October 1, 2026 • 42 mins
After the Yankees advanced to the Divisional Round of the MLB playoffs, Colin Cowherd explains why this is the most balanced Yankee’s team he’s seen in years.
Colin reacts to the Cowboys acquiring CB Joey Porter Jr and why this is the latest sign Dallas is all-in on contending for a Super Bowl this season.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Here we go. It is a Thursday, one hour from now.
Blazing five picks. I know, I know. It's a Thursday.
I got a wedding to go to tomorrow. Who needs
Aaron Judge? Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger will do just fine.
No Aaron Judge. No problem. Two nearly flawless games for
(00:46):
the New York Yankees. Garrett Cole, their truest ace. They've
got several. He didn't even pitch. Aaron Judge didn't play.
Stanton didn't play. None of it mattered when you have
two phenomenal pitching performances. And the great thing is they're
just not Aaron Judge reliant anymore. For years, they were.
(01:09):
They're not a perfect team, but I mean, Cody Bellinger now,
he made an all-star team. He hadn't done that since 2019.
Max Freed, you know, crafty. He's been great since Atlanta.
Three-time all-star. He's always given the Red Sox problems. So
the National League is better than the American League, and
it's not particularly close. So to beat the Brewers or
(01:29):
the Padres or the Dodgers or the Braves or Phillies,
who know who comes out of that series, you're going
to need Bellinger. You're going to need great pitching. So
in years past, they were so Aaron Judge reliant that
he was having bad at bats. He was pressing. Now
they're an athletic team. They're not old and slow and
poor defensively, which they'd been in previous years. They're athletic,
(01:51):
top 10 in stolen bases. They're younger, and they're just
more layered. They're a more complete team. If you go
to Aaron Judge.com, And the Buffalo Bills can attest to this.
Having the best player in a sport doesn't necessarily hoist trophies.
There was a four-year period where Aaron Judge was having
so many bad at-bats. Remember that World Series error against
(02:13):
the Dodgers in like the fifth inning? It was awful.
He batted 133, 250, 139, 184 from 2000 to 2024.
I mean, it was just lots of bad at-bats. And
he was pressing because if he didn't play well.
They didn't win. That is not it. The one way
(02:34):
for a team to slow down the bats of the
National League is elite starting pitching. And the Yanks have
three aces. Again, Aaron Judge didn't have a bat in
the series. He didn't have an at-bat. Stanton didn't have
an at-bat. Garrett Cole didn't throw a pitch. And they
literally played two perfect games, outscored the Red Sox 18-2.
(02:56):
And a lot of it's money. There's no question. Boston
feels like they've sort of built a team good enough
to be a playoff team, but not really special. And
I don't think the White Sox have the pitching either.
They don't have the money. Tampa doesn't have enough power.
And I've said it. There's a bunch of teams that'll
get through the National League potentially. All of them. Power pitching.
(03:18):
Power hitting. Multiple All-Stars. But that Yankee team was too
Aaron Judge dependent. They don't need him. They can steal
a base. They have multiple elite starters. Here was Aaron
Boone impressed like the rest of us after.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
We play great baseball. And, you know, if we play
like that, we can beat anybody. But it's two games
in the long, what we hope is a long month.
But really proud of them. That's a really good team
that persevered through a lot over there and runs a
lot of good pitchers that year. And I just thought
we had great at-bats, obviously, and then anchored by our
(03:54):
two great starting pitchers to get us off on a great.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Note each night.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, we talked about it yesterday. Aces and power pitching
dominate the postseason. Small ball and singles and doubles can
dominate the volume regular season. So the Yankees face the
Rays next. It is a tale of two different cultures,
two different payrolls, two different styles. The Yankees have far
(04:21):
more velocity and more power hitters. Meanwhile, the Rays do
everything well with limitations of stars. So can't wait for that.
All right. Timing is a real thing in baseball. So
when the Cubs played San Diego in April and June,
they crushed them. Won five of six, a plus 27
(04:42):
run differential. That's not the same Padre team. OK, they
are on fire since September 1st, a month. The Padres
lead baseball in wins, runs, OPS, batting average. I mean,
they're hitting almost 290 as a team. And also, the
Cubs did themselves no favors. The Cubs lost four of
(05:05):
their last six games, so there goes Wrigley Field. So
now you're playing on the road. Well, you're watching these games.
Home field just means something for a handful of teams
in baseball. I think it means a lot for San Diego.
I think it means a lot for the Yankees. I
went to multiple Cubs games this year. fun, athletic team.
The Cubs were always fun, but flawed. They were unbelievably
(05:27):
reliant on PCA and Bregman. PCA went 0 for 7
in the series and the Cubs 2 for 15 with
runners in scoring position. So as an offense, they batted 129.
And so this was a team that was always a
lot of fun, athletic star player, MVP level guy, but
(05:48):
not enough elite pitching bullpen got a little better, never
really trusted it. And you could pitch around their best guy.
So the Padres and the Brewers should be a much
better series because the Brewers, although they don't have a
ton of power, they have elite, strong pitching. And you
need that to defuse San Diego. So they've got an
ace or two there. And in baseball, we know that
(06:08):
one player, LeBron James, can get you to the finals,
regardless of teammates. You know, in the NFL, we know
Josh Allen. You're going to win your division regardless of teammates. Baseball,
proven in this series, is very much a collective. And
in the early part of the season when Manny Machado
and Tatis could not hit, I mean, Tatis was awful
for the first two months. It looked like this collective
(06:30):
was very even. But once Machado and Tatis and the
pitching gets healthy and they're playing the way they can play,
you just see the deeper roster isn't particularly close. And
PCA and the Cubs go home having been swept in two.
Here's his thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I think that this team showed a lot of, A
lot of heart and a lot of fight through all
the challenge. But, no, I mean, I would say to start, like,
I show up. I show up when it matters in
these games, you know. I think that would help us immediately.
(07:13):
But that's all I got right now.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And that's about all they had right now. So Greg
Cosell and Blazing Five at the start of next hour
to start. Obviously, I love the Steelers tonight against the
Cleveland Browns. And the Braves and Phillies was wild. That's
a classic series in both games as they're split. They
go to a third game where the long ball has
been the difference in the game. So, you know, listen,
(07:41):
you have to pay for multiple home run hitters. Philly
can afford it. Atlanta can afford it. The Yankees can
afford it. The Padres can. The Dodgers can. That's kind
of been the difference last couple of years. It feels
like Toronto last year had multiple power hitters. So, you know,
and I know what I think is interesting, Yankees-Rays, Rays
(08:02):
built for the regular season with a superior team. And
all the people that think we need a salary cap
are going to relish when the Yankees hammer the Rays.
But what if they don't? And that's why, in a
weird way, I'm kind of like, I'd like to see
the Rays and the Brewers. I know, J-Mac's like rolling
his eyes. But I think the salary floor... needs to
(08:22):
be much higher. I'm not really worried about the cap.
Pay the stars what you got to pay the stars.
I think cheap billionaires with low floors is baseball's problem
because you're seeing in all these playoffs, White Sox aren't
spending any money. White Sox dominated Houston. I watched the
last six innings of both Astro White Sox games. Houston's
(08:43):
got all this money. The crowd was dead. The White
Sox were an absolutely superior team with a low payroll. Now,
can you win a World Series that way? I don't know.
But in a weird way, I think a lot of
players are rooting for the Brewers and the Rays because
it will prove what they say. It's not about the payroll.
It's about... It's about the players.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
I know a lot of coastal elites who would love
it for the Dodgers and Yankees to meet in the
World Series once again.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Colin, but you're right.
Speaker 8 (09:10):
This raise Yankees will be a referendum on small market.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Big market.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
That's going to be the talking point the entire series.
You know, I'm rolling with my Yanks, obviously.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So coming up next, say this for the Cowboys. They
are going all in. They gave up yesterday another great
draft pick. Now they got an excellent top five corner
in the NFL. So they didn't give it away. Just
like when they gave up a first round pick for
Quinnen Williams from the Jets. He's worth a first round
pick as it feels like over the last several years,
(09:42):
drafts are getting a little weaker. We'll talk about the
Cowboys and kind of what's at stake here next.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1,
and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (09:59):
Stu Gatz here.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
Pleased to be hosting college football with Stugatz and the Bear.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
We do it two times a week.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
Every Monday, every single Friday throughout the college football season.
Speaker 10 (10:09):
You can expect a little bit of this.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Will Stein, the head.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Coach at Kentucky, joins us.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Open bar at a wedding, ordering a Shirley Temple.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Will or will not?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
No. Will not. Ketchup on steak.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Will or will not?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Will not.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
A little bit of this.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
Rhys Davis, host of College Game Day, is with us now.
Speaker 9 (10:28):
And then I'm going home to the BBC, and they're
saying Jockovich instead of Jokovich.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Right, because you can't say Jockovich.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
If you do, you know the blowback you're going to
get from the American audience.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
And a whole lot of this.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
Listen to college football with Stugatz and the Bear on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
You get your podcasts. You're now entering the No Bull Zone,
sponsored by Credible. Great rates, no bull. So when I
got out of college for about, I swear to God,
for 25 years, I used to have this horrible dream
twice a week where I walked into a classroom for
(11:13):
a midterm and I wasn't prepared. And it was just awful.
Like you'd wake up in a sweat. And I had
it all the time. And I actually went to a
therapist once to ask about it. And it was stress
and anxiety in your life. And I've talked, I guess
a lot of people have the same dream. And so
(11:34):
I was thinking the Cowboys are really, they don't, I
don't know if they know it's a midterm yet. But
the next three games, they are facing all three teams
that are wobbling and just need a gentle push. They
have Houston this week. Houston's a mess on both sides
of the ball. And yesterday, Cowboys made a deal, second-round pick,
(11:58):
to get Joey Porter Jr. a corner. He's a very,
very good player. Very good player. So they're all in now.
You're paying Dak top of the market. You committed to
George Pickens for a year. You redid your D-line, draft
capital and money, and you gave up a great pick
to an elite corner, the best corner you've had in
a long time. Dallas is all in, which is crazy
(12:22):
because I still think they went really cheap on a
coaching staff, which is, you know, that will rear its
head eventually. But the other thing that's playing to their
advantage is, The Giants now don't have Jackson Dart, and
Washington's on a backup quarterback too, and the Eagles got humiliated,
and it's arguable they don't have a very good coach.
(12:43):
So your next three games, everybody's wobbling. And you just
gave up a win against Baltimore. Be honest. You outplayed them.
You gave one to the team. And Dak, by the way, remember,
Dak's looking for a new deal next year because I think–
Next season is his last guaranteed money year. So he's
(13:04):
looking for an extension. He's 33. He's still in his prime,
late prime, but in his prime. So you gave up
big time money for you gave up a first round
pick for. Quentin Williams, totally defended it, totally worth it.
I think getting Joey Porter Jr., second round pick, totally
worth it. He is better than any second round pick.
They got to pay him, but he's an elite player.
(13:25):
So you start looking. I've said this before about Dallas.
I've said this before about Dallas. You look at their
top 10 players. Now you had Joey Porter is one
of their top five now.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
It is elite.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
They're top heavy, but it is elite. So they have
remodeled this house. The only concern is, The value of
the house hasn't gone up yet. So they've spent the
time and the money on it, and they've got struggling Houston,
struggling Tampa, and the struggling Bucs in order. Your division's
(13:56):
playing backup quarterbacks. The next three are teams that need
a slight nudge to go over the cliff and And
Dallas outplayed Baltimore and gave it away. I hope they
know this is their midterm. It's coming early this year.
But you can change the direction of your franchise the
next three weeks. Here's Damian Woody on the improved Cowboy defense.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
For the Dallas Cowboys, it seemed like we're talking about
the same thing over and over and over again. And
that's the defense. The Dallas Cowboys can score with anyone.
There's no question about that. But how many times have
we talked about the defense being rebuilt? Oh, we're going
to trade it for this guy. We got this new piece.
We got this new coordinator. For the same thing to
(14:43):
keep happening over and over and over again. So I'm
not going to be the guy that's going to jump
on the Dallas Cowboys bandwagon until they prove otherwise to me.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I may do it when they beat Houston, which I
think they will. J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 10 (15:00):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 7 (15:03):
Start Thursday off bold, I see, Cal Herd. All right,
let's go to Major League Baseball. Fun one yesterday, Philly
and Atlanta. So I don't know if you saw this.
Bryce Harper really botched this fly ball in the seventh inning.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
A catastrophe.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
The Braves take the lead and Atlanta's going crazy. The
Internet's melting down. But Bryce Harper rebounded.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
Colin, look at this. boom goes yard the.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
Next time he's up to top uh to tie the
game huge uh home run there and then they end
up winning on.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
An alec schwarber also had one.
Speaker 8 (15:37):
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
An alec boom home run uh in the 10th inning
a great comeback from the phillies here's bryce harper yeah
here's bryce harper real quick on rallying after the mess up.
Speaker 11 (15:48):
I was thinking about crew uh my son you know
what i would say to him in that situation um
I think it's a learning situation, not for myself, but
everybody else as well.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
I think you try to flush it as quick as possible.
Speaker 11 (16:02):
I've been through a lot of situations to get me
to this point. You make a play like that, and
I'm hearing it out there, obviously. But how quickly can
I turn the page and just get past that moment
knowing that I'm still coming up to plate?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
How big does that series feel? I mean, the Braves
have always been, for 30 years, a great franchise. Kings
of the South. And then Philadelphia. I think, honestly, if
it's just entertainment value, Phillies, Yankees would be the most
entertaining World Series. I think Philadelphia is just flawed enough
to make it interesting. I mean, it's a classic example. Yesterday,
they get three bombs late to tie it, take a
(16:43):
lead and go on to win. It's so Phillies. And
by the way, their their home games like San Diego
jump off the television. So I am rooting for Philadelphia.
I just I think they're big, flawed, big power history.
And I love Bryce Harper.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
Yeah, the the mistake in the outfield and then to
rally with the home run.
Speaker 8 (17:06):
That's sports right there, Colin.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
You know, it's it reminded me of Matt Stafford throws
the pick six on Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Right.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
Gets the ball back.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 8 (17:13):
Down the field.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Touchdown.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Take the lead like that.
Speaker 11 (17:15):
Sports.
Speaker 8 (17:15):
Can you are you going to get up off the
mat when you're knocked down?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Bryce Harper was one of the first 16 year olds
on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was the greatest
high school baseball player ever in Nevada. I think he
played for Bishop Gorman. I went to a Padre game
one time, and I was staying at the Omni where
you can walk into Petco. There's a walkway. And I
walked in. There was his dad. and his dad is built,
and he was like, oh, you're so nice to my son,
(17:38):
and I'm like, how can you not be? And this one,
he just broke into baseball, and he was getting crap
from teammates, including, I think, A.J. Perzinski, who's on this hour,
because he had the big hair and the flow, and
he was different. So I find it hard not to
root for Bryce Harper, because when he broke into the sport,
the sport was in a weird spot where there was
these guys like, hey, there's a way to play the game.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
It's like.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Give me a break. I grew up with Reggie Jackson
and Mickey Rivers and Pete Rose and Mark Fidrich, Al
Roboski in the 70s. There was all sorts of personality
in weirdos. And, you know, I think Bryce Harper's been
a complete credit to the game and has lived up
to all the high school hype. Totally agree.
Speaker 7 (18:14):
All right, let's go to the Windy City. We're not
talking Cubs. Their season's over. We're talking Bears, Colin. And
the fun game that Ben Johnson is playing with the
media right now, he is not announcing who his.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Quarterback will be.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
He's leaving it open. Is it going to be Caleb?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Maybe.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
I don't know. Is it going to be Tyson Bajan?
Is it going to be Case Keenum, the hero? Here's
Ben Johnson playing.
Speaker 7 (18:36):
Is he playing chicken with the Jets? We'll see.
Speaker 12 (18:40):
We've got three guys, and we'll kind of work through
the week and see where they're at.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Whoever we feel like gives us the best chance to win.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
I'm starting to like Ben Johnson a little more every day.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
You know, you can just tell he's got that poop-eating
grin on his face as he.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Says, yeah, well, we'll see who's the best quarter, who's
ready to go.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
Well, I mean, it's, you know.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
The media's job is to pull things out of people.
But the truth is, a lot of the times, football's
the classic game of cat and mouse because you don't
want to.
No sport... is more influenced outcomes than football. So the
element of surprise is a big deal in football. It's
(19:27):
not a big element of surprise. It's not a big
deal in basketball. You know who's pitching the next day
in baseball already. But in football, the element of surprise
is really huge. If you take a lead in an
NFL game, you win 65% of the time. Like, so
keep opponents guessing and the Jets are a much tougher
(19:48):
out this year. Geno's an up he's played very very
well so he was almost perfect last weekend and I'll
say this for Aaron Glenn they're not getting big interceptions
but they're they have drafted so well if you watch
a Jets game you can see their athleticism both sides
they are fast defensively they get all they they are
sideline to sideline fast.
Speaker 7 (20:08):
The culture of secrecy in the NFL is crazy. We'll
get to a J.J. McCarthy story later. But people just don't.
There's no leaks. People don't leak stuff out. All these
reporters in the NFL, they get what you want them
to get.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Right.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
I mean, the teams are basically handing it out or
they're not. My guess is it's going to be Beijing.
I know you've got people on the ground in Chicago,
but I can't see them going back to Keenum.
Speaker 8 (20:31):
And duplicating that performance.
Speaker 7 (20:32):
I think Bajan, who hasn't had any live ball reps,
I don't think this.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Oh, no, he did.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
He did coming in at the end against the Vikings.
My guess is they go with Bajan and a bit
of a curveball.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I would have a hard time sitting Case Keenum after
he was a combination of Johnny Unitas and... And Joe Montana.
I was like, I'm sorry. I'm going to go with
Case Keenum.
Speaker 11 (20:56):
All right.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Final story is Jalen Hurts, the Super Bowl MVP. You know, listen,
he wasn't great on Monday Night Football. But how about
this stat, Colin? He's only lost 26 games since becoming
a starter in 2021. Only Mahomes and Josh Allen have
won more games than Jalen Hurts in the last six seasons.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That's it.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
I mean, great company, as you said. Here's Hertz on
the value of losing after the Monday night loss.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
A loss is a loss. It's an opportunity to learn.
And I've always looked at them the same. I hate
it more than anything in this world. At the same time,
we need it. And it's something that is natural and
a part of the process of winning. To win, you
(21:43):
have to lose. You have to feel resilience and character
within that, reflecting on it, choosing to learn from it.
And so that's my approach.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
I know a lot of people watch that and think,
the old philosopher. The loss is a loss.
Speaker 8 (22:01):
Like, Jalen, stop. Enough with the sound bites.
Speaker 7 (22:04):
That was Russell Wilson's playbook. It was lame back in
the day. I'm not bothered by it because I'm a
Hurts guy. I just go back to his story, Colin.
The Alabama stuff with Tua. Getting benched midway through a game.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
He's very much Dak Prescott. Whether you think he's a
great quarterback or not, he's a great leader. Somebody said
this yesterday. A friend of mine said this about... lincoln
riley he said there's a difference between a good coach
and a good leader he said i think lincoln's a
good coach i don't think he's a good leader saban
was both but there are coaches that are good leaders
but not necessarily great great coaches you know um and
(22:40):
and and the opposite is true and it's the same
with quarterback there are some of these quarterbacks i don't
think have great leadership skill um But they're really good quarterbacks.
I don't love all of Jalen Hurts' kind of aesthetics
as a quarterback. I think he's an unbelievable leader. And
I think that's why not every player loves him. Because
(23:00):
he's like an adult. He's not one of the guys.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
He's more mature than most of the guys. You can
tell he came from strong parents. And, you know, this
is a kid that, you know, had to make the bed.
You know, this wasn't a kid that was spoiled. Like
he put the time in. He comes from a really
good background and you can see it and hear it
every time he's at the podium. He is a great leader.
Sometimes I think he's kind of an average quarterback, but
he is a great leader.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
Average doesn't yeah he doesn't strike me as the kind
of guy who gets his big contract and goes out
and buys a lamborghini and then goes and buys you.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Know nothing against guys that do go no no.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
That's but that's not him right that doesn't feel like
him now i will say this hertz is getting beat
up for for monday and then manny and as well
i just want to point out that eagles defense has
been absolute garbage through three games they can't get any
stops Washington came in the back door against him. Tennessee
moved the ball against him. And friggin' Case Keenum came
off the street and carved him up. So Eagles defense
(23:55):
needs to catch a lot of heat. It's not just
about Hertz, Colin.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
No, I agree. J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Well, that's the news.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
And thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
The Herdline News.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
So we were talking before the show started today. We
got on the set early, and we were just talking about, like,
images and moments when you're young that shape your lives. And,
I mean, one thing I know, having six kids in
my life, one of them's getting married on Saturday, so
I'll be off tomorrow blazing five top of the Thursday
second hour, is that when you're young especially, Like when
(24:29):
you're between like, you know, seven and 17 or maybe
it's 17 and 25 and you're a young athlete, let's
say in sports, like parenting matters and coaching matters because
chaos is much harder to deal with when you've never
really dealt with it a lot. And so it's amazing
to me, the world, everybody in Boston is selling Drake
(24:52):
May stock, the quarterback who has plummeted this year. I'm not.
And here's why. So his top two receivers last year,
and remember, he's a young, ascending, developing quarterback. So he's building,
he's building, he's just getting. Suddenly his top two receivers,
Kayshaun Booty and Stephon Diggs. Diggs is a great receiver.
When the pocket breaks down, they bail on him. Okay, okay. Well,
(25:15):
let's bring in A.J. Brown. Okay, he lasted 31 snaps.
So now the number one receivers. is Mac Collins, 33,
who's never had 700 yards or 50 catches in a
season and doesn't, now he does several things well, but
separation is not one of them. So do you think
losing your top two receivers, getting another one that's immediately hurt,
(25:39):
and having a guy that's more of a three or
a four receiver be your one would change things? I mean,
New England's one of only three teams in the league
that doesn't have a touchdown from a wide receiver this year.
I looked it up this morning. When targeting wide receivers,
Drake May this year has a 47 passer rating. Remember
(26:00):
Brady's last year in New England. Let's go back to Brady.
There was a moment in Tom Brady's last season in
New England where, and I don't know what game it was,
but they caught him on the sidelines yelling at his receivers.
Could somebody get open? Tom Brady. And then the next year,
(26:23):
he had Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and it was
amazing how good Brady was. So the greatest quarterback we've
ever seen in his last year in New England, where
he got beat by the Titans in a home playoff game.
The greatest quarterback ever. Nobody could get open because Belichick,
for all his strengths, could not. The organization, they never
(26:47):
could draft receivers. I mean, Edelman was a quarterback. Tight
end's not bad. Running back's okay. Could not draft receivers.
That's why Brady decided to choose a franchise with an
offensive coach and a bunch of good receivers and brought
Gronk with him. So if Brady struggled, what's Drake Megan
to do as he's learning the position and Matt Collins
is his guy? So I say this with Justin Herbert,
(27:11):
guys don't forget how to be great. What happens when
you're young, you're a kid, you're 17, you're 24, you're
in a sport. And the other thing is, we all
know this, look at the young quarterbacks Like Bryce Young or,
you know, I mean, Bryce Young was a bust. Oh, wait,
he's not. Or Tyler Schuch. They have offensive coaches who
(27:36):
are elite game planners and game callers in many instances.
Vrabel's a defensive guy. He's a culture guy. He's the CEO.
He's not the schematic guy. Well, they have a good OC.
Still different. If you look at this, we talked about it.
Who are the six quarterbacks this year that have overachieved
relative to their careers? All of them have offensive coaches. So,
(27:58):
you know, and you guys were all selling Bryce Young
stock and Sam Darnold stock and Trevor Lawrence stock, and
you were for about a year selling Caleb Williams stock.
As your stock broker, I'm telling you to hold. You
don't have to buy more, but I would hold on
selling Drake May stock. Albert Beery yesterday on what's changed
(28:19):
this year.
Speaker 9 (28:21):
The NFL catches up with you, and the NFL is
going to take whatever you do well, and over time,
they're going to take it away from you.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
And I think starting in.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
The playoffs last year, they started to force Drake May
to play a different game, and now he's got to
adjust to it. I think it's part of a natural progression.
It's just when you juxtapose the schedule they had during
the regular season last year versus what they've seen since,
I think it's really highlighted some of the things that
a quarterback would normally go through, and we'll see if
he's tough enough to get through it.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
My guess is at the trading deadline, they go get
a receiver, like a two or a three.
Speaker 12 (28:54):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Brown will come back, and it will slowly morph back
into something that looks closer to last year. Just go
to Brady's last year in New England. Nobody could get open.
You know this as a Patriot fan. They could not
draft wide receivers to save their life for like eight years.
Even like first-round guys. They just couldn't hit on them.
(29:16):
And then Brady was like, okay. If Gronk's aging out,
who do I throw to? So if Brady's struggling with it,
that tells you everything.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Brzezinski, Greg Cosell, Blazing Five, all of it coming up
in the next half hour. It's The Herd.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I was looking at A.J. Persinski's career batting average, 280.
Nobody hits 280 anymore. All the pitchers are 6'6, throwing
straight downhill. The Yankees feel like they have half of them.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Brzezinski, Fox Baseball, 19 years, silver slugger, World Series champ.
Last time the White Sox were great. He'll be calling
the Padres Brewers, which is going to be fascinating. I
want to start with the White Sox. So I get
home off the train in Chicago now. I live in Chicago.
So I watched the last six and a half innings,
last two days of the White Sox. They don't have
a lot of stars. They do have, you know, the
new Japanese star. But it's a lot of guys that
(30:16):
can rake. It's a lot of guys. A five hitter
to a six, seven, eight. And if you'd never seen
a baseball game, you'd be like, who are these guys?
Like everybody can hit, they play, they're aggressive. Um, I mean, I,
I'm watching them yesterday, just fly through the Astros, take
the oxygen out of Houston. And is it a team?
Is this just a team that can win a wild
(30:38):
card series? And that's it.
Speaker 12 (30:41):
Uh, listen, Colin, as a, as a white socks person fan,
I guess you, I guess you can call me a fan.
Speaker 6 (30:46):
Okay. Um, Do I think they can win the World Series?
Probably not.
Speaker 12 (30:52):
Do I think they can beat the Guardians and the ALDS?
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 12 (30:55):
They won the season series from them. Do I think
they can beat the Rays or the Yankees? I think
they're going to have a little bit harder time because that's.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
When pitching depth comes into play.
Speaker 12 (31:04):
Now, do they have some guys that.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
Can do some stuff? Yeah, Sean Burke, Davis Martin.
Speaker 12 (31:08):
Anthony K they'll mix in some openers here and there
to try to get them through an inning or two
early in the game back into their bullpen is good.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
Sometimes the grand.
Speaker 12 (31:15):
Taylor, sometimes it can be iffy, I guess would be
a nice word, but I tell you what about the
white socks. If you haven't seen them play, they are
fun as hell to watch. They're the best interview. They're
the best interviews in baseball after they win. If you
haven't seen the Mike Vassell and the Murakami interview after
last night, when they're drinking champagne Murakami, when he says,
I'm going to be drunk yesterday or hung over yesterday.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
And the lady and the lady interviewing him says, you
mean tomorrow? And he's like, yeah, sorry.
Speaker 12 (31:38):
I don't speak English because he's like, my translator is drunk.
It's like the greatest thing ever. Tracy, my draw is
a really good player. Miguel Vargas has turned him into
a self into a really good player. They just have
a bunch of guys that are fun to watch. And
that's what the South side of Chicago has been wanting
for years.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah, and there's no pressure on them. They don't play
with a lot of pressure. I was telling the guys
today in the morning meeting, it's almost like the greatest
beer league team you've ever seen. They're having a really,
really good time. By the way, Pope Leo is a
big White Sox fan. The Pope is from Chicago. You
went to the Vatican and gifted him the final out
from the 2005 World Series. Look at that. Look at that.
(32:16):
That's an all-time moment, right?
Speaker 12 (32:19):
Do I look gigantic in that photo or is it
just me? Like this angle, is it angle? Every time
I see that photo, I'm just like, man, I look
like I'm like three times the size of Pope Leo.
Speaker 6 (32:29):
He's not that small. Maybe it's just the angle.
Speaker 12 (32:30):
I don't know. Listen, I gave him the game, the
outlast out from game one, the game they showed him
on Fox on TV, the hitter they showed him was
Adam Everett.
Speaker 6 (32:39):
That was the last out. And I have the ball.
Speaker 12 (32:41):
And when you get asked to meet the Pope and
you're told, what do I give the Pope that he
doesn't have? The only thing I could think of was
the ball from the game he was at and the
hitter they showed him on TV. So he got it,
and he was genuinely enthused. He gets all kinds of
gifts all the time. Listen, I gave him a Brzezinski
autographed jersey, Colin. He probably went like this in the
dumpster and just dropped it, which is fine.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
I get it. He gets jerseys all the time from people.
But you know what?
Speaker 12 (33:07):
He actually took the ball, and I think that might
be sitting on his desk somewhere. So at least I
can say he was genuinely happy when I gave that
to him.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
So home field matters. I always feel the old Yankee Stadium,
you know, really felt, you know, just it was intimidating.
It was an intimidating place. The new one's nicer, but
maybe not as intimidating or maybe the teams aren't as good.
But watching games in San Diego, I'm like, oh, yeah,
Cubs were out of their space like that. That thing
was that was like a college football game in the south.
(33:34):
You have the Padres Brewers, San Diego. We've been waiting
for AJ basically for four years. They've had talent. I
remember a couple of years ago, they played the Dodgers
and they had the Dodgers worried. The Dodgers threw a
bullpen game at them and shut them out. And I'm like,
what is happening? But they are now Machado's on fire.
Tatis is on fire. You got the series with the Brewers.
(33:56):
What is it going to look like?
Speaker 12 (33:59):
Well, it's going to be fascinating baseball because the Brewers
are the best team. They won 103 games this year, Colin,
and they play a different style. If you haven't seen
the Brewers play baseball, it is a, Pat Murphy hates
when I say this because I give him grief about
it all the time, but if you're a college coach, man,
you play a college style of baseball.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
He gets so mad. He's like, we're in the big league.
Stop saying that, right?
Speaker 12 (34:17):
And Pat Murphy's awesome, fascinating guy, but they take the
extra batting.
Speaker 6 (34:23):
They put pressure on pitchers. They have an unbelievable bullpen.
Speaker 12 (34:26):
Mizorowski, if you haven't seen him, he's starting game one,
104 miles an hour, six foot eight, you know, throwing from,
he's literally reaching the ball to the catcher.
Speaker 6 (34:35):
And then their bullpen's great.
Speaker 12 (34:36):
Logan Henderson, the guy they wouldn't trade for, Tarek Skubal,
pitching game two, more than likely.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
It's a fun brain. And then you go to San Diego, okay?
Speaker 12 (34:44):
And the Padres, when Tatis and Machado were going, and
don't forget Jackson Merrill had an unbelievable second half. You
throw him in there and their bullpen with Jason Adam,
Mason Miller, and on more at home, you throw those
guys in there. They only need like five innings out
of their starter and the game's over, but the atmosphere,
the atmosphere in Milwaukee is going to be a mate electric,
but then wait, do we go to San Diego over
game three and game four if needed?
Speaker 6 (35:06):
The towels.
Speaker 12 (35:07):
And I was there in 20, was it 2022 when
the Padres beat the Dodgers in that playoff series, I
had never heard a louder stadium in my life. And
if you watch them play the Cubs, it was like that.
Now imagine they're around deeper and the Brewers, it's going
to be crazy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Listen, early in his career, Bryce Harper pushed a lot
of buttons for people in baseball, including you, but I
always supported him because I said, listen, when you're that
good looking and you'd have that much style baseball, I
grew up with Mark Fidrich, Al Roboski, Pete Rose, Mickey rivers,
all these wild personalities, Reggie Jackson's ego. I loved Reggie Jackson.
(35:44):
I mean, he would come to Seattle and crush my Mariners.
I loved Reggie Jackson. And my take was NFL NBA
has got, you know, eccentric personalities. Bryce is just big.
And I understand like, like he was on the cover
of sports illustrated and I watched him yesterday and I'm like,
it sums up his career. We have a standard he
has to hit, makes the error, then hits a bomb.
(36:06):
How do you view his entire career? Some people would say, well,
it hasn't lived up to it. And I'm like, yeah,
but baseball's not basketball. You only get four at-bats. Basketball,
LeBron can take 35 shots. A quarterback can throw 52 passes.
Baseball's harder. It's longer. How do you view Bryce's career?
Speaker 6 (36:27):
What's he supposed to do? He's going to be a
first ballot hall of famer. He's got what? Three MVPs.
What else is Bryce Harper? What?
Speaker 12 (36:34):
He did big home runs at big moments.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
He made the mistake in right field, but you know
what he did?
Speaker 12 (36:38):
He came back and hit the home run to tie
the game off a tough lefty after Schwarber had just
hit the home run. So I don't know what people
want out of Bryce Harper. Listen, I was one of
those guys when Bryce came up and was like, wow,
look at this kid.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
And then I, the.
Speaker 12 (36:49):
More I've watched Bryce and the more Bryce has handled
the situation better and better and better. Listen, you can't
compare him to, who are you going to compare? I
don't know, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth. But for a kid
that's been hyped since he was about 12 years old
to have the pressure he's had on him and to
have the career, again, he's going to be a first
(37:10):
ballot Hall of Famer. What else do you want, Kyle?
What do people want out of a guy? First ballot
Hall of Famer, that's the highest.
Speaker 6 (37:16):
Honor you can get.
Speaker 12 (37:17):
Again, three MVPs, he hasn't won a World Series. Okay,
that's the one knock on Bryce Harper's career. You can
say he hasn't won a World Series. He's lived up
to all the hype for me.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
National League is better than the American League, and it's
not particularly close, I don't think. But the Yankees starting pitching,
I mean, Aaron Judge didn't have it at bat. Stanton
didn't have it at bat. Garrett Cole didn't throw a pitch,
and they flew through the Red Sox. I think whoever
wins the National League should be favored, right, over the
(37:49):
American League. Your take on this Yankee team, which is clearly, AJ,
not nearly. They're more athletic than the previous four or
five years, and they're not nearly as Aaron Judge reliant.
Speaker 12 (38:01):
They're pitching reliant, which is better at this point. I mean, listen,
their rotation, Cam Schliller, is unbelievable. Max Freed is one
of the best pitchers in baseball. Then you go Garrett Cole,
game three. Carlos Rodon is their fourth starter, and he
didn't get it. I mean, it's ridiculous, and their back
end of their bullpen is a lot better, I Ben Rice,
if you haven't seen him play, really good. Austin Wells
(38:23):
is hot as anything right now.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
They're a catcher.
Speaker 12 (38:26):
George Lombard's made a huge difference. And Yankee fans hated
this guy for a long time, Anthony Volpe. He's come
back from AAA and been really, really good as a
second baseman. So, listen, do I want to put all
my stock in the Yankees? No, the Rays are really good.
I think this two-game sweep of the Red Sox, honestly,
as good as the Yankees was, was more of an
indictment on the Red Sox and their lack of offense.
Speaker 6 (38:48):
I mean, listen, and.
Speaker 12 (38:54):
Gray was doing fine they took him out and then
the bolt back into the bullpen kind of let it
get away from them both games but they didn't score
any runs and that's been their biggest issue in the
postseason they don't have a lot of guys right-handed especially
when they face a quality lefty like Max Freed Wilson
Contreras is the one right-handed hitter they had that can
really do some damage it's left hand heavy and with
Roman Anthony out their lineup was light for me and
(39:16):
they were beaten in two games badly by the Yankees.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
AJ great seeing you as always man appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Thanks, Colin.
Speaker 12 (39:22):
By the way, the next time we talk, I'll tell
you about the time I was confused for Reggie Jackson.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
You'll love that one.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I love Reggie. uh good seeing you my man.
Speaker 6 (39:31):
You too buddy.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yeah, Reggie Jackson was fighting in the dugout with Billy Martin. And,
you know, you're a young kid. You're a young Sparky.
You have no idea. I tell people this all the time.
You have no idea how great baseball was in the
mid-70s to the mid-80s. And you don't have any idea
how great boxing was in the 70s and 80s. Like,
(39:55):
if you're under, like, 45 years old, boxing was unbelievable.
George Foreman in his prime, and Frazier, and Ali, and
there were just so many great fighters out there. And
baseball had dynasties and fights, like regular fights. It was
almost inappropriate.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
Wait, so you're saying boxing was better back then than
the YouTube guys who are fighting in the ring now?
Speaker 1 (40:21):
That's shocking.
Speaker 8 (40:21):
The professionals were, like, awesome to watch.
Speaker 6 (40:25):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (40:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
That's a cutting-edge comment, by the way. So we have
our Blazing Five top of the hour.
Speaker 8 (40:32):
You see that countdown clock on the screen?
Speaker 6 (40:34):
Is that new?
Speaker 8 (40:34):
I don't think I've seen that before.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Listen, when you go 5-0 and then 3-2... People, they
want to see it.
Speaker 8 (40:41):
And we got to get that going for headlines in
the final hour. Now I know PA.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Listen, I was, you know, I tend to in college football,
I bet favorites.
Speaker 11 (40:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I strongly believe USC is going to win and cover
against Washington. If I was a betting man, I would,
I would go heavy on the Trojans this week. Where's
the game in Los Angeles.
Speaker 8 (41:04):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, and if you go back to the Oregon game,
it's closer than the score, and Washington is not. Their
offensive line at Washington is bad. I like their quarterback, though.
He's okay.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
He's good.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
He's no, come through the a gap and he can't
see downfield.
Speaker 7 (41:21):
So you have such a, you just don't like shorter quarterbacks.
It's just, I barely tolerate shorter people. So tell me
about it. Tell me I'm aware.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
So this week was a weird week because I tend
to like favorites in college football. I love underdogs and
pro football. But I told you this last year, and
I had a good season last year. It's harder and
harder to take underdogs because the better teams have offensive
coaches and better quarterbacks. I mean, I loved what the
(41:51):
Bears did. I'm like, what was that? I don't feel
like you would have seen that 10 years ago. So
I like four favorites this weekend. I don't generally like favorites.
Thanks for listening to the Herd Podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio and
noon to 3 Eastern, 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for the Herd at foxsportsradio.com or stream
us live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching
Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Here we go. It is a Thursday, one hour from now.
Blazing five picks. I know, I know. It's a Thursday.
I got a wedding to go to tomorrow. Who needs
Aaron Judge? Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger will do just fine.
No Aaron Judge. No problem. Two nearly flawless games for
(00:46):
the New York Yankees. Garrett Cole, their truest ace. They've
got several. He didn't even pitch. Aaron Judge didn't play.
Stanton didn't play. None of it mattered when you have
two phenomenal pitching performances. And the great thing is they're
just not Aaron Judge reliant anymore. For years, they were.
(01:09):
They're not a perfect team, but I mean, Cody Bellinger now,
he made an all-star team. He hadn't done that since 2019.
Max Freed, you know, crafty. He's been great since Atlanta.
Three-time all-star. He's always given the Red Sox problems. So
the National League is better than the American League, and
it's not particularly close. So to beat the Brewers or
(01:29):
the Padres or the Dodgers or the Braves or Phillies,
who know who comes out of that series, you're going
to need Bellinger. You're going to need great pitching. So
in years past, they were so Aaron Judge reliant that
he was having bad at bats. He was pressing. Now
they're an athletic team. They're not old and slow and
poor defensively, which they'd been in previous years. They're athletic,
(01:51):
top 10 in stolen bases. They're younger, and they're just
more layered. They're a more complete team. If you go
to Aaron Judge.com, And the Buffalo Bills can attest to this.
Having the best player in a sport doesn't necessarily hoist trophies.
There was a four-year period where Aaron Judge was having
so many bad at-bats. Remember that World Series error against
(02:13):
the Dodgers in like the fifth inning? It was awful.
He batted 133, 250, 139, 184 from 2000 to 2024.
I mean, it was just lots of bad at-bats. And
he was pressing because if he didn't play well.
They didn't win. That is not it. The one way
(02:34):
for a team to slow down the bats of the
National League is elite starting pitching. And the Yanks have
three aces. Again, Aaron Judge didn't have a bat in
the series. He didn't have an at-bat. Stanton didn't have
an at-bat. Garrett Cole didn't throw a pitch. And they
literally played two perfect games, outscored the Red Sox 18-2.
(02:56):
And a lot of it's money. There's no question. Boston
feels like they've sort of built a team good enough
to be a playoff team, but not really special. And
I don't think the White Sox have the pitching either.
They don't have the money. Tampa doesn't have enough power.
And I've said it. There's a bunch of teams that'll
get through the National League potentially. All of them. Power pitching.
(03:18):
Power hitting. Multiple All-Stars. But that Yankee team was too
Aaron Judge dependent. They don't need him. They can steal
a base. They have multiple elite starters. Here was Aaron
Boone impressed like the rest of us after.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
We play great baseball. And, you know, if we play
like that, we can beat anybody. But it's two games
in the long, what we hope is a long month.
But really proud of them. That's a really good team
that persevered through a lot over there and runs a
lot of good pitchers that year. And I just thought
we had great at-bats, obviously, and then anchored by our
(03:54):
two great starting pitchers to get us off on a great.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Note each night.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, we talked about it yesterday. Aces and power pitching
dominate the postseason. Small ball and singles and doubles can
dominate the volume regular season. So the Yankees face the
Rays next. It is a tale of two different cultures,
two different payrolls, two different styles. The Yankees have far
(04:21):
more velocity and more power hitters. Meanwhile, the Rays do
everything well with limitations of stars. So can't wait for that.
All right. Timing is a real thing in baseball. So
when the Cubs played San Diego in April and June,
they crushed them. Won five of six, a plus 27
(04:42):
run differential. That's not the same Padre team. OK, they
are on fire since September 1st, a month. The Padres
lead baseball in wins, runs, OPS, batting average. I mean,
they're hitting almost 290 as a team. And also, the
Cubs did themselves no favors. The Cubs lost four of
(05:05):
their last six games, so there goes Wrigley Field. So
now you're playing on the road. Well, you're watching these games.
Home field just means something for a handful of teams
in baseball. I think it means a lot for San Diego.
I think it means a lot for the Yankees. I
went to multiple Cubs games this year. fun, athletic team.
The Cubs were always fun, but flawed. They were unbelievably
(05:27):
reliant on PCA and Bregman. PCA went 0 for 7
in the series and the Cubs 2 for 15 with
runners in scoring position. So as an offense, they batted 129.
And so this was a team that was always a
lot of fun, athletic star player, MVP level guy, but
(05:48):
not enough elite pitching bullpen got a little better, never
really trusted it. And you could pitch around their best guy.
So the Padres and the Brewers should be a much
better series because the Brewers, although they don't have a
ton of power, they have elite, strong pitching. And you
need that to defuse San Diego. So they've got an
ace or two there. And in baseball, we know that
(06:08):
one player, LeBron James, can get you to the finals,
regardless of teammates. You know, in the NFL, we know
Josh Allen. You're going to win your division regardless of teammates. Baseball,
proven in this series, is very much a collective. And
in the early part of the season when Manny Machado
and Tatis could not hit, I mean, Tatis was awful
for the first two months. It looked like this collective
(06:30):
was very even. But once Machado and Tatis and the
pitching gets healthy and they're playing the way they can play,
you just see the deeper roster isn't particularly close. And
PCA and the Cubs go home having been swept in two.
Here's his thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (06:47):
I think that this team showed a lot of, A
lot of heart and a lot of fight through all
the challenge. But, no, I mean, I would say to start, like,
I show up. I show up when it matters in
these games, you know. I think that would help us immediately.
(07:13):
But that's all I got right now.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And that's about all they had right now. So Greg
Cosell and Blazing Five at the start of next hour
to start. Obviously, I love the Steelers tonight against the
Cleveland Browns. And the Braves and Phillies was wild. That's
a classic series in both games as they're split. They
go to a third game where the long ball has
been the difference in the game. So, you know, listen,
(07:41):
you have to pay for multiple home run hitters. Philly
can afford it. Atlanta can afford it. The Yankees can
afford it. The Padres can. The Dodgers can. That's kind
of been the difference last couple of years. It feels
like Toronto last year had multiple power hitters. So, you know,
and I know what I think is interesting, Yankees-Rays, Rays
(08:02):
built for the regular season with a superior team. And
all the people that think we need a salary cap
are going to relish when the Yankees hammer the Rays.
But what if they don't? And that's why, in a
weird way, I'm kind of like, I'd like to see
the Rays and the Brewers. I know, J-Mac's like rolling
his eyes. But I think the salary floor... needs to
(08:22):
be much higher. I'm not really worried about the cap.
Pay the stars what you got to pay the stars.
I think cheap billionaires with low floors is baseball's problem
because you're seeing in all these playoffs, White Sox aren't
spending any money. White Sox dominated Houston. I watched the
last six innings of both Astro White Sox games. Houston's
(08:43):
got all this money. The crowd was dead. The White
Sox were an absolutely superior team with a low payroll. Now,
can you win a World Series that way? I don't know.
But in a weird way, I think a lot of
players are rooting for the Brewers and the Rays because
it will prove what they say. It's not about the payroll.
It's about... It's about the players.
Speaker 6 (09:02):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
I know a lot of coastal elites who would love
it for the Dodgers and Yankees to meet in the
World Series once again.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Colin, but you're right.
Speaker 8 (09:10):
This raise Yankees will be a referendum on small market.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Big market.
Speaker 7 (09:14):
That's going to be the talking point the entire series.
You know, I'm rolling with my Yanks, obviously.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So coming up next, say this for the Cowboys. They
are going all in. They gave up yesterday another great
draft pick. Now they got an excellent top five corner
in the NFL. So they didn't give it away. Just
like when they gave up a first round pick for
Quinnen Williams from the Jets. He's worth a first round
pick as it feels like over the last several years,
(09:42):
drafts are getting a little weaker. We'll talk about the
Cowboys and kind of what's at stake here next.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1,
and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 8 (09:59):
Stu Gatz here.
Speaker 9 (10:00):
Pleased to be hosting college football with Stugatz and the Bear.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
We do it two times a week.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
Every Monday, every single Friday throughout the college football season.
Speaker 10 (10:09):
You can expect a little bit of this.
Speaker 6 (10:10):
Will Stein, the head.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Coach at Kentucky, joins us.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Open bar at a wedding, ordering a Shirley Temple.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Will or will not?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
No. Will not. Ketchup on steak.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Will or will not?
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Will not.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
A little bit of this.
Speaker 8 (10:26):
Rhys Davis, host of College Game Day, is with us now.
Speaker 9 (10:28):
And then I'm going home to the BBC, and they're
saying Jockovich instead of Jokovich.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Right, because you can't say Jockovich.
Speaker 8 (10:36):
If you do, you know the blowback you're going to
get from the American audience.
Speaker 6 (10:40):
And a whole lot of this.
Speaker 9 (10:46):
Listen to college football with Stugatz and the Bear on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
You get your podcasts. You're now entering the No Bull Zone,
sponsored by Credible. Great rates, no bull. So when I
got out of college for about, I swear to God,
for 25 years, I used to have this horrible dream
twice a week where I walked into a classroom for
(11:13):
a midterm and I wasn't prepared. And it was just awful.
Like you'd wake up in a sweat. And I had
it all the time. And I actually went to a
therapist once to ask about it. And it was stress
and anxiety in your life. And I've talked, I guess
a lot of people have the same dream. And so
(11:34):
I was thinking the Cowboys are really, they don't, I
don't know if they know it's a midterm yet. But
the next three games, they are facing all three teams
that are wobbling and just need a gentle push. They
have Houston this week. Houston's a mess on both sides
of the ball. And yesterday, Cowboys made a deal, second-round pick,
(11:58):
to get Joey Porter Jr. a corner. He's a very,
very good player. Very good player. So they're all in now.
You're paying Dak top of the market. You committed to
George Pickens for a year. You redid your D-line, draft
capital and money, and you gave up a great pick
to an elite corner, the best corner you've had in
a long time. Dallas is all in, which is crazy
(12:22):
because I still think they went really cheap on a
coaching staff, which is, you know, that will rear its
head eventually. But the other thing that's playing to their
advantage is, The Giants now don't have Jackson Dart, and
Washington's on a backup quarterback too, and the Eagles got humiliated,
and it's arguable they don't have a very good coach.
(12:43):
So your next three games, everybody's wobbling. And you just
gave up a win against Baltimore. Be honest. You outplayed them.
You gave one to the team. And Dak, by the way, remember,
Dak's looking for a new deal next year because I think–
Next season is his last guaranteed money year. So he's
(13:04):
looking for an extension. He's 33. He's still in his prime,
late prime, but in his prime. So you gave up
big time money for you gave up a first round
pick for. Quentin Williams, totally defended it, totally worth it.
I think getting Joey Porter Jr., second round pick, totally
worth it. He is better than any second round pick.
They got to pay him, but he's an elite player.
(13:25):
So you start looking. I've said this before about Dallas.
I've said this before about Dallas. You look at their
top 10 players. Now you had Joey Porter is one
of their top five now.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
It is elite.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
They're top heavy, but it is elite. So they have
remodeled this house. The only concern is, The value of
the house hasn't gone up yet. So they've spent the
time and the money on it, and they've got struggling Houston,
struggling Tampa, and the struggling Bucs in order. Your division's
(13:56):
playing backup quarterbacks. The next three are teams that need
a slight nudge to go over the cliff and And
Dallas outplayed Baltimore and gave it away. I hope they
know this is their midterm. It's coming early this year.
But you can change the direction of your franchise the
next three weeks. Here's Damian Woody on the improved Cowboy defense.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
For the Dallas Cowboys, it seemed like we're talking about
the same thing over and over and over again. And
that's the defense. The Dallas Cowboys can score with anyone.
There's no question about that. But how many times have
we talked about the defense being rebuilt? Oh, we're going
to trade it for this guy. We got this new piece.
We got this new coordinator. For the same thing to
(14:43):
keep happening over and over and over again. So I'm
not going to be the guy that's going to jump
on the Dallas Cowboys bandwagon until they prove otherwise to me.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
I may do it when they beat Houston, which I
think they will. J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 10 (15:00):
Turn on the news.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
This is the Herdline News.
Speaker 7 (15:03):
Start Thursday off bold, I see, Cal Herd. All right,
let's go to Major League Baseball. Fun one yesterday, Philly
and Atlanta. So I don't know if you saw this.
Bryce Harper really botched this fly ball in the seventh inning.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
A catastrophe.
Speaker 7 (15:18):
The Braves take the lead and Atlanta's going crazy. The
Internet's melting down. But Bryce Harper rebounded.
Speaker 8 (15:25):
Colin, look at this. boom goes yard the.
Speaker 7 (15:28):
Next time he's up to top uh to tie the
game huge uh home run there and then they end
up winning on.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
An alec schwarber also had one.
Speaker 8 (15:37):
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 7 (15:39):
An alec boom home run uh in the 10th inning
a great comeback from the phillies here's bryce harper yeah
here's bryce harper real quick on rallying after the mess up.
Speaker 11 (15:48):
I was thinking about crew uh my son you know
what i would say to him in that situation um
I think it's a learning situation, not for myself, but
everybody else as well.
Speaker 6 (15:58):
I think you try to flush it as quick as possible.
Speaker 11 (16:02):
I've been through a lot of situations to get me
to this point. You make a play like that, and
I'm hearing it out there, obviously. But how quickly can
I turn the page and just get past that moment
knowing that I'm still coming up to plate?
Speaker 1 (16:21):
How big does that series feel? I mean, the Braves
have always been, for 30 years, a great franchise. Kings
of the South. And then Philadelphia. I think, honestly, if
it's just entertainment value, Phillies, Yankees would be the most
entertaining World Series. I think Philadelphia is just flawed enough
to make it interesting. I mean, it's a classic example. Yesterday,
they get three bombs late to tie it, take a
(16:43):
lead and go on to win. It's so Phillies. And
by the way, their their home games like San Diego
jump off the television. So I am rooting for Philadelphia.
I just I think they're big, flawed, big power history.
And I love Bryce Harper.
Speaker 7 (17:01):
Yeah, the the mistake in the outfield and then to
rally with the home run.
Speaker 8 (17:06):
That's sports right there, Colin.
Speaker 7 (17:07):
You know, it's it reminded me of Matt Stafford throws
the pick six on Sunday night.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Right.
Speaker 8 (17:11):
Gets the ball back.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 8 (17:13):
Down the field.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Touchdown.
Speaker 8 (17:14):
Take the lead like that.
Speaker 11 (17:15):
Sports.
Speaker 8 (17:15):
Can you are you going to get up off the
mat when you're knocked down?
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Bryce Harper was one of the first 16 year olds
on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was the greatest
high school baseball player ever in Nevada. I think he
played for Bishop Gorman. I went to a Padre game
one time, and I was staying at the Omni where
you can walk into Petco. There's a walkway. And I
walked in. There was his dad. and his dad is built,
and he was like, oh, you're so nice to my son,
(17:38):
and I'm like, how can you not be? And this one,
he just broke into baseball, and he was getting crap
from teammates, including, I think, A.J. Perzinski, who's on this hour,
because he had the big hair and the flow, and
he was different. So I find it hard not to
root for Bryce Harper, because when he broke into the sport,
the sport was in a weird spot where there was
these guys like, hey, there's a way to play the game.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
It's like.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Give me a break. I grew up with Reggie Jackson
and Mickey Rivers and Pete Rose and Mark Fidrich, Al
Roboski in the 70s. There was all sorts of personality
in weirdos. And, you know, I think Bryce Harper's been
a complete credit to the game and has lived up
to all the high school hype. Totally agree.
Speaker 7 (18:14):
All right, let's go to the Windy City. We're not
talking Cubs. Their season's over. We're talking Bears, Colin. And
the fun game that Ben Johnson is playing with the
media right now, he is not announcing who his.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Quarterback will be.
Speaker 8 (18:27):
He's leaving it open. Is it going to be Caleb?
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Maybe.
Speaker 8 (18:29):
I don't know. Is it going to be Tyson Bajan?
Is it going to be Case Keenum, the hero? Here's
Ben Johnson playing.
Speaker 7 (18:36):
Is he playing chicken with the Jets? We'll see.
Speaker 12 (18:40):
We've got three guys, and we'll kind of work through
the week and see where they're at.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
Whoever we feel like gives us the best chance to win.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I'm not going to lie.
Speaker 8 (18:51):
I'm starting to like Ben Johnson a little more every day.
Speaker 7 (18:53):
You know, you can just tell he's got that poop-eating
grin on his face as he.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Says, yeah, well, we'll see who's the best quarter, who's
ready to go.
Speaker 12 (19:00):
Well, I mean, it's, you know.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
The media's job is to pull things out of people.
But the truth is, a lot of the times, football's
the classic game of cat and mouse because you don't
want to.
No sport... is more influenced outcomes than football. So the
element of surprise is a big deal in football. It's
(19:27):
not a big element of surprise. It's not a big
deal in basketball. You know who's pitching the next day
in baseball already. But in football, the element of surprise
is really huge. If you take a lead in an
NFL game, you win 65% of the time. Like, so
keep opponents guessing and the Jets are a much tougher
(19:48):
out this year. Geno's an up he's played very very
well so he was almost perfect last weekend and I'll
say this for Aaron Glenn they're not getting big interceptions
but they're they have drafted so well if you watch
a Jets game you can see their athleticism both sides
they are fast defensively they get all they they are
sideline to sideline fast.
Speaker 7 (20:08):
The culture of secrecy in the NFL is crazy. We'll
get to a J.J. McCarthy story later. But people just don't.
There's no leaks. People don't leak stuff out. All these
reporters in the NFL, they get what you want them
to get.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
Right.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
I mean, the teams are basically handing it out or
they're not. My guess is it's going to be Beijing.
I know you've got people on the ground in Chicago,
but I can't see them going back to Keenum.
Speaker 8 (20:31):
And duplicating that performance.
Speaker 7 (20:32):
I think Bajan, who hasn't had any live ball reps,
I don't think this.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Oh, no, he did.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
He did coming in at the end against the Vikings.
My guess is they go with Bajan and a bit
of a curveball.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
I would have a hard time sitting Case Keenum after
he was a combination of Johnny Unitas and... And Joe Montana.
I was like, I'm sorry. I'm going to go with
Case Keenum.
Speaker 11 (20:56):
All right.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Final story is Jalen Hurts, the Super Bowl MVP. You know, listen,
he wasn't great on Monday Night Football. But how about
this stat, Colin? He's only lost 26 games since becoming
a starter in 2021. Only Mahomes and Josh Allen have
won more games than Jalen Hurts in the last six seasons.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
That's it.
Speaker 8 (21:17):
I mean, great company, as you said. Here's Hertz on
the value of losing after the Monday night loss.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
A loss is a loss. It's an opportunity to learn.
And I've always looked at them the same. I hate
it more than anything in this world. At the same time,
we need it. And it's something that is natural and
a part of the process of winning. To win, you
(21:43):
have to lose. You have to feel resilience and character
within that, reflecting on it, choosing to learn from it.
And so that's my approach.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
I know a lot of people watch that and think,
the old philosopher. The loss is a loss.
Speaker 8 (22:01):
Like, Jalen, stop. Enough with the sound bites.
Speaker 7 (22:04):
That was Russell Wilson's playbook. It was lame back in
the day. I'm not bothered by it because I'm a
Hurts guy. I just go back to his story, Colin.
The Alabama stuff with Tua. Getting benched midway through a game.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
He's very much Dak Prescott. Whether you think he's a
great quarterback or not, he's a great leader. Somebody said
this yesterday. A friend of mine said this about... lincoln
riley he said there's a difference between a good coach
and a good leader he said i think lincoln's a
good coach i don't think he's a good leader saban
was both but there are coaches that are good leaders
but not necessarily great great coaches you know um and
(22:40):
and and the opposite is true and it's the same
with quarterback there are some of these quarterbacks i don't
think have great leadership skill um But they're really good quarterbacks.
I don't love all of Jalen Hurts' kind of aesthetics
as a quarterback. I think he's an unbelievable leader. And
I think that's why not every player loves him. Because
(23:00):
he's like an adult. He's not one of the guys.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
He's not.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
He's more mature than most of the guys. You can
tell he came from strong parents. And, you know, this
is a kid that, you know, had to make the bed.
You know, this wasn't a kid that was spoiled. Like
he put the time in. He comes from a really
good background and you can see it and hear it
every time he's at the podium. He is a great leader.
Sometimes I think he's kind of an average quarterback, but
he is a great leader.
Speaker 7 (23:24):
Average doesn't yeah he doesn't strike me as the kind
of guy who gets his big contract and goes out
and buys a lamborghini and then goes and buys you.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
Know nothing against guys that do go no no.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
That's but that's not him right that doesn't feel like
him now i will say this hertz is getting beat
up for for monday and then manny and as well
i just want to point out that eagles defense has
been absolute garbage through three games they can't get any
stops Washington came in the back door against him. Tennessee
moved the ball against him. And friggin' Case Keenum came
off the street and carved him up. So Eagles defense
(23:55):
needs to catch a lot of heat. It's not just
about Hertz, Colin.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
No, I agree. J-Mac with the news.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
Well, that's the news.
Speaker 8 (24:02):
And thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
The Herdline News.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
So we were talking before the show started today. We
got on the set early, and we were just talking about, like,
images and moments when you're young that shape your lives. And,
I mean, one thing I know, having six kids in
my life, one of them's getting married on Saturday, so
I'll be off tomorrow blazing five top of the Thursday
second hour, is that when you're young especially, Like when
(24:29):
you're between like, you know, seven and 17 or maybe
it's 17 and 25 and you're a young athlete, let's
say in sports, like parenting matters and coaching matters because
chaos is much harder to deal with when you've never
really dealt with it a lot. And so it's amazing
to me, the world, everybody in Boston is selling Drake
(24:52):
May stock, the quarterback who has plummeted this year. I'm not.
And here's why. So his top two receivers last year,
and remember, he's a young, ascending, developing quarterback. So he's building,
he's building, he's just getting. Suddenly his top two receivers,
Kayshaun Booty and Stephon Diggs. Diggs is a great receiver.
When the pocket breaks down, they bail on him. Okay, okay. Well,
(25:15):
let's bring in A.J. Brown. Okay, he lasted 31 snaps.
So now the number one receivers. is Mac Collins, 33,
who's never had 700 yards or 50 catches in a
season and doesn't, now he does several things well, but
separation is not one of them. So do you think
losing your top two receivers, getting another one that's immediately hurt,
(25:39):
and having a guy that's more of a three or
a four receiver be your one would change things? I mean,
New England's one of only three teams in the league
that doesn't have a touchdown from a wide receiver this year.
I looked it up this morning. When targeting wide receivers,
Drake May this year has a 47 passer rating. Remember
(26:00):
Brady's last year in New England. Let's go back to Brady.
There was a moment in Tom Brady's last season in
New England where, and I don't know what game it was,
but they caught him on the sidelines yelling at his receivers.
Could somebody get open? Tom Brady. And then the next year,
(26:23):
he had Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and it was
amazing how good Brady was. So the greatest quarterback we've
ever seen in his last year in New England, where
he got beat by the Titans in a home playoff game.
The greatest quarterback ever. Nobody could get open because Belichick,
for all his strengths, could not. The organization, they never
(26:47):
could draft receivers. I mean, Edelman was a quarterback. Tight
end's not bad. Running back's okay. Could not draft receivers.
That's why Brady decided to choose a franchise with an
offensive coach and a bunch of good receivers and brought
Gronk with him. So if Brady struggled, what's Drake Megan
to do as he's learning the position and Matt Collins
is his guy? So I say this with Justin Herbert,
(27:11):
guys don't forget how to be great. What happens when
you're young, you're a kid, you're 17, you're 24, you're
in a sport. And the other thing is, we all
know this, look at the young quarterbacks Like Bryce Young or,
you know, I mean, Bryce Young was a bust. Oh, wait,
he's not. Or Tyler Schuch. They have offensive coaches who
(27:36):
are elite game planners and game callers in many instances.
Vrabel's a defensive guy. He's a culture guy. He's the CEO.
He's not the schematic guy. Well, they have a good OC.
Still different. If you look at this, we talked about it.
Who are the six quarterbacks this year that have overachieved
relative to their careers? All of them have offensive coaches. So,
(27:58):
you know, and you guys were all selling Bryce Young
stock and Sam Darnold stock and Trevor Lawrence stock, and
you were for about a year selling Caleb Williams stock.
As your stock broker, I'm telling you to hold. You
don't have to buy more, but I would hold on
selling Drake May stock. Albert Beery yesterday on what's changed
(28:19):
this year.
Speaker 9 (28:21):
The NFL catches up with you, and the NFL is
going to take whatever you do well, and over time,
they're going to take it away from you.
Speaker 6 (28:28):
And I think starting in.
Speaker 9 (28:29):
The playoffs last year, they started to force Drake May
to play a different game, and now he's got to
adjust to it. I think it's part of a natural progression.
It's just when you juxtapose the schedule they had during
the regular season last year versus what they've seen since,
I think it's really highlighted some of the things that
a quarterback would normally go through, and we'll see if
he's tough enough to get through it.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
My guess is at the trading deadline, they go get
a receiver, like a two or a three.
Speaker 12 (28:54):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Brown will come back, and it will slowly morph back
into something that looks closer to last year. Just go
to Brady's last year in New England. Nobody could get open.
You know this as a Patriot fan. They could not
draft wide receivers to save their life for like eight years.
Even like first-round guys. They just couldn't hit on them.
(29:16):
And then Brady was like, okay. If Gronk's aging out,
who do I throw to? So if Brady's struggling with it,
that tells you everything.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Brzezinski, Greg Cosell, Blazing Five, all of it coming up
in the next half hour. It's The Herd.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
at noon Eastern, 9 a.m.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Pacific.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I was looking at A.J. Persinski's career batting average, 280.
Nobody hits 280 anymore. All the pitchers are 6'6, throwing
straight downhill. The Yankees feel like they have half of them.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
A.J.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Brzezinski, Fox Baseball, 19 years, silver slugger, World Series champ.
Last time the White Sox were great. He'll be calling
the Padres Brewers, which is going to be fascinating. I
want to start with the White Sox. So I get
home off the train in Chicago now. I live in Chicago.
So I watched the last six and a half innings,
last two days of the White Sox. They don't have
a lot of stars. They do have, you know, the
new Japanese star. But it's a lot of guys that
(30:16):
can rake. It's a lot of guys. A five hitter
to a six, seven, eight. And if you'd never seen
a baseball game, you'd be like, who are these guys?
Like everybody can hit, they play, they're aggressive. Um, I mean, I,
I'm watching them yesterday, just fly through the Astros, take
the oxygen out of Houston. And is it a team?
Is this just a team that can win a wild
(30:38):
card series? And that's it.
Speaker 12 (30:41):
Uh, listen, Colin, as a, as a white socks person fan,
I guess you, I guess you can call me a fan.
Speaker 6 (30:46):
Okay. Um, Do I think they can win the World Series?
Probably not.
Speaker 12 (30:52):
Do I think they can beat the Guardians and the ALDS?
Speaker 4 (30:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 12 (30:55):
They won the season series from them. Do I think
they can beat the Rays or the Yankees? I think
they're going to have a little bit harder time because that's.
Speaker 6 (31:02):
When pitching depth comes into play.
Speaker 12 (31:04):
Now, do they have some guys that.
Speaker 6 (31:05):
Can do some stuff? Yeah, Sean Burke, Davis Martin.
Speaker 12 (31:08):
Anthony K they'll mix in some openers here and there
to try to get them through an inning or two
early in the game back into their bullpen is good.
Speaker 6 (31:15):
Sometimes the grand.
Speaker 12 (31:15):
Taylor, sometimes it can be iffy, I guess would be
a nice word, but I tell you what about the
white socks. If you haven't seen them play, they are
fun as hell to watch. They're the best interview. They're
the best interviews in baseball after they win. If you
haven't seen the Mike Vassell and the Murakami interview after
last night, when they're drinking champagne Murakami, when he says,
I'm going to be drunk yesterday or hung over yesterday.
Speaker 6 (31:35):
And the lady and the lady interviewing him says, you
mean tomorrow? And he's like, yeah, sorry.
Speaker 12 (31:38):
I don't speak English because he's like, my translator is drunk.
It's like the greatest thing ever. Tracy, my draw is
a really good player. Miguel Vargas has turned him into
a self into a really good player. They just have
a bunch of guys that are fun to watch. And
that's what the South side of Chicago has been wanting
for years.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah, and there's no pressure on them. They don't play
with a lot of pressure. I was telling the guys
today in the morning meeting, it's almost like the greatest
beer league team you've ever seen. They're having a really,
really good time. By the way, Pope Leo is a
big White Sox fan. The Pope is from Chicago. You
went to the Vatican and gifted him the final out
from the 2005 World Series. Look at that. Look at that.
(32:16):
That's an all-time moment, right?
Speaker 12 (32:19):
Do I look gigantic in that photo or is it
just me? Like this angle, is it angle? Every time
I see that photo, I'm just like, man, I look
like I'm like three times the size of Pope Leo.
Speaker 6 (32:29):
He's not that small. Maybe it's just the angle.
Speaker 12 (32:30):
I don't know. Listen, I gave him the game, the
outlast out from game one, the game they showed him
on Fox on TV, the hitter they showed him was
Adam Everett.
Speaker 6 (32:39):
That was the last out. And I have the ball.
Speaker 12 (32:41):
And when you get asked to meet the Pope and
you're told, what do I give the Pope that he
doesn't have? The only thing I could think of was
the ball from the game he was at and the
hitter they showed him on TV. So he got it,
and he was genuinely enthused. He gets all kinds of
gifts all the time. Listen, I gave him a Brzezinski
autographed jersey, Colin. He probably went like this in the
dumpster and just dropped it, which is fine.
Speaker 6 (33:03):
I get it. He gets jerseys all the time from people.
But you know what?
Speaker 12 (33:07):
He actually took the ball, and I think that might
be sitting on his desk somewhere. So at least I
can say he was genuinely happy when I gave that
to him.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
So home field matters. I always feel the old Yankee Stadium,
you know, really felt, you know, just it was intimidating.
It was an intimidating place. The new one's nicer, but
maybe not as intimidating or maybe the teams aren't as good.
But watching games in San Diego, I'm like, oh, yeah,
Cubs were out of their space like that. That thing
was that was like a college football game in the south.
(33:34):
You have the Padres Brewers, San Diego. We've been waiting
for AJ basically for four years. They've had talent. I
remember a couple of years ago, they played the Dodgers
and they had the Dodgers worried. The Dodgers threw a
bullpen game at them and shut them out. And I'm like,
what is happening? But they are now Machado's on fire.
Tatis is on fire. You got the series with the Brewers.
(33:56):
What is it going to look like?
Speaker 12 (33:59):
Well, it's going to be fascinating baseball because the Brewers
are the best team. They won 103 games this year, Colin,
and they play a different style. If you haven't seen
the Brewers play baseball, it is a, Pat Murphy hates
when I say this because I give him grief about
it all the time, but if you're a college coach, man,
you play a college style of baseball.
Speaker 6 (34:14):
He gets so mad. He's like, we're in the big league.
Stop saying that, right?
Speaker 12 (34:17):
And Pat Murphy's awesome, fascinating guy, but they take the
extra batting.
Speaker 6 (34:23):
They put pressure on pitchers. They have an unbelievable bullpen.
Speaker 12 (34:26):
Mizorowski, if you haven't seen him, he's starting game one,
104 miles an hour, six foot eight, you know, throwing from,
he's literally reaching the ball to the catcher.
Speaker 6 (34:35):
And then their bullpen's great.
Speaker 12 (34:36):
Logan Henderson, the guy they wouldn't trade for, Tarek Skubal,
pitching game two, more than likely.
Speaker 6 (34:41):
It's a fun brain. And then you go to San Diego, okay?
Speaker 12 (34:44):
And the Padres, when Tatis and Machado were going, and
don't forget Jackson Merrill had an unbelievable second half. You
throw him in there and their bullpen with Jason Adam,
Mason Miller, and on more at home, you throw those
guys in there. They only need like five innings out
of their starter and the game's over, but the atmosphere,
the atmosphere in Milwaukee is going to be a mate electric,
but then wait, do we go to San Diego over
game three and game four if needed?
Speaker 6 (35:06):
The towels.
Speaker 12 (35:07):
And I was there in 20, was it 2022 when
the Padres beat the Dodgers in that playoff series, I
had never heard a louder stadium in my life. And
if you watch them play the Cubs, it was like that.
Now imagine they're around deeper and the Brewers, it's going
to be crazy.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Listen, early in his career, Bryce Harper pushed a lot
of buttons for people in baseball, including you, but I
always supported him because I said, listen, when you're that
good looking and you'd have that much style baseball, I
grew up with Mark Fidrich, Al Roboski, Pete Rose, Mickey rivers,
all these wild personalities, Reggie Jackson's ego. I loved Reggie Jackson.
(35:44):
I mean, he would come to Seattle and crush my Mariners.
I loved Reggie Jackson. And my take was NFL NBA
has got, you know, eccentric personalities. Bryce is just big.
And I understand like, like he was on the cover
of sports illustrated and I watched him yesterday and I'm like,
it sums up his career. We have a standard he
has to hit, makes the error, then hits a bomb.
(36:06):
How do you view his entire career? Some people would say, well,
it hasn't lived up to it. And I'm like, yeah,
but baseball's not basketball. You only get four at-bats. Basketball,
LeBron can take 35 shots. A quarterback can throw 52 passes.
Baseball's harder. It's longer. How do you view Bryce's career?
Speaker 6 (36:27):
What's he supposed to do? He's going to be a
first ballot hall of famer. He's got what? Three MVPs.
What else is Bryce Harper? What?
Speaker 12 (36:34):
He did big home runs at big moments.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (36:36):
He made the mistake in right field, but you know
what he did?
Speaker 12 (36:38):
He came back and hit the home run to tie
the game off a tough lefty after Schwarber had just
hit the home run. So I don't know what people
want out of Bryce Harper. Listen, I was one of
those guys when Bryce came up and was like, wow,
look at this kid.
Speaker 6 (36:48):
And then I, the.
Speaker 12 (36:49):
More I've watched Bryce and the more Bryce has handled
the situation better and better and better. Listen, you can't
compare him to, who are you going to compare? I
don't know, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth. But for a kid
that's been hyped since he was about 12 years old
to have the pressure he's had on him and to
have the career, again, he's going to be a first
(37:10):
ballot Hall of Famer. What else do you want, Kyle?
What do people want out of a guy? First ballot
Hall of Famer, that's the highest.
Speaker 6 (37:16):
Honor you can get.
Speaker 12 (37:17):
Again, three MVPs, he hasn't won a World Series. Okay,
that's the one knock on Bryce Harper's career. You can
say he hasn't won a World Series. He's lived up
to all the hype for me.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
National League is better than the American League, and it's
not particularly close, I don't think. But the Yankees starting pitching,
I mean, Aaron Judge didn't have it at bat. Stanton
didn't have it at bat. Garrett Cole didn't throw a pitch,
and they flew through the Red Sox. I think whoever
wins the National League should be favored, right, over the
(37:49):
American League. Your take on this Yankee team, which is clearly, AJ,
not nearly. They're more athletic than the previous four or
five years, and they're not nearly as Aaron Judge reliant.
Speaker 12 (38:01):
They're pitching reliant, which is better at this point. I mean, listen,
their rotation, Cam Schliller, is unbelievable. Max Freed is one
of the best pitchers in baseball. Then you go Garrett Cole,
game three. Carlos Rodon is their fourth starter, and he
didn't get it. I mean, it's ridiculous, and their back
end of their bullpen is a lot better, I Ben Rice,
if you haven't seen him play, really good. Austin Wells
(38:23):
is hot as anything right now.
Speaker 6 (38:25):
They're a catcher.
Speaker 12 (38:26):
George Lombard's made a huge difference. And Yankee fans hated
this guy for a long time, Anthony Volpe. He's come
back from AAA and been really, really good as a
second baseman. So, listen, do I want to put all
my stock in the Yankees? No, the Rays are really good.
I think this two-game sweep of the Red Sox, honestly,
as good as the Yankees was, was more of an
indictment on the Red Sox and their lack of offense.
Speaker 6 (38:48):
I mean, listen, and.
Speaker 12 (38:54):
Gray was doing fine they took him out and then
the bolt back into the bullpen kind of let it
get away from them both games but they didn't score
any runs and that's been their biggest issue in the
postseason they don't have a lot of guys right-handed especially
when they face a quality lefty like Max Freed Wilson
Contreras is the one right-handed hitter they had that can
really do some damage it's left hand heavy and with
Roman Anthony out their lineup was light for me and
(39:16):
they were beaten in two games badly by the Yankees.
Speaker 1 (39:19):
AJ great seeing you as always man appreciate you stopping by.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Thanks, Colin.
Speaker 12 (39:22):
By the way, the next time we talk, I'll tell
you about the time I was confused for Reggie Jackson.
Speaker 6 (39:26):
You'll love that one.
Speaker 1 (39:28):
I love Reggie. uh good seeing you my man.
Speaker 6 (39:31):
You too buddy.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yeah, Reggie Jackson was fighting in the dugout with Billy Martin. And,
you know, you're a young kid. You're a young Sparky.
You have no idea. I tell people this all the time.
You have no idea how great baseball was in the
mid-70s to the mid-80s. And you don't have any idea
how great boxing was in the 70s and 80s. Like,
(39:55):
if you're under, like, 45 years old, boxing was unbelievable.
George Foreman in his prime, and Frazier, and Ali, and
there were just so many great fighters out there. And
baseball had dynasties and fights, like regular fights. It was
almost inappropriate.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
Wait, so you're saying boxing was better back then than
the YouTube guys who are fighting in the ring now?
Speaker 1 (40:21):
That's shocking.
Speaker 8 (40:21):
The professionals were, like, awesome to watch.
Speaker 6 (40:25):
Interesting.
Speaker 7 (40:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
That's a cutting-edge comment, by the way. So we have
our Blazing Five top of the hour.
Speaker 8 (40:32):
You see that countdown clock on the screen?
Speaker 6 (40:34):
Is that new?
Speaker 8 (40:34):
I don't think I've seen that before.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Listen, when you go 5-0 and then 3-2... People, they
want to see it.
Speaker 8 (40:41):
And we got to get that going for headlines in
the final hour. Now I know PA.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Listen, I was, you know, I tend to in college football,
I bet favorites.
Speaker 11 (40:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
I strongly believe USC is going to win and cover
against Washington. If I was a betting man, I would,
I would go heavy on the Trojans this week. Where's
the game in Los Angeles.
Speaker 8 (41:04):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (41:05):
Okay, and if you go back to the Oregon game,
it's closer than the score, and Washington is not. Their
offensive line at Washington is bad. I like their quarterback, though.
He's okay.
Speaker 3 (41:17):
He's good.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
He's no, come through the a gap and he can't
see downfield.
Speaker 7 (41:21):
So you have such a, you just don't like shorter quarterbacks.
It's just, I barely tolerate shorter people. So tell me
about it. Tell me I'm aware.
Speaker 1 (41:30):
So this week was a weird week because I tend
to like favorites in college football. I love underdogs and
pro football. But I told you this last year, and
I had a good season last year. It's harder and
harder to take underdogs because the better teams have offensive
coaches and better quarterbacks. I mean, I loved what the
(41:51):
Bears did. I'm like, what was that? I don't feel
like you would have seen that 10 years ago. So
I like four favorites this weekend. I don't generally like favorites.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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