March 9, 2023 • 22 mins
On the latest MLB offseason edition of Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob leads off by giving his thoughts on the start of the World Baseball Classic! Gerrit Cole shows he is ready for the start of the season, and the Cardinals make a shocking decision on a star prospect. Sports Photographer Jean Fruth joins Rob to discuss her latest book Grassroots Baseball: Route 66. Former MLB P and MLBbro.com Analyst LaTroy Hawkins gives his thoughts on the new rule changes, the World Baseball Classic, and the top contenders in each league. Plus, yet another reason why baseball is the best!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the Berkshires 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 seventy six, Rob Parker. Welcome into the podcast.
(00:21):
I'm your host, Rob Parker, and we have another great
spring training edition of Inside the Parker coming your way.
We'll talk with former Major League pitcher la Troy Hawkins
about some of the rule changes and his visit to
spring training. Also Gene Fruth, who is a photographer and
put out an unbelievable coffee table book about a year ago.
(00:46):
We'll talk more about what she's doing this year, that
and much more. Let's go to lead off. It's getting
rot off and to keep him on Rob's hot take
on the three biggest stories in Major League Number one. Yes,
it is spring training. We will take a little pause
from spring training because it's the WBC, the World Baseball Classic,
(01:10):
and it is underway. My goodness, Team USA doesn't kick
off until Saturday when it takes on Great Britain. But
the last time we saw the Americans in the WBC.
They were champs. They claimed the tournament crown back in
twenty seventeen. After three straight editions of playing just five
(01:32):
hundred ball from two thousand and six to two thirteen.
Finally everything clicked and they won the championship or the
crown six years ago. This time around, I don't know
about you, but man, what a loaded lineup. It's like
an All Star Game lineup. The likes of Mike Trout,
(01:54):
Mo Mookie Betts, Nolan Arronado, Paul Goldschmidt all playing for USA.
And this will be great to see if the United
States can once again win the World Baseball Classic. The
last time we saw at the USA pulled it out.
And here's another opportunity with some great players, star players.
(02:17):
I mean, this is great. This ain't the NBA All
Star Game where nobody wants to play, Are you kidding?
There aren't enough spots for Team USA with all the
stars who want to play. So while buckle up, get ready.
The World Baseball Classic is underway. Number two. If you're
a New York Yankees fan, you are absolutely thrilled by
(02:39):
the outing that Garrett Cole had against the Saint Louis
Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon, Garrett Cole looked unhittable. Seven strikeouts
in three and the third innings. If the Yankees are
ever gonna get there and win a championship has been
(03:02):
since two thousand and nine, they have hitting. I know
they've added some other pieces this past offseason, but when
they signed Garrett Cole, they need that guy to be
this kind of guy come postseason, have a lights out
run through the playoffs where the Yankees know when he's
penciled in the starting lineup to pitch, that they're gonna win,
(03:27):
that they're gonna win, and he's gonna be that. He
still has dominant stuff. We haven't had or haven't seen
enough of it. Good stuff, very good stuff. But he
needs a dominant season where he's back to that guy
that looks unhittable and for the hitters is unhittable. Number
(03:48):
three we know, we know, we've heard all the stories.
The Saint Louis Cardinals are expecting Jordan Walker, their number
one prospect, to start the season at Triple A. We
get it. He's only twenty years old. He's an outfielder
in the third baseman and they just have him penciled
(04:10):
in for triple A. But guess what he's done in
nine spring training games. He's slashing four twenty nine, four
twenty nine and eight fifty seven. We're twelve hits, two
of them doubles and three home runs. He's the hit
of spring training. Literally, we get it. He's not gonna
(04:31):
play third base. They got Nolan Arnaudo already at third base,
so we get that. But he could play the outfield.
He could dge. He's twenty. He's going to be a
star for the Saint Louis Cardinals. Why wait, find a
spot when a guy is this promising and super encourage
(04:52):
him with the way that he approaches the playing. You know,
some people are already saying, is he gonna be the
new Albert Pools? What? Yeah? He has been that impressive.
So if I'm the Saint Louis Cardinals and the guy
earns his way to start the season in the big leagues,
they should let him play. Put him on the roster.
(05:14):
Let this kid play. Do not stimy a kid who's
ready for the show. Here comes the big interview. Listen
and Larry, it's so good. All right, now, let's welcome
into the podcast. Gene Fruit, What a photographer she is,
and it is International Women's Day on this Wednesday when
(05:38):
we record the podcast for Thursday, and it's also Women's
History Month, so it only makes sense to have Jean,
who put out an unbelievable coffee table book called Grassroots
Baseball Grassroots Baseball. I have it. I enjoyed it and
(05:59):
if you have picked it up this still time. It
came out last baseball season. But Jean, welcome to the podcast.
How are you. Oh, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
And yeah, it's International Women's Day in International Women's History months,
so hello to all those ladies and women and girls
out there in baseball and in photography. I'm excited to
(06:22):
play a part, no doubt. And let's talk about before
I keep talking about how great your book was, what
are your plans for this year? Let's the what's the
focus and do you have anything coming out or are
you working on a new project this year? Yeah? So
I'm working with my cound my co founder of Grassroots Baseball,
(06:45):
Jeff Idolson, and we have a new project, Grassroots Baseball Women,
and we're telling the stories of women in baseball, past, present, future,
on the field, off the field, and for you you know,
you know, being in our industry, in baseball, you know,
there's so much exciting, you know, stuff happening for women
(07:06):
in baseball on the field, off the field today and
all the way back from the AAGPBL, the All American
Girls Professional Baseball League. We've been doing interviews with those
women in the past. We're interviewing women who are playing
baseball right now in minor leagues, executives in the game,
and then the future girls that are coming up playing baseball.
That's really fun to watch and so we're telling a
(07:29):
lot of stories and the project will run for three years.
I remember being in little league and there was one
girl in our little league when I grew up in
New York, the Saint Albans Little League, and her name
was Rochelle and she pitched struck me out. I had
to live it down, but she was good period. So
(07:50):
I have seen women who and girls who all play baseball,
not softball, but actually baseball. So that's is interesting. It
really is your next chapter. But for people who don't know,
tell everybody again about you know, the big coffee table
book that came out last baseball season. Yeah, what that entails.
(08:12):
So Grassfoods Baseball. My first book came out in twenty nineteen,
Grass Foods Baseball, where legends began, and that was baseball
around the World, the amateur game around the world. And
each chapter opened with a legend who told his story
about what it was like growing up playing baseball. Hank
Aaron im mobile Alabama, Tony Perez for Cuba, Nolan Ryan
(08:34):
for Texas, Ricky Henderson for Oakland, California, and I paired
these just terrific essays that they all wrote contributed to
the book about what it was like growing up playing
you know, and like Ricky told a great story about
growing up in Oakland, California, and how he wanted to
play football and his mom wanted him to play baseball.
(08:54):
So after that book, the great story that is, and
he wanted to get into the Hall of Fame. Can
you imagine that? A great story? And he said the
only reason he played baseball was his mom had the coach,
baseball coach picking him up and in the back seat
of the car was a hot chocolate and a glazed donut.
So he thought, Okay, baseball is not that bad. I'll
play baseball. What a great story. Yeah, and so that book,
(09:19):
you know it really we had some nice success with it,
and I wanted to grow Grassroots Baseball into something more
and we were at a place in our lives to
give back, and I reached out to Jeff who just
announced his retirement from the Baseball Hall of Fame, and
we co founded Grassroots Baseball as a give back to
the sport, inspiring and telling stories and giving equipment to
(09:42):
young players. And we decided to start are not for
profit along Root sixty six and for three years we
spent we spent documenting the game, the amateur game along
Root sixty six from downtown Chicago all the way to
Santa Monica and it was just a great journey and
we did clinics with kids. Hall of famers joined us,
(10:03):
and that's how the second book came about Grassroots Baseball
Root sixty six, and that came back out this past
baseball season. Well, it's a beautiful book, it really is.
How can people get that? Still? You can get it
on Grassroots Baseball dot org. You know, we sell it
on our website and Amazon also has it. So yep,
and Grassroots Baseball Where Legends Begin. They did a second
(10:24):
reprint of that, so that's also available. Our guest is
Gene Fruit from Grassroots Baseball and she's working on a
new project about women in baseball, and I was reading
something about are you guys talking to women from Canada, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Uganda and even Europe all it's
(10:50):
really incredible the project, I can women playing baseball. Girls
playing baseball is all around the world. I mean, Japan
has a league. Girls are playing baseball. They're playing our
own little league, you know, all girls teams all the
way up through high school and professional baseball. And it's
just really inspiring to see the level of baseball in
some of these countries and places like Uganda, places like
(11:14):
Dominican Republic, Cuba. So yeah, so we're hearing the stories now,
we have boots on the ground, and it's really been
inspiring to just you know, see what's out there, just
not only in the United States, but you know, all
around the world. On International Women's Day, Jane Fruit came
through with a Grand Slam home run the ninth thing.
(11:37):
Thank you so much for joining us for the information.
I look forward to that next book coming out and
for real grassroots baseball. If you love baseball like I do.
Go pick it up. I'm telling you it's fantastic, not
only for yourself, but you'll wind up buying it to
give to another family member or friend who loves baseball.
It really is that good. Thanks Jane Prefect your pleasure.
(12:00):
Thanks so much for all. Here comes the big interview.
Listen and Larry, it's so good. All right, now, let's
welcome into the podcast former major league pitcher la Troy Hawkins,
who had an unbelievable twenty one year career in the
major leagues and pitched him one thousand and forty two games,
tenth most in the history of the game Latroit. What's happened?
(12:23):
And welcome to the podcast. Buddy, what's up our? All
is good? All is good? Now. I know you were
down in spring training. I know you're gonna go back.
What are you thinking of new rules, the pitch clock,
the ban on the shifts, and the bigger basis. I'm
a little half and half on the new rules. The
pitch clock. I like it simply because it was following
(12:45):
out minor league organization last year and seeing the games,
seeing the same rules applying the minor leagues. The games
didn't go faster, didn't disrupt the hitters or the pitchers.
All they did was talk to guys not to do
all that extra stuff they do before they get ready
to hit. And you know, when they received the ball back,
it just spent the game up just a little bit
(13:08):
with the basis, just talking to the guys. The guys
that stole basis before, or the same guys are gonna
continue to steal basis. The guys that didn't steal basis,
those four extra inches will not entice them to steal basis.
The one rule that I'm not I'm not big gone
is the taking a shift out. And I know they
(13:29):
didn't completely take the shift out, but they made some
adjustments to it. And being a picture, I wanted to say,
why did they If I can't hit the outside corner.
It's not like they're gonna move the plate or make
the plate wider for me. They're gonna make me make adjustments.
And I think they just completely bailed out the hitters
(13:50):
to make an adjustments. And I understand why they did it,
but that doesn't mean I like I hear you and
that's a picture that makes sense. But this is the
problem I had with the ridiculus shifts and four guys
on one side of the bag. LaTroy is like, guys
will hit the ball straight up the middle and there's
a third baseman standing there, like, those should be hits.
We need more base runners, we need more action on
(14:11):
the basis. Guy pull the ball in the hole and
the third baseman is in the short right field, or
a second baseman is pulled all the way over. That
took away hits that naturally would be hits. And I
think that's why I'm okay with it. You still can
move people over. You just can't have four people on
one side, right, And that's true, But why not make
(14:31):
the hitters making adjustment. There's a whole open side that
you can use that they refuse to use. And I
know talking to hitters, to hitters say, well, it's just
not that easy. Well, when you learn to play baseball,
and wasn't that easy you learn to do it. But
in three or four years, baseball is gonna say hitching
is watered down. They're not gonna make home play big.
(14:54):
I mean, right, but if I'm if I'm throwing my
fastball consistently four inches outside and every other p is
doing it, they're not gonna say, you know what, let's
make the game easier for the picture, make the desk.
Maybe that type of adjustment is easier for the picture
than it is for a hitter. But all I know
is there's a lot of real estate if you're a
(15:14):
left hand pool hitter hitting the ball to left field.
And some of the best hitters, the best hitters to
ever played this game, were not dead pool hitters. They
were hitters that sprayed the ball all over the field.
And if you're able to do that, you don't have
to worry about the team shifting on you. You You don't.
But why should I play my third baseman at third
base and you hit the ball to third base three
percent of the time. It doesn't makes sense. I want
(15:37):
to play my defense where you hit the ball that consistently.
I hear you as a picture. Home plate wasn't widen?
Greg Maddox like, right move without four inches? Greg Maddox
like he used to pitch. Yeah, and I and I
get it too. I understand why they did it. I do.
That doesn't mean I like it, but I understand it.
And that's what people don't understand. You cannot like something
and understand why it's being done, and I get it,
(16:00):
no doubt. I tell people majorly baseball and baseball in general,
they already have my love, they have your love, they
have everybody that work at MLB bro love because that's
what we love. They're reaching for that next generation. And
if they're gonna get that next generation, they're gonna have
to make some They're gonna have to make some adjustments
to the way the game is played. And I get that,
(16:22):
and I understand what the old heads are saying too.
But if we look at history, every game has changed
to to to a certain extent, every game is evolved,
and baseball is one of those things that have continued
to evolve. As you are still the best team in
the world or no, we've always been the best team
(16:44):
in the world. Um, I think the best team in
the world. I think started taking it serious like they
did and um for the four years ago and we
won it all. And I think we're gonna continue to
have that type of passion for the WBC because everybody's
trying to get over here to play baseball. Not a
(17:04):
lot of Americans getting trying to go somewhere else to
play baseball. So we're taking it serious. Now. I know
that you know, baseball's a marathon and not a sprint
as good long season between now and October, but give
me your early prediction on who you see coming out
of the American League and who's coming out of the
National League to meet in the World Series. Let me
think about that, because everybody looks good on paper and
(17:26):
screen training. Man, everybody looks great. I mean coming out
of the National League. I would have to say I
like the Padres too, Rob, but I'm just not I
just can't, like really just say, I just can't really
pick them. I'm gonna have to go with the Dodgers
just because the dominance that they had in that division
(17:48):
for so many years. They've only won one World Series,
but they do continue to dominate. I do like what
I do like that San Diego last September showed them that, hey,
you know what, you're not the bully in this division anymore.
We're gonna we're you know, we're fighting back. And I
love the fact that they knocked him out of the playoffs.
(18:10):
That was money and coming out of American League. Am
I to go with the astros Man and Dusty we trustee? Yeah,
I gotta go with the Castros. I would love to
say my Minnesota tweetings, but we have to we have
to stay healthy. If we cannot stay healthy, we're probably
(18:31):
the one team in the league that if we lose
two guys, two of our starters in previous years, we
hadn't done a great job having guys to step right in,
and it depends on who we lose. Hopefully we lose nobody,
but if we can stay healthy, we could be there.
We can make the playoffs. I don't know how far
we advanced, but we have to stay healthy. But in
(18:53):
Dusty we trustee. So I'm going I'm rolling with Johnny
Baker to repeat, and I'm I'm not going to say
he's gonna ride off into the sunset talk about what
it means for MLB BRO to have a partnership with
Major League Baseball. Pretty fascinating stuff. Oh yeah, just a
great you know, great for MLB BRO and the partnership
(19:16):
with Major League Baseball. We got a lot of good, young,
hungry guys out there covering baseball, and Rob's done a
great job of putting age together something that's gonna be special,
and it's gonna be um, It's gonna start a whole
new legacy. All right, LaTroy, always a pleasure, my man.
Thank you so much. The great LaTroy Hawkins join us
(19:37):
here on the inside the Parker Podcast. Now bring in
the closer. Here's why MLB it's better than the NFL
or NBA, and it isn't even close. Reason number five
hundred and fifty five why Major League Baseball is better
(19:58):
than the NBA and better than NFL. It's simple. Anybody
can play any size, any shape, any height, and we're
seeing that with the start of the World Baseball Classic
because players from all over the world are taking part
in the Classic. And the one thing about baseball, guys
(20:22):
have been small, Guys have been really big. Guys have
been tall. You know, Aaron Judge is like a football
tight end. We've had small players like Freddie Pottek who
used to play shortstop for Kansas City. Kyler Murray's not
that big, the NFL quarterback and he was a first
round picking baseball. So any size, any shape can play
(20:44):
Major League Baseball. We can't say that for the other sports.
If you're not a certain height or wait, it doesn't
work in basketball. I'm football, you know, I'm six foot
four and people see me on airplanes, are like, oh,
did you play in the NBA? Did I play in
the NBA. I'm small in the NBA at six four,
(21:04):
that's not tall. If you're six to eight, you got
an NBA body in height. And then the NFL. Are
you kidding? That might be a little soft around the middle,
But I can't play in the NFL. The NFL you
gotta have speed, size, strength only, and you gotta be
(21:25):
a little looney in order to play football. So everybody
can't play football. But watch the World Baseball Classic and
see all the different baseball players from the round the world,
size and shapes, colors, whatever you want to do. Baseball
is an international game and anybody can play. That's what's
(21:50):
awesome about it. In the words of New York Team
TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your
time this time until next time. Rob Parker out. He
can't get it. This could be an inside the Parker.
See you next week, same bad time, same bad station.
From the Berkshires 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 seventy six, Rob Parker. Welcome into the podcast.
(00:21):
I'm your host, Rob Parker, and we have another great
spring training edition of Inside the Parker coming your way.
We'll talk with former Major League pitcher la Troy Hawkins
about some of the rule changes and his visit to
spring training. Also Gene Fruth, who is a photographer and
put out an unbelievable coffee table book about a year ago.
(00:46):
We'll talk more about what she's doing this year, that
and much more. Let's go to lead off. It's getting
rot off and to keep him on Rob's hot take
on the three biggest stories in Major League Number one. Yes,
it is spring training. We will take a little pause
from spring training because it's the WBC, the World Baseball Classic,
(01:10):
and it is underway. My goodness, Team USA doesn't kick
off until Saturday when it takes on Great Britain. But
the last time we saw the Americans in the WBC.
They were champs. They claimed the tournament crown back in
twenty seventeen. After three straight editions of playing just five
(01:32):
hundred ball from two thousand and six to two thirteen.
Finally everything clicked and they won the championship or the
crown six years ago. This time around, I don't know
about you, but man, what a loaded lineup. It's like
an All Star Game lineup. The likes of Mike Trout,
(01:54):
Mo Mookie Betts, Nolan Arronado, Paul Goldschmidt all playing for USA.
And this will be great to see if the United
States can once again win the World Baseball Classic. The
last time we saw at the USA pulled it out.
And here's another opportunity with some great players, star players.
(02:17):
I mean, this is great. This ain't the NBA All
Star Game where nobody wants to play, Are you kidding?
There aren't enough spots for Team USA with all the
stars who want to play. So while buckle up, get ready.
The World Baseball Classic is underway. Number two. If you're
a New York Yankees fan, you are absolutely thrilled by
(02:39):
the outing that Garrett Cole had against the Saint Louis
Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon, Garrett Cole looked unhittable. Seven strikeouts
in three and the third innings. If the Yankees are
ever gonna get there and win a championship has been
(03:02):
since two thousand and nine, they have hitting. I know
they've added some other pieces this past offseason, but when
they signed Garrett Cole, they need that guy to be
this kind of guy come postseason, have a lights out
run through the playoffs where the Yankees know when he's
penciled in the starting lineup to pitch, that they're gonna win,
(03:27):
that they're gonna win, and he's gonna be that. He
still has dominant stuff. We haven't had or haven't seen
enough of it. Good stuff, very good stuff. But he
needs a dominant season where he's back to that guy
that looks unhittable and for the hitters is unhittable. Number
(03:48):
three we know, we know, we've heard all the stories.
The Saint Louis Cardinals are expecting Jordan Walker, their number
one prospect, to start the season at Triple A. We
get it. He's only twenty years old. He's an outfielder
in the third baseman and they just have him penciled
(04:10):
in for triple A. But guess what he's done in
nine spring training games. He's slashing four twenty nine, four
twenty nine and eight fifty seven. We're twelve hits, two
of them doubles and three home runs. He's the hit
of spring training. Literally, we get it. He's not gonna
(04:31):
play third base. They got Nolan Arnaudo already at third base,
so we get that. But he could play the outfield.
He could dge. He's twenty. He's going to be a
star for the Saint Louis Cardinals. Why wait, find a
spot when a guy is this promising and super encourage
(04:52):
him with the way that he approaches the playing. You know,
some people are already saying, is he gonna be the
new Albert Pools? What? Yeah? He has been that impressive.
So if I'm the Saint Louis Cardinals and the guy
earns his way to start the season in the big leagues,
they should let him play. Put him on the roster.
(05:14):
Let this kid play. Do not stimy a kid who's
ready for the show. Here comes the big interview. Listen
and Larry, it's so good. All right, now, let's welcome
into the podcast. Gene Fruit, What a photographer she is,
and it is International Women's Day on this Wednesday when
(05:38):
we record the podcast for Thursday, and it's also Women's
History Month, so it only makes sense to have Jean,
who put out an unbelievable coffee table book called Grassroots
Baseball Grassroots Baseball. I have it. I enjoyed it and
(05:59):
if you have picked it up this still time. It
came out last baseball season. But Jean, welcome to the podcast.
How are you. Oh, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
And yeah, it's International Women's Day in International Women's History months,
so hello to all those ladies and women and girls
out there in baseball and in photography. I'm excited to
(06:22):
play a part, no doubt. And let's talk about before
I keep talking about how great your book was, what
are your plans for this year? Let's the what's the
focus and do you have anything coming out or are
you working on a new project this year? Yeah? So
I'm working with my cound my co founder of Grassroots Baseball,
(06:45):
Jeff Idolson, and we have a new project, Grassroots Baseball Women,
and we're telling the stories of women in baseball, past, present, future,
on the field, off the field, and for you you know,
you know, being in our industry, in baseball, you know,
there's so much exciting, you know, stuff happening for women
(07:06):
in baseball on the field, off the field today and
all the way back from the AAGPBL, the All American
Girls Professional Baseball League. We've been doing interviews with those
women in the past. We're interviewing women who are playing
baseball right now in minor leagues, executives in the game,
and then the future girls that are coming up playing baseball.
That's really fun to watch and so we're telling a
(07:29):
lot of stories and the project will run for three years.
I remember being in little league and there was one
girl in our little league when I grew up in
New York, the Saint Albans Little League, and her name
was Rochelle and she pitched struck me out. I had
to live it down, but she was good period. So
(07:50):
I have seen women who and girls who all play baseball,
not softball, but actually baseball. So that's is interesting. It
really is your next chapter. But for people who don't know,
tell everybody again about you know, the big coffee table
book that came out last baseball season. Yeah, what that entails.
(08:12):
So Grassfoods Baseball. My first book came out in twenty nineteen,
Grass Foods Baseball, where legends began, and that was baseball
around the World, the amateur game around the world. And
each chapter opened with a legend who told his story
about what it was like growing up playing baseball. Hank
Aaron im mobile Alabama, Tony Perez for Cuba, Nolan Ryan
(08:34):
for Texas, Ricky Henderson for Oakland, California, and I paired
these just terrific essays that they all wrote contributed to
the book about what it was like growing up playing
you know, and like Ricky told a great story about
growing up in Oakland, California, and how he wanted to
play football and his mom wanted him to play baseball.
(08:54):
So after that book, the great story that is, and
he wanted to get into the Hall of Fame. Can
you imagine that? A great story? And he said the
only reason he played baseball was his mom had the coach,
baseball coach picking him up and in the back seat
of the car was a hot chocolate and a glazed donut.
So he thought, Okay, baseball is not that bad. I'll
play baseball. What a great story. Yeah, and so that book,
(09:19):
you know it really we had some nice success with it,
and I wanted to grow Grassroots Baseball into something more
and we were at a place in our lives to
give back, and I reached out to Jeff who just
announced his retirement from the Baseball Hall of Fame, and
we co founded Grassroots Baseball as a give back to
the sport, inspiring and telling stories and giving equipment to
(09:42):
young players. And we decided to start are not for
profit along Root sixty six and for three years we
spent we spent documenting the game, the amateur game along
Root sixty six from downtown Chicago all the way to
Santa Monica and it was just a great journey and
we did clinics with kids. Hall of famers joined us,
(10:03):
and that's how the second book came about Grassroots Baseball
Root sixty six, and that came back out this past
baseball season. Well, it's a beautiful book, it really is.
How can people get that? Still? You can get it
on Grassroots Baseball dot org. You know, we sell it
on our website and Amazon also has it. So yep,
and Grassroots Baseball Where Legends Begin. They did a second
(10:24):
reprint of that, so that's also available. Our guest is
Gene Fruit from Grassroots Baseball and she's working on a
new project about women in baseball, and I was reading
something about are you guys talking to women from Canada, Cuba,
Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Uganda and even Europe all it's
(10:50):
really incredible the project, I can women playing baseball. Girls
playing baseball is all around the world. I mean, Japan
has a league. Girls are playing baseball. They're playing our
own little league, you know, all girls teams all the
way up through high school and professional baseball. And it's
just really inspiring to see the level of baseball in
some of these countries and places like Uganda, places like
(11:14):
Dominican Republic, Cuba. So yeah, so we're hearing the stories now,
we have boots on the ground, and it's really been
inspiring to just you know, see what's out there, just
not only in the United States, but you know, all
around the world. On International Women's Day, Jane Fruit came
through with a Grand Slam home run the ninth thing.
(11:37):
Thank you so much for joining us for the information.
I look forward to that next book coming out and
for real grassroots baseball. If you love baseball like I do.
Go pick it up. I'm telling you it's fantastic, not
only for yourself, but you'll wind up buying it to
give to another family member or friend who loves baseball.
It really is that good. Thanks Jane Prefect your pleasure.
(12:00):
Thanks so much for all. Here comes the big interview.
Listen and Larry, it's so good. All right, now, let's
welcome into the podcast former major league pitcher la Troy Hawkins,
who had an unbelievable twenty one year career in the
major leagues and pitched him one thousand and forty two games,
tenth most in the history of the game Latroit. What's happened?
(12:23):
And welcome to the podcast. Buddy, what's up our? All
is good? All is good? Now. I know you were
down in spring training. I know you're gonna go back.
What are you thinking of new rules, the pitch clock,
the ban on the shifts, and the bigger basis. I'm
a little half and half on the new rules. The
pitch clock. I like it simply because it was following
(12:45):
out minor league organization last year and seeing the games,
seeing the same rules applying the minor leagues. The games
didn't go faster, didn't disrupt the hitters or the pitchers.
All they did was talk to guys not to do
all that extra stuff they do before they get ready
to hit. And you know, when they received the ball back,
it just spent the game up just a little bit
(13:08):
with the basis, just talking to the guys. The guys
that stole basis before, or the same guys are gonna
continue to steal basis. The guys that didn't steal basis,
those four extra inches will not entice them to steal basis.
The one rule that I'm not I'm not big gone
is the taking a shift out. And I know they
(13:29):
didn't completely take the shift out, but they made some
adjustments to it. And being a picture, I wanted to say,
why did they If I can't hit the outside corner.
It's not like they're gonna move the plate or make
the plate wider for me. They're gonna make me make adjustments.
And I think they just completely bailed out the hitters
(13:50):
to make an adjustments. And I understand why they did it,
but that doesn't mean I like I hear you and
that's a picture that makes sense. But this is the
problem I had with the ridiculus shifts and four guys
on one side of the bag. LaTroy is like, guys
will hit the ball straight up the middle and there's
a third baseman standing there, like, those should be hits.
We need more base runners, we need more action on
(14:11):
the basis. Guy pull the ball in the hole and
the third baseman is in the short right field, or
a second baseman is pulled all the way over. That
took away hits that naturally would be hits. And I
think that's why I'm okay with it. You still can
move people over. You just can't have four people on
one side, right, And that's true, But why not make
(14:31):
the hitters making adjustment. There's a whole open side that
you can use that they refuse to use. And I
know talking to hitters, to hitters say, well, it's just
not that easy. Well, when you learn to play baseball,
and wasn't that easy you learn to do it. But
in three or four years, baseball is gonna say hitching
is watered down. They're not gonna make home play big.
(14:54):
I mean, right, but if I'm if I'm throwing my
fastball consistently four inches outside and every other p is
doing it, they're not gonna say, you know what, let's
make the game easier for the picture, make the desk.
Maybe that type of adjustment is easier for the picture
than it is for a hitter. But all I know
is there's a lot of real estate if you're a
(15:14):
left hand pool hitter hitting the ball to left field.
And some of the best hitters, the best hitters to
ever played this game, were not dead pool hitters. They
were hitters that sprayed the ball all over the field.
And if you're able to do that, you don't have
to worry about the team shifting on you. You You don't.
But why should I play my third baseman at third
base and you hit the ball to third base three
percent of the time. It doesn't makes sense. I want
(15:37):
to play my defense where you hit the ball that consistently.
I hear you as a picture. Home plate wasn't widen?
Greg Maddox like, right move without four inches? Greg Maddox
like he used to pitch. Yeah, and I and I
get it too. I understand why they did it. I do.
That doesn't mean I like it, but I understand it.
And that's what people don't understand. You cannot like something
and understand why it's being done, and I get it,
(16:00):
no doubt. I tell people majorly baseball and baseball in general,
they already have my love, they have your love, they
have everybody that work at MLB bro love because that's
what we love. They're reaching for that next generation. And
if they're gonna get that next generation, they're gonna have
to make some They're gonna have to make some adjustments
to the way the game is played. And I get that,
(16:22):
and I understand what the old heads are saying too.
But if we look at history, every game has changed
to to to a certain extent, every game is evolved,
and baseball is one of those things that have continued
to evolve. As you are still the best team in
the world or no, we've always been the best team
(16:44):
in the world. Um, I think the best team in
the world. I think started taking it serious like they
did and um for the four years ago and we
won it all. And I think we're gonna continue to
have that type of passion for the WBC because everybody's
trying to get over here to play baseball. Not a
(17:04):
lot of Americans getting trying to go somewhere else to
play baseball. So we're taking it serious. Now. I know
that you know, baseball's a marathon and not a sprint
as good long season between now and October, but give
me your early prediction on who you see coming out
of the American League and who's coming out of the
National League to meet in the World Series. Let me
think about that, because everybody looks good on paper and
(17:26):
screen training. Man, everybody looks great. I mean coming out
of the National League. I would have to say I
like the Padres too, Rob, but I'm just not I
just can't, like really just say, I just can't really
pick them. I'm gonna have to go with the Dodgers
just because the dominance that they had in that division
(17:48):
for so many years. They've only won one World Series,
but they do continue to dominate. I do like what
I do like that San Diego last September showed them that, hey,
you know what, you're not the bully in this division anymore.
We're gonna we're you know, we're fighting back. And I
love the fact that they knocked him out of the playoffs.
(18:10):
That was money and coming out of American League. Am
I to go with the astros Man and Dusty we trustee? Yeah,
I gotta go with the Castros. I would love to
say my Minnesota tweetings, but we have to we have
to stay healthy. If we cannot stay healthy, we're probably
(18:31):
the one team in the league that if we lose
two guys, two of our starters in previous years, we
hadn't done a great job having guys to step right in,
and it depends on who we lose. Hopefully we lose nobody,
but if we can stay healthy, we could be there.
We can make the playoffs. I don't know how far
we advanced, but we have to stay healthy. But in
(18:53):
Dusty we trustee. So I'm going I'm rolling with Johnny
Baker to repeat, and I'm I'm not going to say
he's gonna ride off into the sunset talk about what
it means for MLB BRO to have a partnership with
Major League Baseball. Pretty fascinating stuff. Oh yeah, just a
great you know, great for MLB BRO and the partnership
(19:16):
with Major League Baseball. We got a lot of good, young,
hungry guys out there covering baseball, and Rob's done a
great job of putting age together something that's gonna be special,
and it's gonna be um, It's gonna start a whole
new legacy. All right, LaTroy, always a pleasure, my man.
Thank you so much. The great LaTroy Hawkins join us
(19:37):
here on the inside the Parker Podcast. Now bring in
the closer. Here's why MLB it's better than the NFL
or NBA, and it isn't even close. Reason number five
hundred and fifty five why Major League Baseball is better
(19:58):
than the NBA and better than NFL. It's simple. Anybody
can play any size, any shape, any height, and we're
seeing that with the start of the World Baseball Classic
because players from all over the world are taking part
in the Classic. And the one thing about baseball, guys
(20:22):
have been small, Guys have been really big. Guys have
been tall. You know, Aaron Judge is like a football
tight end. We've had small players like Freddie Pottek who
used to play shortstop for Kansas City. Kyler Murray's not
that big, the NFL quarterback and he was a first
round picking baseball. So any size, any shape can play
(20:44):
Major League Baseball. We can't say that for the other sports.
If you're not a certain height or wait, it doesn't
work in basketball. I'm football, you know, I'm six foot
four and people see me on airplanes, are like, oh,
did you play in the NBA? Did I play in
the NBA. I'm small in the NBA at six four,
(21:04):
that's not tall. If you're six to eight, you got
an NBA body in height. And then the NFL. Are
you kidding? That might be a little soft around the middle,
But I can't play in the NFL. The NFL you
gotta have speed, size, strength only, and you gotta be
(21:25):
a little looney in order to play football. So everybody
can't play football. But watch the World Baseball Classic and
see all the different baseball players from the round the world,
size and shapes, colors, whatever you want to do. Baseball
is an international game and anybody can play. That's what's
(21:50):
awesome about it. In the words of New York Team
TV legend the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your
time this time until next time. Rob Parker out. He
can't get it. This could be an inside the Parker.
See you next week, same bad time, same bad station.
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