August 25, 2026 • 51 mins
David Ross and Anthony Rizzo are BACK for Episode 3 of Ross & Rizzo Unfiltered! The guys react to Kyle Schwarber’s EPIC walk-off HR for the Philadelphia Phillies in their SWEEP of the St. Louis Cardinals, Merrill Kelly CALLING OUT the Cubs for allegedly STEALING signs in the Chicago Cubs’ shutout win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Rafael Devers hitting a HR in his return to Fenway Park to face his old team in the Boston Red Sox, as well as the Houston Astros FIRING GM Dana Brown despite LEADING the AL West, and being in a playoff spot. Later, the guys answer some fan mailbag questions about whether they ever got into an argument while Rossy was managing Rizzo for the Cubs, as well as whether WAR is an overused stat, especially when it comes to MLB awards such as the MVP race between Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani, or the NL Rookie of the Year between JJ Wetherholt and Sal Stewart.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's something about the warm summer air and a cold
corona with lime that makes the roar of the crowd
sound a lot like the roar of the waves.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
That's because this is our playa, and the best seats
are always wherever you're sitting.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Whether it's a weeknight game under the lights or a
Sunday afternoon in the sun, you know baseball isn't about
rushing around. It's about settling in, letting the game come
to you. And nothing pairs better than an ice-cold corona.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Nothing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
So find your seat, your corona, and your lime. Because
real fans know the only thing better than nine innings
is extra innings, especially on La Playa.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Corona.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
La Playa awaits.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The official cerveza of Major League Baseball. Get yours at
ordercorona.com for 21 plus, relax responsibly. Corona Extra Beer, imported
by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Swing and a fly ball. Center field. Going back is Church.
Back toward the wall.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It is over.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Off the batter's eye.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Out to Asford Alley.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Kyle Schwarber has just completed an improbable comeback. A two-run
game-winning home run.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
The Phillies down 4-0.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
They win it 6-4. It's the first walk-off home run
in more than three years. Kyle Schwarber, our guy, friend
of the program.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
We're still doing the Loveable Reunion, bro. We're still doing it.
Let's go, Schwarz.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Hey, can you believe that the Phillies haven't had a
walk-off home run in three years? That's, I was... blown
away when I heard that.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Me too.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
You see walk-off home runs every other day, but, man,
what a moment there in Philly. They're down 4-0 going
into the ninth, all with two outs, scored all six
runs with two outs, and then Schwarber with the iconic
pose there. I mean, bro, he's on another level, Rossi.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Bro, that place loves him. They go crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And you just start– it's like there's certain guys in
the league that when they come– to hit they come
to hit especially in big moments they're gonna you know
they're gonna come through you just feel it and Schwab
is is in a leading all of baseball with home
runs the dude is just the the you know he's
the slugger of our time right now uh he's rolling
especially with like judgy out uh it's fun it's fun
(02:28):
to watch him but it's amazing I I go back
to like catching and you've got two outs, you're like, Oh,
they'll hit it at somebody.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
There's two outs.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Just keep putting heaters down, heaters in, heaters out. And
then all of a sudden, you know, that butthole gets
tight a little bit. And then Schwartz comes through.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
That was, that was amazing.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Happy for him.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Good job.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
I texted him yesterday and I go, you're my favorite player.
I go, that was amazing. And he's just like, I
can't believe we fucking won that game. Right. And even
that's the beauty of Schwartz. Even as a player, you're just,
After those games, you just sit back in the clubhouse
with the boys and you're like, wow, can you believe
we just did that? Those are the defining moments in
the season where you look back and you're like, that
was a big moment for us. That was a big
(03:12):
confidence builder.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I feel like those wins, when you have those throughout
the season, those are the ones that get you into
the postseason.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
You're never out of a game. You never stop fighting.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
When you have those comeback wins like that, the guys
just keep throwing A-Bs on there.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And the Phillies have been rolling, man.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
Rolling.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I don't know if he gave them some good juju
at the Field of Dreams, but forward for a couple
homers there.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And they've been, I mean, their offense.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Nine and one in their last ten.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I mean, they're now three and a half back from
the Braves. It seemed like last week it was a
long shot that they can catch the Braves. They're three
and a half back. They play the Braves seven times
in September.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's got to be nice.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
I mean, bro, that Luisa rise comes in. They're not
striking out as much. They're putting the ball in play more.
Harper is rolling. Harper's having a very underrated season. He's
just kind of going kind of just under the radar
the whole year. He's going to have 30 pumps. He's
a 900 OPS. So, I mean, this team is something.
(04:10):
They lost last night. Shout out to Cal Raleigh with
the three home runs. Hopefully he gets rolling for the Mariners. But, man,
the Phillies, man, they got in a three-game series. They
are going to be tough.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Well, where are you going, right?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Like, with the rise and the contact that they added,
and then Harper leads all of baseball and walks.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Like, he's not, he's like, you know what, we're deep.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Guys like Alec Baum, who struggled in the first half,
you know, he's getting on base, Stott's getting on base.
When you have a lineup that's controlling the strike zone
like they are right now, and dudes are turning it.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Over, and you're going to have to come see somebody.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
In that Phillies ballpark and at that citizens bank, it's
we're at the bank and the, the lineup is deep.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It's a tough, it's a tough row for the, for
the opposing pitcher. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Right now it's lined up for a Cubs Phillies in
the wildcard. That's going to be, that would be epic.
If that happened, that'd be fun to watch at Wrigley too.
So Cubs are rolling. That leads us to another episode,
Rossi of Ross and Rizzo unfiltered. We are back. rossi
is in pebble beach.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I'm gonna tell you live from yeah no big deal
my bad.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Wow are you kidding me well how's it going how's
your golf game yesterday.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I played okay yesterday we played spy class not that
it's about me but let me talk about me i
got to play with some country music buddies and a
comedian jeff die uh brett young chase rice like we
had a just a heck of a time yesterday playing
and then we got pebble uh this morning when i
get off here with you so Uh, excited. It's for
a good cause. Um, you know, doing some chair, you know,
(05:46):
my charity work in the off season, but, uh, or
in season, I guess. Uh, but you know about that,
having a blast. What have you been up to?
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I did the red Sox giants game, uh, last this Sunday,
which was fun. I'm in New York. Now I go
to Chicago this weekend, got the reds and Johnny Lester's, uh, reds,
Johnny Lester's retirement Rossi. I don't know if you saw this,
but The Cubs did a top 150 team. Unfortunately, you
(06:15):
did not make it. Fortunately, I did make it. Wrigley
celebrating 150 years of baseball at Wrigley. It's a pretty
big honor to make that team, especially with all the
people who have played in Chicago. But it's going to
be a good weekend. They're doing a ceremony on Saturday,
doing some dinner on Friday with friends and family. And
(06:37):
then the game Sunday. The game Sunday is going to
be fun. I'm actually in the booth for the first time.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
I'm going to have to pick your brain on that.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Maybe we'll get you on here to maybe hopefully you say,
I can't believe I said that on TV or something.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Hopefully it's not just me this whole time.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Jason Benetti teased me up nicely. But being in the booth,
that'll be fun. And then Joey Votto is inside the pitch.
So the banter back and forth. between us two. I'm
looking forward to talking to Joe.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah. That'll be fun. That'll be fun. Hey, congrats on that. The, the,
the making that team.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's if I would have been on that team, we
would have had to check whoever made that thing out.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
We would have, we would have had to, we would
have had to do.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Some background, but that's awesome, man. That's all I'm going
to be there to celebrate Johnny Lester. I wish I
could make it. I've got some, I got my, my daughter.
I'm going to see her play Troy this weekend for volleyball.
So I'm pumped about that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And I got Harper.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
My, uh, my little one turns 11 tomorrow. So I'm going,
I got a little birthday party at the house.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Oh, nice.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
There we go.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Wow. Sleepover.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So pray for me. Pray for me. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It'd be good.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Are you flying?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I fly tomorrow, tomorrow. I'm going to fly out tomorrow.
And then I've got to host the birthday party at
my house on Friday. A little water slide, a little pizza.
We'll do the whole thing, you know, uh, pick them
up all from school, load them down.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
And let them party. So you had the Rafi Devers moment.
What was that like? Rafi Devers first came back at Fenway. Yeah, well,
I had.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
The Sunday game, so I didn't see Friday, but the
boos were steady on Sunday as well. I mean, I
said this on air. When you have a passionate fan
base with Boston, it doesn't surprise me that they booed
Rafi with the superstar that he was and the terms
he left on. It doesn't surprise me that he got
all the boos all weekend. But what he did there
(08:32):
when he was at the Red Sox, you know, he
posted every day. I respected him from afar. He won
a World Series championship. I mean, at the end of
the day, he felt like he was miscommunicated with by
Craig Breslow and the Red Sox front office. And they
trade him away. And he seems to be pretty happy
in San Francisco. But the Red Sox are on one
end of the spectrum and the Giants are on the
(08:53):
other end of the spectrum right now. The Red Sox
are rolling. The Giants are on pace to lose a
lot of games. So, um, but yeah, it was, uh,
it was fun being there. It was fun being in
that action, being at Fenway, seeing the, the role that
the Red Sox, man, that team is real.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, and you know, as well as I do, like
there's something about going back to the team that, uh,
even when you leave on good terms, like I grew
up a Braves fan and played for Atlanta for four years,
but when you go back, you want to beat the team.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You left. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Oh, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You definitely want to do it.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I mean, they lost on Friday. They lost on Friday,
and he hit the homer. He hit the homer.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That had to feel good.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
The homer had to feel good.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I said the Red Sox messed up. They should have
just played it. If they wanted the fans to cheer,
they should have just played the Rafi Devers compilation video
of him hitting all of his home runs off Garrett Cole. Right? Yeah,
give him some love. Yeah, and then just a quick
montage of them winning the World Series. But I feel like,
I mean, even in the ninth inning there, when the
Red Sox were about to win, you have– Here's the
(09:55):
home run here. I mean, the pose there, I've seen
that pose so many times playing against him. even in
the ninth inning when the Red Sox were about to
win and sweep you hear the Red Sox fans screaming
Yankees suck Yankees suck.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So that's so great well they've got some games coming
up that'll be a nice little back and forth.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah this weekend They have a big set this weekend.
Four games in three days, doubleheader on Saturday. I mean,
the Red Sox are real, man. I can't praise Chad
Tracy enough. I've got to interview him a few times
now being there at NBC. And I was really excited
(10:38):
to see how he would be now compared to when
he first got the job because when he first got
the job, it was a shit show there. And man,
he's just steady Eddie impressive. I don't know if you
know him at all, but it's in the blood. It's
in the family. His dad was a big league manager.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So his dad was my manager when I broke into
the big leagues.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Jim was. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah. So, uh, back in the dinosaur days, I know
you've got a, you got a joke right around the
court for that, but, um, he, uh, his dad was amazing.
Dad's one of those really smart baseball guy back in
the national league. And, We had, you know, Sean Green,
Dave Roberts, Ron Ventura. We had a really good team
and made the playoffs. But his dad was really baseball savvy.
(11:20):
I talked to him a little bit about that. He
said his dad is paying attention a lot more to
baseball than he was for a while.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Oh, I bet.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
His dad's locked in on every game.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I mean, bro, I... we were talking to him pregame, right?
And we're in the manager's office. You know how we
go in before when you're on the national broadcast, you
go and you get about 20, 30 minutes with the
manager one-on-one time. And it's intimate. And he was just
telling us basically the communication that he has, I'm so
(11:51):
impressed with. He's saying all the right things as a
former player. Where early on, they were awful at challenging.
And they would get their players together and say, hey,
this is where umpires tend to call strikes on you.
Let's start challenging that. And like, these are the leveraged counts,
communicating on challenging, communicating on, they swang a lot. They
were swinging a lot early in the count just because
(12:13):
it was early in the count. And they kind of
got back to that old school Red Sox mentality where
they're grinding pitchers out. And they talked about it and
they met as a group and they met as a
group for their identity. And all of these things he's saying,
I'm like, man, this is, I feel like For being
a first-time manager in the position he's in, in Boston,
(12:33):
where it's different with the media, the fact that he's
communicating this well with his players is just really impressive,
and you can see why they've turned around. He's at
the head of the ship, and when the head is
sturdy like he is, it trickles all the way down.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, and the adversity he had to deal with when
he first stepped in there.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
There's a lot of drama. They weren't good.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
They were terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
They're terrible.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
They were terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And he was patient.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Sell the team.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Wilson got 10 years.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I remember him doing a lot of small stuff that
made it on social media that felt like bringing that
group together as a family, supporting Wilson and him getting
10 years this year. I think Sonny Gray had something
special happen. It just felt like they were starting to.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Sonny Gray is good, right? They thought he was going
to be good.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
He's great. Sonny Gray.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Great.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Garrett Crochet goes down. Their best pitcher, one of the
best pitchers in the American League, down. Their left fielder,
their star left fielder, Roman Anthony, gone, right? And he's
doing this with guys that he had in AAA, so
maybe that's an advantage because they know each other and
they're more comfortable in the big leagues. But, man, that team,
that team's, they got a deep bullpen, a really deep bullpen,
(13:47):
and they're battle-tested, so they believe, they believe they can
catch the Yankees. They believe that there's still enough time
to win the division, so. Anything can happen. That's the
beauty of this game. And this season right now is crazy.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
It's crazy. It's so much fun. And we're approaching September.
It's right around the corner.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And just the playoff race down to the end is
just getting tighter and tighter. We've got to give the
Yankees some love because I feel like their offense hasn't
been just the typical Yankees. You think about the Bronx
Bombers and those guys with Judge out and Stanton out
and Belly. But the Yankees have been 11-6 since the
(14:24):
trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
The Red Sox 11-8.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You would assume that, you know, the Red Sox were
better because they were getting all the hype and they've
turned it around.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And that run they went on before the break. But
the Yankees have held steady with that pitching staff they have.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm so excited about the series this weekend, four-game set,
because you've got two really good teams. Yankees flying under
the radar somehow, but doing it with the pitching and
defense and some timely hitting and the.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
George Lombard Jr.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Coming up and being steady there, and we've talked about
that a little bit, but it's going to be an
exciting series because I think they've, you know, their offense
isn't the homer offense that we're used to, but they've
made some really good moves at the deadline to kind
of piece it together, and when they get Judge back,
that may be the best team in baseball for me
if he comes back.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And is swinging well. Yeah, their pitching's deep. Fried's going
to be coming back. Weathers just went down, but I
think it's good news. He won't be down for too long.
They're going to have the formula in the postseason where
they can move some starters to the bullpen. Clark Schmidt's
coming back. He can give them innings late, hopefully. Yeah,
(15:27):
I mean, look, I think the American League really comes
down to two teams making it to the World Series.
I really feel like it's the Yankees or the Red
Sox that are going to do it. Obviously, there's a
team that's going to get hot, but You look at
the American League.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
The Rays always fly on the radar.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
I know, but I can't.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
They're good.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
The Rays are really good. The Rays just, for me,
they just fly under the radar. They don't play in
these big magnitude games. I mean, I have a ton
of respect for the Rays because they always show up. But,
I mean, I just feel like the Red Sox are
playing at such a high level and they're battle-tested. Not
to say every team isn't because every team goes through
their own adversity, right?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Sure. Well, and I think, like, the postseason's a different
beast until you prove it in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
It's hard to get. Totally.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's why everybody just underestimates Milwaukee, right? Like, they haven't
done it in the postseason.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
They haven't done it, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You got to go do it. You got to go
do it. Speaking of.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Speaking, adversity.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Adversity. There we go. See, we were on the same page, bro.
It was third episode in. We're locked in.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Houston Astros, Dana Brown, gone. He gone. Jim Crane decided
to pull the plug on her GM. um they are
currently winning the al west with a losing record which
is crazy uh crazy this late in the season to
fire your gm is on a first place team on
(16:48):
a playoff contending team that's that's that's a head scratch.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah well yeah it gets you it gives you a
little glimpse inside you know what might be going on
behind the scenes obviously not good um you know when
the owner has to take over baseball operations.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
They said he's going to be involved in pretty much
everything now.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
When I know he leans on, like he leans on
Bagwell and Biggio, these guys that he keeps close to him.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah. I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Like being able to ask real players, but you know,
I was digging a little bit on that.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Like what, it doesn't make any.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Sense, but like Houston was seven and 11 since the
trade deadline and three and six at home, this last
homestand against teams under 500.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
So I don't know if it has.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Something to do where he feels like, Dana Brown didn't
do enough at the trade deadline or push forward.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
He pretty much did nothing. He went out and got
Dart and Varsha. That's it, right?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah. I thought they needed some pitching. I thought they
needed some starting pitching.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Everyone did.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah. It felt like there was a lot on there.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Obviously, we're not in those conversations of what guys are
asking for. When people get fired, Jordan's a beast.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Triple crown MVP.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
That dude's an animal.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
That'll be interesting to see this offseason if a new
GM comes in and the direction that the Astros go in.
I mean, the ALS is far from over. It's going
to come down to probably the last day of the season.
I mean, it feels like whatever team decides to get hot,
which a team will get hot, is going to win
that division.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
So that's a head scratcher there. Our Cubbies had two
heartbreaks in Seattle.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
They got walked off back-to-back nights. Craig Council pulled Shota
early in that last game there. I believe he pulled
him in the second or third inning. And I kind
of liked it. I mean, Shota was struggling a little bit.
The Cubs needed to win. You can't get swept there
in Seattle. You're out west, so. They end up putting
(18:49):
up 19 runs, so it's hard to lose when you
put up 19.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That's like the lackey line.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
12 runs in airtight defense, Rossi. I've never lost with it.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Never lost, but how about Randy Rosarino?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That was actually really good, but when you believe Andy, Randy,
I mean, is freaking..
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Dude, two times in the history of the game, Rossi,
where a guy leads off the game with a home
run and ends the game with a walk-off, and it
happened in the last week.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That's crazy. It's only happened twice, and it happened in
one week in.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
The history of our game.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I didn't know that. I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
That's nice. That's nice.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Well, it just tells you the way the lineups are
constructed now with guys.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
It's not just speed. I know both those guys can run,
but speed.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Like, it's not just speed in our game and the
old school, like, guy that gets on base and fast
and you got a guy that hits behind him and
then all your power hitters come up three, four, five. Like,
now it's like, you better you better be locked in
as a pitcher when you step on the ground. Real,
real legit threat, power threat. I mean, Schwarbs, when he's
leading off, like it's, there's, the game has changed. You
(20:00):
know what I thought about? Hold on, go back to
Schwarbs real quick, not to bounce around. But I thought
about you having Schwarbs lead off and you were like,
I don't know about that. He should hit more RBIs.
And then he came up and hit that walk-off because
he was the top of the order.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I was like, there we go. There we go.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Rossi, listen.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I get those guys. I get those good players back
up to the top.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
You and I both know if you're trying to win
the game in the ninth inning or eighth inning on
a daily basis, your team isn't very good.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
You're right.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
So it happened off. They walk off. You need walk-offs.
But if you're trying to get your best player up
in the ninth inning to win a ball game every night,
you're not a good team, okay?
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Good point, okay.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I'll never back down from it. I understand getting your
best players up. I just love that it happened.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I was like, Riz, I got to bring it over
the pot. I got to bring it over the pot.
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Speaker 4 (21:42):
Kobe's in Arizona, had a little drama last night. We
have a video of Merrill Kelly, maybe some sign stealing.
Relaying signs.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
We thought he had something on my changeup. We thought
he was giving, especially the lefties. Every time I was
throwing a changeup, we felt like he was relaying that.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Is that something that you've experienced before?
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Uh, I mean, you know, that's stealing signs is as
old as baseball. Um, I think it's a little bullshit
when it comes from a coach, you know, I think,
you know, if it's a guy on second base and
they see the grip in your glove, or if the
hitters can see something that you're doing with your glove,
you know, I think that's fair game. I think guys
have been doing that since the beginning of baseball. Um,
(22:23):
I think it's a little bush league when it comes
from outside that I think inside the lines is one thing.
I think the guys that are standing outside the lines, um,
I think it's a little, I think it's a little
bush league.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
Rossi, what do you, what do you got on that Rossi?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Man, listen, like, you know what? It's pretty good when
you're competing. It's free game for me, you know, like it,
if somebody's able to get your pitches, they're like, that's
on you, you know, you gotta be able to hide
as many cameras we have in the ballpark. Everybody's got
the technology where they're, getting inside the glove from second
(22:58):
base and they've got the low, you know, they share
camera views.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
There's a low hole. There's a low home and a.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
High home camera view where you can see everything guys
are doing. And guys are trying to get any kind
of edge they possibly can. Like I, you know, the
people's like the integrity of the game, all that stuff's like, bro,
I'm trying to win.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Like I'm trying to win.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
What he was saying too was Quentin Berry, the Cubs,
their base coach, he thinks was relaying change up to lefties. And,
Fuck yeah, he's relaying. If you're giving it, we're taking it. Right?
As an offensive guy, I know pitchers feel differently, obviously
as Merrill feels differently, but we're all between the lines.
The dugout is between the lines.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Right? Once you get into that dugout, I know the
chalk is what they say is between the lines, but
this is an entire operation that's going on. And it takes,
it doesn't just take the players to win games. It
takes an entire army. Every team is doing it. Every
team's doing it. That's right. And if you're a pitcher
now getting butthurt over people stealing signs, you're living under
(24:02):
a rock because you know every single team has their
own mechanisms of trying to find things. You need to
be on top of it. I know just through rumors,
Torrey Lovello is amazing at picking up signs here and
there and pitches and what pitchers' tendencies. So every team's
doing it. I have zero problem with it. I'm happy
(24:23):
with the Cubs.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
And I always think like, There's an easy fix. I
don't know if he didn't know until after the game
maybe or felt it in the game.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Well, no, they were chirping during the game. The dugouts
were going back and forth, and it's like, well, clean
it up.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Hold a change up and then pick up and change
last minute and buzz somebody. I'll stop looking at my
third base coach if he calls change up and I
get one at the dome. I might be like, okay,
he missed that one. I can't trust that.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yeah, there's ways around it.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Rossi, listen. pretty much my entire career. If a catcher
set up early inside on me, you know, uh, from
managing and playing together, I'd have someone in the dugout
scream something because I can start doing the math in
my head very quickly. If they're setting up inside, depending
on the count, it's pretty much a fastball. Now, if
(25:13):
they're setting up inside with two strikes and it's a one,
two count or the way they, the way the, the
whole at bat took shape or place, it could be
a back foot slider, but if a catcher sets up
early inside on me, most of the time it's a fastball.
Why not? If, if the catcher is going to set
up early and give that away, why not get it?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Well, and that's the, and that's the thing about why
catchers set up later or, you know, I feel like
we've talked about this a hair, but like this setting
up middle for catchers now is so hard for me
to get on board with because of how I caught.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But like, there's a lot that goes into that.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Like, you know, Nobody's stealing Tampa Bay signs because their
catcher's set up middle every pitch.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You know, so either you can't... Rip it and rip it.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Yeah, and you gotta, if you can't get it from
the pitcher, you shouldn't be able to get it from
the catcher, right? So you have to start eliminating ways
of giving teams any advantage. And there's so many advantages
you can give away and the good teams don't.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
There's so many tendencies that catchers do that it's almost
impossible not to give away. There's times where a catcher
you know, leans left and anytime he leans left first
and does anything, he's going right. Or anytime he puts
his glove down or anytime he touches his shin guard,
it's these, these habits that they don't understand they're doing
(26:31):
that people are getting paid to pick up these tendencies.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
So yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
It's, it's, I look as hitters, we need the edge
at every edge we can get. We got guys throwing 105.
I know Merrill Kelly isn't, isn't up there anymore. He's,
he's in the lower 90. He's, he's kind of the, uh,
abnormal starting pitcher now but he keeps getting it done
he's had a hell of a career especially playing in
japan but um the cub the cubs though they win
(26:57):
last night they play better which is crazy to me
against national league teams and american league teams they're terrible
against the al 55 and 32 against nl and what
are they against the al.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
AL, the Cubs are 21-24, and the Brewers are 27-15.
Shout out Chris Tran giving us these stats. The Cubs
have been better than the Brewers in the NL, but
the Brewers have dominated the AL at the 27-15 record,
and the Cubs are 21-24.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
That's hard to believe.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Isn't that weird? For me, that must just be the
ebbs and flow of the season and their timing of
playing these teams because the American League is clearly down, right?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
You have a lot of teams under 500, the wildcard
race under 500. So just for me, for the Cubs,
it's just probably one of those things where it's there.
I mean, maybe they're getting up for the bigger games.
I don't know. They're playing at a very high level
at Wrigley, which, which personally concerns me. Their, their levels
that they're playing at are almost too high. I need
them to just, I don't want to see the Cubs
(28:05):
go on a 10 game winning streak. I just want
them to go eight and two, eight and two, seven
and three, just, Just be steady, Eddie, and then at
the end of the season when you get to the playoffs,
that's when the emotions get as high as they need
to be.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, the good news is they don't have to play
any AL teams until the World Series when they get
to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
That's a good point.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
The Cubbies, the future's looking bright for them. The Cubs
fans can get.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Excited about this postseason run they're going to get on.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I think, man, they're hitting it all at the right time.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
But let's switch to our Corona Playa.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Of the Week.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Corona Playa of the Week. Sponsored by Corona, our Player
of the Week is Fernando Tatis Jr. for the scorching
San Diego Padres. New ownership. I don't know if you
saw the new owners yesterday coming in. All excited. We're
going to win. We're going to win soon. We're going
to do whatever we need to do to win, which
(29:00):
is exciting for Padres fans, that's for sure. Fernando Tatis,
NL Player of the Week, 12 for 25, two doubles,
four home runs, 11 RBIs. Four-hit, two-home run game on
Sunday versus the Twins. Rossi, this is..
Speaker 1 (29:16):
12 homers since the All-Star, since the trade deadline.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
37 games, 12 takes. He didn't hit his first home
run until May 30th, Rossi. Okay?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I believe that's the date.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Everyone's like, oh, what's wrong with Tatis? He's going to
be on pace to hit his 25, like he always does.
He's on fire. The Padres are rolling.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Man.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Machado's doing his thing. He's got 20 plus punts. Cronenworth's
swinging it better. Cronenworth's swinging it better. They go out.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
A.J.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Peller goes out and gets starting pitching at the deadline.
They have a nasty bullpen. Again, we can talk any
single team in the NL. Right now, Rossi, it's lined
up that it's Dodgers-Padres in the first round. Wild card.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Three games. Which is what we all... That's like... They
hate each other. You know they don't like is... I
think the.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Padres always feel like the Dodgers are the big brother
and haven't been able to take the ball back.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
From them on the playground, you know? So... Yeah. And
they've got a star-studded... Like, the Padres... Well, A.J.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Preller's done. He's just put dudes at every position and
real players and signs.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
He keeps doing it.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Young guys. Yeah, he keeps doing it. He keeps doing it.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And even with some pitching hurt, like you said, goes
out and gets the right guys that are established and
know how to handle the moments. And it's a fun
team to root for, I've got to be honest. You know,
we both played in San Diego for a minute. What
a great fan base they've got. And it's picked up
so much more since we've been there. So, yeah, again,
it's fun to watch these teams and the guys that
(30:47):
are got these resumes in the back of their baseball
cards starting to get back to what they normally do and.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Then take off.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
What they normally do. The guys on the back of
the baseball card, that's exactly what you said. These superstars, man,
they find ways. It's a 162-game grind. Look at Alex Bregman.
The Cubs fans were ready to write off Bregman in
the first two months, and he's completely turned it around.
It's a law of averages. You just keep playing the superstars.
The good players in the game, they figure out ways
(31:15):
to win And they figure out ways to get their numbers.
Let's transition, Rossi. This episode is brought to you. I
want to give a shout out to SeatGeek for sponsoring
this episode with your Floribama sitting here at the Floribama.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
SeatGeek.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I would love to go see a show there. I
saw Kenny was just there recently down there at the Floribama.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
My boy, Riley Green.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
That's where he pretty much came up singing. And now
he's exploded, but. John McGinnis, good buddy of mine, owns
this place. Got to meet him.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Awesome dude.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
If you have a chance to get the floor, legendary, legendary.
Shout out.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
We now got a sponsor. I'm going to have to
call John. Hey, we're all over the pot.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
Rossi, I was watching MLB Network and I saw the
rookie of the year race for the NL and I
saw JJ Weatherholt as the clear favorite to win the
rookie of the year. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
what about Sal Stewart, right? And I go pull up
the numbers, and I think, I mean, this is going
(32:21):
to come down to the wire here with Sal Stewart
and J.J. Weatherholt.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Bro, listen, I did Cubs cards, I guess, about a
week ago, and... you know, we get these packets and
you're doing all your research and stuff. And there was
a line in there that said the clear favorite is J.J.
Weatherholt for Rookie of the Year. And immediately in my mind,
I've done two Reds games. Sal Stewart fucking rakes, bro.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Rakes. Bro, he has 98 RBIs as a rookie.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
And we're not even in September yet.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
He's going to end up with 110. He could end
up with 120 if he has a big September.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
And it's all big, like big hits.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Like if I could, you know, I know we're talking
about power is such a great in players and contact
I love, but a dude that drives in runs, like,
that's irreplaceable. And what he's doing offensively, like, no disrespect
to J.J. Weatherholt, but I watched that same MLB network.
Mikey Lowell broke down, like, what are we even talking about? Like,
(33:19):
this guy is slash line at 263, 336, 472 slow,
27 homers, and leads all of baseball in RBIs.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
806 OPS.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
I don't know how he doesn't win.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
And he plays every day.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I love defense. I love defense. Love defense, right?
Speaker 4 (33:39):
Well, he's a decent first baseman as well. I always
got to give love to my first baseman.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yeah, but I just mean that's given J.J.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Weatherholt all the– being a shortstop and– sorry, second baseman
and being so good up the middle. And I get
defense is great, and I love defense. But when you've
got a pure hitter that's a rookie and leading any
category in an offensive category– In baseball, like, I don't know, man.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
That was where my vote would go. And we still
got the rest of the season to play out. But
what Sal Stewart's.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Doing is a no-brainer.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
J.J.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Weatherholt's having a great year, right? He has 17 homers.
He's got a 724 OPS. But I think this is
the topic that we always talk, like, war, right? He's
got 50 more RBIs.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
He's got 50 more RBIs than J.J.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Weatherholt.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
50. That's where I don't understand. How is war factoring
in that JJ is such a better player via war
than Sal Stewart, right? That's where this war number is
so messed up, man. It's just people love to talk about, oh,
his war, his F war, this war. It's like, bro,
(34:51):
look at the player, right?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
It's just... I don't know.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
They're both good.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
It's, it's fun to have both great players.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Like, yeah, I'm not trying to, we're not trying to
bash on, uh, guys.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Ali Marble speaks very highly of him. He, he grinds.
I mean, he's come up and he's held his own bro.
And it's not easy to hold your own as a rookie. So, um,
they're both doing good.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
The rest of both of them, I'm anxious to see the,
the race, uh, down the stretch and, and the national league, but, uh,
it's pretty, pretty impressive.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I was locked up by Kevin McGonigal. I mean, he's just,
I feel like he's just a clear favorite. He's, I mean, 283,
14 homers as a rookie, almost 80 walks. That's pretty crazy, Rossi.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah. I mean, what he's doing there, filling right in,
has been really impressive.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
And, you know, you heard all the rumors about how
great this guy was in the minor leagues, and you
never know how it's going to play out. But what
he's doing has been really impressive. The guys have started.
Scott Harris told me, he was like, wait till you
see this McGonagall kid. Wait till you see this McGonagall kid. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
And I'm always like, ah, the hype's not real.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I don't think vet players are always like, ah, we'll
see how they do in the league. But the young
talent in our games coming up, and nothing is phasing
these guys.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
They handle moments.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
I feel like they go through so much as young
players and travel ball and all the showcases and playing
in the big stadiums that when they get in front
of these crowds and these big stadiums, they're not even phased.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I mean, bro, there's only two other players to have a–
better on base percentage than him in their rookie year
in the last 15 years and that's Aaron Judge and
Mike Trout so that's pretty good company I'm not comparing
them but.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Sure well I mean we start putting up those kind
of numbers that's the thing that gets you in the
right conversations is when you start comparing numbers to guys
that were the best at the same time and go
on to have great careers and we know how much
we love that on base stat.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Oh yeah This weekend, coming up, Rossi, we have, I
know we talked about it a little bit, but big
four-game set, Red Sox-Yankees. We both played in this rivalry.
You were Red Sox, I was a Yankee. At Yankee Stadium,
the Bronx is going to be electric. Who are you
giving the edge to right now?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Well, you know, I think I just like what the
Yankees are doing right now as much as I want
to pull for the Sox. Um, I just love that
pitching staff is so sustainable and consistent. Uh, but like
a good store we were in, in 2013, we had a, uh,
a nice lead and the Yankees weren't very good. They,
they didn't make the post season that year, but, um,
(37:35):
we came in and they were one of the hottest
teams in baseball of the last month. And it was
our last series. And we had a four game set
as well at Yankee stadium. And it was one of
those like, Hey, we better bring it. Cause you know, the,
the energy there is, is electric every time they play.
It doesn't matter who's in the race and not. And
we won three out of four games, I'll never forget.
And we beat Mariano twice. I think Knapp hit a
(37:57):
home run to tie it late. And Daniel Nava got
a big knock on one for us to go to extras.
And we ended up winning three of the four. But
I'll never forget. we were tested in that moment. It's like, yeah,
we're playing great. We were in first place. We were
one of the best teams in baseball, but the Yankees
were one of the hottest teams in baseball. We went
in there and it was a battle for four games.
(38:19):
And luckily we came out of there three or four.
And I think that gave us the confidence that just
took us all the way to the World Series. But
when you're in those environments, I always said the American
League East, when you're, it's usually one of the, and
this year, obviously it's a little bit down the American
League as a whole, but When you're in the American
League East in those environments, you're always playing playoff baseball.
And especially Red Sox, Yankees, being in that energy does
(38:43):
nothing but good for you when you get to the
postseason because nothing's going to phase you. This Gold Glove
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Speaker 3 (38:59):
And then he just poses. Look at the pose.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Give me the pose.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
It was like a knight bowing down to the queen, bro.
Watch this. Just over the wall. And I love this
pose right here. Just down. Can't believe it. Pitch is excited.
But the fact he takes the knee. Watch it one
more time. Goes up. Ben Attendee. Poor guy. And the
White Sox are rolling. But pose me. That's the finish there.
(39:25):
They stuck the landing. I mean, that's a 10 out
of 10 for me, Riz. I don't know about you.
but that is absolutely epic, bro.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
That's our Gold Glove Play of the Week.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Thanks, Bluetooth, for the sponsor.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Oh, man. And Ben Attendee, though. You said Ben Attendee.
He's having a great year. Good bounce back year for
the White Sox. Right in the middle of that lineup.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
You need your horses. And he's like that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
He's now the veteran guy with all those young guys
around and signing that contract.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Going through some losing, struggling, like you said.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
And getting rewarded for going through the grind, as you
did in Chicago for a long time.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Been there.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I know what it's all about. Yeah, you've been there.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
That's got to feel good.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Let's get into our daily mailbag, our Tim Buss Ball
Bag Questions of the Week, where Rossi and I answer questions.
If you have any questions, you can leave a comment
on YouTube. Or email rossandrizzo at gmail.com. We will answer
some of the best questions of the week. We have
an email from Evan Newman. Oh, and we talked about this, Rossi.
(40:25):
How do you view the war argument and how should
it be evaluated in MVP debates? Most notably, PCA and Otani.
How has it affected your time as a player and
manager analytically, statistically, and in contract negotiations?
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Yeah, I had never looked at war.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I think that definitely like when you're dealing with offseason
contracts and stuff. But we're talking about Pete and Shohei.
You know, I think Pete, I always kind of look
at it like the eyeball test. The numbers are great
to put them side by side. But what's the eyeball
test and who's most important to their team, the most
valuable player? Like when Shohei's pitching, it's hard to argue
(41:00):
because he's doing something that nobody else is doing. And
you can equate PCA's defense to that. obviously, but it
doesn't compare to when he's starting and putting up a
one seven ERA, you know, but Pete, for me right now,
and maybe there's a little bit of just like show.
He's been the best for a long time. You get
a little bit of like, bored.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Shohei's having kind of his bored boring down year right
now which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
And he already has like 80 innings of dominant pitching
you know so the fact I've always I had this
debate and I'm gonna get off topic for a second
but like I listen to all these debates and stuff
is like what if you put Shohei's numbers in the
closer role and took those innings like it would be
different if he was on the mound closing at 80
innings with a 1-7 and let's say 30 something saves Like,
(41:49):
people would be like, oh, it's not even close.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
It'd be Shohei. But the fact that because.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
It was early in the season and it was starter innings, like,
it feels like a little bit it's linked to PCA.
But with that being said, I love the– like, PCA
is must-watch TV. When I turn on the Cubs game,
I can't wait for that dude to come to play.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
So is Shohei, bro.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Shohei is. And maybe it's a little bit at West Coast.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
That's why this is going to be a great debate.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
It's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
But Pete's doing something special now, and his odds of
winning are higher than they've ever been. So– Um, I
think PCA, like if there was a vote right now,
I think PCA wins it. But I, you know, my
manager brain goes, bro, uh, like I would rather have
Shohei on my team, which is nuts.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
As far as the war goes, it's the war. I
think you have two guys here that the war is just, it's,
it's a stat that if front offices want to look
at that stat and use it as a good thing,
they can, if they want to use it a bad thing,
they can't. Someone just told me, I had the Astros
Mariners last week, right? And I believe they asked the
(42:57):
Mariners GM about Josh Naylor. Josh Naylor steals over 20
bags a year now. And they say, does that factor
into his contract, right? And he says, no. And my opinion, why?
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Why?
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Because he plays first base and he's a big guy?
20 bags is 20 bags. It's not easy to steal
20 stolen bases. So these teams pick what they want
to look at. And if a guy's a high war player,
they could justify it. If he's a low war player,
they it's, There's just, the war stat is just, can
we get rid of it, please? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Well, I just love, like, we all like guys with
high baseball IQ and they find moments.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Those are what we call winning players, right?
Speaker 1 (43:33):
And I want more of those guys on my team.
I want as many of those guys on my team
as I possibly can. Again, taking advantage of anything I see,
and you're going to fall asleep on me because I'm
a first baseman and I'm a.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
Heavyset power hitter.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Like, go ahead. Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
Rossi, there's guys, and you know, in front offices, they
value war. One war is like $ 10 to $ 12 million.
that's what they value war at, which is how can
you value a stat that much? That's, to me, is crazy.
We put numbers on everything. We put numbers on everything. Evan,
thank you for the question.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Good question.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
I hope we answered it.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
I got to know what Thomas, let me, this one's
for you. I'm going to let you do this one first.
We got an email from Thomas Temple. Rizzo, did you
guys ever get in an argument when David Ross, myself,
was your manager for the year and a half.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Do we get any arguments?
Speaker 4 (44:24):
There was a few. I think there was one. I mean,
there was one time Lester and I came to your room,
I think in St. Louis, just to hang out and
check in on you to make sure you're doing all right. Because,
you know, the manager spot's different and all the history
we had. There was one team meeting where Rossi was
going crazy on us. It was one of the first
(44:46):
times he flew up on the team. And he's telling us,
you guys got to compete. And he's like getting all
loud and screaming at us. And I'm sitting in my
locker doing everything I can not to laugh because I
know David Ross is David Ross. And I wanted to
video him. And right after the meeting, I go, bro,
(45:06):
it took me everything not to take my phone out
and start recording you.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
And I was like, I would have killed you, bro.
I was just seeing red.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
I think like Javi guy had picked off that game
or something and we were just like, you know, I
think it was 21 or maybe 20. We just were
kind of just lulling and guys thinking about their numbers
and all that stuff. And I was like, bro, we
just got to compete.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
The easy part for me as a player was I
pretty much hit third or fourth every single day and
played first base. So there wasn't a lot of interactions happening.
negative or positive with the manager it was always just
friendly for the most part because i knew my.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Relationship yeah and our relationship i i leaned on you
guys you lester lester lester leaves it wrong but you
have strong opinions and takes nico was a really good
young guy to bounce things off of jay was always
just shoot me straight you know like if i think
when i managed and i first got in the seat
it was it was such a like i hope i'm
doing this right i'm trying my best and i know
(46:08):
these guys but Let me ask the guys.
Speaker 3 (46:11):
They know me as good as anybody. Let me ask
the boys that I've been to battle with. And that's
what was great about managing.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
I remember there were so many questions when I got
that job about, how are you going to be hard
on these guys?
Speaker 3 (46:21):
Are you going to be able to manage them?
Speaker 4 (46:23):
Well, I could tell you how you'd be hard unless
you just fucking traded all of us.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
I did that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Shout out, Jen.
Speaker 4 (46:32):
Shout out, Jen.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (46:35):
Oh, gosh.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
One more.
Speaker 4 (46:36):
Our last ball bag question of the week is from
Brad Barber. As a player, how much did your history
against a player or team affect you as you prepared
for slash took you at bat?
Speaker 3 (46:46):
It's a good question.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Josh, I think this is a good one for you
to start, especially as a catcher.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Yeah, it was really good. Well, you want to find
the history in your pitcher.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
The thing that people don't know, first of all, front
offices don't value the history, the matchups, right? It doesn't
matter if you're hitting 1,000 off a guy and you
see him well. They feel like the law of averages
are going to come back. So that's always a tough
little battle. But the thing about managing and catching is
(47:13):
that the pitcher knows and the hitters knows. You know
the guys that you saw well. And when you got
in the box, you're like, I own this guy. There's
nothing he can do to get me out. immediately you're
a better hitter when you get in the box.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
With that mindset.
Speaker 5 (47:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (47:26):
Versus like, I've never gotten a hit off this freaking guy.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
You know, this guy owns me and I'm just trying
to grind right now.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
It's just a different kind of defensive mindset versus offensive.
So the matchups matter. And then I always, when I caught,
you would go over.
Speaker 3 (47:42):
The scouting report with Lester or early in my career,
whoever that was. And yeah, immediately you.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
Did catch other guys other than yeah well i'll tell.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
You one i'll tell you one that was really funny
uh i was in atlanta and we played the twins
and tim hudson will go to our pre-game meeting he's
like bro jim tommy owns me he's like he hits
me freaking so well it's a left center homer or
double in the gap every time and so i'm like
well honey that makes sense like so i i i
did a good job of reading swings is what i
(48:10):
did So Jim Tomey had this, like, left center power,
let the ball get deep.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
And that's right into Huddy's beautiful swing. And big time power.
He would get in the box. His shoe was this
freaking big. He's a man.
Speaker 4 (48:22):
One of my favorite human beings on earth.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
And Huddy would throw him two seamers, was right into
the barrel. So we just started fours in and cutters in.
And I think he walked him once, but we got
him out two other times. And a little bit of that, like,
trying to change their mindset and doing stuff. But my
point to that is pitchers know when guys own them.
They get scared.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
Tommy was nine for 18 off Hudson with four homers.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (48:45):
Is that good? There you go.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
500 average. That's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (48:50):
For me, it definitely helps. I think anytime you face
a pitcher and you get history and you log stuff
in your own brain, whether you have hits off him
or not, it always plays into your favor. Especially, I
always go, who is catching as well? What team, the tendencies? But, man,
the mental battle for me is if I had good
numbers off a guy and I was scuffling, I would
go into that game saying, fuck man, if I don't
(49:11):
get a hit off of this guy, how bad am I? Right.
Cause I have great numbers off them. And then you
go into the games where it's like, you're facing the
Scherzers or Kershaw's or Strasburg's and all these elite pitchers
to Rom. And, oh, I got no chance today. And
you end up getting two hits. So, it's a funny game.
It's a mental game. The mental aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
But I think that's the biggest factor of the matchups.
It's like both guys know mentally what they've done.
Speaker 4 (49:37):
Oh, totally.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:39):
There's guys that knew they owned me and I got
a hit off of them. I remember I hit a
home run, a two-strike home run off. Chase Anderson. Chase
Anderson owned me. I have three hits off of him.
One is a bunt single. Another one, I don't even
know if I did.
Speaker 3 (49:53):
You know a guy owns you and you start butting
on him.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Exactly. And I clipped him late in my career. And
I hit a home run off him. It was like
a two-strike choked up just over the yellow line in
Milwaukee home run. And I loved it. But he knew
he owned me. It's a battle. I had good at-bats
off him, but he got me out every time it
seemed like. Yes, the history does help. And it does
(50:20):
help repairing. Rossi, I know you got a tee time
there in Pebble. Hopefully you've We're going to have to
post your score on this or post.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
It to our feed. Yeah, we'll tune back in next week.
Speaker 4 (50:33):
No big deal, too. I know Bill Murray's there. I
know you've got a lot of celebrities there. It's for
Steph Curry's charity?
Speaker 3 (50:38):
Steph Curry's charity event, yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:40):
I've heard of him. He's a good basketball player, right?
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Eat, Learn, Play is his charity, and they partner with
DGDG Does Good.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
It's up here in the Bay Area. They support all
the charities, and I know you're big.
Speaker 4 (50:51):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
You've got your charity, and it's nice to do some
fun stuff.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Amazing night. It's been such a great event, and I'm
lucky to be here. There's Roger Clemens, Greg Maddox, and
then they're like, David Ross, who's that? Was that Dancing
with the Stars guy? Who's that guy? Who's that guy?
But it's been fun so far, bro. It's been fun.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
Well, thanks, everyone, for watching another episode of Ross and
Rizzo Unfiltered. Again, leave a comment on YouTube or email
us at rossandrizzo at gmail.com. We will read some questions
next week. Part of our Tim Buss weekly ball bag.
Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you guys next week.
Speaker 3 (51:28):
Peace. Love ya.
There's something about the warm summer air and a cold
corona with lime that makes the roar of the crowd
sound a lot like the roar of the waves.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
That's because this is our playa, and the best seats
are always wherever you're sitting.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Whether it's a weeknight game under the lights or a
Sunday afternoon in the sun, you know baseball isn't about
rushing around. It's about settling in, letting the game come
to you. And nothing pairs better than an ice-cold corona.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Nothing.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
So find your seat, your corona, and your lime. Because
real fans know the only thing better than nine innings
is extra innings, especially on La Playa.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Corona.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
La Playa awaits.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
The official cerveza of Major League Baseball. Get yours at
ordercorona.com for 21 plus, relax responsibly. Corona Extra Beer, imported
by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Swing and a fly ball. Center field. Going back is Church.
Back toward the wall.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
It is over.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Off the batter's eye.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Out to Asford Alley.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Kyle Schwarber has just completed an improbable comeback. A two-run
game-winning home run.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
The Phillies down 4-0.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
They win it 6-4. It's the first walk-off home run
in more than three years. Kyle Schwarber, our guy, friend
of the program.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
We're still doing the Loveable Reunion, bro. We're still doing it.
Let's go, Schwarz.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Hey, can you believe that the Phillies haven't had a
walk-off home run in three years? That's, I was... blown
away when I heard that.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Me too.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
You see walk-off home runs every other day, but, man,
what a moment there in Philly. They're down 4-0 going
into the ninth, all with two outs, scored all six
runs with two outs, and then Schwarber with the iconic
pose there. I mean, bro, he's on another level, Rossi.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Bro, that place loves him. They go crazy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
And you just start– it's like there's certain guys in
the league that when they come– to hit they come
to hit especially in big moments they're gonna you know
they're gonna come through you just feel it and Schwab
is is in a leading all of baseball with home
runs the dude is just the the you know he's
the slugger of our time right now uh he's rolling
especially with like judgy out uh it's fun it's fun
(02:28):
to watch him but it's amazing I I go back
to like catching and you've got two outs, you're like, Oh,
they'll hit it at somebody.
Speaker 5 (02:35):
Right.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
There's two outs.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Just keep putting heaters down, heaters in, heaters out. And
then all of a sudden, you know, that butthole gets
tight a little bit. And then Schwartz comes through.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
That was, that was amazing.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Happy for him.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
Good job.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
I texted him yesterday and I go, you're my favorite player.
I go, that was amazing. And he's just like, I
can't believe we fucking won that game. Right. And even
that's the beauty of Schwartz. Even as a player, you're just,
After those games, you just sit back in the clubhouse
with the boys and you're like, wow, can you believe
we just did that? Those are the defining moments in
the season where you look back and you're like, that
was a big moment for us. That was a big
(03:12):
confidence builder.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I feel like those wins, when you have those throughout
the season, those are the ones that get you into
the postseason.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
You're never out of a game. You never stop fighting.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
When you have those comeback wins like that, the guys
just keep throwing A-Bs on there.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
And the Phillies have been rolling, man.
Speaker 5 (03:26):
Rolling.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
I don't know if he gave them some good juju
at the Field of Dreams, but forward for a couple
homers there.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
And they've been, I mean, their offense.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Nine and one in their last ten.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I mean, they're now three and a half back from
the Braves. It seemed like last week it was a
long shot that they can catch the Braves. They're three
and a half back. They play the Braves seven times
in September.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
That's got to be nice.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
I mean, bro, that Luisa rise comes in. They're not
striking out as much. They're putting the ball in play more.
Harper is rolling. Harper's having a very underrated season. He's
just kind of going kind of just under the radar
the whole year. He's going to have 30 pumps. He's
a 900 OPS. So, I mean, this team is something.
(04:10):
They lost last night. Shout out to Cal Raleigh with
the three home runs. Hopefully he gets rolling for the Mariners. But, man,
the Phillies, man, they got in a three-game series. They
are going to be tough.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Well, where are you going, right?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Like, with the rise and the contact that they added,
and then Harper leads all of baseball and walks.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Like, he's not, he's like, you know what, we're deep.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Guys like Alec Baum, who struggled in the first half,
you know, he's getting on base, Stott's getting on base.
When you have a lineup that's controlling the strike zone
like they are right now, and dudes are turning it.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Over, and you're going to have to come see somebody.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
In that Phillies ballpark and at that citizens bank, it's
we're at the bank and the, the lineup is deep.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
It's a tough, it's a tough row for the, for
the opposing pitcher. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Right now it's lined up for a Cubs Phillies in
the wildcard. That's going to be, that would be epic.
If that happened, that'd be fun to watch at Wrigley too.
So Cubs are rolling. That leads us to another episode,
Rossi of Ross and Rizzo unfiltered. We are back. rossi
is in pebble beach.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
I'm gonna tell you live from yeah no big deal
my bad.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
Wow are you kidding me well how's it going how's
your golf game yesterday.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I played okay yesterday we played spy class not that
it's about me but let me talk about me i
got to play with some country music buddies and a
comedian jeff die uh brett young chase rice like we
had a just a heck of a time yesterday playing
and then we got pebble uh this morning when i
get off here with you so Uh, excited. It's for
a good cause. Um, you know, doing some chair, you know,
(05:46):
my charity work in the off season, but, uh, or
in season, I guess. Uh, but you know about that,
having a blast. What have you been up to?
Speaker 4 (05:54):
I did the red Sox giants game, uh, last this Sunday,
which was fun. I'm in New York. Now I go
to Chicago this weekend, got the reds and Johnny Lester's, uh, reds,
Johnny Lester's retirement Rossi. I don't know if you saw this,
but The Cubs did a top 150 team. Unfortunately, you
(06:15):
did not make it. Fortunately, I did make it. Wrigley
celebrating 150 years of baseball at Wrigley. It's a pretty
big honor to make that team, especially with all the
people who have played in Chicago. But it's going to
be a good weekend. They're doing a ceremony on Saturday,
doing some dinner on Friday with friends and family. And
(06:37):
then the game Sunday. The game Sunday is going to
be fun. I'm actually in the booth for the first time.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Nice.
Speaker 4 (06:43):
I'm going to have to pick your brain on that.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Maybe we'll get you on here to maybe hopefully you say,
I can't believe I said that on TV or something.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Hopefully it's not just me this whole time.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Jason Benetti teased me up nicely. But being in the booth,
that'll be fun. And then Joey Votto is inside the pitch.
So the banter back and forth. between us two. I'm
looking forward to talking to Joe.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah. That'll be fun. That'll be fun. Hey, congrats on that. The, the,
the making that team.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's if I would have been on that team, we
would have had to check whoever made that thing out.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
We would have, we would have had to, we would
have had to do.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Some background, but that's awesome, man. That's all I'm going
to be there to celebrate Johnny Lester. I wish I
could make it. I've got some, I got my, my daughter.
I'm going to see her play Troy this weekend for volleyball.
So I'm pumped about that.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
And I got Harper.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
My, uh, my little one turns 11 tomorrow. So I'm going,
I got a little birthday party at the house.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Oh, nice.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
There we go.
Speaker 5 (07:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Wow. Sleepover.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
So pray for me. Pray for me. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It'd be good.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Are you flying?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
I fly tomorrow, tomorrow. I'm going to fly out tomorrow.
And then I've got to host the birthday party at
my house on Friday. A little water slide, a little pizza.
We'll do the whole thing, you know, uh, pick them
up all from school, load them down.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
And let them party. So you had the Rafi Devers moment.
What was that like? Rafi Devers first came back at Fenway. Yeah, well,
I had.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
The Sunday game, so I didn't see Friday, but the
boos were steady on Sunday as well. I mean, I
said this on air. When you have a passionate fan
base with Boston, it doesn't surprise me that they booed
Rafi with the superstar that he was and the terms
he left on. It doesn't surprise me that he got
all the boos all weekend. But what he did there
(08:32):
when he was at the Red Sox, you know, he
posted every day. I respected him from afar. He won
a World Series championship. I mean, at the end of
the day, he felt like he was miscommunicated with by
Craig Breslow and the Red Sox front office. And they
trade him away. And he seems to be pretty happy
in San Francisco. But the Red Sox are on one
end of the spectrum and the Giants are on the
(08:53):
other end of the spectrum right now. The Red Sox
are rolling. The Giants are on pace to lose a
lot of games. So, um, but yeah, it was, uh,
it was fun being there. It was fun being in
that action, being at Fenway, seeing the, the role that
the Red Sox, man, that team is real.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Well, and you know, as well as I do, like
there's something about going back to the team that, uh,
even when you leave on good terms, like I grew
up a Braves fan and played for Atlanta for four years,
but when you go back, you want to beat the team.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
You left. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Oh, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
You definitely want to do it.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I mean, they lost on Friday. They lost on Friday,
and he hit the homer. He hit the homer.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
That had to feel good.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
The homer had to feel good.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I said the Red Sox messed up. They should have
just played it. If they wanted the fans to cheer,
they should have just played the Rafi Devers compilation video
of him hitting all of his home runs off Garrett Cole. Right? Yeah,
give him some love. Yeah, and then just a quick
montage of them winning the World Series. But I feel like,
I mean, even in the ninth inning there, when the
Red Sox were about to win, you have– Here's the
(09:55):
home run here. I mean, the pose there, I've seen
that pose so many times playing against him. even in
the ninth inning when the Red Sox were about to
win and sweep you hear the Red Sox fans screaming
Yankees suck Yankees suck.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
So that's so great well they've got some games coming
up that'll be a nice little back and forth.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah this weekend They have a big set this weekend.
Four games in three days, doubleheader on Saturday. I mean,
the Red Sox are real, man. I can't praise Chad
Tracy enough. I've got to interview him a few times
now being there at NBC. And I was really excited
(10:38):
to see how he would be now compared to when
he first got the job because when he first got
the job, it was a shit show there. And man,
he's just steady Eddie impressive. I don't know if you
know him at all, but it's in the blood. It's
in the family. His dad was a big league manager.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
So his dad was my manager when I broke into
the big leagues.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Jim was. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Yeah. So, uh, back in the dinosaur days, I know
you've got a, you got a joke right around the
court for that, but, um, he, uh, his dad was amazing.
Dad's one of those really smart baseball guy back in
the national league. And, We had, you know, Sean Green,
Dave Roberts, Ron Ventura. We had a really good team
and made the playoffs. But his dad was really baseball savvy.
(11:20):
I talked to him a little bit about that. He
said his dad is paying attention a lot more to
baseball than he was for a while.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Oh, I bet.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
His dad's locked in on every game.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
I mean, bro, I... we were talking to him pregame, right?
And we're in the manager's office. You know how we
go in before when you're on the national broadcast, you
go and you get about 20, 30 minutes with the
manager one-on-one time. And it's intimate. And he was just
telling us basically the communication that he has, I'm so
(11:51):
impressed with. He's saying all the right things as a
former player. Where early on, they were awful at challenging.
And they would get their players together and say, hey,
this is where umpires tend to call strikes on you.
Let's start challenging that. And like, these are the leveraged counts,
communicating on challenging, communicating on, they swang a lot. They
were swinging a lot early in the count just because
(12:13):
it was early in the count. And they kind of
got back to that old school Red Sox mentality where
they're grinding pitchers out. And they talked about it and
they met as a group and they met as a
group for their identity. And all of these things he's saying,
I'm like, man, this is, I feel like For being
a first-time manager in the position he's in, in Boston,
(12:33):
where it's different with the media, the fact that he's
communicating this well with his players is just really impressive,
and you can see why they've turned around. He's at
the head of the ship, and when the head is
sturdy like he is, it trickles all the way down.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, and the adversity he had to deal with when
he first stepped in there.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
There's a lot of drama. They weren't good.
Speaker 4 (12:55):
They were terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
They're terrible.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
They were terrible.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
And he was patient.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Sell the team.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Wilson got 10 years.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I remember him doing a lot of small stuff that
made it on social media that felt like bringing that
group together as a family, supporting Wilson and him getting
10 years this year. I think Sonny Gray had something
special happen. It just felt like they were starting to.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Sonny Gray is good, right? They thought he was going
to be good.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
He's great. Sonny Gray.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Right?
Speaker 3 (13:24):
Great.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Garrett Crochet goes down. Their best pitcher, one of the
best pitchers in the American League, down. Their left fielder,
their star left fielder, Roman Anthony, gone, right? And he's
doing this with guys that he had in AAA, so
maybe that's an advantage because they know each other and
they're more comfortable in the big leagues. But, man, that team,
that team's, they got a deep bullpen, a really deep bullpen,
(13:47):
and they're battle-tested, so they believe, they believe they can
catch the Yankees. They believe that there's still enough time
to win the division, so. Anything can happen. That's the
beauty of this game. And this season right now is crazy.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
It's crazy. It's so much fun. And we're approaching September.
It's right around the corner.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
And just the playoff race down to the end is
just getting tighter and tighter. We've got to give the
Yankees some love because I feel like their offense hasn't
been just the typical Yankees. You think about the Bronx
Bombers and those guys with Judge out and Stanton out
and Belly. But the Yankees have been 11-6 since the
(14:24):
trade deadline.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
The Red Sox 11-8.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You would assume that, you know, the Red Sox were
better because they were getting all the hype and they've
turned it around.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
And that run they went on before the break. But
the Yankees have held steady with that pitching staff they have.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
I'm so excited about the series this weekend, four-game set,
because you've got two really good teams. Yankees flying under
the radar somehow, but doing it with the pitching and
defense and some timely hitting and the.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
George Lombard Jr.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Coming up and being steady there, and we've talked about
that a little bit, but it's going to be an
exciting series because I think they've, you know, their offense
isn't the homer offense that we're used to, but they've
made some really good moves at the deadline to kind
of piece it together, and when they get Judge back,
that may be the best team in baseball for me
if he comes back.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
And is swinging well. Yeah, their pitching's deep. Fried's going
to be coming back. Weathers just went down, but I
think it's good news. He won't be down for too long.
They're going to have the formula in the postseason where
they can move some starters to the bullpen. Clark Schmidt's
coming back. He can give them innings late, hopefully. Yeah,
(15:27):
I mean, look, I think the American League really comes
down to two teams making it to the World Series.
I really feel like it's the Yankees or the Red
Sox that are going to do it. Obviously, there's a
team that's going to get hot, but You look at
the American League.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
The Rays always fly on the radar.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
I know, but I can't.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
They're good.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
The Rays are really good. The Rays just, for me,
they just fly under the radar. They don't play in
these big magnitude games. I mean, I have a ton
of respect for the Rays because they always show up. But,
I mean, I just feel like the Red Sox are
playing at such a high level and they're battle-tested. Not
to say every team isn't because every team goes through
their own adversity, right?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Sure. Well, and I think, like, the postseason's a different
beast until you prove it in the postseason.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
It's hard to get. Totally.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
That's why everybody just underestimates Milwaukee, right? Like, they haven't
done it in the postseason.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
They haven't done it, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
You got to go do it. You got to go
do it. Speaking of.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Speaking, adversity.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
Adversity. There we go. See, we were on the same page, bro.
It was third episode in. We're locked in.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Houston Astros, Dana Brown, gone. He gone. Jim Crane decided
to pull the plug on her GM. um they are
currently winning the al west with a losing record which
is crazy uh crazy this late in the season to
fire your gm is on a first place team on
(16:48):
a playoff contending team that's that's that's a head scratch.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Yeah well yeah it gets you it gives you a
little glimpse inside you know what might be going on
behind the scenes obviously not good um you know when
the owner has to take over baseball operations.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
They said he's going to be involved in pretty much
everything now.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
When I know he leans on, like he leans on
Bagwell and Biggio, these guys that he keeps close to him.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah. I love that.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Like being able to ask real players, but you know,
I was digging a little bit on that.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Like what, it doesn't make any.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Sense, but like Houston was seven and 11 since the
trade deadline and three and six at home, this last
homestand against teams under 500.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
So I don't know if it has.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Something to do where he feels like, Dana Brown didn't
do enough at the trade deadline or push forward.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
He pretty much did nothing. He went out and got
Dart and Varsha. That's it, right?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah. I thought they needed some pitching. I thought they
needed some starting pitching.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Everyone did.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Yeah. It felt like there was a lot on there.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Obviously, we're not in those conversations of what guys are
asking for. When people get fired, Jordan's a beast.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Triple crown MVP.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (18:01):
That dude's an animal.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
That'll be interesting to see this offseason if a new
GM comes in and the direction that the Astros go in.
I mean, the ALS is far from over. It's going
to come down to probably the last day of the season.
I mean, it feels like whatever team decides to get hot,
which a team will get hot, is going to win
that division.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
So that's a head scratcher there. Our Cubbies had two
heartbreaks in Seattle.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
They got walked off back-to-back nights. Craig Council pulled Shota
early in that last game there. I believe he pulled
him in the second or third inning. And I kind
of liked it. I mean, Shota was struggling a little bit.
The Cubs needed to win. You can't get swept there
in Seattle. You're out west, so. They end up putting
(18:49):
up 19 runs, so it's hard to lose when you
put up 19.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
That's like the lackey line.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
12 runs in airtight defense, Rossi. I've never lost with it.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
Never lost, but how about Randy Rosarino?
Speaker 1 (19:05):
That was actually really good, but when you believe Andy, Randy,
I mean, is freaking..
Speaker 4 (19:11):
Dude, two times in the history of the game, Rossi,
where a guy leads off the game with a home
run and ends the game with a walk-off, and it
happened in the last week.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
That's crazy. It's only happened twice, and it happened in
one week in.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
The history of our game.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
I didn't know that. I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
That's nice. That's nice.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Well, it just tells you the way the lineups are
constructed now with guys.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
It's not just speed. I know both those guys can run,
but speed.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Like, it's not just speed in our game and the
old school, like, guy that gets on base and fast
and you got a guy that hits behind him and
then all your power hitters come up three, four, five. Like,
now it's like, you better you better be locked in
as a pitcher when you step on the ground. Real,
real legit threat, power threat. I mean, Schwarbs, when he's
leading off, like it's, there's, the game has changed. You
(20:00):
know what I thought about? Hold on, go back to
Schwarbs real quick, not to bounce around. But I thought
about you having Schwarbs lead off and you were like,
I don't know about that. He should hit more RBIs.
And then he came up and hit that walk-off because
he was the top of the order.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I was like, there we go. There we go.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
Rossi, listen.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Listen.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I get those guys. I get those good players back
up to the top.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
You and I both know if you're trying to win
the game in the ninth inning or eighth inning on
a daily basis, your team isn't very good.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
You're right.
Speaker 4 (20:29):
So it happened off. They walk off. You need walk-offs.
But if you're trying to get your best player up
in the ninth inning to win a ball game every night,
you're not a good team, okay?
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Good point, okay.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
I'll never back down from it. I understand getting your
best players up. I just love that it happened.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I was like, Riz, I got to bring it over
the pot. I got to bring it over the pot.
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Speaker 4 (21:42):
Kobe's in Arizona, had a little drama last night. We
have a video of Merrill Kelly, maybe some sign stealing.
Relaying signs.
Speaker 5 (21:52):
We thought he had something on my changeup. We thought
he was giving, especially the lefties. Every time I was
throwing a changeup, we felt like he was relaying that.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Is that something that you've experienced before?
Speaker 5 (22:03):
Uh, I mean, you know, that's stealing signs is as
old as baseball. Um, I think it's a little bullshit
when it comes from a coach, you know, I think,
you know, if it's a guy on second base and
they see the grip in your glove, or if the
hitters can see something that you're doing with your glove,
you know, I think that's fair game. I think guys
have been doing that since the beginning of baseball. Um,
(22:23):
I think it's a little bush league when it comes
from outside that I think inside the lines is one thing.
I think the guys that are standing outside the lines, um,
I think it's a little, I think it's a little
bush league.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
Rossi, what do you, what do you got on that Rossi?
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Man, listen, like, you know what? It's pretty good when
you're competing. It's free game for me, you know, like it,
if somebody's able to get your pitches, they're like, that's
on you, you know, you gotta be able to hide
as many cameras we have in the ballpark. Everybody's got
the technology where they're, getting inside the glove from second
(22:58):
base and they've got the low, you know, they share
camera views.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
There's a low hole. There's a low home and a.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
High home camera view where you can see everything guys
are doing. And guys are trying to get any kind
of edge they possibly can. Like I, you know, the
people's like the integrity of the game, all that stuff's like, bro,
I'm trying to win.
Speaker 3 (23:16):
Like I'm trying to win.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
What he was saying too was Quentin Berry, the Cubs,
their base coach, he thinks was relaying change up to lefties. And,
Fuck yeah, he's relaying. If you're giving it, we're taking it. Right?
As an offensive guy, I know pitchers feel differently, obviously
as Merrill feels differently, but we're all between the lines.
The dugout is between the lines.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Right? Once you get into that dugout, I know the
chalk is what they say is between the lines, but
this is an entire operation that's going on. And it takes,
it doesn't just take the players to win games. It
takes an entire army. Every team is doing it. Every
team's doing it. That's right. And if you're a pitcher
now getting butthurt over people stealing signs, you're living under
(24:02):
a rock because you know every single team has their
own mechanisms of trying to find things. You need to
be on top of it. I know just through rumors,
Torrey Lovello is amazing at picking up signs here and
there and pitches and what pitchers' tendencies. So every team's
doing it. I have zero problem with it. I'm happy
(24:23):
with the Cubs.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
And I always think like, There's an easy fix. I
don't know if he didn't know until after the game
maybe or felt it in the game.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Well, no, they were chirping during the game. The dugouts
were going back and forth, and it's like, well, clean
it up.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Hold a change up and then pick up and change
last minute and buzz somebody. I'll stop looking at my
third base coach if he calls change up and I
get one at the dome. I might be like, okay,
he missed that one. I can't trust that.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
Yeah, there's ways around it.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Rossi, listen. pretty much my entire career. If a catcher
set up early inside on me, you know, uh, from
managing and playing together, I'd have someone in the dugout
scream something because I can start doing the math in
my head very quickly. If they're setting up inside, depending
on the count, it's pretty much a fastball. Now, if
(25:13):
they're setting up inside with two strikes and it's a one,
two count or the way they, the way the, the
whole at bat took shape or place, it could be
a back foot slider, but if a catcher sets up
early inside on me, most of the time it's a fastball.
Why not? If, if the catcher is going to set
up early and give that away, why not get it?
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Well, and that's the, and that's the thing about why
catchers set up later or, you know, I feel like
we've talked about this a hair, but like this setting
up middle for catchers now is so hard for me
to get on board with because of how I caught.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
But like, there's a lot that goes into that.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Like, you know, Nobody's stealing Tampa Bay signs because their
catcher's set up middle every pitch.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You know, so either you can't... Rip it and rip it.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Yeah, and you gotta, if you can't get it from
the pitcher, you shouldn't be able to get it from
the catcher, right? So you have to start eliminating ways
of giving teams any advantage. And there's so many advantages
you can give away and the good teams don't.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
There's so many tendencies that catchers do that it's almost
impossible not to give away. There's times where a catcher
you know, leans left and anytime he leans left first
and does anything, he's going right. Or anytime he puts
his glove down or anytime he touches his shin guard,
it's these, these habits that they don't understand they're doing
(26:31):
that people are getting paid to pick up these tendencies.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
So yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
It's, it's, I look as hitters, we need the edge
at every edge we can get. We got guys throwing 105.
I know Merrill Kelly isn't, isn't up there anymore. He's,
he's in the lower 90. He's, he's kind of the, uh,
abnormal starting pitcher now but he keeps getting it done
he's had a hell of a career especially playing in
japan but um the cub the cubs though they win
(26:57):
last night they play better which is crazy to me
against national league teams and american league teams they're terrible
against the al 55 and 32 against nl and what
are they against the al.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
AL, the Cubs are 21-24, and the Brewers are 27-15.
Shout out Chris Tran giving us these stats. The Cubs
have been better than the Brewers in the NL, but
the Brewers have dominated the AL at the 27-15 record,
and the Cubs are 21-24.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
That's hard to believe.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Isn't that weird? For me, that must just be the
ebbs and flow of the season and their timing of
playing these teams because the American League is clearly down, right?
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
You have a lot of teams under 500, the wildcard
race under 500. So just for me, for the Cubs,
it's just probably one of those things where it's there.
I mean, maybe they're getting up for the bigger games.
I don't know. They're playing at a very high level
at Wrigley, which, which personally concerns me. Their, their levels
that they're playing at are almost too high. I need
them to just, I don't want to see the Cubs
(28:05):
go on a 10 game winning streak. I just want
them to go eight and two, eight and two, seven
and three, just, Just be steady, Eddie, and then at
the end of the season when you get to the playoffs,
that's when the emotions get as high as they need
to be.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, the good news is they don't have to play
any AL teams until the World Series when they get
to the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
That's a good point.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
The Cubbies, the future's looking bright for them. The Cubs
fans can get.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
Excited about this postseason run they're going to get on.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
I think, man, they're hitting it all at the right time.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
But let's switch to our Corona Playa.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Of the Week.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Corona Playa of the Week. Sponsored by Corona, our Player
of the Week is Fernando Tatis Jr. for the scorching
San Diego Padres. New ownership. I don't know if you
saw the new owners yesterday coming in. All excited. We're
going to win. We're going to win soon. We're going
to do whatever we need to do to win, which
(29:00):
is exciting for Padres fans, that's for sure. Fernando Tatis,
NL Player of the Week, 12 for 25, two doubles,
four home runs, 11 RBIs. Four-hit, two-home run game on
Sunday versus the Twins. Rossi, this is..
Speaker 1 (29:16):
12 homers since the All-Star, since the trade deadline.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
37 games, 12 takes. He didn't hit his first home
run until May 30th, Rossi. Okay?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I believe that's the date.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
That's crazy.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Everyone's like, oh, what's wrong with Tatis? He's going to
be on pace to hit his 25, like he always does.
He's on fire. The Padres are rolling.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Man.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Machado's doing his thing. He's got 20 plus punts. Cronenworth's
swinging it better. Cronenworth's swinging it better. They go out.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
A.J.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
Peller goes out and gets starting pitching at the deadline.
They have a nasty bullpen. Again, we can talk any
single team in the NL. Right now, Rossi, it's lined
up that it's Dodgers-Padres in the first round. Wild card.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Three games. Which is what we all... That's like... They
hate each other. You know they don't like is... I
think the.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Padres always feel like the Dodgers are the big brother
and haven't been able to take the ball back.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
From them on the playground, you know? So... Yeah. And
they've got a star-studded... Like, the Padres... Well, A.J.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Preller's done. He's just put dudes at every position and
real players and signs.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
He keeps doing it.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Young guys. Yeah, he keeps doing it. He keeps doing it.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And even with some pitching hurt, like you said, goes
out and gets the right guys that are established and
know how to handle the moments. And it's a fun
team to root for, I've got to be honest. You know,
we both played in San Diego for a minute. What
a great fan base they've got. And it's picked up
so much more since we've been there. So, yeah, again,
it's fun to watch these teams and the guys that
(30:47):
are got these resumes in the back of their baseball
cards starting to get back to what they normally do and.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
Then take off.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
What they normally do. The guys on the back of
the baseball card, that's exactly what you said. These superstars, man,
they find ways. It's a 162-game grind. Look at Alex Bregman.
The Cubs fans were ready to write off Bregman in
the first two months, and he's completely turned it around.
It's a law of averages. You just keep playing the superstars.
The good players in the game, they figure out ways
(31:15):
to win And they figure out ways to get their numbers.
Let's transition, Rossi. This episode is brought to you. I
want to give a shout out to SeatGeek for sponsoring
this episode with your Floribama sitting here at the Floribama.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
SeatGeek.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
I would love to go see a show there. I
saw Kenny was just there recently down there at the Floribama.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
My boy, Riley Green.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
That's where he pretty much came up singing. And now
he's exploded, but. John McGinnis, good buddy of mine, owns
this place. Got to meet him.
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Awesome dude.
Speaker 4 (31:47):
If you have a chance to get the floor, legendary, legendary.
Shout out.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
We now got a sponsor. I'm going to have to
call John. Hey, we're all over the pot.
Speaker 4 (31:57):
Rossi, I was watching MLB Network and I saw the
rookie of the year race for the NL and I
saw JJ Weatherholt as the clear favorite to win the
rookie of the year. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa,
what about Sal Stewart, right? And I go pull up
the numbers, and I think, I mean, this is going
(32:21):
to come down to the wire here with Sal Stewart
and J.J. Weatherholt.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Bro, listen, I did Cubs cards, I guess, about a
week ago, and... you know, we get these packets and
you're doing all your research and stuff. And there was
a line in there that said the clear favorite is J.J.
Weatherholt for Rookie of the Year. And immediately in my mind,
I've done two Reds games. Sal Stewart fucking rakes, bro.
Speaker 4 (32:45):
Rakes. Bro, he has 98 RBIs as a rookie.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
And we're not even in September yet.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
He's going to end up with 110. He could end
up with 120 if he has a big September.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
And it's all big, like big hits.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Like if I could, you know, I know we're talking
about power is such a great in players and contact
I love, but a dude that drives in runs, like,
that's irreplaceable. And what he's doing offensively, like, no disrespect
to J.J. Weatherholt, but I watched that same MLB network.
Mikey Lowell broke down, like, what are we even talking about? Like,
(33:19):
this guy is slash line at 263, 336, 472 slow,
27 homers, and leads all of baseball in RBIs.
Speaker 5 (33:25):
806 OPS.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
I don't know how he doesn't win.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
And he plays every day.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
I love defense. I love defense. Love defense, right?
Speaker 4 (33:39):
Well, he's a decent first baseman as well. I always
got to give love to my first baseman.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yeah, but I just mean that's given J.J.
Speaker 1 (33:44):
Weatherholt all the– being a shortstop and– sorry, second baseman
and being so good up the middle. And I get
defense is great, and I love defense. But when you've
got a pure hitter that's a rookie and leading any
category in an offensive category– In baseball, like, I don't know, man.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
That was where my vote would go. And we still
got the rest of the season to play out. But
what Sal Stewart's.
Speaker 4 (34:10):
Doing is a no-brainer.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
J.J.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
Weatherholt's having a great year, right? He has 17 homers.
He's got a 724 OPS. But I think this is
the topic that we always talk, like, war, right? He's
got 50 more RBIs.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
He's got 50 more RBIs than J.J.
Speaker 1 (34:31):
Weatherholt.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
50. That's where I don't understand. How is war factoring
in that JJ is such a better player via war
than Sal Stewart, right? That's where this war number is
so messed up, man. It's just people love to talk about, oh,
his war, his F war, this war. It's like, bro,
(34:51):
look at the player, right?
Speaker 3 (34:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
It's just... I don't know.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
They're both good.
Speaker 4 (34:57):
It's, it's fun to have both great players.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Like, yeah, I'm not trying to, we're not trying to
bash on, uh, guys.
Speaker 4 (35:03):
Ali Marble speaks very highly of him. He, he grinds.
I mean, he's come up and he's held his own bro.
And it's not easy to hold your own as a rookie. So, um,
they're both doing good.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
The rest of both of them, I'm anxious to see the,
the race, uh, down the stretch and, and the national league, but, uh,
it's pretty, pretty impressive.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
I was locked up by Kevin McGonigal. I mean, he's just,
I feel like he's just a clear favorite. He's, I mean, 283,
14 homers as a rookie, almost 80 walks. That's pretty crazy, Rossi.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah. I mean, what he's doing there, filling right in,
has been really impressive.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
And, you know, you heard all the rumors about how
great this guy was in the minor leagues, and you
never know how it's going to play out. But what
he's doing has been really impressive. The guys have started.
Scott Harris told me, he was like, wait till you
see this McGonagall kid. Wait till you see this McGonagall kid. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
And I'm always like, ah, the hype's not real.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I don't think vet players are always like, ah, we'll
see how they do in the league. But the young
talent in our games coming up, and nothing is phasing
these guys.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
They handle moments.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
I feel like they go through so much as young
players and travel ball and all the showcases and playing
in the big stadiums that when they get in front
of these crowds and these big stadiums, they're not even phased.
Speaker 3 (36:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
I mean, bro, there's only two other players to have a–
better on base percentage than him in their rookie year
in the last 15 years and that's Aaron Judge and
Mike Trout so that's pretty good company I'm not comparing
them but.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Sure well I mean we start putting up those kind
of numbers that's the thing that gets you in the
right conversations is when you start comparing numbers to guys
that were the best at the same time and go
on to have great careers and we know how much
we love that on base stat.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Oh yeah This weekend, coming up, Rossi, we have, I
know we talked about it a little bit, but big
four-game set, Red Sox-Yankees. We both played in this rivalry.
You were Red Sox, I was a Yankee. At Yankee Stadium,
the Bronx is going to be electric. Who are you
giving the edge to right now?
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Well, you know, I think I just like what the
Yankees are doing right now as much as I want
to pull for the Sox. Um, I just love that
pitching staff is so sustainable and consistent. Uh, but like
a good store we were in, in 2013, we had a, uh,
a nice lead and the Yankees weren't very good. They,
they didn't make the post season that year, but, um,
(37:35):
we came in and they were one of the hottest
teams in baseball of the last month. And it was
our last series. And we had a four game set
as well at Yankee stadium. And it was one of
those like, Hey, we better bring it. Cause you know, the,
the energy there is, is electric every time they play.
It doesn't matter who's in the race and not. And
we won three out of four games, I'll never forget.
And we beat Mariano twice. I think Knapp hit a
(37:57):
home run to tie it late. And Daniel Nava got
a big knock on one for us to go to extras.
And we ended up winning three of the four. But
I'll never forget. we were tested in that moment. It's like, yeah,
we're playing great. We were in first place. We were
one of the best teams in baseball, but the Yankees
were one of the hottest teams in baseball. We went
in there and it was a battle for four games.
(38:19):
And luckily we came out of there three or four.
And I think that gave us the confidence that just
took us all the way to the World Series. But
when you're in those environments, I always said the American
League East, when you're, it's usually one of the, and
this year, obviously it's a little bit down the American
League as a whole, but When you're in the American
League East in those environments, you're always playing playoff baseball.
And especially Red Sox, Yankees, being in that energy does
(38:43):
nothing but good for you when you get to the
postseason because nothing's going to phase you. This Gold Glove
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Speaker 3 (38:59):
And then he just poses. Look at the pose.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
Give me the pose.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
It was like a knight bowing down to the queen, bro.
Watch this. Just over the wall. And I love this
pose right here. Just down. Can't believe it. Pitch is excited.
But the fact he takes the knee. Watch it one
more time. Goes up. Ben Attendee. Poor guy. And the
White Sox are rolling. But pose me. That's the finish there.
(39:25):
They stuck the landing. I mean, that's a 10 out
of 10 for me, Riz. I don't know about you.
but that is absolutely epic, bro.
Speaker 4 (39:32):
That's our Gold Glove Play of the Week.
Speaker 3 (39:35):
Thanks, Bluetooth, for the sponsor.
Speaker 4 (39:38):
Oh, man. And Ben Attendee, though. You said Ben Attendee.
He's having a great year. Good bounce back year for
the White Sox. Right in the middle of that lineup.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
You need your horses. And he's like that.
Speaker 1 (39:48):
He's now the veteran guy with all those young guys
around and signing that contract.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
Going through some losing, struggling, like you said.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
And getting rewarded for going through the grind, as you
did in Chicago for a long time.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Been there.
Speaker 3 (39:59):
I know what it's all about. Yeah, you've been there.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:01):
That's got to feel good.
Speaker 4 (40:02):
Let's get into our daily mailbag, our Tim Buss Ball
Bag Questions of the Week, where Rossi and I answer questions.
If you have any questions, you can leave a comment
on YouTube. Or email rossandrizzo at gmail.com. We will answer
some of the best questions of the week. We have
an email from Evan Newman. Oh, and we talked about this, Rossi.
(40:25):
How do you view the war argument and how should
it be evaluated in MVP debates? Most notably, PCA and Otani.
How has it affected your time as a player and
manager analytically, statistically, and in contract negotiations?
Speaker 3 (40:39):
Yeah, I had never looked at war.
Speaker 1 (40:40):
I think that definitely like when you're dealing with offseason
contracts and stuff. But we're talking about Pete and Shohei.
You know, I think Pete, I always kind of look
at it like the eyeball test. The numbers are great
to put them side by side. But what's the eyeball
test and who's most important to their team, the most
valuable player? Like when Shohei's pitching, it's hard to argue
(41:00):
because he's doing something that nobody else is doing. And
you can equate PCA's defense to that. obviously, but it
doesn't compare to when he's starting and putting up a
one seven ERA, you know, but Pete, for me right now,
and maybe there's a little bit of just like show.
He's been the best for a long time. You get
a little bit of like, bored.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Shohei's having kind of his bored boring down year right
now which is crazy.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
And he already has like 80 innings of dominant pitching
you know so the fact I've always I had this
debate and I'm gonna get off topic for a second
but like I listen to all these debates and stuff
is like what if you put Shohei's numbers in the
closer role and took those innings like it would be
different if he was on the mound closing at 80
innings with a 1-7 and let's say 30 something saves Like,
(41:49):
people would be like, oh, it's not even close.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
It'd be Shohei. But the fact that because.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
It was early in the season and it was starter innings, like,
it feels like a little bit it's linked to PCA.
But with that being said, I love the– like, PCA
is must-watch TV. When I turn on the Cubs game,
I can't wait for that dude to come to play.
Speaker 4 (42:06):
So is Shohei, bro.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Shohei is. And maybe it's a little bit at West Coast.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
That's why this is going to be a great debate.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
It's going to be great.
Speaker 1 (42:11):
But Pete's doing something special now, and his odds of
winning are higher than they've ever been. So– Um, I
think PCA, like if there was a vote right now,
I think PCA wins it. But I, you know, my
manager brain goes, bro, uh, like I would rather have
Shohei on my team, which is nuts.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
As far as the war goes, it's the war. I
think you have two guys here that the war is just, it's,
it's a stat that if front offices want to look
at that stat and use it as a good thing,
they can, if they want to use it a bad thing,
they can't. Someone just told me, I had the Astros
Mariners last week, right? And I believe they asked the
(42:57):
Mariners GM about Josh Naylor. Josh Naylor steals over 20
bags a year now. And they say, does that factor
into his contract, right? And he says, no. And my opinion, why?
Speaker 1 (43:07):
Why?
Speaker 4 (43:08):
Because he plays first base and he's a big guy?
20 bags is 20 bags. It's not easy to steal
20 stolen bases. So these teams pick what they want
to look at. And if a guy's a high war player,
they could justify it. If he's a low war player,
they it's, There's just, the war stat is just, can
we get rid of it, please? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:26):
Well, I just love, like, we all like guys with
high baseball IQ and they find moments.
Speaker 3 (43:31):
Those are what we call winning players, right?
Speaker 1 (43:33):
And I want more of those guys on my team.
I want as many of those guys on my team
as I possibly can. Again, taking advantage of anything I see,
and you're going to fall asleep on me because I'm
a first baseman and I'm a.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
Heavyset power hitter.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Like, go ahead. Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 4 (43:46):
Rossi, there's guys, and you know, in front offices, they
value war. One war is like $ 10 to $ 12 million.
that's what they value war at, which is how can
you value a stat that much? That's, to me, is crazy.
We put numbers on everything. We put numbers on everything. Evan,
thank you for the question.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Good question.
Speaker 4 (44:05):
I hope we answered it.
Speaker 1 (44:06):
I got to know what Thomas, let me, this one's
for you. I'm going to let you do this one first.
We got an email from Thomas Temple. Rizzo, did you
guys ever get in an argument when David Ross, myself,
was your manager for the year and a half.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
Do we get any arguments?
Speaker 4 (44:24):
There was a few. I think there was one. I mean,
there was one time Lester and I came to your room,
I think in St. Louis, just to hang out and
check in on you to make sure you're doing all right. Because,
you know, the manager spot's different and all the history
we had. There was one team meeting where Rossi was
going crazy on us. It was one of the first
(44:46):
times he flew up on the team. And he's telling us,
you guys got to compete. And he's like getting all
loud and screaming at us. And I'm sitting in my
locker doing everything I can not to laugh because I
know David Ross is David Ross. And I wanted to
video him. And right after the meeting, I go, bro,
(45:06):
it took me everything not to take my phone out
and start recording you.
Speaker 3 (45:09):
And I was like, I would have killed you, bro.
I was just seeing red.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
I think like Javi guy had picked off that game
or something and we were just like, you know, I
think it was 21 or maybe 20. We just were
kind of just lulling and guys thinking about their numbers
and all that stuff. And I was like, bro, we
just got to compete.
Speaker 4 (45:31):
The easy part for me as a player was I
pretty much hit third or fourth every single day and
played first base. So there wasn't a lot of interactions happening.
negative or positive with the manager it was always just
friendly for the most part because i knew my.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Relationship yeah and our relationship i i leaned on you
guys you lester lester lester leaves it wrong but you
have strong opinions and takes nico was a really good
young guy to bounce things off of jay was always
just shoot me straight you know like if i think
when i managed and i first got in the seat
it was it was such a like i hope i'm
doing this right i'm trying my best and i know
(46:08):
these guys but Let me ask the guys.
Speaker 3 (46:11):
They know me as good as anybody. Let me ask
the boys that I've been to battle with. And that's
what was great about managing.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
I remember there were so many questions when I got
that job about, how are you going to be hard
on these guys?
Speaker 3 (46:21):
Are you going to be able to manage them?
Speaker 4 (46:23):
Well, I could tell you how you'd be hard unless
you just fucking traded all of us.
Speaker 3 (46:27):
I did that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Shout out, Jen.
Speaker 4 (46:32):
Shout out, Jen.
Speaker 3 (46:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (46:35):
Oh, gosh.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
One more.
Speaker 4 (46:36):
Our last ball bag question of the week is from
Brad Barber. As a player, how much did your history
against a player or team affect you as you prepared
for slash took you at bat?
Speaker 3 (46:46):
It's a good question.
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Josh, I think this is a good one for you
to start, especially as a catcher.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Yeah, it was really good. Well, you want to find
the history in your pitcher.
Speaker 1 (46:53):
The thing that people don't know, first of all, front
offices don't value the history, the matchups, right? It doesn't
matter if you're hitting 1,000 off a guy and you
see him well. They feel like the law of averages
are going to come back. So that's always a tough
little battle. But the thing about managing and catching is
(47:13):
that the pitcher knows and the hitters knows. You know
the guys that you saw well. And when you got
in the box, you're like, I own this guy. There's
nothing he can do to get me out. immediately you're
a better hitter when you get in the box.
Speaker 3 (47:24):
With that mindset.
Speaker 5 (47:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (47:26):
Versus like, I've never gotten a hit off this freaking guy.
Speaker 1 (47:28):
You know, this guy owns me and I'm just trying
to grind right now.
Speaker 4 (47:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
It's just a different kind of defensive mindset versus offensive.
So the matchups matter. And then I always, when I caught,
you would go over.
Speaker 3 (47:42):
The scouting report with Lester or early in my career,
whoever that was. And yeah, immediately you.
Speaker 4 (47:47):
Did catch other guys other than yeah well i'll tell.
Speaker 1 (47:50):
You one i'll tell you one that was really funny
uh i was in atlanta and we played the twins
and tim hudson will go to our pre-game meeting he's
like bro jim tommy owns me he's like he hits
me freaking so well it's a left center homer or
double in the gap every time and so i'm like
well honey that makes sense like so i i i
did a good job of reading swings is what i
(48:10):
did So Jim Tomey had this, like, left center power,
let the ball get deep.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
And that's right into Huddy's beautiful swing. And big time power.
He would get in the box. His shoe was this
freaking big. He's a man.
Speaker 4 (48:22):
One of my favorite human beings on earth.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
And Huddy would throw him two seamers, was right into
the barrel. So we just started fours in and cutters in.
And I think he walked him once, but we got
him out two other times. And a little bit of that, like,
trying to change their mindset and doing stuff. But my
point to that is pitchers know when guys own them.
They get scared.
Speaker 4 (48:41):
Tommy was nine for 18 off Hudson with four homers.
Speaker 3 (48:45):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (48:45):
Is that good? There you go.
Speaker 3 (48:46):
500 average. That's pretty good.
Speaker 4 (48:50):
For me, it definitely helps. I think anytime you face
a pitcher and you get history and you log stuff
in your own brain, whether you have hits off him
or not, it always plays into your favor. Especially, I
always go, who is catching as well? What team, the tendencies? But, man,
the mental battle for me is if I had good
numbers off a guy and I was scuffling, I would
go into that game saying, fuck man, if I don't
(49:11):
get a hit off of this guy, how bad am I? Right.
Cause I have great numbers off them. And then you
go into the games where it's like, you're facing the
Scherzers or Kershaw's or Strasburg's and all these elite pitchers
to Rom. And, oh, I got no chance today. And
you end up getting two hits. So, it's a funny game.
It's a mental game. The mental aspect of it.
Speaker 1 (49:32):
But I think that's the biggest factor of the matchups.
It's like both guys know mentally what they've done.
Speaker 4 (49:37):
Oh, totally.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (49:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:39):
There's guys that knew they owned me and I got
a hit off of them. I remember I hit a
home run, a two-strike home run off. Chase Anderson. Chase
Anderson owned me. I have three hits off of him.
One is a bunt single. Another one, I don't even
know if I did.
Speaker 3 (49:53):
You know a guy owns you and you start butting
on him.
Speaker 4 (49:55):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (49:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
Exactly. And I clipped him late in my career. And
I hit a home run off him. It was like
a two-strike choked up just over the yellow line in
Milwaukee home run. And I loved it. But he knew
he owned me. It's a battle. I had good at-bats
off him, but he got me out every time it
seemed like. Yes, the history does help. And it does
(50:20):
help repairing. Rossi, I know you got a tee time
there in Pebble. Hopefully you've We're going to have to
post your score on this or post.
Speaker 3 (50:28):
It to our feed. Yeah, we'll tune back in next week.
Speaker 4 (50:33):
No big deal, too. I know Bill Murray's there. I
know you've got a lot of celebrities there. It's for
Steph Curry's charity?
Speaker 3 (50:38):
Steph Curry's charity event, yeah.
Speaker 4 (50:40):
I've heard of him. He's a good basketball player, right?
Speaker 1 (50:43):
Eat, Learn, Play is his charity, and they partner with
DGDG Does Good.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
It's up here in the Bay Area. They support all
the charities, and I know you're big.
Speaker 4 (50:51):
Nice.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
You've got your charity, and it's nice to do some
fun stuff.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (50:55):
Amazing night. It's been such a great event, and I'm
lucky to be here. There's Roger Clemens, Greg Maddox, and
then they're like, David Ross, who's that? Was that Dancing
with the Stars guy? Who's that guy? Who's that guy?
But it's been fun so far, bro. It's been fun.
Speaker 4 (51:10):
Well, thanks, everyone, for watching another episode of Ross and
Rizzo Unfiltered. Again, leave a comment on YouTube or email
us at rossandrizzo at gmail.com. We will read some questions
next week. Part of our Tim Buss weekly ball bag.
Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you guys next week.
Speaker 3 (51:28):
Peace. Love ya.
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