now from the outhouse to not the penthouse,
(05:43):
but they're they're close to the penthouse there. They can
they can see the country club up ahead, and they
were in the trailer park, so they've they've gotten a
lot better. And we're gonna have a conversation here with
one of the Podre broadcasters, a staple over the last
decade in San Diego and very smooth. I like this
guy because he's got big pipes, he's a he's an
(06:06):
old news guy, did the did the nightly news, did
the morning news in Minnesota and in New York as well.
Mike palmerants is gonna hang out with this right now. Now?
Do you do you do you know him in the
past year? Do you go back with him? Gascon? Do
you have a history with him? Well, I mean, like
yourself I got my start in San Diego with Extra
(06:29):
Sports thirteen sixty, which was the old flagship station that
you were at for the San Diego Chargers, and our
afternoon drive shows would have Mike on on the regular.
And then yeah, I did a couple of events with
Mike um a few years ago, the Los Angeles Kings
the Anaheim Ducks. They had a massive hockey day where
the Kings played in the afternoon, Ducks played at night,
(06:50):
and in between that their junior clubs played and Mike
and I were on the broadcast for that from uh
the Anaheim ice practice facility for the Ducks, So we
were on that together. And Yeah, I've known Mike for
quite a bit. Good dude and this extremely nice man.
He's everything that you are not. He's positive, he's encouraging,
he's engaging. He talks on the phone. He calls people back. Well,
(07:14):
I I wa way tough guy. I called you up
this week. Did you answer your phone? I was working out.
Did you call me back? I did? You did not? Did?
That's a lie. I will screw that call back. I
am looking at my phone right here, I'm holding my iPhone.
I do not see a return call from my phone call.
I did not get a call back, no callback. So
(07:37):
you just lie you want you want to bet on that,
You're gonna have to wash your mouth out with soap
and water. Okay, you just told a lie. You're not
allowed to lie on a podcast. It's a bad job
by you. You're breaking the podcast rules, is what you're doing.
Can we get to the guests please? Yes, we will
get to but not really guests, just someone hanging out
with friends. But let me just point out though, as
you know, I'm very critical. I think most people that
(07:59):
do broadcasting socking or terrible and all that this is
someone who actually thinks pretty good. Uh. I watched his
work with the Padre pregame and postgame. He does some
play by play as well. Mike Palmerants is his name?
See him on balles? What are they calling it? Ballys
San Diego? Is that what they're calling Valley Sports San
Diego Sports San Diego. Yeah, they changed all the Fox
(08:20):
Sports regional networks to the Bally's brand and Mike Pomerants
joining us and it's a good time to talk Padre baseball.
And I was in San Diego back in the day.
The Padres didn't spend a whole bunch of money and
all that. But boy, have things changed in a large way.
What is different now? What is the big difference between
(08:42):
the Padres now who are spending big money the Padres
of the past season of watching uh, watching his teable
for one, instead of hopes and prays that they might win,
their actual expectations. That I think it's the biggest difference.
And it's not just the fans, it's I think organizationally
and the players actually have a feeling that they expect
(09:03):
to win when they come to the ballpark, as opposed to,
you know, say the right thing for the public and
then hoping it works itself out. At to me is
the most noticeable change in the obvious is quite clear
to I think every team now playing as you're starting
to see fans filter in there, and uh, it seems
like their expectations are certainly are certainly greater, and there's
just an atmosphere of fun and excitement. So it's been
(09:28):
it's been a completely different vibe for sure. Yeah, So
what has changed now? I worked in San Diego and
I was around the Potters and they always spent a
ton of money. You know, they had some good players,
but they didn't back in those days. They didn't go overboard.
They always used the small market thing. They couldn't spend
a lot of money. But Fernando Tatis the contract that
(09:48):
he signed this offseason, uh not that long ago here,
Uh amazing, one of the biggest contracts in baseball history.
What's the dynamic now? How how have things change the
far as the ownership is concerned for the Padres. But
isn't that literally the million dollar question? Uh? Pete Seidler
has has taken over the primary rains and Ron Fowler
(10:12):
has has moved into some other capacity. So so it
seems like Mr Sildler has decided that he's gonna be
final revenue or created himself and has decided he's going
to spend it. You're right, it's unlike anything the market
has seen in a while. Averting you think it's started
if you're if you're really analytical about it. I suppose
was Eric Hosmer signing because I think he signed an
eight year, a hundred and forty four million dollar deal.
(10:34):
Maybe we go back to Will Myers who had I
think a sixty million dollars left on his deal right now,
But you go Hosmer and you go Machado, And so
the Tatis deal wasn't entirely shocking that the money might come,
but I think the duration of fourteen year deal at
what three forty uh surprised a little bit in the industry,
(10:56):
mostly because of Fernando's injury history and lack of actual
big league experience, But the money being there, I don't
think he was in shocking this time around. The real shocker,
as it felt down here to us, was really the
Manny Machado deal three hundred million over ten years. No
one UH in this area seemed to think that it
was coming, and really nobody did, I think across baseball.
(11:16):
If I remember right, Kenny Williams, the guy was running
the White Sox, so the was who was also bidding
on Machado. When he found out about that deal, he
almost crashed his golf cart in spring training because no
one thought it was coming. But it's a different vibe
for sure. Now. Yeah, as far as Fernando Tis, you
mentioned the injury history. I know it's early in the
season and he's currently on the the injured list, but
(11:39):
you know what's what's the vibe around this? Is this
gonna be a season long situation. Could this end up
in surgery? What's the real story there with Fernando Dutist
that you're hearing, Well, what we're hearing is is pretty
much what I think the public is now hearing from
Major Crawler, the general manager, and that is right now,
they're going to stay away from surgery usual, but they're
(12:01):
open to that possibility that if this continues and recurs
as it has basically three or so times at a
span of one of us about three or four weeks um,
if it becomes an issue on and on, they may
have to go the surgical route. Though the right now
they're trying everything they can opt it. He's on a
ten day I l he's eligible to come off the
teams on a road trip now. They start playing tomorrow
(12:23):
in Texas. They'll be back in time to take on
the Dodgers here after they go to Texas and then Pittsburgh,
and he'll be eligible to come off the list then.
But whether he'll be strong enough and ready, I think
that's uh, that's the great question. And everybody here is
a fan, and I think a watcher of this team
always looks at him with a cautious eye. Because his
(12:43):
history is so great. He had the stress fracture in
his back last year, plus a hamstring or two years
ago the hamstring injury as well. Then he had a
hand problem in the minor leagues. He's never played a
full season. I think right now he only has about
a hundred and forty six or so games under his belt,
um going into what is now his third year, So
there's a cautious eye. I think right now everybody is hopeful.
(13:05):
There are some guys who played through this, but not necessarily. Well,
everybody brings up Cody Bellinger, especially folks in l A.
But if you look at Bellinger, yeah he was on
the field, but he's still not hitting, even after last
year where he had the issues even then to the
championship series. So there's questions to whether when you come back,
what kind of player are you? And I think that's
(13:25):
where we're all watching Fernando closely. Mike, so as temperate
as fans are in San Diego, And obviously you covered
the team for such lum print the time. What is
the expectation and do you think they'll hit that mark? Well,
the expectation is it's a playoff team. Um. I don't
think they're getting too caught up in the numbers, because,
as you guys know, I mean, the projections are insane
(13:47):
everywhere because most of the league, it seems, isn't even trying. Um,
they didn't, most teams didn't spend this past offseason. Most
they are just trying to get their finances in order.
So you've got three clubs in the National League West
nearly capable of losing ninety games each uh and basically
the same for the American League West, which for the
Padres is going to be their primary focus when it
(14:07):
comes to inter league play. So there are a lot
of wins out there on the table. You could easily
say this is a ninety win team if everybody is
buying large healthy and obviously I say that knowing full
well what we just discussed, um, but I would say
the expectation is they've got to be at least a
wild card team. They know the Dodgers of the team
(14:28):
to beat in the West. I don't think it's a
great mystery, but now that we don't have the expanded
playoffs like we did last year, I think the expectation
here is clearly this is at least the first if
not the second wild card at the very least. So
with that being said, I know there's high hopes for
you Darvish to deliver same thing with Blake Snell. But
where is Chris Pattick? Mix and all of this pack
(14:49):
has been the one guy where two years ago he
blew the doors off of everybody, last year he regressed
in then this year at a slow start. Yeah, it's
a it's a big question mark for them for sure, UM,
because the expectations are that they win. Obviously the leash
isn't gonna be as long. He came up with a
lot of fanfare. Don't we see that a lot? Maybe
too often with these young guys. UM used to be
(15:11):
he didn't hear about prospects until they produced at the
big league level, really, but in recent years with social media,
there's this expectation and he came in with a lot
of that and a lot I think is unfair on
a young player until they started to finally get traction
and the league tells you how good you are instead of, uh,
the organization of the fans. So for Chris, he came
up as a two pitch pitcher, fastball change up. UM.
(15:34):
The league figured him out probably about halfway through his
first season, and if you remember, the good offensive teams
hit him pretty well even in his first year. The
patient teams and the Dodgers were one of those clubs
at the time, um and still are and those teams
that are waiting him out, and you know how it
is if you're a starting pitcher and you're reduced to
two pitches at that level, it's gonna be really hard
(15:56):
to get through a lineup. So my anticipation is that
he's going to get a handful more starts um to
see if he can finally establish a little consistency, and uh,
they may have to make some changes, you know, into
May June if he if he can't do that. I
don't want to be premature and say I don't have
any inside information that he's on a on a chopping
(16:16):
block immediately, but the patient's level is going to be different.
Right when you're expecting to win is when as opposed
to whether you're hoping to win. And that's where the
padres are right now. Yeah, I think maybe some sentiment
crosses over from the National Football League In the NBA,
where guys come in right away and they hit the
ground running, So why can't they do that in major
league baseball. Yeah. It's the thing about baseball that has
(16:39):
changed so dramatically as we know, is the little things
that you were supposed to learn in the minor leagues
aren't even required at the big league level anymore. For example,
nobody really steals. You don't bunt. There is no situational hitting.
It's max velocity. You swing out of your shoes and
somebody's gonna click one, and it's often the guy you
least expect, and it's a battle of walks, strikeout Homer's.
(17:00):
So you're seeing guys up there with the fast twitch
fibers years old, twenty two that don't seem to require
as much seasoning, meaning learning the game as they did
years ago. Uh, you just you. If you can hit
the velocity and you can make a few routine plays,
it seems like you're more likely to get a shot.
(17:20):
UM the NFL is is is as much for shelf
life and injury right as anything else. You got to
get him on the field, because who knows how long
you last in such a physical sport. UM baseball. You're
starting to see it more and more. UM teams are
sinking money in the prospects and then up you know
they're they're thinking is Uh, they're like Derrito's, you keep crunching,
will make more. If we've got guys blown out to injury,
we'll just put a bunch behind them. Uh. And you're
(17:42):
seeing teams run through cultures like uh, you know, like
nobody's business. I think as a result. Yeah, and you
mentioned the way baseball is played, and we we've all
you know, guys our age have complained about this, said
how you know what's going on with this? But they
are trying that they're talking about changing it and trying
to get more back the way the game had been
played in the past, with stolen bases and hitting behind
(18:04):
runners and actually bunting occasionally and things like I remember
about fifteen, maybe even more than that years ago, Uh
manager Terry Collins. Uh it was he was managing as
I guess it was long before that, but he there
was a situation that called for a bunt and he
didn't he didn't use the bunt, and and then one
(18:25):
of the writers after the game said why didn't you
do that? And he then explained that the guys didn't
know how to bunt, so they just didn't practice it.
And uh, I mean, what's it gonna take, Mike in
your open You've been around baseball a long time now
with the pottery, what do you think it's gonna take
to get the game back to not completely the way
it was, but a little bit closer to that style
play where it's not just swing from your heels and
(18:47):
try to hit a home runs home run derby every night. Oh.
It really is so that they say, right, the three
true outcomes just home runs, walks, and strikeouts. And I
think you got You're you're asking the great question, Ceo Epstein,
you just moved for in the Cubs front office, as
you know, to the league has verbalized that need to
make the game more exciting and interesting to fans. How
do you do it? Is the toughest question. Bob Manford
(19:10):
and his group, as you know, putting all these ideas
and experiments in the minor leagues to try to pick
up the pace. But it's not so much the pace
of play that I find challenging and what we hear
from the fans, and remember we're watching a hundred and
sixty two plus every single year. It's not the pace,
it's the fact that nothing's happening in that span of time.
If it's if there's movement in excitement, you don't even
(19:32):
notice it's a three hour ball game. But if it's
walks and strikeouts and you're waiting for a homer, three
hours feels like eight hours. And I think there's no
real easy answers somehow, whether by lowering the mound, whether
by adjusting the strike zone, whether by backing up the mound,
uh something, maybe to give the hitter a little better
chance to put it in play, eliminating the shift wouldn't hurt,
(19:53):
or making it such that left handed hitters had a
fighting chance. You're seeing a bunch of really good fleets
do non athletic things that's never good for any sport.
They're just standing there. The ball is never in play,
and fans love right the highlight play. You're looking to
see somebody who's more gifted than you are athletically do
something you can't do, and you're not seeing enough of
(20:16):
it in baseball. How do you get there? Buddy? I
have no earthly idea what the definitive answer is, but
they've got to do something to get the ball in play.
What can't stand going to the park like any of us,
and watching Mike Trout spitting sunflower seeds on the off
chance he might get one ball in a two three
game series. Um, and that's just not good for the game.
(20:37):
So hopefully they'll figure it out how they do it.
But if I had the answer, man, you'd be going
through six people to get to me for an interview
because I'd be the genius of the sport. That's a
good point. The booking process would be much more difficult
if that was the case. The thing I've heard, Mike,
and you're around the players, I guess with COVID guidelines
will get to that later, maybe not as much because
you gotta do everything on zoom. But what I had
(20:57):
heard in the past was, you know, the sacrificing and
the bunting. The players argument is they don't pay for that.
Baseball teams pay for home runs. They don't pay if
you're the guy that hits behind the runner and you bunt.
And so that's the counter arguments like, why are the
players really going to change their approach if the industry
doesn't pay for those skills? So you're actually leaving money
(21:20):
on the table. That's that's the issue. I've heard. Yeah,
it's a it's a. It seems to be valid. I mean,
look all the way up from the time these kids
are old enough to pay attention to what's going on.
You're going through high school where they're now ranked and
rated based on velocity and and how learn how hard
they can hit a baseball, and so they're not concerned
with learning the game. They're concerned with measurables do I throw,
(21:43):
Whether I can throw a pitch behind in the counter
work a corner is inconsequential. I'll get drafted if I
throw hard enough. Something goes once you get to the
money's right. It's like you had said, if I'm hitting
home runs and I'm generating power on the one of
two or three times out of ten, I actually make contact,
that will get promoted in the paycheck. But if I
can hit behind the runner and sacrifice and steal and
(22:04):
read situations, it's not as appreciated as it was because
you look at the numbers at the big league level
and they'll tell you a stolen base. If you're not
stealing at a sev clip, it's not worth the risk.
The trade off. Isn't there a guy scoring from second
on a base hit um statistically is gonna whole come
(22:25):
greater um then being at third, So why would you
sacrifice him from second to third? That's what we're seeing
now in the extra innings. Are new shocked. I know
I am with the extra inning rule where they put
a runner on second base, how infrequently teams will try
to push him over to third and then just score
the one run on the sack fly instead of three
straight guys. Unless it's the picture up, we'll just take
(22:46):
big rips, hoping to make it a two run difference
instead of the of the solo run um. It is
a strange situation, but you're right in that if the
game doesn't pay for the skill, why would the player
work to develop it. The flip on that is the
club's knowing they've got six years basically of ownership of
a player. The players almost playing right into the hands
(23:10):
of ownership as far as finances go, because they'll say,
at the end of your six years, we've gotten you
for your prime years of your athleticism in your fast twitch,
We'll let you go. We're not gonna pay the big salary.
You get a couple one or two offs. Right that
we read about with the big contracts, but the middle
player is getting squeezed out of the game right now.
It's the cheap guy and the tatis bets kind of
(23:31):
contract guy that's going to hang around. And that's that's
still my goods of the game because those smart, really
good contributor type players the middle Major league is getting
squeezed out. Be sure to catch live editions of The
Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Paciffect.
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Maller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm PACI Effect
(23:52):
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio. Mike,
I know you're in season number two of Major League
Beginnings of podcast us that you and Mark Sweeney and
MLB VET host on Apple iTunes. Can you give us
a little bit of the conversation behind the scenes between
you and Mark? Yeah, yeah, thank you for asking about that.
By the way, we've had a ton of fun with it.
(24:14):
Uh So Sweeney, as you know, fourteen years in the
big leagues. He and his age and longtime agent Barry
axel Rod, who was well known in the industry and
at Craig Diggione Bagwell and Mark Grace and Rick Sutcliff
and on and on. They had this idea to write
a book. Um. Instead they decided to turn into a
podcast and invited me to join them. And the whole ideas.
(24:34):
We talk to guys and gals around any sport really
who have reached what they consider to be the pinnacle
or are major players, so to speak, in their field.
So we bring them on. Sometimes they're Hall of famers,
sometimes they're executives, sometimes there from other sports, uh, and
we kind of get to their what we consider to
be there at least metaphorical Major league beginning wherever they
(24:57):
got started, and walk them through these uh fan tastic
tales that they rarely get a chance to ask to
talk about because everything they get asked is always topical. Well,
this is more of an evergreen thing. You want to
know the history behind Kimming the general manager, now the Marlins,
we have that kind of thing for you, um, the
first time they're in the clubhouse, the introduction to the leagues,
(25:18):
the people who took them under their wings, that type
of stuff. So we've been able to put together a
nice roster. We drop it once a week, usually on
a Wednesday, um a nice roster guests, and the feedback
has been great. I really appreciate you asking about it.
The folks get a chance to to check it out,
subscribe and rate it. You know that goes. We really
appreciate it now, Mike, which you think give us a feedback? Yeah, Mike,
(25:39):
I was gonna say, you actually come from a unique
transition where most people don't know this, but you were
actually a news guy before you became a sports guy.
But sports has been in your life, your entire life,
I guess as a young adult and now as a
as a professional. UM Bend's got a lot of fans
in in the Minnesota region, and I know that you've
worked in that area as well. What's it been like,
(26:01):
I guess, covering news as a whole and then making
your way down to sunny San Diego. Man, what it's
been a heck of a ride. I've learned. I've been
really bad at a lot of things, uh, in my career,
but it's been fun to experiment, you know, as minor
league and couldn't make the big leagues, and then I
flipped over to broadcasting and wanted to become a reporter
and was you know, obviously I was in a named player.
(26:23):
So I went into news and set of sports and
fell in love with it and was a reporter and
anchor for twenty years. So the where we ended up
in Minnesota. We'd come from New York City and CBS
and w CBS in New York and got an opportunity
to work in my wife's hometown in Minneapolis. And the
quality of life, as anybody who's in that area knows,
(26:46):
is so high. It's such a great place to live.
You do a little bit of a winner, but you
have a ton of fun doing it um and we
really enjoyed it. Had our daughters grew up around family,
and it was just a wonderful experience. And then I
started entertain aiming the notion of getting back into sports
in some capacity, and a buddy of mine, who was
running the network that handled the Twins and the Timberwolves,
(27:10):
et cetera up in that area, asked me if I
wanted to kind of freelance for him a little bit.
I did it, fell in love with it. He came
out here, started up to San Diego stations. I was
handling the new agreement with the Padres and asked me
if I wanted to tag along. I said, sure, I'll
take a shot at it. I pretty much sucked at
everything else I've tried. How much worse could I be?
Gave it a go, and uh, buddy, I'm still I'm
(27:31):
still very lucky every week that they throw a paycheck
at me. I'm very fortunate to be around it. But
I don't miss the winners, but I do miss the people. Well,
what about the skill set of being the news anchor?
And you worked in New York and he said, obviously
Minnesota there, but the difference between being the sports guy
and being the news anchor on the nightly news of
the morning news, what's the what's the change? How big
(27:54):
it changes? Obviously huge change, But what's what was that
like for you? Well, that's a good question, and it's
a I think several folks have done it. I think
we all kind of say the same thing. And it's
for one thing. You know, in news, right, you feel
like you're imparting information that well that could potentially affect
somebody's life, the real life uh stuff, um, not the
(28:17):
entertainment side of things. So I think that type of
heaviness if for some people in news, I know it
did for me can kind of weigh on it again.
I did it for twenty years, and after a while
I thought, my goodness, man, this is really really heavy.
I like getting to the root of things, but the
industry had changed a bit um as far as the
resources these networks were throwing at the product, and it
(28:40):
was getting a little tougher. I think for journalists to
do their job and feel like they have the backing
of companies that were rooted in journalism as opposed to
being purchased by venture capitalists and being run with different
budgetary concerns, and then flip it over to sports, it
was like, hey, you know what the coolest part about
it was after somebody has put fifteen hours in on
a factory floor and they just want to be entertained,
(29:02):
uh and informed on their favorite team. It was really
nice to be able to be part of putting a
smile on somebody's face who's had to deal with some
real life stuff. So after serving the medicine as you
you know, you might say for twenty years as a journalist,
UM given him the stuff they had to have where
they may not like informationally, it's really nice to be
(29:23):
on the other side of that. So you know what,
we're the dessert for you. You put in a hard day,
your your world has been a little trickier than you'd like.
Why don't you take your mind off and enjoy the
ball game. We'll try to make it fun for you.
And and it's been a really nice flip. But the
hardest part of that transition, I think has just been
letting go of the seriousness in life that I think
(29:45):
I started to allow UH to kind of take me
over in a negative way. I think I started to
look at things just through far too heavy and dark
a prism and realize, hey, man, it's a short time
you get on the planet. You might want to like
not Mike, and enjoy it a bit. And that's what
sports has given me, Mike, given the fact that you
were in that realm for such a long print of
(30:06):
time and now you see what's outside of that. Do
you trust the news? Great question? Great question. I trust
the people. UM, it's certain outlets that they're trying to
do the best they can. I certainly have my opinion
is that which outlets those are. UM, I'm very selective
(30:27):
as to who I choose. I search out what I
feel to be the most objective, and I know the
natural tendency in this day and age is to search
out your news source, uh and and look at the
whoever is going to say the thing that you most
agree with, and look at that as a valid news source.
I've kind of trained in the old school where I
try to look for the objectivity in it um and
I do find it. It's tricky. I trust the sources
(30:51):
I've come to trust over time. They've they haven't really
failed me, but they're they're certainly winnowed down now right.
There are fewer of those, but I still believe they're
out there, and I know that there are people out
there trying every day to do the right thing. I
don't think anybody goes out there with malice to present
too much of a jaded case. I think, save for
(31:11):
a few, um, and I'm being very careful not to
name names in this, I think most objective outposts and
outlets who have traditionally been that way, Um, the New
York Times, I know I can throw out there as
some as an organization I know tries day in and
day out to get it right. Uh. Those types of
(31:32):
sources are the ones I go and so yeah, I
still trust, but my pool of trust has gotten a
lot shallower. Well and Mike following we just talked about
baseball getting back to, you know, the more of the
way it was. But the news businesses, as you said
you worked in a long time, is it ever going
to go back? Because there's money to be made being
on team Read or Team Blue like you, you can
(31:55):
make money doing that. So what would encourage anyone to
go back to being you know, the neutral arbitrator if
you will, of the of the news, if you can
just make a lot of money being on one side
and another being a partisan. You're right, You're right. I
don't know that there is an answer. I think it's
going to take somebody who's somewhat altruistic, uh, some type
of just philanthropic billionaire who says, you know what, I'm
(32:19):
not looking at this as a looking at this as
a as a place I have got to make the
same margins profit wise that we've made in the sixties, seventies, eighties.
I'm looking at this is something I'm doing to do
the right thing. And I don't know that that person
or people are necessarily out there in mass because nobody
gets into private business to lose money. But it's almost
(32:40):
like it's going to take that um and it may
come down to just fewer and fewer sources willing to
do that. But that's the great question, man, there's so much.
Look at what we watch every night. It's hot take
after hot take after hot take, and it's not thought out,
it's not well researched a lot of it. It's just
screaming and yelling, trying to get balls, trying to get ratings.
(33:01):
You get enough folks who will buying the conspiracy to
save your side. Whether it's red or blue or what
your color as your team is, it doesn't matter, um
And that seem to sell. It's it's not a positive outlook.
But I'm hopeful that somebody somewhere with the money to
back it will say, you know what, enough is enough. Someplace,
somehow has got to be the middle of the road.
(33:22):
And we used to have that saying in journalism, and
you guys know it. It's if I get complaints, uh,
equally from both sides of an issue, and I know
I'm doing my job properly, that means I'm somewhere in
the middle where I'm supposed to be. And you don't
see a lot of that, and there is some risk
to that. Into your greater point, it's not a revenue
generator to be objective. Um, it's a shame. But the
(33:45):
current audience is like, look, we want it lazy, We
wanted spoon fead and nobody likes to be argued with
and feel wrong and they want to participation trophy and
feel like, you know, the world's on their side. So
they're gonna tune into a station that feeds them whatever
they feel like that line needs to be. It's it's
tricky out there for sure. All right, Well, Mike, thank you,
appreciate it for coming on. Good luck with your podcast
(34:08):
and continued success with the padres, and we'll see you
down the line. Thank you, thanks many, Hey appreciate the time,
and uh enjoy the season and hopefully catch up with
you again if not in the postseason. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at
two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two
(34:29):
am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
the I Heart Radio app.
Host
Ben Maller
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