On this week’s edition of Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob joins us from parts unknown to discuss this weekend's winner-take-all Game 5s featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the San Diego Padres and the Detroit Tigers vs the Cleveland Guardians, as well his expectations for the New York Yankees now that the Bronx Bombers are back in the ALCS. Later, Dodger Zone podcast host Ryan Burschinger swings by to preview Game 5 and tell us what we can expect from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his second start of the series, the re-emergence of Mookie Betts, why tonight is such a big game specifically for Shohei Ohtani and much more! Finally, Rob closes the show with a friendly reminder why MLB is better than the NFL and the NBA.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the berkshears to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on Major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker, and
we have a very special postseason edition of Inside the
Parker coming up. We'll talk with Ryan Berschinger. He's one
of the hosts of Dodgers' Own podcast, all about the
Los Angeles Dodgers. Also, we'll talk about the Yankees. We'll
talk about that Yankees Royal series. We'll talk about John
(00:43):
Carlo Stanton, all kinds of other stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Let's go better to lead off, it's getting robbed and
keep him on. Rob's hot take on the three biggest
stories in Major League Baseball. Number one, we have two.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Winners take all postseason games to be able to get
into the LCS. On Friday, it's the Dodgers and the
Padres at Dodger Stadium. Series tied up two to two,
game five, big game, a lot on the line. Of course,
the Dodgers spent over a billion dollars in the offseason
(01:19):
to get Yamamoto and to get Oltani, and of course
here it is Yamamoto pitching the most important game of
the Dodgers season against the Padres, who I believe was
better than the Dodgers. I thought was shocked that they
lost eight nothing in Game four at home, A whitewashed.
The bullpen shut them out with that lineup and that
ballpark A shocker. So the Dodgers stay alive, and this
(01:43):
will be an interesting game. A lot is on the
line because the Dodgers spent a lot of money. Everybody
expected the Dodgers to get to the World Series, and
I get it. You know, they've had injuries. And the
one thing I don't like is when people talk about
injuries as if other teams haven't had injuries as well.
(02:05):
I mean, the Padres lost Joe Muskgrave in this series.
He's one of their best pitchers, right he's not pitching.
The Dodgers have had injuries as well, classed, and I
was not pitching, and Kershaw was left off the playoff roster.
I get all that other stuff. And some other guys
who've been injured Bobby Miller, so I understand it. But
despite all the injuries the Dodgers have had, they had
(02:28):
the best record in baseball. They won more games than
any other team. So you can't use that once you
get in the playoffs and say, well, I don't know
how they're gonna win, or they can't win or whatever.
The series is tied to to there at home. If
they lose Game five and the Padres advance, it will
(02:49):
be a total failure for the Dodgers. They won eleven
of twelve NL West crowns. They only have the one
championship since nineteen eighty eight, and that came in twenty
twenty in the Bubble, basically the shortened season the World
Series played in Alington, Texas. This team is supposed to
at least get to the World Series and it will
(03:12):
be a total disaster if it doesn't happen. And I
don't know. I still think the Padres have a great
shot to win that game, and maybe the Dodgers shot
all their bullets and that eight nothing winning Game four,
so long, this is going to be interesting. America will
be watching a Friday night till winner take all, Padres
(03:32):
or a team with a lot of juice, and of
course the Dodgers have so much history and whatnot. This
should be great for Friday Night in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Number two.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Before the season started, I picked the New York Yankees
and the Los Angeles Dodgers to make the World Series.
And here we are. The Yankees are punched their ticket.
On Thursday night, they beat the Kansas City Royals three
to one. Garrett coleer Ace turned in an ace like
performing I mean, one run through seven innings. That's what
(04:03):
you're looking for for a guy like that when you
sign him to all that money a few years back.
He wins a big game. The Yankees aren't playing around.
They didn't give the Royals life. They went to Kansas City,
got the job done, won both games after splitting in
the Bronx. This is what you want to see, and
the Royals were almost completely shut down. It was incredible.
(04:24):
The Yankee pitching. How about the bullpen over fifteen innings
and no earn runs. Fifteen innings from the bullpen and
no earn runs, I mean, pretty pretty incredible stuff from
the Yankees. And we see John Carlos stan continues to
rake in the postseason. He's he's been a godsend for
(04:47):
the Yankees. He gets it done in the postseason home runs,
big RBIs hits. You know, Stanton was two for three
with an RBI and the close out, and that's what
you're looking for. And the other thing, too, is the
Yankees made the right decision when they went to Luke
Weaver as their closer. He's been fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Saved
(05:13):
three games in this series against the Royals. And now
the Yankees are waiting for the winner of the Tigers
and the Guardians. That's going to be interesting because the
Guardians stayed alive. But this Yankee team is poised to
make a real run, get to the World Series and
have a chance to win for the first time since
two thousand and nine. It's been a long time. This
(05:35):
team is good. I get it. Rizzo's hurt the first baseman,
so they have an injury, a major injury towards star player.
But they still have to keep going on and I
think they have enough to get there. But the pitching,
you got to be encouraged if you look at what
the Yankees were able to do against the Royals. Number three,
(05:58):
the Cleveland Guardians are live and well. Back in Cleveland
for Game five, on Saturday. The winner of that series,
the Tigers against the Guardians will take on the Yankees
and the Alcs. Guardians good all year, they won the division.
Tigers came with a Lake charge and the Guardians are
live and they had a big win. I mean they
(06:18):
got a big win. They got a big two run
pinch it home run by Fry, you know, and then
they were able to close out the Tigers in Detroit
where people were ready to explode. This team that has
a payroll of under twenty million dollars, a lot of
young kids have put the Guardians through the ringer. I
(06:39):
mean they got shut out two games in a row.
And then it's gonna be a tough order because schoobl
It's pitching for the Tigers in Cleveland. So the Tigers
have what they want, their ace on the mound in
a big game, winner take all game five Saturday in Cleveland.
This is going to be interesting if the Tigers can
continue their or will this finally end their magical run
(07:03):
and the Guardians, uh get there. I'm gonna go with
the Guardians. I'm gonna go with the team. I think
they've been good all year and I think that they
will prevail at home, even though UH School shut him
out in Cleveland. I think he pitched six or seven
innings of shutout ball, which is tough. But I'm still
(07:24):
gonna pick the Guardians to advance, and then that would
be the Yankees and the Guardians in the National League.
I'm gonna take the Padres to upset the Dodgers. I
think the Padres are better now you Darvish, I like
him a lot. Dodgers scored eight runs, Padres scored none.
Ever scored at fifteen innings. I think that's gonna change.
(07:45):
That offense is too good to go through another drought.
So I expect him to jump on Yama Moto in
Game one, and I expect the Guardians to finally push
through against school ball.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's the Gambler here. Vice president of Operations for mlbbro
dot Com and executive producer of the MLB bro Show
podcast The Mixtape.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Every Friday. You heard that right. Every Friday, we.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Bring you the best from the world of black and
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From Mookie Wilson to Mookie Betts.
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Listen to the MLB bro Show podcast, the Mixtape on
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Speaker 2 (09:56):
Wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
When Rob was a new paper columnist, he lived by
this motto, if I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in
a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
All right, now, let's welcome into the podcast. Ryan Brushinger,
who is one of the co hosts of Dodgers On
a podcast about the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan, how are you.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Oh, Rob, always good, always good man.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I know you're on pins and needles. The Big Game
Friday Night Dodgers Stadium, Game five winner takes all Dodgers
and Padres just your gut to start about this because
they really put on a hurting on the Projets in
Game four. But how do you feel going into Game five?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
You know, I feel better today than I did going
into Game four. Uh, the way that Game three went
was just very frustrating and all around stupid. You just
had one terrible inning, the Dodgers instantly fought back and
then couldn't get one more run for another six innings,
and that.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
What was crazy, Ryan, is that they went sixteen battles
in a row after the grass Slam.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's wild because the team clearly does
have the ability to fight back, as they showed instantly
and then suddenly completely died, and so that really sucked
all the energy out of the Dodger fan base. It
made it feel like this is the same thing that's
happened the last two years. It's just inevitable. Game four
is going to go the same way the series is
going to be over in San Diego. It's going to
(11:25):
be awful. And for the Dodgers to not only come
out and respond with a win, but to do it
in a way that was so dominant on both the
pitching side and the offensive side, it completely flipped the
script of the series. And now suddenly, coming into Game five,
you're looking at this as well, the Dodgers should win
because now the Padres haven't scored in fifteen innings. The
(11:46):
bullpen for the Dodgers has been excellent, and sure, yes
Yamamoto is getting the start, and he didn't have his
sharpest stuff in Game one, but if they did feel
like he was tipping his pitches in Game one, and
they've adjusted and address that in any remote way, they
would feel confident in putting him out there to start
Game five. So I really do feel better about Game
(12:08):
five than I did with Game four. But the one
drawback is, as we've seen with these two teams, the
momentum can shift at the staff of fingers. The pendulum
has swung back and forth multiple times in this series.
So it really is anybody's game, but it should be
the Dodgers game.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And I agree it swings back and forth. But then
you got you Darvish, who pitched the chim against the
Dodgers and has pitched really well in the postseason, and
he's a well tested, proving guy in the postseason. Does
he scared you at all as far as the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
He does, just because of how good he was in
Game two. He really really shut them down in that game.
All across the board Otani would offer in that game.
Moogie struggled through that game. So the one I think
the positive for the Dodgers is the fact that it's
hard to see him doing that again. It's really hard
(13:09):
to fully believe that he can completely replicate that in
game five. I would imagine that the staff has been
preparing like crazy for him, and obviously they saw work
a ton in game two, and the adjustments should be made.
This is a team that does have the ability to
make adjustments. They did that, That's how they came out
so strong. In Game four. They attacked Dylan Cease right
(13:29):
off the top. They weren't letting Cease get comfortable and
he had to get pulled quickly because of it. So
the game plan does work as long as they stick
to it. They weren't as patient in game four, which
was another reason why the offense worked as well. Is
that typically this is an incredibly patient team throughout the season.
They draw a ton of walks. They have a very
strong knowledge of the strike zone. But they came out
(13:51):
more aggressive in Game four and because of that, sure,
a couple guys got one two pitch outs, but also
a couple guys were getting hits because of it. And
so if they come out more aggressive with Darvish in
game five, I think that should work in their favor
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Our guest is Ryan Berschinger. He is one of the
co hosts of Dodger Zone. Check out their podcast Wherever
you get your podcasts and Mookie Bets you mentioned them briefly,
But Mookie Betts was in a terrible slump. I think
it was over twenty two, and then he broke out.
Obviously he was robbed of a home run by Profier
and what was that. Game three and then Game four
(14:30):
hits a home run the lead off the I mean
Game two and then Game three hits a home run
the leadoff. In Game four hits a home run the leadoff.
So it looks like and then he had one of
a couple of hits in Game four, it looks like
he's gotten out of his slump.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Yeah, yeah, And Mookie has been very clear that he's
been hearing everyone Dodger fans, national media, everybody who's been
pointing out the fact that, yeah, he was on an
over twenty two slump in the postseason, dating back to
twenty twenty one. He's known that ahead of Game four,
it was Eric, excuse me. Ahead of Game three, it
(15:05):
was well documented that he was taking high velocity batting
practice and swung the swung the bat three hundred four
hundred times. Prior to the game. He said he wasn't
leaving the batting the batting cages until he felt like
he got his swing back, and it took him four
hundred swings and he got his swing back. As you mentioned,
he was robbed of a home run in Game two.
If he doesn't get robbed of that home run, you're
(15:25):
looking at a guy who's hitting three hundred something for
the series with three home runs, which would put him
at the most valuable offensive player for the series thus far.
So he's responded incredibly well. This is who Mooki Betts is.
He does truly care. He wants to win more than
anybody else, and I expect him to continue this streak
(15:47):
going tonight in Game five.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
As big as Old Tany is and he is, there's
no doubt about it. Mookie's kind of the starting point.
I mean, he really is. He's a big part of it.
When he scuffles or struggles. We saw ye him and
Freddie Freeman have one hit between him, right Ki had none,
Freddie had won and the Dodgers got swept out early
last year. And again, Mookie's a big part of this team.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
As far as a jumpstarter, absolutely, it's of course. Otani
is the gigantic bread and butterman who as you've seen
throughout the series. When the back end of the order
produces offensively and gets on base for him, he drives
them in incredibly efficiently. Otan or excuse me, Betts is
truly a catalyst because he has the ability to get
(16:33):
on just as much as Otani, and he sets up
the middle of the order behind him. Of course, Freddy
has been banged up, so we haven't seen him for
the entirety of the series. But Teoscar Hernandez has been
excellent thus far. He had the Grand Slam in Game three.
He drives in runs incredibly efficiently, and we saw in
game four Will Smith and Max Muntzy had been struggling
in the series, but then in Game four it was
(16:56):
the second inning there got started with Max Munsey doubling,
Will Smith homering, or it might have been the third ending,
but anyway, the point is is that when that middle
of the order is able to produce as well, Obviously
you're talking about all facets of the order have to
produce offensively to generate eight runs, of course, but Muki
(17:16):
does pass the baton incredibly well from Otani to the
middle that heart of the order, and when he is
on offensively that does carry through. A hitting is contagious
of course for everyone, but Mookie does definitely get that started.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Last, but not least, the elephant in the room. If
the Dodgers do lose, I don't kill what anybody says.
It's it's a disaster. The seasons a disaster. There's no
way you spend a billion over a billion dollars. Here's
Yamamoto the picture that you got right for three hundred
million dollars, the largest pitching contract ever. Otani's playing, Freddy
(17:56):
Freeman is gonna play Mooki's gonna play You're at home.
You know what I mean. If you lose this and
get knocked out early, it will be a failed season
in my eyes.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
No, and I agree, but I think it goes beyond
just the money. This would then be three straight seasons
in which the Dodgers will be knocked out in the
division series to a divisional rival, and that alone is
incredibly frustrating. Quite frankly, what we saw in Game two
with the way the fans acted, which I don't condone whatsoever.
Don't throw things on the field, that's awful. I think
(18:32):
that attitude really came from the fact that the Dodger
fans started seeing oh dang, here we go again, because
this would be the third straight season of a first
round exit to a team that we all feel the
Dodgers should be better then. I think right now the
Dodgers and Padres are the two best teams remaining. I
(18:53):
really do believe whoever makes it out of this will
get past the Mets and has a great shot at
winning the World Series. This has been an incredibly competitive
series and the Dodgers have shown way more this series
than they did the last two years in the postseason,
for sure. But yes, for them to face elimination and
potentially if they are eliminated by the Padres here it's
(19:15):
of course a gigantic failure. As you mentioned, Yes, bring
in the huge names of Shoe Otani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, that
of course adds to it, but just the fact that
this team should be in the World Series and for
them to fall anything short of that would be a
colossal failure.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
All right. His name is Ryan Berschinger and he is
one of the co hosts of The Dodgers Zone Check
it out or wherever you get your podcast. Ryan, Thank
you so much. Man. Game five winner Take All. Can't
wait to watch it later on tonight.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Absolutely. Thanks Rob, Now bring in the closer.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Here's why MLB is better than the NFL or NBA,
and it is even close.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Reason number five hundred and fifty five where Major League
Baseball is better than the NBA and better than the NFL,
it's because of Friday's pitching matchup. Darvish and Yamamoto will
be the first matchup of Japanese born starting pitchers in
an MLB postseason. I mean it, It's never happened before.
(20:23):
And this is how international the game is. We know
players from Latin America, Japanese players. Some of these guys
are star players in Major League Baseball and they have
this matchup that means so much to both teams, including
the Dodgers. I mean, Yamamoto got the biggest, the richest
pitching contract in the history of baseball this past all season.
(20:44):
This is the moment in the spot that he was
bought in for. And when you talk about you, Darvis,
a lot of Dodger fans hate him. If you remember,
he lost the World Series game against Houston pitching for
the Dodgers, and people never forgave him for that uh
and didn't have a great outing. And I think that
(21:08):
if he were able to come back to Dodgers Stadium
and beat the team and the fans that really discarded
him after he lost that World Series matchup, I think
it would be huge for him. Darvas has been pitching
grad He pitched great against the Dodgers already in this series.
Young Multo struggled against the Padres in this series. This
will be interesting and I like the Padres. I just
(21:33):
think the Padres to me are a better team right
now than the Dodgers, even though the Dodgers looked like
world beaters in Game four. In the words of New
York TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for
your time this time until next time. Rob Parker out
(21:57):
he can't get it. This could be an inside the part.
See you next week.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Save bed time, Save bath Station,
From the berkshears to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on Major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome into the podcast. I'm your host, Rob Parker, and
we have a very special postseason edition of Inside the
Parker coming up. We'll talk with Ryan Berschinger. He's one
of the hosts of Dodgers' Own podcast, all about the
Los Angeles Dodgers. Also, we'll talk about the Yankees. We'll
talk about that Yankees Royal series. We'll talk about John
(00:43):
Carlo Stanton, all kinds of other stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Let's go better to lead off, it's getting robbed and
keep him on. Rob's hot take on the three biggest
stories in Major League Baseball. Number one, we have two.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Winners take all postseason games to be able to get
into the LCS. On Friday, it's the Dodgers and the
Padres at Dodger Stadium. Series tied up two to two,
game five, big game, a lot on the line. Of course,
the Dodgers spent over a billion dollars in the offseason
(01:19):
to get Yamamoto and to get Oltani, and of course
here it is Yamamoto pitching the most important game of
the Dodgers season against the Padres, who I believe was
better than the Dodgers. I thought was shocked that they
lost eight nothing in Game four at home, A whitewashed.
The bullpen shut them out with that lineup and that
ballpark A shocker. So the Dodgers stay alive, and this
(01:43):
will be an interesting game. A lot is on the
line because the Dodgers spent a lot of money. Everybody
expected the Dodgers to get to the World Series, and
I get it. You know, they've had injuries. And the
one thing I don't like is when people talk about
injuries as if other teams haven't had injuries as well.
(02:05):
I mean, the Padres lost Joe Muskgrave in this series.
He's one of their best pitchers, right he's not pitching.
The Dodgers have had injuries as well, classed, and I
was not pitching, and Kershaw was left off the playoff roster.
I get all that other stuff. And some other guys
who've been injured Bobby Miller, so I understand it. But
despite all the injuries the Dodgers have had, they had
(02:28):
the best record in baseball. They won more games than
any other team. So you can't use that once you
get in the playoffs and say, well, I don't know
how they're gonna win, or they can't win or whatever.
The series is tied to to there at home. If
they lose Game five and the Padres advance, it will
(02:49):
be a total failure for the Dodgers. They won eleven
of twelve NL West crowns. They only have the one
championship since nineteen eighty eight, and that came in twenty
twenty in the Bubble, basically the shortened season the World
Series played in Alington, Texas. This team is supposed to
at least get to the World Series and it will
(03:12):
be a total disaster if it doesn't happen. And I
don't know. I still think the Padres have a great
shot to win that game, and maybe the Dodgers shot
all their bullets and that eight nothing winning Game four,
so long, this is going to be interesting. America will
be watching a Friday night till winner take all, Padres
(03:32):
or a team with a lot of juice, and of
course the Dodgers have so much history and whatnot. This
should be great for Friday Night in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Number two.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Before the season started, I picked the New York Yankees
and the Los Angeles Dodgers to make the World Series.
And here we are. The Yankees are punched their ticket.
On Thursday night, they beat the Kansas City Royals three
to one. Garrett coleer Ace turned in an ace like
performing I mean, one run through seven innings. That's what
(04:03):
you're looking for for a guy like that when you
sign him to all that money a few years back.
He wins a big game. The Yankees aren't playing around.
They didn't give the Royals life. They went to Kansas City,
got the job done, won both games after splitting in
the Bronx. This is what you want to see, and
the Royals were almost completely shut down. It was incredible.
(04:24):
The Yankee pitching. How about the bullpen over fifteen innings
and no earn runs. Fifteen innings from the bullpen and
no earn runs, I mean, pretty pretty incredible stuff from
the Yankees. And we see John Carlos stan continues to
rake in the postseason. He's he's been a godsend for
(04:47):
the Yankees. He gets it done in the postseason home runs,
big RBIs hits. You know, Stanton was two for three
with an RBI and the close out, and that's what
you're looking for. And the other thing, too, is the
Yankees made the right decision when they went to Luke
Weaver as their closer. He's been fantastic, absolutely fantastic. Saved
(05:13):
three games in this series against the Royals. And now
the Yankees are waiting for the winner of the Tigers
and the Guardians. That's going to be interesting because the
Guardians stayed alive. But this Yankee team is poised to
make a real run, get to the World Series and
have a chance to win for the first time since
two thousand and nine. It's been a long time. This
(05:35):
team is good. I get it. Rizzo's hurt the first baseman,
so they have an injury, a major injury towards star player.
But they still have to keep going on and I
think they have enough to get there. But the pitching,
you got to be encouraged if you look at what
the Yankees were able to do against the Royals. Number three,
(05:58):
the Cleveland Guardians are live and well. Back in Cleveland
for Game five, on Saturday. The winner of that series,
the Tigers against the Guardians will take on the Yankees
and the Alcs. Guardians good all year, they won the division.
Tigers came with a Lake charge and the Guardians are
live and they had a big win. I mean they
(06:18):
got a big win. They got a big two run
pinch it home run by Fry, you know, and then
they were able to close out the Tigers in Detroit
where people were ready to explode. This team that has
a payroll of under twenty million dollars, a lot of
young kids have put the Guardians through the ringer. I
(06:39):
mean they got shut out two games in a row.
And then it's gonna be a tough order because schoobl
It's pitching for the Tigers in Cleveland. So the Tigers
have what they want, their ace on the mound in
a big game, winner take all game five Saturday in Cleveland.
This is going to be interesting if the Tigers can
continue their or will this finally end their magical run
(07:03):
and the Guardians, uh get there. I'm gonna go with
the Guardians. I'm gonna go with the team. I think
they've been good all year and I think that they
will prevail at home, even though UH School shut him
out in Cleveland. I think he pitched six or seven
innings of shutout ball, which is tough. But I'm still
(07:24):
gonna pick the Guardians to advance, and then that would
be the Yankees and the Guardians in the National League.
I'm gonna take the Padres to upset the Dodgers. I
think the Padres are better now you Darvish, I like
him a lot. Dodgers scored eight runs, Padres scored none.
Ever scored at fifteen innings. I think that's gonna change.
(07:45):
That offense is too good to go through another drought.
So I expect him to jump on Yama Moto in
Game one, and I expect the Guardians to finally push
through against school ball.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's the Gambler here. Vice president of Operations for mlbbro
dot Com and executive producer of the MLB bro Show
podcast The Mixtape.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Every Friday. You heard that right. Every Friday, we.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Bring you the best from the world of black and
brown baseball. We cover the seven point two percent of
melanated Major leaguers from soup to nuts, but with our
own cultural flair and unique voice, will take you on
a ride, reflecting on the accomplishments, clutch moments, and contributions
to culture that the Bros continue to breathe into baseball.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
From Mookie Wilson to Mookie Betts.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Doctor k to Doctor Styx, from Bro Bombs to stolen
bases to Black Aces. We're live at the ballparks and
also bringing you segments like Classic Hits with David Gruff,
the Black Ace Report, the Rundown, the walk Off, and
Going Deep, just to name a few of the segments
that truly capture the voice of Black baseball. If things
(09:04):
get out of hand, is the boss, Rob Parker, He's
kicking up dust. We will gladly pay you on Tuesday
from an MLB bro doubleheader today. Remember the heart of
the game lies in the diversity of the game and
the spirit of Black baseball that dates back to the
Negro leagues. I the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood diamond checker,
(09:25):
making sure that you stay on top of the game
and in touch with the soul of MLB. Fuckle up
for a wild baseball journey, showing respect to the Ogs
and highlighting the new breed of melanated Malma Robins. First
thing through MLB's pipeline All Pitching with the sound of
Black Baseball, we got the best starting five in the business.
(09:48):
Listen to the MLB bro Show podcast, the Mixtape on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
When Rob was a new paper columnist, he lived by
this motto, if I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in
a writer or broadcaster, old or new.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
All right, now, let's welcome into the podcast. Ryan Brushinger,
who is one of the co hosts of Dodgers On
a podcast about the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan, how are you.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Oh, Rob, always good, always good man.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I know you're on pins and needles. The Big Game
Friday Night Dodgers Stadium, Game five winner takes all Dodgers
and Padres just your gut to start about this because
they really put on a hurting on the Projets in
Game four. But how do you feel going into Game five?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
You know, I feel better today than I did going
into Game four. Uh, the way that Game three went
was just very frustrating and all around stupid. You just
had one terrible inning, the Dodgers instantly fought back and
then couldn't get one more run for another six innings,
and that.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
What was crazy, Ryan, is that they went sixteen battles
in a row after the grass Slam.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's wild because the team clearly does
have the ability to fight back, as they showed instantly
and then suddenly completely died, and so that really sucked
all the energy out of the Dodger fan base. It
made it feel like this is the same thing that's
happened the last two years. It's just inevitable. Game four
is going to go the same way the series is
going to be over in San Diego. It's going to
(11:25):
be awful. And for the Dodgers to not only come
out and respond with a win, but to do it
in a way that was so dominant on both the
pitching side and the offensive side, it completely flipped the
script of the series. And now suddenly, coming into Game five,
you're looking at this as well, the Dodgers should win
because now the Padres haven't scored in fifteen innings. The
(11:46):
bullpen for the Dodgers has been excellent, and sure, yes
Yamamoto is getting the start, and he didn't have his
sharpest stuff in Game one, but if they did feel
like he was tipping his pitches in Game one, and
they've adjusted and address that in any remote way, they
would feel confident in putting him out there to start
Game five. So I really do feel better about Game
(12:08):
five than I did with Game four. But the one
drawback is, as we've seen with these two teams, the
momentum can shift at the staff of fingers. The pendulum
has swung back and forth multiple times in this series.
So it really is anybody's game, but it should be
the Dodgers game.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
And I agree it swings back and forth. But then
you got you Darvish, who pitched the chim against the
Dodgers and has pitched really well in the postseason, and
he's a well tested, proving guy in the postseason. Does
he scared you at all as far as the Dodgers.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
He does, just because of how good he was in
Game two. He really really shut them down in that game.
All across the board Otani would offer in that game.
Moogie struggled through that game. So the one I think
the positive for the Dodgers is the fact that it's
hard to see him doing that again. It's really hard
(13:09):
to fully believe that he can completely replicate that in
game five. I would imagine that the staff has been
preparing like crazy for him, and obviously they saw work
a ton in game two, and the adjustments should be made.
This is a team that does have the ability to
make adjustments. They did that, That's how they came out
so strong. In Game four. They attacked Dylan Cease right
(13:29):
off the top. They weren't letting Cease get comfortable and
he had to get pulled quickly because of it. So
the game plan does work as long as they stick
to it. They weren't as patient in game four, which
was another reason why the offense worked as well. Is
that typically this is an incredibly patient team throughout the season.
They draw a ton of walks. They have a very
strong knowledge of the strike zone. But they came out
(13:51):
more aggressive in Game four and because of that, sure,
a couple guys got one two pitch outs, but also
a couple guys were getting hits because of it. And
so if they come out more aggressive with Darvish in
game five, I think that should work in their favor
as well.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Our guest is Ryan Berschinger. He is one of the
co hosts of Dodger Zone. Check out their podcast Wherever
you get your podcasts and Mookie Bets you mentioned them briefly,
But Mookie Betts was in a terrible slump. I think
it was over twenty two, and then he broke out.
Obviously he was robbed of a home run by Profier
and what was that. Game three and then Game four
(14:30):
hits a home run the lead off the I mean
Game two and then Game three hits a home run
the leadoff. In Game four hits a home run the leadoff.
So it looks like and then he had one of
a couple of hits in Game four, it looks like
he's gotten out of his slump.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
Yeah, yeah, And Mookie has been very clear that he's
been hearing everyone Dodger fans, national media, everybody who's been
pointing out the fact that, yeah, he was on an
over twenty two slump in the postseason, dating back to
twenty twenty one. He's known that ahead of Game four,
it was Eric, excuse me. Ahead of Game three, it
(15:05):
was well documented that he was taking high velocity batting
practice and swung the swung the bat three hundred four
hundred times. Prior to the game. He said he wasn't
leaving the batting the batting cages until he felt like
he got his swing back, and it took him four
hundred swings and he got his swing back. As you mentioned,
he was robbed of a home run in Game two.
If he doesn't get robbed of that home run, you're
(15:25):
looking at a guy who's hitting three hundred something for
the series with three home runs, which would put him
at the most valuable offensive player for the series thus far.
So he's responded incredibly well. This is who Mooki Betts is.
He does truly care. He wants to win more than
anybody else, and I expect him to continue this streak
(15:47):
going tonight in Game five.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
As big as Old Tany is and he is, there's
no doubt about it. Mookie's kind of the starting point.
I mean, he really is. He's a big part of it.
When he scuffles or struggles. We saw ye him and
Freddie Freeman have one hit between him, right Ki had none,
Freddie had won and the Dodgers got swept out early
last year. And again, Mookie's a big part of this team.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
As far as a jumpstarter, absolutely, it's of course. Otani
is the gigantic bread and butterman who as you've seen
throughout the series. When the back end of the order
produces offensively and gets on base for him, he drives
them in incredibly efficiently. Otan or excuse me, Betts is
truly a catalyst because he has the ability to get
(16:33):
on just as much as Otani, and he sets up
the middle of the order behind him. Of course, Freddy
has been banged up, so we haven't seen him for
the entirety of the series. But Teoscar Hernandez has been
excellent thus far. He had the Grand Slam in Game three.
He drives in runs incredibly efficiently, and we saw in
game four Will Smith and Max Muntzy had been struggling
in the series, but then in Game four it was
(16:56):
the second inning there got started with Max Munsey doubling,
Will Smith homering, or it might have been the third ending,
but anyway, the point is is that when that middle
of the order is able to produce as well, Obviously
you're talking about all facets of the order have to
produce offensively to generate eight runs, of course, but Muki
(17:16):
does pass the baton incredibly well from Otani to the
middle that heart of the order, and when he is
on offensively that does carry through. A hitting is contagious
of course for everyone, but Mookie does definitely get that started.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Last, but not least, the elephant in the room. If
the Dodgers do lose, I don't kill what anybody says.
It's it's a disaster. The seasons a disaster. There's no
way you spend a billion over a billion dollars. Here's
Yamamoto the picture that you got right for three hundred
million dollars, the largest pitching contract ever. Otani's playing, Freddy
(17:56):
Freeman is gonna play Mooki's gonna play You're at home.
You know what I mean. If you lose this and
get knocked out early, it will be a failed season
in my eyes.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
No, and I agree, but I think it goes beyond
just the money. This would then be three straight seasons
in which the Dodgers will be knocked out in the
division series to a divisional rival, and that alone is
incredibly frustrating. Quite frankly, what we saw in Game two
with the way the fans acted, which I don't condone whatsoever.
Don't throw things on the field, that's awful. I think
(18:32):
that attitude really came from the fact that the Dodger
fans started seeing oh dang, here we go again, because
this would be the third straight season of a first
round exit to a team that we all feel the
Dodgers should be better then. I think right now the
Dodgers and Padres are the two best teams remaining. I
(18:53):
really do believe whoever makes it out of this will
get past the Mets and has a great shot at
winning the World Series. This has been an incredibly competitive
series and the Dodgers have shown way more this series
than they did the last two years in the postseason,
for sure. But yes, for them to face elimination and
potentially if they are eliminated by the Padres here it's
(19:15):
of course a gigantic failure. As you mentioned, Yes, bring
in the huge names of Shoe Otani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, that
of course adds to it, but just the fact that
this team should be in the World Series and for
them to fall anything short of that would be a
colossal failure.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
All right. His name is Ryan Berschinger and he is
one of the co hosts of The Dodgers Zone Check
it out or wherever you get your podcast. Ryan, Thank
you so much. Man. Game five winner Take All. Can't
wait to watch it later on tonight.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Absolutely. Thanks Rob, Now bring in the closer.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Here's why MLB is better than the NFL or NBA,
and it is even close.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Reason number five hundred and fifty five where Major League
Baseball is better than the NBA and better than the NFL,
it's because of Friday's pitching matchup. Darvish and Yamamoto will
be the first matchup of Japanese born starting pitchers in
an MLB postseason. I mean it, It's never happened before.
(20:23):
And this is how international the game is. We know
players from Latin America, Japanese players. Some of these guys
are star players in Major League Baseball and they have
this matchup that means so much to both teams, including
the Dodgers. I mean, Yamamoto got the biggest, the richest
pitching contract in the history of baseball this past all season.
(20:44):
This is the moment in the spot that he was
bought in for. And when you talk about you, Darvis,
a lot of Dodger fans hate him. If you remember,
he lost the World Series game against Houston pitching for
the Dodgers, and people never forgave him for that uh
and didn't have a great outing. And I think that
(21:08):
if he were able to come back to Dodgers Stadium
and beat the team and the fans that really discarded
him after he lost that World Series matchup, I think
it would be huge for him. Darvas has been pitching
grad He pitched great against the Dodgers already in this series.
Young Multo struggled against the Padres in this series. This
will be interesting and I like the Padres. I just
(21:33):
think the Padres to me are a better team right
now than the Dodgers, even though the Dodgers looked like
world beaters in Game four. In the words of New
York TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for
your time this time until next time. Rob Parker out
(21:57):
he can't get it. This could be an inside the part.
See you next week.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Save bed time, Save bath Station,
Host
Rob Parker
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