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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Jason Smith Show with Mike
Harmon podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
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Pacific on Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for
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Speaker 2 (00:23):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Grings, Welcome inside, Happy Friday. The Jason Smith Show is
special Delivery. Steve desag're in for Mike Harmon. For over
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Speaker 2 (00:51):
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Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well, Steve, I have a big hot basketball take coming
your way. But first I gotta say this. Yes, I
was one. I was nervous how I was gonna feel today? Right,
because the intensity and anxiety of the baseball playoffs that
I normally get the first week, and and once it starts,
it's just an uptick of It doesn't matter if your
team is in it or not. It's so intense. It's

(01:15):
such a great change. I was saying, Okay, do I
want a day off on Friday? Or am I gonna
miss having a game? And I was thinking, wow, am
I gonna feel? And I said, no, no, you know what,
it's gonna be okay with a day not having a game.
I'm gonna be fine. We got college football, right, w
NBA finals are going on, right, We're gonna be fine. No, no, no,
I wanted a game tonight. In fact, I wanted three
games tonight.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
I want I did.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
I didn't want a day off at the end. I
wanted I wanted there to be another fun. I wanted
be there to be four games, even though the other
games were already decided, Like you know, give the Reds,
let let them have fun and throw out there. You
know they were eliminated. Like I wanted more games tonight.
It's just that this week, the first week just takes
over and it's I don't know, like the change in
the calendar is so different than any other sport, right,

(01:57):
Like you see the intensity, like the intensity of the NFL. Yes,
you get to the playoffs, it's intense, but you know what,
the first seventeen weeks are pretty bleeping intense, right. The
NBA playoffs that's a bit of a change too. But
you know, obviously we get into the playoffs and it's
rare to see those big one eight upsets. We get
in with the with the play in rounds where we
play attention to the teams are only going to be
around for a couple of games and they're going to

(02:17):
get eliminated. But the Baseball playoffs it comes in and
it's I have no time. I am I completely locked in.
I have no time for anything else.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:25):
I've been going here in LA to Dodger playoff games
since the mid nineties. It is, and I mean since then,
a noticeable difference in how intense it is in the
park at these games. And I was there at the
last game and the same thing. It was just a
superb atmosphere from start to finish. And I know Major

(02:46):
League Baseball is probably tapping itself on the back, say hey,
we did a good job with all these day off.
Before you know, the next round, the best of five
doesn't start till Saturday. Everybody's gonna start on Saturday. Why
can't you have two games tonight and then a couple
others on the crowded Saturday sports schedule. They're probably saying, no, no,
we did a good thing because for the first time

(03:07):
in the young life of these best of three Wildcards series,
we had three of the four actually needed a game
three this week. Extra time off the guys. Okay, as
far as the sports schedule goes, they could have used
a couple of games today.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Oh well, I'm I'm one of the things. Baseball should
play in the playoffs only on these days. They should
play Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, right, take those big days off,
you know, because look, honestly, I don't mind taking days
off in between games if it's resetting you and letting
you put out your best pitcher. I'd like to see

(03:40):
Tarik's school will pitch three times in a series or
twice if I find need to. And plus you have
the NFL on the calendar the rest of the days. Okay,
they got Sunday, they got Monday, they got Thursday. Saturday
is college football. You can play baseball at the end
of the day Saturday into Saturday night. That's absolutely fine,
Like those are the days they should play, right, don't
compete with the NFL the other days, but play those

(04:02):
days every Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Friday Saturday. Take two
days and you start again, and you still finish the
series in about the same amount of time. I don't
mind the length of the baseball playoffs because it's awesome.
It's just like a thrill ride for an entire month.
But like that, that would be the perfect schedule for
me baseball wise, to say, okay, because then every single
night of the sports calendar in October is insane, because then, okay,

(04:24):
let's throw win the beginning of the NHL season coming
up in a few days. No, by the way, let's
throw in the beginning of the basketball season coming up
in a couple of weeks, like I needed that NXT
game yesterday and Abu Dhabi, like I needed that preseason
next game to get me away from the Mets and
everything I needed that I need. But October this time
is such a great moment, Like don't don't miss a

(04:45):
chance and try to get out there every time you can,
because boy, I'd love for there to be two or
three games to night here in baseball.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
And as your reference, the NBA preseason did start with
the Yabu Dhabi game Thursday, those two Nicks had beaten Philadelphia.
Those two will play again on Saturday. But I will say,
as far as it's the Saturday college football schedule tomorrow,
they didn't give us a whole lot of boy I
got to see this one type of matchups at least
daytime Saturday. And so yeah, again, baseball lucks out because

(05:12):
the Cubs open are at Milwaukee. And for those who
are unaware, yes they're in separate state. But the Cubs
in Milwaukee ballparks are closer than San Diego in LA.
It's less than one hundred miles. This is going to
be a great best of five rivalry and the Brewers
are the top overall seed this postseason. That's two pm
Eastern time for Game one on Saturday in Milwaukee, and

(05:34):
it's a day game for Yankees at Toronto on Fox TV.
That's four pm Eastern time. What are you going to
be watching at four pm Eastern Yankees at Toronto or
Penn State at UCLA College football? Because those are your
national TV options?

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Steve, Yeah, s Vanderbuilt.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
I don't want to slight Vanderbilt.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
I mean, are you sure UCLA is still going to
be on television. Are you sure that's still time?

Speaker 3 (05:56):
That's amazing at the scroll that it's only a twenty
four point favorite from Ben.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Have you seen Ucla?

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I can't believe they still have a football program, Like
I thought they would have gotten rid of it after
you know, it's just football is just not working here anymore.
It hasn't worked since cade mcdown. We're gonna we're going
to back away from it. We don't need football. We're
a basketball I.

Speaker 3 (06:15):
Can remember just a few short years after cade mcdown
when UCLA football beat Alabama and Michigan in the same month.
I can remember seeing multiple times Ucla beating Texas. Those
years seem like so far ago compared to I mean,
college football has passed Ucla by I mean as a

(06:35):
as a campus, as an athletic department.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Now, I do want to say this before I get
into the big basketball hot take, speaking of the baseball playoffs,
right like, okay, I'm yeah, look, I'm past the Mets
getting knocked out like they fired all their coaches today.
Oh great, Now we're gonna win one hundred almost literally
all of them.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
The only one, Carlos Mendoza, the only one left. He's
like the.

Speaker 4 (06:54):
Final space coach might be still, He's.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Like the final girl at the end of a horror movie.
I'm the only one left. I was here with everybody.
I'm the only one left now. But my wife and
I are having lunch today and sitting next to us,
is you know, because every third person in LA is
wearing Dodger gear. Right, That's how it is all year round. Right,
you do this, you think, oh, who's the big team
in LA? You know with the Lakers. No, La is
a Dodger town. It is a baseball town. Guy next

(07:19):
to me and the Dodger hat and he's and he's
having lunch with one of his friends and they're just
talking about the game and my wife and I'm just sitting
there having lunch. On I say anything, and one guy says, yeah, no,
I got tickets for uh I got tickets for game two.
And they're like, oh, oh really, he goes, I got
tickets for the second game in LA. And they're like,
oh really, go yeah, it goes yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Well that was the best part, is it?

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Like all these Mets fans had tickets and and like
they were all coming and then they just dumped them. Right,
because you know they didn't make the playoffs. So I
got my tickets for like face value from this Mets fan.
It was awesome. I'm going I want to leave right now.
Check check? Can I leave?

Speaker 3 (07:51):
I just say I looked up these things for the
Dodgers Red Series this past week. Face value in the
top row at the top deck was about ninety dollars,
but after the Dodgers scored I think it was ten
in the first game, it came below face value. For
game number two, the clincher of the best of three,
it's about one hundred and thirty one hundred four, one

(08:13):
hundred and forty dollars for the similar seats for when
the Phillies are going to be in LA on Wednesday,
and by the way, that's another six pm Pacific, nine
Eastern start. The thing is, if there's still a game
four needed in this best of five Phillies at Dodgers
coming up, they could be moving it to three in
the afternoon in LA on Thursday, and then fans, you

(08:36):
might get some deals on ticket.

Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, I think so. I definitely noticed last year during
the NLCS when they played Game one was a Monday
at one o'clock and then Game six, the two guy,
I went to Game one. In game six, I got
to the Mets losing the Dodgers celebrate Game one. Tons
of Mets fans right during the day one o'clock is
apparently Mets fans. None of us work, So tons of

(08:59):
Mets fans a game one. Game six not even close
to as many Mets fans, not even close. I was like, oh, okay,
game six at night on the weekend. Okay, yeah that
was that was That was much better attended.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
But in Major League Baseball, Jason has already announced today
that once we get to Game four of Phillies at Dodgers,
the latest it will start in LA is seven eastern
four o'clock in Los Angeles. It's either at three or four.
This is assuming the Phillies don't sweep the thing. You know,
there's not a game on Thursday.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Wow, you, I can't believe you. Frostburger is going to
key your car for saying the Phillies are going to
sweep the Dodgers.

Speaker 4 (09:36):
I can't believe I believe the word if was it?

Speaker 1 (09:39):
You're not even supposed to say. If I do believe you.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Said, I'm at a news desk. If this series is
still going. The latest start is at three or four.
Can I just mention that when the Dodgers were in
the last decade, had a for a I think it
was divisional round, best of five also against the Washington Nationals.

Speaker 4 (09:57):
And they found out literally the night.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Before four that it was going to be a noon
start because of television, and then the market was flooded
with people selling off tickets. I got in to see
Kershaw pitch and pitch well in a day game against
Washington for twenty five bucks. Wow series because people were

(10:19):
dumping them less and right. Because literally it was less
than twenty four hours. Major League Baseball said, hey, you
know that game that people thought.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
Was going to be Yeah, no, it's it's noon. Sorry.
They haven't done that since.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
By the way, Jason Smith, Steve Desay, you're here on
Fox Sports Radio now the big game of the night
coming down to it right now, Game one of the
WNBA Finals. Las Vegas leads Phoenix eighty seven eighty six.
Alyssa Thomas has just missed two free throws that would
have given them the lead with twenty seconds left to go.
So now Las Vegas has the ball and the lead

(10:52):
with about seventeen seconds left. Now will continue to give
you updated on this game. But the big story before
this game cat Yngelbert, the much maligned w NBA commissioner.

Speaker 4 (11:03):
Oh did she speak really?

Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, she spoke and said she has to do better. Right,
All this week you saw the FISA Colliers remarks, a
four minute speech that changed, Yeah, that changed the course
of the league, saying how bad their leadership is, how
bad Kathy Engelbert is, how she basically told Caitlin Clark
she's lucky to be in the league. How the rest
of the players should be thanking her, thanking Kathy Engelbert

(11:28):
for the media rights deal they got. And so many
players came out in support of the FISA Collier. They
want Engelbert out, and eventually it's gonna have to come
to the NBA saying, Okay, Kathy Engelbert is out because
the NBA owning a part like that's how it's going
to go. So she speaks today and says I have
to do better, but denied the Caitlin Clark remarked that hey,

(11:48):
Caitlyn should be lucky that she's in the league, and
all the jiff yes, because the players are upset about
about the the CBA coming up. They want a bigger
pie out, they want better official.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
There's no guarantee, there's WNBA opening night next summer.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
No, they want all of these things. They don't trust
Kathy Engelbert. They don't they don't love, they don't like
the officiating. That's number one. That needs to be something else.
And at least Kathy Engelbert said, hey, we need We're
gonna do better with the officiating. But it's clear that
she is circling the drain and the players who have
a lot of power are completely unhappy and they want
her out. And you need someone to come in that's

(12:26):
going to be able to wear so many hats, right,
because here's the players. Kathy Engelbert's you know, when you
come from a CEO background, you come in the players
there's no belief in her. She's not because you didn't
come up through the league. She didn't play. But the
owners like her because okay, she's she's a CEO, she
knows business. But this is a really big time in
the league for having the right leadership to get you

(12:49):
from where the league was to where the league is now,
which is a big piece of the pie. It's a
big that's part of the national conversation every single day.
And I'm gonna tell you this. You know who the
WNBA needs to be their commissioner because he can he
can service every single need that the that the WNBA needs,
that the NBA needs, and owning the league and the

(13:09):
players and the owners. Magic Johnson, Magic, who has been
a WNBA supporter and owner for a long time. Now.
He's someone that comes in with the cachet of being
a star player that the players believe in. He will
have great relationships with the players. Being an owner, now,
he'd have to give up his ownership of this butt.
But you know, hey, Magic, I think Magic will do Okay,

(13:31):
I think Magic money wise, Magic I think will be
all right in the deal.

Speaker 4 (13:34):
Right, okay, thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
But but the w needs him. He would come in.
He would have a great relationship with the owners because
he already knows them. He'd be able to push the
business because you see how many bats he wears in
business all across the last twenty five thirty years of
his life. Magic Johnson's the guy that can wear all
the hats and he can get the WNBA to that level.
He would have the trust of everybody involved, and I

(13:59):
think that's a home run higher And I think if
they came to one asked them, Magic would say, you
need me, I could do it right. He would still
have time to go on his yacht and go away
and do all the Magic Johnson things right.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
But this is what it is now.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
You know what a big star like Magic, but the
WNBA Magic Johnson for commissioner. I'd sign up for that
one hundred percent, and.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
I'm sure the players would because it's the former player.
As you were talking about one thing, as you mentioned
the CEO background, and we can update the last shot missed.
Phoenix loses by three at Las Vegas eighty nine eighty.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
Six Final Game Exhibition.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Is Angelberg came off sounding like a CEO because let's
speak generally and truthfully about too many ceo and too
many businesses in this country. Is they treat the employees
like they're unbelievably replaceable.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
Magic Johnson WNBA commissioner. I'm putting it out there, I'm
making it happen.

Speaker 4 (14:52):
Just imagine the tweets.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Oh my god, oh my god, the tweets would be epic.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
We could play the Magic Johnson Twitter game every night,
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dot com. Well, coming up next, it is another big

(15:18):
football Friday. On the show, we start previewing all the
big games this weekend. One huge quarterback decision, actually two
huge quarterback decisions have been made going into a big
Sunday Week five. That's next right here, Jason Smith, Steve
Desager in from Mike Carman. This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern seven
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. Hey,
this is Jason McIntyre.

Speaker 5 (15:51):
Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire
with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing
the same time narratives down your throat.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
Every day.

Speaker 5 (16:01):
Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest
sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at
the sportsbook, and all the best guests. Do yourself a
favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple.

Speaker 4 (16:16):
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 1 (16:22):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with special delivery
Steve Desanger in for Mike Harmon. Be sure to check
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Be sure to hit the subscribe button. Don't stop there,
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(16:45):
Smith Show and subscribe. Well, a big football Friday, which
we get to coming up in a second. But Steve,
I know, as you mentioned before, doing the news desk
the same time as coach of the show, so you
can say things like if the Dodgers get swept and
Justin Frostburg's not gonna fight you.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
If you were a Phillies fan and you saw the
Dodger bullpen for the last month, would you have a
little confidence about the next year.

Speaker 1 (17:07):
Week you are foaming at the mouth to take on
this Dodger. You are just telling you are just telling
everybody as many pitches as you can make, O Taani
and Snell throw, let's get five, like they keep saying
five should be the mad that she's h five five
five the fifth inning. We want to be into the
Dodger bullpen. Led that bullpen by the fifth inning, and
we are we are loaded, We are loaded. Now I

(17:30):
do have something, Hey, Okay, the Dodger bullpen is clearly
the X factor of this playoff. Coming up in about
a half hour, we're gonna get deeper into the Baseball
playoffs and the big, the big controversy with the Yankees
and the Blue Jays going on today. I do have
something I tell you about the Dodgers that every team
is like, yeah, we don't have that win the World Series.
But clear well, the bullpen man, they'll telling you Frostburg,

(17:51):
the bullpen is gonna have a thing. There has something
to say about it. Will they're not. Don't think they're not.
Oh no, you will, you will count us, you will
listen to us.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
But they did find a closer the last game.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
They did. Oh and think about the desperation just for
a second. That rookie Sasaki has pitched a grand total
of three innings since coming off the injured list, right
two games at the end of the regular season where
he had holds and he looked great. Rokie Soasaki, it's
it easyess, I'd make that decision if I was Dave Roberts.
And he's throwing great, his stuff is moving, he's throw

(18:23):
one hundred miles an hour. He comes in in the
ninth inning, and now it's a four run lead. You're
supposed to close out four run leads, even if you're
the worst pitcher on the staff. But just the electricity
he brought to the team and brings to the ninth inning,
they have absolutely found their closer. And just think about that.
The guy has pitched three innings since coming back from
injury four months ago, and he's a starting pitcher, and

(18:46):
it's so bad that all of a sudden, guess what,
you're the closer. Congratulated, you're the closer, Rookie good, look,
go get him.

Speaker 3 (18:51):
Do you remember the World Series in twenty twenty where
Ken Lee Janssen blew a thriller of a game against
Tampa Bay and who wound up getting the final out
of the World Series. The closer was Julio Arius. They
just go to whoever getting out last year was Walker Buehler.

Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, Arius was the guy all the way through the play.
I want to say he closed out the NLCS too,
like all of a sudden, this is the guy on
the mound and he's closing things out for the Dodgers.
But I mean it's it's like you tak you know,
I always go back to, uh, Starship Troopers, that nineties
movie Casper Van Deen was it. You always go back
to that. Well, I go back to when I think
about this, when I think of people getting a gig

(19:28):
that like wow, like do they really deserve it? Like
Casper van Dien starts in that like it's a starship
TREWI this is a great movie. It's this it's this
huge science fiction move where all these aliens have invaded
the Earth and the Earth we're losing and we try
to find a way to beat them. And like he
starts off the movie as this lowly private like just
trying to get into the army, and an hour and
a half later he's like the General. So it's like wow,

(19:50):
man an hour and he went from I'm just getting
in the army now in the general, Like that's like
Roki Sasaki. Hey, I'm just coming off the injured list.
Who knows what I could do if I could give
you an inning here?

Speaker 2 (19:59):
That's all?

Speaker 1 (20:00):
Oh, well, now I'm the closer. Three innings later, Hey,
I'm the I'm closing games for the Dogs.

Speaker 4 (20:04):
You must have been great at Arizona in that practice.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Man, Hey, he's a simulated closer. Make him the real
closer now that he's back.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
Well, and I will say, Blake trin And had back
to back nights of getting outs and a little confidence
for all concerns. So that's two out of the How
many relievers do you get out? Fifty two for every
postseason roster, So that's two they can count on.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
So now, now being at the news desk, Okay, I
want to ask you this. Now the Lakers preseason opener
is happening right now, DeAndre Ayton getting his first look
as a Laker, No Luca, no Lebron. Though they are
at the game, can you tell me what live streams
Lebron James may or may not have done today, But
even Buddy's sitting out like what took his attention away
from being able to play in this game?

Speaker 3 (20:50):
Let's see a child of now his attention is always
taken away, just feeling the blank.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
Like I love how awkward this is already with Lebron
and the Lakers, Like, you know, hey, he's got a
glute problem. He's got to sit out the first game. No,
I'm doing I'm dancing, I'm on a live stream, I'm
feeling good, I'm taking jumpers. Yeah no, but I need
to say I can't come to practice because I'm injured.
Like it's already so awkward with him and the Lakers,
and it's just going to keep getting more and more

(21:19):
awkward as the season goes on, Like this is awesome,
Like I love the fact that here we are game
one of the preseason already. Oh yeah yeah, yeah, Lebron
and the Lakers. Yeah, this is going to be a
soap opera all the way through the year.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
You failed to mention, no Marcus Smart, who of course
has had no soap opera moments and isn't zero fast
zero career.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah zero zero, No, not at all. He's been well,
Marcus Smart kind of looks like Tim Duncan compared to Lebron,
So I mean there is there.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
Is that well, I mean, Lebron's had the spotlight since
he was sweat sixteen realistically, naturally I'm talking about so there,
it's a little bit of a difference.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
So again, Opening night Lakers preseason action taking on the
Suns right now.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Kaa at an arena and near Palm Springs. By the way,
do you recall when the Lakers played against Steve Nash
and the Suns years ago in an exhibition in Palm
Springs at the Tennis Stadium where the annual Big Spring
Tennis tournament is held there. They had an outdoor basketball
game in Palm Springs.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Oh right, yeah, it was an Indian wells, right, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
Then they realized at some point in the game, you know,
we're in the desert.

Speaker 4 (22:20):
It gets windy here, Steve Nash can't make a spree
pointer because it keeps blowing wide left, like like a
field goal attempt. Now they're outdoors today.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
Outdoor anything at Palm Springs is not a good idea.
There's there's no outdo Like if they could put Palm
Springs in a dome, it would be awesome, it would
be fed. But like anything you walk outside, oh my god,
it's one hundred and seven degrees. I really I can't
even walk to the to the corner. I can't I
can't even get out to God, no, you don't get
the newspaper anymore. I can't even go out to Uh

(22:51):
uh take my dog for a walk. It's so hot.
Oh now it gets windy.

Speaker 4 (22:55):
It's it's like Arizona exactly.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Although have you been to the youth baseball fields that
are literally one is just like in design Wrigley Fields,
another just like Fenway, and another just like Yankee Stadium.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
Not only have I been there, I've played games there
and tournaments there. Yes, I played tournaments there. Uh they're
called Field of Dreams. Yeah, it's all these softball fields
that are made there. There's Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, and Fenway.
We didn't play at Wriggly We played at Yankee Stadium,
and we played at Fenway. And uh, here's about the weather.
Here's it is. So we played and it was it

(23:32):
was Oh boy, it was all the best teams in
the cut. Like we joined, like we we joined to
go in like we played nover thirty tournament, so because
everybody was over thirty, but like we were there watching
some of the games of like this was like the
best teams in the country would show up and play,
and just watching them play, it's like, oh my goodness,
like every single ball is just absolutely.

Speaker 4 (23:51):
Cracked a bunch of ringers.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
Yeah, but uh, here's the thing. The games all started
at ten o'clock at night because it was so hot
it wasn't safe to play. So we played two games
with a first night, we played our first game at
two am, and then the second night we played our
first game at one thirty, and then we had to
play another game because we won at three thirty. Wow,

(24:13):
we played at one third more. And the thing is,
I didn't feel tired.

Speaker 2 (24:16):
It was great.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome. But I'm like,
we couldn't play until one thirty in the morning because
because it's so odd, it's so unsafe to play.

Speaker 3 (24:24):
This is a little like the discussion to do people
even remember when the Cardinals NFL team first moved to Arizona,
the stadium there currently and had not been built yet.
You know, the Fiesta Bowl was still outside. The Cardinals
had to start outside at the Arizona State Stadium at
the Tenpee campus and they were playing and they were
in the division with the Cowboys, so you would have

(24:46):
Emmett Smith and Dallas playing at Arizona in September at
one in the afternoon and it was one hundred and
seven degrees and there's no shade at that stadium. It
was astounding that they stole that way. Exactly what you're
talking about. If even youth softball or over thirty games
can say, you know what, it's better to play at

(25:08):
midnight than at one in the afternoon, I can't imagine
that the NFL tied to TV as it is.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
It took them a long time to move off that.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Hey, those guys are over thirty. They could die if
they play too much in the hot. Whether put that,
put their games later, make sure they play as late as.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Guys ever been on the field at one o'clock kickoff
in Miami?

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Who oh you've been you've been there?

Speaker 6 (25:29):
Yeah, you think what one o seven's hot? This is
what makes that Dolphins long mody. This makes that Dolphins
lots of the Patriots just ridiculous. A couple of weeks ago, right,
what do they want like eighty percent of their games
at one o'clock in September?

Speaker 4 (25:43):
I know that Dolphin the games when they play the Jets.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Well, that's that's any time.

Speaker 4 (25:48):
Tampa Bay was ninety degrees last weekend for the Bucks.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Yeah, that's any time of the year, that's any tide
the Jets list by, while.

Speaker 3 (25:54):
It's supposed to be about eighty degrees for the Jets
shockingly this weekend.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, yeah, it's yeah. I'm look. Yeah, well, I'll tell
you this, right, I'll tell you Jets Jets Dallas right,
part of the Football Friday preview. I love the over
in this game, and I love Dallas. The Jets are
undisciplined on defense, and they're unprepared for games, which I
forget I love well, of course, everybody knows they're winless team.

(26:19):
I'm trying to go every box score here. Uh, they're
undisciplined and they're unprepared. I want to love Aaron Glenn,
and I really do. I want to love Aaron Glenn.
And it's weird that a you know, a one to
two in one team facing an zero to four team
is one of the big marquee games of the week.
But when you get Cowboys Jets, it's a thing. I
want to love Aaron Glenn, right, I want to love them,
but clearly this should be the honeymoon period. And and

(26:41):
he's trying to clean up stuff and clean up bad penalties,
and the Jets are giving games away, like this is
stuff that happens at the end when players have tuned
out a coach and they're ready to move on. And
this is what the Jets are trying to do here.
They're not going to clean it up this week. It's
not going to happen. There'll be a lot of playing.
I said, I love the over, I love justin field
this week. I love the Jets being able to move

(27:02):
the football. But it doesn't matter ceedee lamb, no CD lamb.
Dallas is gonna play pitch and catch on Sunday, and
it's going to get worse for the Jets against what
is the easiest schedule in the NFL, which tells you
how bad they are way before it gets better. But
the biggest thing about Dallas that I don't think people
are taking enough attention to right. The Cowboys won two

(27:23):
and one. Yes, the Cowboys in their situation, and Jerry
Jones with a roster it's been abysmal. He's running abysmally
for a long time. It's a top heavy team that
never is deep enough to win. The only time was
deep enough to win was when he had Dak and
Ezekiel Elliott on their rookie deals and they could put
players around them and they played pretty well. But since then,
Jerry Jones loves giving bad money to the wrong players.

(27:44):
But I'm gonna tell you this, four weeks into this season,
and I have seen stuff from Dak Prescott that I
haven't seen over the course of his career. In a
situation in which his team trades away their best defensive player,
basically punts off the season. How do you feel about that?
If you're Dak, you know, the longest tenured leader of
the team, quarterback, big money, and all he has done

(28:06):
is come out and play extremely well. He is still dynamic,
he is smart, he is poised, and he is mature.
He's someone that can take care of business. And and
you know, at you're thirty two in the league, Now
Dak's been in the league. If here is you want
to think that's there but the Cowboys, it's a really
difficult thing. But I have just seen an overall difference

(28:27):
in the way he carries himself on the field. Hey,
when the Cowboys are down, we're gonna get the score.
We need we're gonna get we We're gonna do what
we need to on offense to win this game.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Ty this game. Now.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Defensively, they're absolutely awful, right and there's nothing to do
about that. But Dak Prescott has really shown that, Hey,
he is a winning quarterback. And it's weird that he's
doing in a season where the Cowboys are bad and
it's probably not gonna get any better. But like, if
they ever figure it out, no doubt Dak can win
the Super Bowl. There's no doubt like this, Dak Prescott
can win the Super Bowl with weapons, without weapons, with

(28:57):
a running game, without a running game, He's still makes
enough plays, he is still dynamic, and he has hit
that next level in leadership and development. Like I am
all in on Dak being the guy the Cowboys need
him and have needed him to be, and I've seen
so much over the course of the first four weeks, like, yeah,
if you can ever figure out the rest of it,
man boy, it's gonna be something.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
And it's not just the Jets winless. The Cowboys, let's
be honest, should be winless. They needed all forty points
from Dak in that overtime game a few weeks ago
against the Giants. They were allowing big points to the
Giants and the Packers got forty against Dallas and Ceedee
Lamb still out this weekend, and Dallas is going to
be missing at least three offensive line and.

Speaker 4 (29:36):
They'll still crush the Jets.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
And that doesn't matter. They're still gonna put points up.
They'll still score forty on the Jets. You will crush
the Jet they will still well. Dak will be I'll
tell you that Dak will be the number one Fantasy
quarterback of the week. He'll be the absolute number one
fantasy quarterback of the week. That's how big a week.
Justin fields have a big week too, Like it's gonna
be a lot of offense here. The Jets good will do
what they want to offensively, but Dak's gonna make enough plays.
Cowboys are gonna win this game and he's gonna be

(29:59):
absolutely lights out. That's Dak Prescott.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
And I will add that it's not just about eighty
degrees for the Jets game we're into October, but supposed
to be eighty five excuse me, seventy five to eighty
degrees for the Jets home game. For the Eagles home
game for the Panthers for the Ravens home game for
the Bengals as well. Loving this good weather we are season.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is out this weekend with a

(30:21):
hamstring injury, so Cooper Rush will make his first start
for the Ravens, who are one and three. Lamar Jackson
miss practice all week. The team has lost its last
four games played without him. Former Ravens defensive tackle Arthur
Jones from Syracuse died at the age of thirty nine.
He was the older brother of former UFC fighter John
Jones and of Chandler Jones, former Patriots defensive end. Washington

(30:44):
quarterback Jaden Daniels return Sunday at the Chargers after a
sprain knee, but wide receiver Terry McLaurin is out with
quad injury, as is wide receiver Noah Brown. To college
football and there are quite a few games going on tonight.
On FS one, San Jose stayed out to a seven
to nothing lead after the first quarter against New Mexico.
West Virginia a BYU just underway. Colorado State at San

(31:07):
Diego State just getting underway already. Western Kentucky five and
one has won its game at Delaware twenty seven to
twenty four and under seven minutes to go at South Florida,
usf ready to go to four and one, leading forty
seven eighteen against Charlotte. WNBA Finals Game one at Las
Vegas to the home team eighty nine eighty six over Phoenix.

(31:29):
Game two is Sunday afternoon. It's the best of seven
in the finals.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
Now.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Asia Wilson twenty one points, ten rebounds. She had five
assists no turnovers as well. In the NBA preseason, New
Orleans won at Melbourne, and there is an NBA preseason
game tonight's at Palm Desert, California. For what it's worth,
Phoenix leading the Lakers twenty eight to fourteen late first quarter.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
Let Lakers have not scored in the last eight minutes
of game time.

Speaker 4 (31:53):
Hey, Lebron's checking in with s Luca.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
No, Lebron, No, he's doing a live stream. That's not
check Get smart.

Speaker 4 (32:01):
Oh he's out to There is no Luca Donzich in
this game.

Speaker 7 (32:04):
Now.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
A couple buckets for Austin Reeves, but the rest of
the Lakers are two for thirteen so far in this
first quarter. Texas Rangers hired Skip Schumacher as manager. He
was an advisor for the team this past season. He
gets a four year contract with Texas. Schumacher was NL
Manager of the Year with the Marlins just two years ago.
Seven other ball clubs have managerial openings this offseason. San

(32:25):
Francisco and the Angels looking for skippers. Colorado as well,
Atlanta and Washington have openings, so do Minnesota and Baltimore.
Baseball's Divisional series all start on Saturday, including the Yankees
at Toronto on Fox TV four pm Eastern time. Game
two will be on FS one Sunday afternoon. Blue Jays
pitcher Kevin Gusman will start Game one against the Yanks

(32:46):
and pitcher Louise Hill, who was last year's AL Rookie
of the Year. The Yankees. Will Warren will be in
the bullpen. Max Freed will start Game two for New
York on Sunday. The Yankees were number one in the
majors this year in home runs, in RBIs, in walks,
and in runs scored, but the matchups against the Blue
Jays the team. The Yankees tied for first in the
AL East and Toronto held the tiebreakers, so Toronto are

(33:09):
in the top seed in the AL Toronto did not
have to play in a wild card series this week,
and Toronto has home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.

Speaker 4 (33:17):
Steve, how about the Mets? What time do they play? Checks? Notes?
Not playing back to you?

Speaker 1 (33:23):
The Mets? Wait five today? Five five five? I mean
they fired five people coaches, they fired five people today. Yes,
everybody's out there. I think they fired mister Met today.
That they're making all those changes, that's what's happening.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
They're downsizing and they're starting with his head.

Speaker 1 (33:40):
Exit out. But yeah, well of a sudden, mister metshead
next year. Wow, why is that like light? Why is
that regular? Like a person?

Speaker 6 (33:46):
You know?

Speaker 4 (33:46):
Just ask Little Clinton's secret service about that.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, we did, we did. We didn't have all that's
a story. Yeah, yeah, we didn't have the money this year.
We really want to make sure. So mister Met's gonna
be his head's gonna be a little bit tinier, just
a little bit. Uh So, coming up next, we have
the play of the day coming your way. End we
get into a big weekend of college football. The game
of the week in college football isn't the one you

(34:09):
think it is. That's next right here, Jason Smith, Steve
Desager and for Mike Harmon. This is Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Jason Smith
Show with Mike Harmon weekdays at ten pm Eastern, seven
pm Pacific.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
Fox Sports Radio The Jason Smith Show with Mike Harmon.
Steve de Sager in for Harmon. Tonight, coming up in
a minute, we get to a couple of the games
of the week in college football. The game of the
week not the game you think it is. But first
it's time for the Play of the day, brought to
you by Tirak. For over forty years, Tirerack's been helping
customers find the right tires for how, what and where

(34:44):
they drive. Ship Fast and free backed by free Road,
has a protection with convenient installation options like mobile tire installation.
Tiraq dot com is the way tire buying should be. Well,
when you're justin Frossburg and you don't get to see
the Dodgers play tonight because they wait for the playoffs
to start tomorrow and the Chargers don't play till Sunday,

(35:06):
you're looking for something else to be the play of
the day, And this is it, And I never said that.

Speaker 2 (35:12):
Here is Austin Reeves.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
Seventh minute Laker until right there and again it's Reeds
going harder back. So there it is an Austin Reeves bucket.
Billy Mack already in playoff mode. That's why I love
that call, like it could be it's preseason Game one,
opening night, Game thirty seven, Game eighty one, and Billy
Mack is just a he's.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
Got he's the same level.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
It doesn't it doesn't matter, like every game is the
NBA Finals with Bill McDonald.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
Bill McDonald, who has been in the LA area for
his entire life in southern California and became do you
remember when he filled in as Laker play by play
guy and it happened to be in the night of
Kobe's eighty one play game. Yeah, because Schoel Myers was
the Laker announcer back then but was doing football work also,
and this was a Sunday night game and he was away.

(36:03):
Bill McDonald steps in and does, of course a legendary
night in NBA history, forget Laker history, and of course
Joe Myers has been in New Orleans for years now,
let's leave it at that.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Yeah, No, this this was it was the day of
the AFC and NFC Championship games like this. Let Laker
Toronto game was like, hey, it's late at night on
this it's the last event of the night on the Lakers.

Speaker 3 (36:25):
Were down twenty or something like that, as I recall,
at one point in that game.

Speaker 1 (36:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Sam Mitchell still was gonna single guard
Kobe Bryant.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
Still gonna throw one guy.

Speaker 4 (36:35):
Points doesn't matter one Laker. One Laker had eighty one
points in one game.

Speaker 3 (36:41):
I'm not sure these Lakers will get eighty one tonight
against No.

Speaker 1 (36:44):
No, no, they're not.

Speaker 4 (36:45):
They are in the second quarter already.

Speaker 1 (36:47):
Yeah, and they have twenty two points. It really so
we brought you like one eleventh of all of their
points tonight so far. That's it with the play the
uh so again more basketball on the way again, you know,
big hot stuff tonight coming off the WNBA game one
of the finals in Engle Burton. I'm telling you Magic
Johnson for WNBA commissioner. But another big week of college

(37:08):
football and you know, lots of games going on tonight,
you know, I you know, Friday Night has been a
big thing now BYU top twenty five team leads West
Virginia right now, early in the first quarter. This game
just starting, This game's gonna end it like two in
the morning, but the biggest game of the week. I
know we got Texas Florida, right, we got Miami Florida State. Yeah,
I reckay Clemson and North Carolina. There's a reason why

(37:32):
this is on national TV tomorrow. Think about what is
at stake right now for both of these head coaches.
The college football season so far has been about two
head coaches, right, not player wise, but head coaching wise
has been about two people. Dabo Sweeney and what could
be the end of an era in Clemson and how
upset he is I'm tired of winning or I'm just

(37:53):
putting that, you know, he's all the things. An era
over right, is a Clemson era over and Bill Belichick
at two and two now maybe in a one and
done type season at North Carolina. North Carolina didn't go
through all of this crap that they did over the
past few months with Jordan Hudson and in the football

(38:14):
program to be like this, to knock teams away from
being able to see teams to see North Carolina play
New England can't get to see the team play. They
did not sign up for this and a five hundred.
If not under five hundred, well.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Well they've only played two real teams and they got
blown out by each of them, so we can call
them two and two, and I guess statistically that's correct.

Speaker 4 (38:37):
But let's be honest.

Speaker 3 (38:38):
They still got to play whatever's left at Syracuse at
the end of this month, So don't be looking ahead,
Tar Heels.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
But one of these teams, either Clemson's gonna fall to
one and four or no, And it would be so
incredibly embarrassing for Dabbo to go to one and four
to lose to Belichick, or Belichick's gonna go to two
and three, And it's does this guy really know what
he's doing, right, Because if they get out of this
one year and it's bad, they're gonna say, Okay, this

(39:04):
didn't really work. The buyout is very low, right, It's
not like it's not like Lincoln Riley or or anybody
else not worried about even Dabo's buyout. What. No, No,
it's a very low buyout like this could be a
I mean from the beginning, I thought this could be
a one and done thing from Belichick if he can't
come in and reinvent college football which they thought they
were gonna do. This game is going to go a

(39:26):
long long way for one of these coaches, because look,
Dabo's buyout is big. They got money at Clemson and
maybe maybe Dabbo's one of those guys. Yeahm making all
this money, but I'm not happy. You can see it
starting to get combative at Clemson, like one of these
guys is going to be well on the road to
and more so Belichick, like this being their last year there,

(39:46):
Belichick more than Dabo. But boy, I don't know, man,
Dabbo goes like like four and seven or four and eight.
Look out, I think they might be able to rub
a couple of nickels together for that buyout for Dabo.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
But you're right about the attention that this game. You know,
I'm gonna put my eyeballs on this game. It's a
morning game West Coast time, and there are two other
games in that time slot in the ACC. But if
you look at the list, you can get into Boston
College at pitt for under twenty bucks at ticket. You
can get into Wake Forest at Virginia Tech for twenty five.
The cheapest seats at North Carolina for this game are seventy.

(40:20):
North Carolina has to actually show that it belongs in
the conference at this point.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
Yeah, this is so interesting a game because of what
like this is a game for true college football fan
to say, whoa the Dabo stuff, the Belichick stuff. This
has been driving the bus for most of September into October.
How does this soap opera go? If I can only
watch one game tomorrow outside of Syracuse, this is the
game I'm watching Clemson North Carolina. Can't wait, can't wait?

(40:50):
Exit out about a Fresco. Jason Smith Steve de Seger
in for Mike Harmon. Coming up next, we have controversy
on the eve of the next round of the Major
League Baseball Playoffs, and of course it involves the Yankees.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
That's next.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
Fielt so many points, so many points. It's mean, you know, look,
that's the power of the league. And that's where hey,
a team that's one two and one of the team
that owned for Hey, we got to make sure we
keep an eye on out one.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
That's that's the Cowboy and the Vikings have stayed in
Europe Dublin last week. They're playing in London this Sunday
morning against the Browns. We say maybe not the best.
By the way the Browns are playing overseas.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
They may never be allowed to come back. I don't
know that they're like.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Maybe this is the excuse, just trick them, send them out,
and then they'll never get back.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
And I'm also wondering if this game was in the
United States, would the Browns have gone to Dylan Gabriel, Like,
would they have gone to Gabriel? He you know, if
it was still in the United maybe.

Speaker 4 (41:40):
Because it's a road game technically yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
Yeah, yeah, but there's a road game and then there's
a road.

Speaker 4 (41:45):
Oh yeah, this is like out of the game.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Yeah. I really wonder if that would have happened, Like, hey,
you know what, we're away, We're not gonna you know,
Dylan's gonna be able to get in and focus as
much as he can on football because while yes, him
starting is a big deal, nobody knows who the hell
he is. Nobody knows about the draw, no one cares
about the not at the pro level Browns quarterback. No,
this is the week to get him going. Like I

(42:08):
wonder if Flacco would have had another week or so
if they were still playing in the United States. I
really wonder if they would, but.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
This does give you options. You know, he can roll out,
he can run, He's much younger than Flacco, and the
offense has been scoring fourteen points a game in Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (42:22):
Yeah, I don't score another fourteen this week. I mean,
you have great confidence, but that Deyla gab I think
Dylan Gabris word. Not that I think the Vikings are
going to suddenly start lighting it up, but uh yeah,
I have more confidence that the Vikings and their playmakers
will have enough to get it done here.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
And Vikings are going to be without two or three linemen.
It's kind of like Dallas this weekend.

Speaker 1 (42:41):
Yeah, but I have I kind of have a sneaking suspicion.
I like the in Fantasy. I like playing the Vikings
defense overseas. I I I kind of like that. I
kind of like one. Yeah, I kind of like that.
Uh yeah, I mean they they might finish with the
most points of any of anybody in Fantasy this week.
The Viking defense stick they had forty last a couple

(43:02):
of weeks ago. They might do it again. But again,
We'll take a look at the two biggest games on
the NFL schedule coming up in about twenty minutes. But
we are less than twenty four hours away from the
beginning of the Major League Baseball Playoffs. We'll get to
the big controversy involved in the Yankees in a second,
but I promise is that you know, the other night
we talked about the Dodgers knocking off the Reds. A

(43:23):
couple are really really big concerns. Right. Their bullpen is
absolutely terrible, and their defense is not good, right.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
The test special defense.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
Yes, it's not strong, and and you got by in
that round because it was the Reds and the Reds
are bad and you hit the baseball. But this is
not a team that is going to win games by
flash and leather. It's not. They are weak at a
lot of positions. And so yeah, as good as they are,
this is a team where I can say, hey, the
bullpen's going to have a lot to say. The defense
is not good, and you know, a bad play defensively

(43:55):
is what sends you home when you get to this
level the playoffs. But the flip side of it is this, right,
all of this all so, Jason, you're dooming gloom. The
Dodgers aren't gonna win. You think the Dodger. The one
thing I will say and this is this is the
great equalizer. Nobody hits the baseball like the Dodgers. And
you look at every other team that has played in
the playoffs, that played in the first round, they all

(44:17):
had trouble putting runs across the board. Everybody did. Some
had more than others. If a team scored four runs
in a game and they were lighting up the scoreboard, it's,
oh my god, it's four runs. We're gonna win this game.
It's like it's twelve nothing. The Dodgers come out in
two games and they very feeling, almost feeling like it
was like it was a regular season, end of the
year game, and they put up ten eight but without

(44:39):
even trying, like they just and they hit home runs,
and they hit off of good pitchers. Hunter Green shows
up and it's what happened. I was so good for
the entire season. I show up here and I'm out
of the game. My season's over in the second inning.
The Dodgers. Nobody hits the baseball like they do. Not
the Phillies, not the Yankees. You know, the teams that
we didn't play so far, We're gonna see them again.
We're gonna see the marriage Toronto.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
I would add that they were the only team batting
average over two sixties. So George Springer's been white hot,
and they have Guerrero Junior, so they have something in
the Toronto lineup. And certainly the Yankees have power.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Yeah, oh oh the Yankees. Look, you're looking for home runs,
the Yankees can get them for you. The Blue Jays
have it to a level, but nobody hits the baseball
with the confidence level with the ability of the Dodgers.
And look, Will Smith could be on his way as well.

Speaker 3 (45:26):
He's available to catch time. And he didn't play, not
just the past week, he hasn't played in four weeks.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Yeah, this is this guy who was the best hitting
catcher in baseball, you know, up until he got hurt,
and he's been an All Star for the last few years.
Like that. That's the one thing. If the Dodgers win
the World Series this year. Last year it was they
were the best all around team. They added Sho heeo Tani,
their starting pitching was good enough, their bullpen was terrific,
They hit the baseball, they they got stuff from unhralded

(45:53):
players like Tommy Edmund. But this year, if they're gonna win,
they are going to mash their way to the World Series.
There's no way there. They're not gonna suddenly show up
and wow, look at this. Look at this Dodger rotation
keeping everybody off the scoreboard. Yeah, no, not happening. It's
gonna be games that the Phillies they're gonna have to
win nine to eight and eleven nine and eight seven,
Like this is how they're gonna win. They are gonna

(46:15):
win mashing their way to the World Series because it's
the only way they can. Because you're not fixing the bullpen.
You figure out the ninth inning in theory with Roki Sasaki. Okay,
that's great, but you are You are not getting there
any other way than scoring a ton of runs every game.
And the good news for them is they're hitting the
baseball with no problem. That's the only team hitting the
baseball with no problem so far.

Speaker 3 (46:35):
I wouldn't recommend a one run lead to the late
innings for the Dodgers, you know, I.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
Mean, like they get up nine or nine to nothing
or eleven nothing and hold on to win eleven nine
yeah or nine eight yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:45):
Well, it was the Phillies that had that legendary comeback
at Dodger stadium years ago, where what it was a
twelve to one or something like that, that they get
fifteen to two and they came back and wound up winning.
There is on the mound the Slugger show, Hey O,
Tony pitch in Game one at Philly tomorrow. Let's just
say this in advance. I mentioned this during the regular

(47:05):
season when Otani has been on the mound as a pitcher,
and you know, they have that pitch com instead of
actually the catcher putting down different fingers for the signs,
Otani has always had to and this is in a
normal game in July or August, had to cover up
his ear with his glove to be able to hear
the pitch come properly. And that includes at home games.

(47:25):
What's going to happen at Philadelphia tomorrow. That's going to
be something I'm looking at in inning one of Game
one of this best of five. By the way, the
great Sarah Langs baseball researcher points out that we've got
Otani with fifty five homers this year. Kyle Schwarber the
Phills fifty six homers. So it's the first time multiple
players with at least fifty five in a season have

(47:47):
made the postseason the same year, and we haven't mentioned
cal Rawley's going to be playing for Seattle tomorrow, but
we assume shoey Otani is going to both pitch and
lead off in the batting order. He would be the
first starting pitcher ever to lead off in a postseason game,
because no starter has hit anywhere in the order except
eight or nine in a playoff game, except for Babe

(48:08):
Ruth once batted sixth and pitched for Boston in nineteen eighteen.
So we're gonna get a little history tomorrow. But again,
it is two games in Philly, the better team in
the regular season, and if there's Game five, it's back
at Philly the next Saturday.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
Now there's Dodgers Phillies. How about Yankees Blue Jays? The
controversy you didn't know you wanted, but we're getting it
was in August when the Yankees were playing a series,
or I'm sorry, it was in early September when right
after the Yankees, right after the Yankees visited, and look,

(48:47):
the Blue Jays won the division series against the Yankees.
The Blue Jays were eight and five against them. Overall,
they were six and one in Toronto. They had just
beaten them, and so the Blue Jays and the Astros
are playing a series. And in early September, former MLB
major leaguer and manager Buck Martinez, who was the Blue
Jays TV analyst, had some very pointed things to say

(49:11):
about the Yankees, saying, quote the Yankees, they're not a
good team. I don't care what their record is. Okay,
clip and save that and see if these teams play
again the rest of the season. Well, fast forward now
a few weeks and here are the Yankees getting ready
to take on the Blue Jays, and Aaron Boone, Yankee manager,
had some thoughts on Buck Martinez's words, and here he

(49:32):
was talking about it earlier today.

Speaker 7 (49:35):
I feel like, you know, obviously the last couple of
months really started to play really well, and you know,
contrary to some thoughts up here, we're a really good team.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
Is That's all?

Speaker 8 (49:47):
That's been a theme I guess at around the team
of feeling that way.

Speaker 4 (49:52):
What's that is?

Speaker 8 (49:53):
That's all that you kind of stressed the team? But
both you say, contrary to thoughts up here. Oh, I know,
I know Buck had some thoughts. That's o ours upon
it to so he's wrong, but it doesn't matter. We
got to go play, and we got to go performs

(50:14):
as everyone does at this time of years now.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
He had some thoughts, Jason, and he went on to
say that night, Buck Martinez, the Yankees have a lot
of wild pitches. They make a lot of mistakes in
the field. They don't run the bases very well. If
they don't hit home runs, they don't have a chance
to win.

Speaker 4 (50:29):
End quote. And this followed the month before.

Speaker 3 (50:31):
Remember the Yankee announcer Michael Ka talking about on his show,
I know the Blue Jays are in for there aren't
a first place team. They are not, you know, And
so this has gone back and forth in the summer.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
Yeah. Look, and you could tell Aaron booz oh it
doesn't matter. No, clearly it does because hey, yeah, I know,
Buck had some thoughts and all of this. And first
of all, let me say this, I get it because
Aaron Boone has had to listen for the narrative the
last twelve and a half months of the Yankees are
a bad team. Fundamentally, they're bad. They run the bases

(51:01):
like little leaguers. All the errors in the World Series,
all the mistakes they made, and this is on the
coaches right when when a team plays like that, that's
on the coach. Hey, why do they play this way?

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Man?

Speaker 1 (51:12):
How do they? How do they play that? And Aaron
Boone has had to listen to that, and it's been
shots at him for the better part of the last year.
And this is why, like every like, I feel like
he gets so close to getting fired. And yet somehow
they they pull it out of the fire and they
win a couple of games in a row, and here
they are again, and Aaron Boone is able to survive.
But you could tell it has really bothered him that

(51:35):
this is the narrative around the Yankees that fundamentally they're bad,
they're embarrassing, they play they they they play the game
in a way that I can't believe they succeed the
way they do. You've had players around the league say it.
Now you have Buck Martinez saying, I'm telling not afraid
to say it on television about the Yankees. And I
get that Aaron Boone is really mad going into this

(51:57):
because this has been a narrative that he's had to
deal with now for over a year, ever since the
World Series.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
And we brought it up on this show.

Speaker 3 (52:03):
The irony is the Dodgers said after the fact, after
they clinched against all those Yankee mistakes in Game five
of the World Series last year. We knew we could
count on that from the Yankees. We knew from our
scouting that that was gonna come up, and it sure did.
The irony is the Dodger outfield has become that team
this year, which you referenced earlier. There's no confidence at

(52:24):
all in the Dodgers defensively, and I think you need
look no further than the guy who usually manned center field,
who is from Cuba, like Yasi Opuig or from Cuba.
Andy pot has too often plays like Yasio Puig. He
can be spectacular, he can have power, and sometimes there's
just head scratching moments like wow, is this a seventeen

(52:45):
year old out in the outfit? How did this happen
in a Major League game? So hopefully one of those
won't happen. The negative for Toronto going into this Yankee
series that starts tomorrow is their pitching hasn't been superb
and they allowed over two hundred home runs this year.
The Yankees head by far the most home runs hit
of any team in the majors this year. Number one

(53:05):
in homers, number one in RBIs, number one in walks.
Yankees were number one in run scored also.

Speaker 1 (53:11):
So now you're looking at this series, right, and look,
I already said last night, Look, the Yankees look like
a team of destiny.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
Right.

Speaker 1 (53:17):
You had the new Jeter play when McMahon goes into
the stands to get it. Yeah, and Schlittler shows up
like he's the new Andy Pettitt, who had all the
plaudits for him a rookie hasn't done that in the game.
In the playoffs, they're going back to big, big performances.
You're seeing names like Hoyit, Will Helman, Mike Bottaker and
all this stuff. I gotta tell you this is how

(53:37):
this series goes. The Yankees take the first two games
in Toronto. You talk about the Dodgers mashing. They are
going to mash, They're gonna hit, They're motivated, they are
hot at the right time, right eliminating the Red Sox,
seizing momentum after the seventh inning of Game two, where
ridiculously the Red Sox decided to go conservative and play

(53:58):
for one run. And ever since that moment, when the
Yankees got out of that bases loaded jam, the Red
Sox didn't score, and the Yankees were able to score
enough runs to win. They're gonna hit. They're gonna score
seven to eight runs the first two games. They're gonna
go back to the stadium. It's gonna be two nothing Yankees,
and the Yankees are gonna win this series and they
are gonna blow torch their way through Toronto. I get

(54:19):
how good Toronto is. I get they've been playing well,
but as you said, their pitching is not good. They
give up a lot of home runs. The Yankees hit
home runs. You're seeing Volpi get hot in the first
round of the playoffs. Chishm when he gets in the lineup,
he's affecting the game. Now. Maybe sitting him out the
first game was the best thing because now he's really
motivated the last couple of games. But this is a team.
Now Ben Rice has jumped in. He was sitting out

(54:41):
the first game, and he's played well. They are going
to absolutely destroy the baseball and it could be a sweep.
But I'll say, I'll I'll be nice. I'll say Yankees
in five, and they wind up winning the series and
they go on to the ALCS.

Speaker 3 (54:54):
Game five would be at Toronto. Since Toronto finished as
division champion, winning that tiebreaker against the they had finished
tied in the al standings. Keep in mind the schedule.
These are day games. This weekend in Toronto four pm
Eastern Saturday, Fox TV Yankees at Toronto Game one, then
four pm Eastern Sunday on FS one Yankees at Toronto

(55:15):
for Game two, and then FS one will have Tuesday
nights Game three of the best of five from New York.

Speaker 1 (55:22):
You like offense, it's gonna be a Yankees explosion starting
tomorrow in Toronto, and maybe some errors too, but enough
hits and they're gonna wind up winning.