July 15, 2021 • 38 mins
On today’s episode, Jason kicks things off by sharing his thoughts on the Milwaukee Bucks’ victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Khris Middleton had 40 for the Bucks and Devin Booker dropped 42 for the Suns, but the big story to come out of the game was the underwhelming play of the Point God Chris Paul. Paul had five more turnovers in Game 4 – including a critical one in the final minutes – and had arguably his worst game of the playoffs. In fact, CP3’s play has gotten worse pretty much every game of these NBA Finals. With Paul slowing down and Giannis Antetokounmpo looking like the most dominant player in the series, it feels like the Bucks are in full control. Later, FOX Sports MLB analyst Ben Verlander swings by to discuss what it was like meeting his sports hero Shohei Ohtani at the MLB All-Star Game, his own experience as a two-way player in college, why he’s only slightly optimistic that we’ll see more two-way players moving forward, how Twitch helped him prepare for a career in sports media, and much more!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up,
ladies and gentlemen, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire, Thursday July.
If you detect a little excitement in my voice, Oh
boys and girls, your boy played an awesome game, series
(00:25):
of games of pickup basketball. I know that's why you're
listening to the podcast. I was on fire from deep
straight fire, on fire. See see what I did there? Um,
I played to pick up basketball Wednesday was incredible. And
then you know, I went to watch the NBA Finals
game and I was expecting Chris Paul to play, you know,
big game. I mean, he's such a such a point
god g A w D all these guys slurping Chris
(00:47):
Paul for weeks Listen. I didn't expect Chris Paul to
vomit all over himself, basically soil his pants in front
of America. And the Suns lost the game in the
final minute, did not cover, might have lost the series,
and holy hell, will go into that game shortly. But
I do want to mention that we have a great
guest today, my guy, Ben Verlander, former MLB player brother
(01:12):
of Justin Verlander. Ben Verlander works with me a Fox Sports.
He's a twitch star. He met Otani at the All
Star Game. Pretty exciting week for Ben Verlander. I think
you guys are gonna love this. Baseball fans, we're gonna
we'll love it. And then, like you know, fans of
good stories are gonna love it. Because he talks a
lot about his baseball career, how he was a pitcher
(01:33):
and hitter and he wanted to do that forever and
then he realized he stopped doing one and then just
popped big time as a prospect. Interesting stuff. I think
if you have young kids who like sports and want
to do multiple positions in sports, he definitely should check
it out. Ben Verlander, great guy. But before we get
to the NBA Finals, I just need to give one
(01:55):
of these quick little like I'm not gonna go after
Richard sure Man. I'm not really going to talk about
his arrest. It sounds like, and again just based off
multiple reports that Richard Sherman is not in a good
place and it sounds like he needs help. The nine
one one call is extremely dark. I know what the
(02:19):
you know, the headlines say about Richard Sherman's arrest, but
it's if you listen to the nine one one call.
You listen to what Um? You know his family is
saying like Sherman's in a dark place. There's mention of suicide.
I don't know if it has to do with you know,
it's football career may come to an end. Um. I'm
sure some people in some corners will mention CT. We
(02:40):
just don't know enough, so I'm not going to talk
about it. I have a checkered history with Richard Sherman
and you guys, don't he block me on Twitter several
years ago after I was critical. Um, it was fair criticism,
but he has a trigger finger to block, so I
totally get that. Um. Obviously I thought the Jets could
use him when Salah was hired, but serious that didn't sterialized. So, UM,
(03:01):
I don't know. Here we are. Richard Sherman needs some help.
All right, let's get to NBA Finals. You know I've
initially I picked the Sons in four because we thought
Joannes wouldn't play and said, I'm j honest, might play,
will be okay, Sons in five? And it's weird, be honest,
wasn't the story? In game four? He had and fourteen
and he had maybe the best NBA Finals blocks since
(03:21):
Lebron's chase down of Andrea Gudalagist, a tremendous play by Janice.
The story, of course, is Chris Middleton for the Bucks
had forty on thirty three shots. If you remember, I
bet on Middleton in Game three. I thought he bounced
back at home. Guy basically urinates down his leg and
I said, I'm done with Middleton. I'm done with him.
(03:43):
We'll not bet on his overs nothing. So what does
he do? He drops a forty piece on the Sons
and he was really good. But what hurt in this
game was you got forty two from d book, you
got nothing from Chris Paul. Okay, I'm just sick of
hearing that Chris Paul is the greatest point guard ever.
(04:06):
Can we stop getting excited that he shredded the Nuggets
back up backcourt? Can we stop getting excited the Sun's
beat the Lakers after a d went down. Can we
chill with Chris Paul is the greatest after Look what
he did to the Clippers in Game six to clothes out.
He was amazing. Yeah, he was good. They were not.
The Clippers didn't have Kauai. Now the Bucks are healthy
(04:29):
and the trend lines are very clear for Chris Paul
in this series. He's old, thirty six years old. I
think guy's wearing down. Chris Paul started out, remember he
had forty one against the Clippers in the clothes out
started out this series. Are you ready? Thirty two and nine?
Awesome performance, Game two, very very good, twenty three and eight.
(04:50):
But I saw that was the game Tory Craig got hurt.
You could tell Chris Paul played a lot of minutes
eight and played a lot of minutes Booker. All three
of them were over forty. You knew regression was coming.
Chris Paul in Game three, down to nineteen points is lowest.
So he went thirty and in game four the game
they needed if the Sons wanted to wrap this up
at home. In game five, they needed Chris Paul to
(05:13):
step up. Chris Paul had ten points, had his worst
shooting game I believe of the playoffs. He was awful,
five or thirteen, did not make a three pointer. I'm
sorry no. Against the Clippers in his second game back,
he shot six of twenty two. He was he was
terrible in that he was terrible and couple Clippers games Um,
(05:35):
he was great against the Nuggets. But let's be real,
Chris Paul. Maybe he's tired, but he had five turnovers,
including a brutal cough up in the final minute. UM, listen,
Chris Paul, five buckets, five turnovers, He's the reason the
Sons choked that lead away. Okay, I mean I could
go deeper and say, well, Janice was incredible blocking eighton
(05:56):
That was just a phenomenal play. I do need to
point this out and Rob g listen. Maybe I'm salty
because I had the Suns plus five and they lost
by six in a game they were covering for forty
seven and a half minutes out of eight. Um. DeAndre
Ayton has been a bell weather in this series. When
he gets going the Sun's roll. When DeAndre Ayton is
(06:21):
kind of contained or is in foul trouble, like last game,
the Sounds aren't winning. DeAndre had six points at halftime.
He finished with six points. I Monty Williams, what are
we doing your dude? Six points for DeAndre Ayton, zero
baskets in the second half. He did have seventeen boards
(06:42):
five assists. But you can't just say Devin Booker take
us home okay. Devin Booker has never been in the
playoffs before this year. He's been awesome. He's a great player,
but without a doubt the Phoenix Sun's lack of bench.
Tory Craig looked okay, Cameron Johnson okay at ten points,
but it is ultimately a minus nine campaign like they
(07:03):
shortened it. Frank the Tank did not play as I
mean I've been you know, was screaming you can't play
the guy. Um, it was just listen. It was a
rough one. It's sons bench. Okay, are you ready for this?
Pat Connaughton had a nice game off the Sun's bench.
I'm just everybody's hitting. When hold on, how do you
(07:25):
freaking lose this game on the road? When Drew Holiday
goes four for twenty and you still can't win four
for twenty? People, do you understand how bad Drew Holiday
has been in the series. This is the guy that
got specifically to win the title, and Drew Holiday has
(07:46):
pretty much been awful and the Suns cannot take advantage. Folks,
I don't I feel really if you remember after Game two,
I really said this and I should have stuck with it.
I felt like the Bucks are coming back. I knew
they would. I just saw some can I say, chinks
in the armor? Is that like not a politically correct thing?
(08:07):
Like I could see weaknesses forming, and I could see,
you know, obviously, honest is gonna get better. You know,
Middleton was not gonna stay awful forever. But folks, I mean,
you know, Drew Holiday is giving them nothing and they're
tied to two. Now the Suns still have home court advantage.
But I put this squarely on Chris Paul. This is
a bad loss for the Sons. You can't lead for
(08:29):
like forty three minutes of the game out of forty
eight and gag it away and have your point. God
just be so awful down the stretch. Devin Booker has
to be I rate, and I don't know why they're
not going to DeAndre ating. But um, rob g A
might being too hard on Chris Paul. No, not at all,
Not at all. I mean, Chris Paul had statistically his
(08:53):
worst stretch of games and like a decade. According to
Kevin Pell and the ESPN, Chris Paul's fifteen turnover to
the last three games most in any three game stretch
in the playoffs since two thousand and twelve. Okay, the
Suns were up by nine points early in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, in the fourth quarter outscored the
(09:14):
rest of the way. Well, Booker had five fouls, right
and and they yanked him for a minute, and that
gave the door open. But they still had control of
the game. Rob like I want to crush Chris Paul
and Monty Will. I don't know how to blame everybody. Listen,
the Bucks were at home. The Suns still have home
court advantage. I I think the Suns haven't lost at
home since it No they lost a game at home
(09:38):
to the to the paper Clips. I'm pretty sure that
series out and they did lose one to the Lakers
game two. Um, so it's not like they're under unbeatable
at home. Now it's the Bucks who haven't lost at home.
So if the Suns don't win Game five, that's a wrap. Yep.
And I don't want to make this too much of
a hot take, and that's not where I'm trying to
go to. But this is part of the reason why
(10:00):
I was telling you during the regular season that this
was all NBA first team Chris Paul, because as we've
seen in this series, especially he is their most important player.
I know Devin Booker is the best player. I know
that DeAndre Atanon is getting a lot of headlines because
he's putting up these big numbers and these big s netlines.
(10:21):
But as Chris Paul goes, so go the Phoenix Suns.
It's no coincidence that these last two games he's an
averaging you know, uh, what is that fifteen points a
game and five turnovers a game against you know, fifteen
assists sixteen assists that they lost both of them. Because
for all of Devin Booker's offensive abilities and he can
(10:43):
score with the best of them, his style of play
is not exactly making guys better, you know what I mean?
Like he can shore right, and it's not just the
way that he scores. It's like he's not known as
the guy who breaks down to defense the same way
that like a day Lillard would or even uh, you
know your guy Zach Levine would and maybe even gets
(11:05):
assists that way. That's just not his game. Like he
is a score He's a fantastic scorer, but he is
a scorer. And what Phoenix needs is a floor general.
What they need is somebody who's gonna make sure that
mcaal Bridges gets a few open shots a game. In
this case, he only had four total. He's got to
make sure that DeAndre Ayton is engaged the entire game
(11:27):
and not finishing three for nine. You know, if you
go and and Chris Paul has just not been good
the last two games, and part of it is Milwaukee's
defense because there were stretches where they put Chris Milton
on him and that length really bothered him. If you
go back and listen to the podcast earlier this week,
I mentioned the offensive rebounds as a big factor. I
don't know how you combat that. Are you guys ready
(11:48):
for the offensive rebound stats? Phoenix Suns five Janice five,
the Bucks seventy seventeen to five edge on the offensive
class that leads to second chance points, that sometimes needs
leads to wide open threes. You're not gonna win games
like that. I mean, don't get me started on the turnovers, okay,
(12:14):
the I mean just an unbelievable defensive performance by the Bucks.
Are you ready for this? Bucks? Five turnovers Phoenix Suns
Chris Paul five turnovers Sons seventeen. So you you you
lose the turnover battle you lose the offensive rebounds battle.
I mean, you're not gonna win that game on the road. Now,
(12:34):
is it officially panicked? Time for the Suns? Listen, guys,
they can't stop your honest right, he ate whatever he
wanted fourteen eleven or nineteen if they get anything from
Drew Holiday, the Bucks win this in a laugher, and Folks,
the longer the series goes, you have to give the
edge to the Milwaukee Bucks, even though the Sun's have
(12:55):
home court advantage. You just have to wonder. This is
a game where Chris Paul thirty seven minutes, book or
thirty nine, eight and thirty nine, they threw the kitchen
sink at the Bucks. They led for most of the
game and they choked it away. And I don't think
it's a big deal. At Middleton and Johanna's played forty
three minutes. These guys have been in playoff worse. This
(13:20):
is nothing new to them. And also Holiday, Middleton and
Jannat are much younger than Chris Paul. And listen, this
is DeAndre and just uncharted territory for this guy. Never
been in the playoffs, deep book, never been in the playoffs.
I I've got major concerns about the Suns. I still
can't believe the Milwaukee freaking Bucks are gonna be NBA
(13:40):
champions if they win the series. But it's getting closed.
It feels that way, Um, Rob, I don't know should
we even touch on the Bradley Beal situation with Team USA.
He's in health and safety protocols. I don't know what
I mean. It's a tough scene for bradbal I mean
the not like they're not gonna have any shortage of
guys who can shoot and not pass. Shout out. Aclvine
and Devin Booker will be there in about a week
(14:02):
or two, so they won't miss him as much as
his name, you know, when indicated, I would just crowbar
Zak Klavina in the starting lineup and call it a day. Um,
but any rate, Sons, Bucks just got super interesting. Now
let's pivot to baseball for a really fun interview with
Ben Verlander. Jason likes to think he knows everything when
(14:26):
it comes to sports. I know what sports dance want,
but for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.
Let's just say I know a guy who knows a
guy he knows another guy. All Right, let's welcome into
straight fire. A guy who I work with at Fox
Sports knows baseball as well as anybody you know, And
what do they say about meeting your idol? Like there
(14:48):
is a saying we're gonna ask our guest today because
he just met Mr Otani at the All Star Game.
Twitch legend Ben Verlander, how are you, man? I'm man,
how are you? Thanks for having me? Man? Yeah, hey,
thanks a lot for taking the time. I know All
Star week is a tough one. You just spent the
week in Colorado and you got to meet Otani. Like
(15:09):
I, I I honestly was watching it. I was like, this
is kind of cool because you've been talking about him
obviously for months, and I just talked me through it.
I'm assuming it was. It was a pretty special week. Yeah,
you know, it couldn't have worked out better. You know,
I've I've been talking about him, I'm sure as you've seen,
and probably even get tired of every once in a while. Um,
you know, I I love the guy. I love everything
(15:29):
about what he stands for for the game of baseball,
and I've been talking about him for a long time.
So it kind of got to this point where you know,
we created a graphic from from my show and it
said the quest to meet Sho hey Otani. And then
it's like, oh, this is a thing, like it's got
to happen now. So you know, I know I'm going
to the All Star Game and we get there and uh,
(15:52):
it's you know, we kind of played it up and
it was like, we gotta we gotta make this happen.
Let's just look for him, Let's do this, Let's do this,
and then, um, I actually have become fairly not close,
but I know that angels PR people, so they they're
huge obviously and helping me figure this out. And he
was up on the on the set on the field
to day and I saw him. So I went over
(16:13):
there and stood close by, and I was like, oh
my god, this could happen. So the cameras are rolling
behind me. I'm like going like this, the cameras are
right behind me. I'm like, oh my god, this could happen.
And the angels PR people actually pointed at me and
called me over and said, hey, when he comes off,
we'll put him with you. Just over there, like we'll
make it happen. And that's actually how it happened. That's
how this all all ended up is they helped me
(16:35):
out here and we met together on the field and
shook hands, and man, I've met I've met so many
people in my life, but my heart was freaking pounding
when on him. It was incredible. Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, I gotta say that this is the new
media right now, you know, like this is what fans
love to like follow you on your quest to meet
a guy who is like the modern day Babe Ruth
(16:57):
basically right, and like following it obviously the flipping bats
pod and all the stuff you're doing for Fox, Like
I think it just registered, like that's all fans want,
the traditional media model of high I'm a reporter, let
me interview this guy that's dead, right, Like they want
the Ben Verlander experience. Well, that that's exactly what I've
come to realize. And Jim magg I never knew that.
Like I was playing a few years ago. I'm I'm
(17:19):
fairly new and all this, so I don't exactly know.
I just know I I love this game. I love
the game of baseball. I am obviously I played at
a pretty high level. I know a lot of the guys,
but at the end of the day. I love the
game of baseball and what I've started to realize and
gotten feedback, especially once that video was posted and I
met him, people like I legitimately had people saying like
(17:42):
I was watching this video like literally in tears. I
was so happy for you, and I know how much
this meant to you, and I care about this because
of you. And it's like people realize that my passion
is coming through and they're like happy for me, and
so you're a hundred percent right. It's like before the
game was portrayed, like this is what happened, and this
(18:03):
is what happened, and this is what happened. And now
it's like I'm a fan. I have vast knowledge of
this game. I played this game, but I love this
game just like you. And here's my experience. And I
got to meet this guy and people loved it. Man,
it really did. I gotta say for obviously forgot to
introduce you as oh yeah, he played a little bit
of baseball besides being a Twitch superstar and working at
(18:25):
Fox in the Flipping Bath spot, you did play some baseball.
You are related to a guy who's in the majors
right now. Um, I guess your baseball experience, like, how
how far did you go? Um, you know, high school, legend, college,
give us all that background. Yeah, so I ended up
obviously played in high school and moved on play at
a Division one college where I actually did both. I
(18:46):
went to All Dominion University and was a picture and
a hitter, which is why I think before a lot
of people I I I was talking about him before,
because I'm a year ago saying this isn't normal. It's
isn't normal. I know it goes into this. So I
was playing college ball for two years and tried to
do it, tried to do the two way player thing,
(19:07):
and I couldn't. It was too hard. I was an
average D one player at both, and obviously there's nothing
wrong with an average D one player. Um, but I
I ended up stopping and becoming a full time position
player and wasn't All American my junior year, and then
got drafted by the Tires and played professionally for five
years in the Detroit Tires organization. Well, so let's back up,
(19:27):
so average as a hitter and pitcher, and then you
dropped one and it unlocks greatness and you're an All
American like I don't. As a guy who never was
able to play any college sports, talk talk me through
like what what? What? What changed? So dramatically? Yeah, So
you know the reason I chose to go to Old
To me, it was because it was one of the
(19:49):
schools that was going to allow me to do both.
And that was a big thing for me, was it
was being able to do both. I loved doing that.
And then I get to college and you know, I'm
having fun. I'm doing both, I'm pitching, I'm out of
the bullpen a little bit. I had a start here
and there. Uh, and then I'd play outfield every once
in a while. So I wasn't getting the consistent playing time. Um.
(20:11):
It was. It was a struggle. Um, and I was
okay at both, but I never want to be okay
at anything I do ever, no matter what it is.
So after my June after my sophomore year, uh, in
our exit meeting, my head coach at the time, Chris
Finnwood said, look, I think you need to pick one.
(20:33):
I really do. You're not going to get drafted as both.
I think you need to pick one and dedicate your
time to it, because what happens is I end up,
I'm trying to do both, but you end up picking
and choosing where you think you can miss out on
something else. So like, if I'm supposed to be hitting
one day, okay, I need to take VP on the field,
but maybe I can skip out on this drill and
(20:53):
can go through my bullpen. It's like, you don't you
don't allocate your time, it's impossible to do it perfectly.
So I ended up dropping it and going into that
sophomore summer, all I did was dedicated my time to hitting,
and I came back in bigger, stronger, with a better swing,
and just you know, had an incredible junior year and
it just made it way easier on me. So before
(21:16):
this season, before what Otani is doing right now, I
would have told you it's impossible to do what he
is doing at the major league level, because I know
what it takes behind the scenes to do it, and
I would have told you it's impossible at the major
league level. So how the hell is he able to
pull this off? Yeah, that's a great question. And I
thought a lot about this, and I really think it
(21:37):
was kind of the perfect storm. Because if you're in
America and you're coming through our system over here, and
the way we have it set up, nobody goes straight
to the big leagues. Nobody you start in the minor leagues,
and there's plenty of there's there's a few guys that
will get to the minor leagues as a two way player.
But what happens is it shows itself pretty quickly what
(21:59):
you're more value of bolat like the staff season pretty quickly. Okay,
this guy is probably going to be more valuable as
a pitcher or as a hitter down the road. Let's
do that. We're gonna focus is that Otani being in
Japan and starting in Japan at such a young age
and getting to the big leagues in Japan at eighteen
nineteen years old, proved he could do it over there.
(22:20):
So he's doing it on the biggest stage over there.
He's an all star. He's one of the best to
ever play in Japan as both. And that's how he
decided to come over. He got to the top of
his game over there, he proved he could do it
over over there, and he said, I want to come
to the States, and this is what I want to do.
And he was given a shot to do it, and
(22:41):
and and I truly believe that's why he's able to
do it here, because he was able to prove himself
there and we just don't. We don't see that here ever,
So will he be a springboard to a bunch of
next generation athletes saying, Man, I want to do what
he's doing. I want to get that opportunity. I know,
like you said, the coaches eventually make you pick one
because the focus narrows and you can really become an
(23:02):
awesome person at one thing. Um, But do you think
this is the beginning of something new in Major League Baseball?
I I hope so, because I think it's really good
for the game of baseball. I mean, I mean, look
at look at the game right now. I mean there's
so many eyes on it that have never cared to
watch a baseball game. I think it's great for it.
(23:23):
I think organizations are gonna be maybe a little more
willing to try it. But I still think at the
end of the day, they're gonna say, Okay, yeah, you
know this is where your value is. This. Nobody's in
the Otani. Nobody's showing Otani. He throws a hundred he
hits balls seven hundred feet like that he's he's an outlier,
(23:44):
he's not human. Um So I think teams will be
willing to try it. But I mean, even when I
got to college, or even when I got to pro ball,
my swing was a little bit different. I had some
certain things that I like to do in my swing
that I was comfortable with and and I got you know,
when I got to my first level, when I was
a single a UM, I was playing well, and as
(24:07):
soon as I got there, the organization said, you know, we'
we're gonna let you try this. We're gonna let you
try and do what you do, but if it doesn't
go well, we're gonna do you know, we're gonna put
our little touch on it. We're gonna put our little
touch on it. And in my first season, I was
an All Star at the break, I was playing great,
and they never they never touched me, never talked to me,
and I struggled in the second half. The season ended,
(24:27):
I went to instructional league and they changed my swing
immediately and it was done. And it's like in any
flash of we were right, they're gonna put there. They're
gonna say, we told you so, here's what you're gonna
do now. And that's what I fear coming up in
the American system, where you grind your way through the
minor leagues. Every organization wants to have their little staple
(24:48):
put on you and say we told you so, now
this is what we're gonna do. Jeez. Yeah, it sounds
much tougher than the NFL or basketball, right, I mean
baseball sounds like the toughest, Like I I don't think
I've ever really spoken at linked to someone about what
the minor leagues are, like, I've read a lot of stories. Um,
it's is it basically like basic training before you become
(25:10):
a Navy seal, Like, let's weed out the guys who
just can't cut it because it's tough. It sounds like
it's it's it's a business man, it is it is.
It is a business, and it is really tough. And
if if the truth of the matter is, if you're
not one of those guys that has a big investment
in you, if you're not a top five rounder with
(25:33):
a million dollars plus put into you, you can't you
can't mess up. You just can't. You have to be
on your game at all time because you know and
you're right. It is different than the NBA and the
NFL because there's a lot more rounds in the draft,
so there's a lot more players, and we don't see
that in other sports, where there's you know, there's eight
(25:54):
rounds of a minor league system before you get to
the top level. So that's where baseball is different. And
it just becomes this like grind of the best of
the best. And if you're a first rounder and I
give you seven million dollars, you can prove yourself in
one month and you're gonna be a big leaguer at
some point. But if I'm a guy that's drafted in uh,
let's say the thirtieth round, that was given a thousand
(26:16):
dollars in the Jersey, I can't mess up once. And
it's it's it's such a hard nosed business that it's
it really. That was the biggest transition for me from
college to pro ball. And and they can grant it
in you all they want. It's about the team, it's
about winning. It's not man and that that was the
hardest transition for me, is going from college where it's
(26:38):
very team oriented, to pro ball, where it's numbers on
a piece of paper. And if you don't put those
right numbers down, you don't have a job anymore. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
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(27:00):
league because we work with Conrad and he said, you
guys have played golf a lot. We did. You and
I played basketball together. I know you're good. Uh did
you play like all sports growing up? Or was it
was baseball the primary focus all along? So I I
played a little bit of everything growing up. Um, but
once it got to the high school level, I kind
of stopped and and focused on just baseball, which I
(27:24):
don't know if I can't say I regret it, because
it worked out fairly well. I mean I got fairly
high and you know, in professional ranks. And I also
early in my high school career golfed, actually, and I
ended up quitting golfing because I was worried it would
mess up my baseball. But growing up, I don't I
(27:45):
played a little bit of everything, but by the time
I got to high school, I just stopped. Look, it's
like I don't know if it's the same. I'm sure
it is. I know basketball has like a travel baseball.
It's year round now, and it makes it so tough
to be a multi sport athlete like we used to
see with with the best athletes in the world that
would say, yeah, I played everything, that's why I'm as
(28:05):
good as an athlete as I am. But it's like,
if you're doing that now, you're behind the eight ball
and the sport that you really truly care about, which
sucks honestly. Yeah. Well, well, Steve Nash lives out near
us were used to before he moved out to Brooklyn,
and I ran into him recently playing tennis, and he
is king of the play all the sports. Get the
footwork down, practice everything, don't get burnt out because you know,
(28:28):
nobody really peaks when they're like fifteen sixteen. Nobody who's
gonna be a pro? Right, you're just on the rise,
and you know, like it sounds like most athletes peak.
Probably what early twenties, you know, is that when you
were at your best right right after college. Maybe yeah,
that's probably my best, I mean, the best season other
than my junior year of college. I would say physically
(28:50):
and physically and athletically skilled. I was probably my best
around right right around. Um, all right, so let's let
me we'll get back to baseball. But Ben, I gotta ask,
um twitch. Okay, you are obviously a light younger than
me our audience, because I can check the analytics. Excuse young.
So everybody now is like, oh my gosh, Jason's talking
(29:12):
to somebody about Twitch. Um, Ben, I gotta say, like,
you know the guy who brought you into five, Mike
Bucklin brought you in a Fox and I know buck
Well and he's like, Dude, this guy has a massive
Twitch following. And I'm like, okay, I have the app
because I watch Australian basketball in the Twitch app, and
I want to check out your twitch feed. But Ben,
this is like another world to me. Um, to the
(29:34):
lay audience, Um, how the hell do you go from
being a pro athlete uh in the minors on the
baseball track and then go twitch and then media? How
does that work? Talk me through that? Well? So I'm
sure you know, and I've talked to a lot of people.
When when you're playing, you have you do have a
(29:55):
lot of downtime and a lot of athlete play video games.
You know, I know a lot of you know, I
know a lot of baseball guys that play The Show
and All and and NBA two K, And I know
a lot of basketball players that played two K and Mad.
And it's like you you find yourself, you know, allocating
your time and in certain aspects. So I was playing
(30:15):
a lot of video games and look, I'm I'm at
the field. Um. When I played baseball in the Tigers organization,
we played a hundred and forty two games and a
hundred and fifty days, okay, which is insane. And it's
so you end up just the The only way you
get through it is a schedule and regimented. And this
(30:36):
is how I go about and this is how I
go about it. And I'm at the field from noon
to eleven midnight every day. You can't just go home
from playing a nine in a game and go to sleep.
You can't. Um, you gotta your your brain is still gone.
You kind of got to relax. So what I would
find myself doing is getting home, sitting on my couch
and playing video games for a couple of hours before
I went to bed. So I got really good at
(30:57):
the show probably better at the show than I am
in real life. Get out of here. So so what happened?
I ended I stopped playing baseball. I was done with baseball,
and actually the pandemic hit and my my roommate at
the time said, dude, you're really good at this game.
(31:18):
You have a good personality. I love Twitch. Do get
on Twitch. I'm like, what am I gonna do? Like,
I don't know. That was one thing. Why why would
anybody want to watch me play baseball? And but I
started doing it and immediately loved it and started building
(31:39):
this community of people that clearly cares about me, about
what I have to say, and it just becomes this
community of people, and it just grew and grew and
grew and uh and and still to this day, even
you know, when I'm out here, I still try and
stream every every week day. And yeah, and so it
ended up the transition into media came when and I
(32:03):
truly believe being on twitch helps me, helps me, and
they set apart right, Yeah, there's no I mean, I
don't know any other media guys who are huge on Twitch. Again,
I might be ignorant and just not know them, but
I'm a little old school Ben, I don't know any
other guys who are on there. Yeah, and I and
I you know that too, but I truly, I mean
(32:23):
just it helps me. And look, I'm I'm on a camera.
I have twenty fifty a hundred, five hundred people watching me,
asking me any questions. I'm talking back to them, I'm
entertaining them, and I truly believe that helped me. And
then the day comes where I'm flying out to l
A and and my agent says, oh, I'm I'm good
(32:45):
friends with Mike Buckling and he talked about earlier I
love to have you talked to each other, and and
I did, and that's how the World Series Watch Party
came about. And and the rest is history. And you
know that it's just been this crazy like whirl end
of of of of time. But it's like, I truly
believe all of it has has helped me and laded
(33:05):
me to where I am right now. Yeah, it's it's funny.
So Ben and I played basketball one day and then
he was telling me about the Twitch. So I decided
to go on Twitch and look at him. And I
was with my kids who are hipped all this stuff, right,
So I go on there and Ben is like taking shots,
talking to these people, answering questions, and my kids are like,
he's drinking alcohol, Dad, you you should do this. You
(33:27):
drink alcohol. And I'm like, maybe there's something here. And
then Ben, of course i'd find out he's making a
lot of money on twitch. I'm like, this guy's really
crushing it. Um listen, man, you carve out a niche
anywhere you can, and like you're you're on fire right now.
I'm sure a lot of people are like excited the
you met Otani. Yeah. Man, Well, first off, so every
(33:47):
every Friday when I stream, I just call it fireball
fitness Friday. So it just happened to be a Friday
that we played basketball and hops in my stream and
you know, I'm like taking a shot and I don't
even drink a ton, but on Fridays it's you know,
content we back baby, So you know, I like take
(34:07):
a shot and I look, you know, I'm streaming, I'm
playing the game, and I looked down on my phone
and it's j MC and he says, hey, what's up man,
I'm in your stream. My kids are watching, and I'm like, oh,
it was awesome. It was awesome. Yeah, congrats on that.
We'll do some rapid fires. Second half baseball questions, Um,
what what the hell can the Angels do to get
(34:29):
to the playoffs so Otani can taste the postseason? Uh,
somehow acquire a bunch of pictures that you know, Um,
that's something. Yeah, I don't think it's possible. What they're
pitching step pitching, pitching wins in baseball. And they've proven
they have one of the best offenses in baseball, and
they've proven they just you know, they don't have the
(34:50):
pitching to do it. New York Yankees just not a
great first half. Um, I'm a little concerned. Are they
making the postseason? No? Oh my god, no Otani, No Yankees. No,
I don't. Look there's they're they're talented, but there's too
many good teams in that division. Uh, there's no easy
(35:11):
wins other than the Orioles. There's no easy wins. And
I've seen nothing from them at this point that says
they're going to turn a corn. We're over halfway through
the season and they're not just not pretty. You can
pick one um to build your line up around. Tattoos
or Vlad good question. I mean, they're both twenty two
(35:31):
and they're both incredible. Oh yeah, everything just offensively or
like your team, Yeah, yeah, team I'm gonna take. I'm
gonna take tattoos. Yeah, I feel I feel like that's
probably the move. He just has this magnetic thing about him. Um,
is he the next best young player in baseball? Or
am I missing someone? No, you're right, I think if you,
if you, if you strictly said offensively, who's better, I
(35:54):
would go lad. But it's it's everything about Tatis. It's
the charisma, it's the swaggy becaus. He's so cool, Like
I will never be a fifth as cool as he is.
He plays a premium position, he plays shortstop. He's incredible,
he flips his batty, he has so much fun, and
he's a he's a Latin player that speaks, you know,
(36:15):
is so good with with the media and it's incredible
to see him. So he's for sure a face of baseball.
Astros are on fire. Do people still hate them for
the scandal or is that over? I don't hear about
as much of it as I used to, not over
very much. Still, Oh my gosh, uh, and I guess
i'll wrap up. How much anger did you get from
(36:36):
Yankees fans for you, Ohtani better than Ruth thing, uh,
you know, not as bad and not as bad as
I thought a lot of people are on the you
know what I got more of was uh, well, of course,
because Babe Ruth was, you know, was eating hot dogs
and could almost hit seventy a fastballs, of course Otani
(36:59):
is better. And then there's a few that's like, well,
he's the best home run hitter of all time? How
dare you? And I'm just like okay, yeah, yeah, this
is like ninety five years ago. He was an amazing
baseball I don't even want to go down that path.
I mean, we in the NBA we talked like what
is Patrick Ewing right now in the NBA? Like does
he come off the bench for somebody? Uh? And you
look at football players and like, come on, tom Brady's
(37:19):
forty four. Go look at what forty four year olds
look like in you know, it's like come on. And
now going into the Super Bowl, there was a side
by side picture of Tom Brady and some Stabler I
think it was Key Stabler the Raiders. Yeah, and it
was like that guy looked like my grandpa exactly. I
mean Honestly, I don't want to like Babe Ruth. Great player,
(37:40):
I don't want to disparage him. I don't want to
get baseball fans mad. But like this idea that he
would dominate right now in baseball is a little bit comical.
I don't know. Maybe you agree or disagree. No, I
totally agree with that. We're not gonna end on bashing
Babe Ruth. But as Ben Verlander follow him on social media,
I'm sure you're gonna gain at least two does than
twitch fans from not from POT. I don't know a
(38:02):
lot of I know a lot of people that that
listen to the POT are on there. But Ben, keep
up the great stuff. Um and uh, you know, I'm
sure I'll see you so Jam, thanks so much for
having me man. I appreciate it.
This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up,
ladies and gentlemen, It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire, Thursday July.
If you detect a little excitement in my voice, Oh
boys and girls, your boy played an awesome game, series
(00:25):
of games of pickup basketball. I know that's why you're
listening to the podcast. I was on fire from deep
straight fire, on fire. See see what I did there? Um,
I played to pick up basketball Wednesday was incredible. And
then you know, I went to watch the NBA Finals
game and I was expecting Chris Paul to play, you know,
big game. I mean, he's such a such a point
god g A w D all these guys slurping Chris
(00:47):
Paul for weeks Listen. I didn't expect Chris Paul to
vomit all over himself, basically soil his pants in front
of America. And the Suns lost the game in the
final minute, did not cover, might have lost the series,
and holy hell, will go into that game shortly. But
I do want to mention that we have a great
guest today, my guy, Ben Verlander, former MLB player brother
(01:12):
of Justin Verlander. Ben Verlander works with me a Fox Sports.
He's a twitch star. He met Otani at the All
Star Game. Pretty exciting week for Ben Verlander. I think
you guys are gonna love this. Baseball fans, we're gonna
we'll love it. And then, like you know, fans of
good stories are gonna love it. Because he talks a
lot about his baseball career, how he was a pitcher
(01:33):
and hitter and he wanted to do that forever and
then he realized he stopped doing one and then just
popped big time as a prospect. Interesting stuff. I think
if you have young kids who like sports and want
to do multiple positions in sports, he definitely should check
it out. Ben Verlander, great guy. But before we get
to the NBA Finals, I just need to give one
(01:55):
of these quick little like I'm not gonna go after
Richard sure Man. I'm not really going to talk about
his arrest. It sounds like, and again just based off
multiple reports that Richard Sherman is not in a good
place and it sounds like he needs help. The nine
one one call is extremely dark. I know what the
(02:19):
you know, the headlines say about Richard Sherman's arrest, but
it's if you listen to the nine one one call.
You listen to what Um? You know his family is
saying like Sherman's in a dark place. There's mention of suicide.
I don't know if it has to do with you know,
it's football career may come to an end. Um. I'm
sure some people in some corners will mention CT. We
(02:40):
just don't know enough, so I'm not going to talk
about it. I have a checkered history with Richard Sherman
and you guys, don't he block me on Twitter several
years ago after I was critical. Um, it was fair criticism,
but he has a trigger finger to block, so I
totally get that. Um. Obviously I thought the Jets could
use him when Salah was hired, but serious that didn't sterialized. So, UM,
(03:01):
I don't know. Here we are. Richard Sherman needs some help.
All right, let's get to NBA Finals. You know I've
initially I picked the Sons in four because we thought
Joannes wouldn't play and said, I'm j honest, might play,
will be okay, Sons in five? And it's weird, be honest,
wasn't the story? In game four? He had and fourteen
and he had maybe the best NBA Finals blocks since
(03:21):
Lebron's chase down of Andrea Gudalagist, a tremendous play by Janice.
The story, of course, is Chris Middleton for the Bucks
had forty on thirty three shots. If you remember, I
bet on Middleton in Game three. I thought he bounced
back at home. Guy basically urinates down his leg and
I said, I'm done with Middleton. I'm done with him.
(03:43):
We'll not bet on his overs nothing. So what does
he do? He drops a forty piece on the Sons
and he was really good. But what hurt in this
game was you got forty two from d book, you
got nothing from Chris Paul. Okay, I'm just sick of
hearing that Chris Paul is the greatest point guard ever.
(04:06):
Can we stop getting excited that he shredded the Nuggets
back up backcourt? Can we stop getting excited the Sun's
beat the Lakers after a d went down. Can we
chill with Chris Paul is the greatest after Look what
he did to the Clippers in Game six to clothes out.
He was amazing. Yeah, he was good. They were not.
The Clippers didn't have Kauai. Now the Bucks are healthy
(04:29):
and the trend lines are very clear for Chris Paul
in this series. He's old, thirty six years old. I
think guy's wearing down. Chris Paul started out, remember he
had forty one against the Clippers in the clothes out
started out this series. Are you ready? Thirty two and nine?
Awesome performance, Game two, very very good, twenty three and eight.
(04:50):
But I saw that was the game Tory Craig got hurt.
You could tell Chris Paul played a lot of minutes
eight and played a lot of minutes Booker. All three
of them were over forty. You knew regression was coming.
Chris Paul in Game three, down to nineteen points is lowest.
So he went thirty and in game four the game
they needed if the Sons wanted to wrap this up
at home. In game five, they needed Chris Paul to
(05:13):
step up. Chris Paul had ten points, had his worst
shooting game I believe of the playoffs. He was awful,
five or thirteen, did not make a three pointer. I'm
sorry no. Against the Clippers in his second game back,
he shot six of twenty two. He was he was
terrible in that he was terrible and couple Clippers games Um,
(05:35):
he was great against the Nuggets. But let's be real,
Chris Paul. Maybe he's tired, but he had five turnovers,
including a brutal cough up in the final minute. UM, listen,
Chris Paul, five buckets, five turnovers, He's the reason the
Sons choked that lead away. Okay, I mean I could
go deeper and say, well, Janice was incredible blocking eighton
(05:56):
That was just a phenomenal play. I do need to
point this out and Rob g listen. Maybe I'm salty
because I had the Suns plus five and they lost
by six in a game they were covering for forty
seven and a half minutes out of eight. Um. DeAndre
Ayton has been a bell weather in this series. When
he gets going the Sun's roll. When DeAndre Ayton is
(06:21):
kind of contained or is in foul trouble, like last game,
the Sounds aren't winning. DeAndre had six points at halftime.
He finished with six points. I Monty Williams, what are
we doing your dude? Six points for DeAndre Ayton, zero
baskets in the second half. He did have seventeen boards
(06:42):
five assists. But you can't just say Devin Booker take
us home okay. Devin Booker has never been in the
playoffs before this year. He's been awesome. He's a great player,
but without a doubt the Phoenix Sun's lack of bench.
Tory Craig looked okay, Cameron Johnson okay at ten points,
but it is ultimately a minus nine campaign like they
(07:03):
shortened it. Frank the Tank did not play as I
mean I've been you know, was screaming you can't play
the guy. Um, it was just listen. It was a
rough one. It's sons bench. Okay, are you ready for this?
Pat Connaughton had a nice game off the Sun's bench.
I'm just everybody's hitting. When hold on, how do you
(07:25):
freaking lose this game on the road? When Drew Holiday
goes four for twenty and you still can't win four
for twenty? People, do you understand how bad Drew Holiday
has been in the series. This is the guy that
got specifically to win the title, and Drew Holiday has
(07:46):
pretty much been awful and the Suns cannot take advantage. Folks,
I don't I feel really if you remember after Game two,
I really said this and I should have stuck with it.
I felt like the Bucks are coming back. I knew
they would. I just saw some can I say, chinks
in the armor? Is that like not a politically correct thing?
(08:07):
Like I could see weaknesses forming, and I could see,
you know, obviously, honest is gonna get better. You know,
Middleton was not gonna stay awful forever. But folks, I mean,
you know, Drew Holiday is giving them nothing and they're
tied to two. Now the Suns still have home court advantage.
But I put this squarely on Chris Paul. This is
a bad loss for the Sons. You can't lead for
(08:29):
like forty three minutes of the game out of forty
eight and gag it away and have your point. God
just be so awful down the stretch. Devin Booker has
to be I rate, and I don't know why they're
not going to DeAndre ating. But um, rob g A
might being too hard on Chris Paul. No, not at all,
Not at all. I mean, Chris Paul had statistically his
(08:53):
worst stretch of games and like a decade. According to
Kevin Pell and the ESPN, Chris Paul's fifteen turnover to
the last three games most in any three game stretch
in the playoffs since two thousand and twelve. Okay, the
Suns were up by nine points early in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, in the fourth quarter outscored the
(09:14):
rest of the way. Well, Booker had five fouls, right
and and they yanked him for a minute, and that
gave the door open. But they still had control of
the game. Rob like I want to crush Chris Paul
and Monty Will. I don't know how to blame everybody. Listen,
the Bucks were at home. The Suns still have home
court advantage. I I think the Suns haven't lost at
home since it No they lost a game at home
(09:38):
to the to the paper Clips. I'm pretty sure that
series out and they did lose one to the Lakers
game two. Um, so it's not like they're under unbeatable
at home. Now it's the Bucks who haven't lost at home.
So if the Suns don't win Game five, that's a wrap. Yep.
And I don't want to make this too much of
a hot take, and that's not where I'm trying to
go to. But this is part of the reason why
(10:00):
I was telling you during the regular season that this
was all NBA first team Chris Paul, because as we've
seen in this series, especially he is their most important player.
I know Devin Booker is the best player. I know
that DeAndre Atanon is getting a lot of headlines because
he's putting up these big numbers and these big s netlines.
(10:21):
But as Chris Paul goes, so go the Phoenix Suns.
It's no coincidence that these last two games he's an
averaging you know, uh, what is that fifteen points a
game and five turnovers a game against you know, fifteen
assists sixteen assists that they lost both of them. Because
for all of Devin Booker's offensive abilities and he can
(10:43):
score with the best of them, his style of play
is not exactly making guys better, you know what I mean?
Like he can shore right, and it's not just the
way that he scores. It's like he's not known as
the guy who breaks down to defense the same way
that like a day Lillard would or even uh, you
know your guy Zach Levine would and maybe even gets
(11:05):
assists that way. That's just not his game. Like he
is a score He's a fantastic scorer, but he is
a scorer. And what Phoenix needs is a floor general.
What they need is somebody who's gonna make sure that
mcaal Bridges gets a few open shots a game. In
this case, he only had four total. He's got to
make sure that DeAndre Ayton is engaged the entire game
(11:27):
and not finishing three for nine. You know, if you
go and and Chris Paul has just not been good
the last two games, and part of it is Milwaukee's
defense because there were stretches where they put Chris Milton
on him and that length really bothered him. If you
go back and listen to the podcast earlier this week,
I mentioned the offensive rebounds as a big factor. I
don't know how you combat that. Are you guys ready
(11:48):
for the offensive rebound stats? Phoenix Suns five Janice five,
the Bucks seventy seventeen to five edge on the offensive
class that leads to second chance points, that sometimes needs
leads to wide open threes. You're not gonna win games
like that. I mean, don't get me started on the turnovers, okay,
(12:14):
the I mean just an unbelievable defensive performance by the Bucks.
Are you ready for this? Bucks? Five turnovers Phoenix Suns
Chris Paul five turnovers Sons seventeen. So you you you
lose the turnover battle you lose the offensive rebounds battle.
I mean, you're not gonna win that game on the road. Now,
(12:34):
is it officially panicked? Time for the Suns? Listen, guys,
they can't stop your honest right, he ate whatever he
wanted fourteen eleven or nineteen if they get anything from
Drew Holiday, the Bucks win this in a laugher, and Folks,
the longer the series goes, you have to give the
edge to the Milwaukee Bucks, even though the Sun's have
(12:55):
home court advantage. You just have to wonder. This is
a game where Chris Paul thirty seven minutes, book or
thirty nine, eight and thirty nine, they threw the kitchen
sink at the Bucks. They led for most of the
game and they choked it away. And I don't think
it's a big deal. At Middleton and Johanna's played forty
three minutes. These guys have been in playoff worse. This
(13:20):
is nothing new to them. And also Holiday, Middleton and
Jannat are much younger than Chris Paul. And listen, this
is DeAndre and just uncharted territory for this guy. Never
been in the playoffs, deep book, never been in the playoffs.
I I've got major concerns about the Suns. I still
can't believe the Milwaukee freaking Bucks are gonna be NBA
(13:40):
champions if they win the series. But it's getting closed.
It feels that way, Um, Rob, I don't know should
we even touch on the Bradley Beal situation with Team USA.
He's in health and safety protocols. I don't know what
I mean. It's a tough scene for bradbal I mean
the not like they're not gonna have any shortage of
guys who can shoot and not pass. Shout out. Aclvine
and Devin Booker will be there in about a week
(14:02):
or two, so they won't miss him as much as
his name, you know, when indicated, I would just crowbar
Zak Klavina in the starting lineup and call it a day. Um,
but any rate, Sons, Bucks just got super interesting. Now
let's pivot to baseball for a really fun interview with
Ben Verlander. Jason likes to think he knows everything when
(14:26):
it comes to sports. I know what sports dance want,
but for everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does.
Let's just say I know a guy who knows a
guy he knows another guy. All Right, let's welcome into
straight fire. A guy who I work with at Fox
Sports knows baseball as well as anybody you know, And
what do they say about meeting your idol? Like there
(14:48):
is a saying we're gonna ask our guest today because
he just met Mr Otani at the All Star Game.
Twitch legend Ben Verlander, how are you, man? I'm man,
how are you? Thanks for having me? Man? Yeah, hey,
thanks a lot for taking the time. I know All
Star week is a tough one. You just spent the
week in Colorado and you got to meet Otani. Like
(15:09):
I, I I honestly was watching it. I was like, this
is kind of cool because you've been talking about him
obviously for months, and I just talked me through it.
I'm assuming it was. It was a pretty special week. Yeah,
you know, it couldn't have worked out better. You know,
I've I've been talking about him, I'm sure as you've seen,
and probably even get tired of every once in a while. Um,
you know, I I love the guy. I love everything
(15:29):
about what he stands for for the game of baseball,
and I've been talking about him for a long time.
So it kind of got to this point where you know,
we created a graphic from from my show and it
said the quest to meet Sho hey Otani. And then
it's like, oh, this is a thing, like it's got
to happen now. So you know, I know I'm going
to the All Star Game and we get there and uh,
(15:52):
it's you know, we kind of played it up and
it was like, we gotta we gotta make this happen.
Let's just look for him, Let's do this, Let's do this,
and then, um, I actually have become fairly not close,
but I know that angels PR people, so they they're
huge obviously and helping me figure this out. And he
was up on the on the set on the field
to day and I saw him. So I went over
(16:13):
there and stood close by, and I was like, oh
my god, this could happen. So the cameras are rolling
behind me. I'm like going like this, the cameras are
right behind me. I'm like, oh my god, this could happen.
And the angels PR people actually pointed at me and
called me over and said, hey, when he comes off,
we'll put him with you. Just over there, like we'll
make it happen. And that's actually how it happened. That's
how this all all ended up is they helped me
(16:35):
out here and we met together on the field and
shook hands, and man, I've met I've met so many
people in my life, but my heart was freaking pounding
when on him. It was incredible. Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, I gotta say that this is the new
media right now, you know, like this is what fans
love to like follow you on your quest to meet
a guy who is like the modern day Babe Ruth
(16:57):
basically right, and like following it obviously the flipping bats
pod and all the stuff you're doing for Fox, Like
I think it just registered, like that's all fans want,
the traditional media model of high I'm a reporter, let
me interview this guy that's dead, right, Like they want
the Ben Verlander experience. Well, that that's exactly what I've
come to realize. And Jim magg I never knew that.
Like I was playing a few years ago. I'm I'm
(17:19):
fairly new and all this, so I don't exactly know.
I just know I I love this game. I love
the game of baseball. I am obviously I played at
a pretty high level. I know a lot of the guys,
but at the end of the day. I love the
game of baseball and what I've started to realize and
gotten feedback, especially once that video was posted and I
met him, people like I legitimately had people saying like
(17:42):
I was watching this video like literally in tears. I
was so happy for you, and I know how much
this meant to you, and I care about this because
of you. And it's like people realize that my passion
is coming through and they're like happy for me, and
so you're a hundred percent right. It's like before the
game was portrayed, like this is what happened, and this
(18:03):
is what happened, and this is what happened. And now
it's like I'm a fan. I have vast knowledge of
this game. I played this game, but I love this
game just like you. And here's my experience. And I
got to meet this guy and people loved it. Man,
it really did. I gotta say for obviously forgot to
introduce you as oh yeah, he played a little bit
of baseball besides being a Twitch superstar and working at
(18:25):
Fox in the Flipping Bath spot, you did play some baseball.
You are related to a guy who's in the majors
right now. Um, I guess your baseball experience, like, how
how far did you go? Um, you know, high school, legend, college,
give us all that background. Yeah, so I ended up
obviously played in high school and moved on play at
a Division one college where I actually did both. I
(18:46):
went to All Dominion University and was a picture and
a hitter, which is why I think before a lot
of people I I I was talking about him before,
because I'm a year ago saying this isn't normal. It's
isn't normal. I know it goes into this. So I
was playing college ball for two years and tried to
do it, tried to do the two way player thing,
(19:07):
and I couldn't. It was too hard. I was an
average D one player at both, and obviously there's nothing
wrong with an average D one player. Um, but I
I ended up stopping and becoming a full time position
player and wasn't All American my junior year, and then
got drafted by the Tires and played professionally for five
years in the Detroit Tires organization. Well, so let's back up,
(19:27):
so average as a hitter and pitcher, and then you
dropped one and it unlocks greatness and you're an All
American like I don't. As a guy who never was
able to play any college sports, talk talk me through
like what what? What? What changed? So dramatically? Yeah, So
you know the reason I chose to go to Old
To me, it was because it was one of the
(19:49):
schools that was going to allow me to do both.
And that was a big thing for me, was it
was being able to do both. I loved doing that.
And then I get to college and you know, I'm
having fun. I'm doing both, I'm pitching, I'm out of
the bullpen a little bit. I had a start here
and there. Uh, and then I'd play outfield every once
in a while. So I wasn't getting the consistent playing time. Um.
(20:11):
It was. It was a struggle. Um, and I was
okay at both, but I never want to be okay
at anything I do ever, no matter what it is.
So after my June after my sophomore year, uh, in
our exit meeting, my head coach at the time, Chris
Finnwood said, look, I think you need to pick one.
(20:33):
I really do. You're not going to get drafted as both.
I think you need to pick one and dedicate your
time to it, because what happens is I end up,
I'm trying to do both, but you end up picking
and choosing where you think you can miss out on
something else. So like, if I'm supposed to be hitting
one day, okay, I need to take VP on the field,
but maybe I can skip out on this drill and
(20:53):
can go through my bullpen. It's like, you don't you
don't allocate your time, it's impossible to do it perfectly.
So I ended up dropping it and going into that
sophomore summer, all I did was dedicated my time to hitting,
and I came back in bigger, stronger, with a better swing,
and just you know, had an incredible junior year and
it just made it way easier on me. So before
(21:16):
this season, before what Otani is doing right now, I
would have told you it's impossible to do what he
is doing at the major league level, because I know
what it takes behind the scenes to do it, and
I would have told you it's impossible at the major
league level. So how the hell is he able to
pull this off? Yeah, that's a great question. And I
thought a lot about this, and I really think it
(21:37):
was kind of the perfect storm. Because if you're in
America and you're coming through our system over here, and
the way we have it set up, nobody goes straight
to the big leagues. Nobody you start in the minor leagues,
and there's plenty of there's there's a few guys that
will get to the minor leagues as a two way player.
But what happens is it shows itself pretty quickly what
(21:59):
you're more value of bolat like the staff season pretty quickly. Okay,
this guy is probably going to be more valuable as
a pitcher or as a hitter down the road. Let's
do that. We're gonna focus is that Otani being in
Japan and starting in Japan at such a young age
and getting to the big leagues in Japan at eighteen
nineteen years old, proved he could do it over there.
(22:20):
So he's doing it on the biggest stage over there.
He's an all star. He's one of the best to
ever play in Japan as both. And that's how he
decided to come over. He got to the top of
his game over there, he proved he could do it
over over there, and he said, I want to come
to the States, and this is what I want to do.
And he was given a shot to do it, and
(22:41):
and and I truly believe that's why he's able to
do it here, because he was able to prove himself
there and we just don't. We don't see that here ever,
So will he be a springboard to a bunch of
next generation athletes saying, Man, I want to do what
he's doing. I want to get that opportunity. I know,
like you said, the coaches eventually make you pick one
because the focus narrows and you can really become an
(23:02):
awesome person at one thing. Um, But do you think
this is the beginning of something new in Major League Baseball?
I I hope so, because I think it's really good
for the game of baseball. I mean, I mean, look
at look at the game right now. I mean there's
so many eyes on it that have never cared to
watch a baseball game. I think it's great for it.
(23:23):
I think organizations are gonna be maybe a little more
willing to try it. But I still think at the
end of the day, they're gonna say, Okay, yeah, you
know this is where your value is. This. Nobody's in
the Otani. Nobody's showing Otani. He throws a hundred he
hits balls seven hundred feet like that he's he's an outlier,
(23:44):
he's not human. Um So I think teams will be
willing to try it. But I mean, even when I
got to college, or even when I got to pro ball,
my swing was a little bit different. I had some
certain things that I like to do in my swing
that I was comfortable with and and I got you know,
when I got to my first level, when I was
a single a UM, I was playing well, and as
(24:07):
soon as I got there, the organization said, you know, we'
we're gonna let you try this. We're gonna let you
try and do what you do, but if it doesn't
go well, we're gonna do you know, we're gonna put
our little touch on it. We're gonna put our little
touch on it. And in my first season, I was
an All Star at the break, I was playing great,
and they never they never touched me, never talked to me,
and I struggled in the second half. The season ended,
(24:27):
I went to instructional league and they changed my swing
immediately and it was done. And it's like in any
flash of we were right, they're gonna put there. They're
gonna say, we told you so, here's what you're gonna
do now. And that's what I fear coming up in
the American system, where you grind your way through the
minor leagues. Every organization wants to have their little staple
(24:48):
put on you and say we told you so, now
this is what we're gonna do. Jeez. Yeah, it sounds
much tougher than the NFL or basketball, right, I mean
baseball sounds like the toughest, Like I I don't think
I've ever really spoken at linked to someone about what
the minor leagues are, like, I've read a lot of stories. Um,
it's is it basically like basic training before you become
(25:10):
a Navy seal, Like, let's weed out the guys who
just can't cut it because it's tough. It sounds like
it's it's it's a business man, it is it is.
It is a business, and it is really tough. And
if if the truth of the matter is, if you're
not one of those guys that has a big investment
in you, if you're not a top five rounder with
(25:33):
a million dollars plus put into you, you can't you
can't mess up. You just can't. You have to be
on your game at all time because you know and
you're right. It is different than the NBA and the
NFL because there's a lot more rounds in the draft,
so there's a lot more players, and we don't see
that in other sports, where there's you know, there's eight
(25:54):
rounds of a minor league system before you get to
the top level. So that's where baseball is different. And
it just becomes this like grind of the best of
the best. And if you're a first rounder and I
give you seven million dollars, you can prove yourself in
one month and you're gonna be a big leaguer at
some point. But if I'm a guy that's drafted in uh,
let's say the thirtieth round, that was given a thousand
(26:16):
dollars in the Jersey, I can't mess up once. And
it's it's it's such a hard nosed business that it's
it really. That was the biggest transition for me from
college to pro ball. And and they can grant it
in you all they want. It's about the team, it's
about winning. It's not man and that that was the
hardest transition for me, is going from college where it's
(26:38):
very team oriented, to pro ball, where it's numbers on
a piece of paper. And if you don't put those
right numbers down, you don't have a job anymore. Fox
Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot
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s R to listen live. I'm guessing your natural lapp
(27:00):
league because we work with Conrad and he said, you
guys have played golf a lot. We did. You and
I played basketball together. I know you're good. Uh did
you play like all sports growing up? Or was it
was baseball the primary focus all along? So I I
played a little bit of everything growing up. Um, but
once it got to the high school level, I kind
of stopped and and focused on just baseball, which I
(27:24):
don't know if I can't say I regret it, because
it worked out fairly well. I mean I got fairly
high and you know, in professional ranks. And I also
early in my high school career golfed, actually, and I
ended up quitting golfing because I was worried it would
mess up my baseball. But growing up, I don't I
(27:45):
played a little bit of everything, but by the time
I got to high school, I just stopped. Look, it's
like I don't know if it's the same. I'm sure
it is. I know basketball has like a travel baseball.
It's year round now, and it makes it so tough
to be a multi sport athlete like we used to
see with with the best athletes in the world that
would say, yeah, I played everything, that's why I'm as
(28:05):
good as an athlete as I am. But it's like,
if you're doing that now, you're behind the eight ball
and the sport that you really truly care about, which
sucks honestly. Yeah. Well, well, Steve Nash lives out near
us were used to before he moved out to Brooklyn,
and I ran into him recently playing tennis, and he
is king of the play all the sports. Get the
footwork down, practice everything, don't get burnt out because you know,
(28:28):
nobody really peaks when they're like fifteen sixteen. Nobody who's
gonna be a pro? Right, you're just on the rise,
and you know, like it sounds like most athletes peak.
Probably what early twenties, you know, is that when you
were at your best right right after college. Maybe yeah,
that's probably my best, I mean, the best season other
than my junior year of college. I would say physically
(28:50):
and physically and athletically skilled. I was probably my best
around right right around. Um, all right, so let's let
me we'll get back to baseball. But Ben, I gotta ask,
um twitch. Okay, you are obviously a light younger than
me our audience, because I can check the analytics. Excuse young.
So everybody now is like, oh my gosh, Jason's talking
(29:12):
to somebody about Twitch. Um, Ben, I gotta say, like,
you know the guy who brought you into five, Mike
Bucklin brought you in a Fox and I know buck
Well and he's like, Dude, this guy has a massive
Twitch following. And I'm like, okay, I have the app
because I watch Australian basketball in the Twitch app, and
I want to check out your twitch feed. But Ben,
this is like another world to me. Um, to the
(29:34):
lay audience, Um, how the hell do you go from
being a pro athlete uh in the minors on the
baseball track and then go twitch and then media? How
does that work? Talk me through that? Well? So I'm
sure you know, and I've talked to a lot of people.
When when you're playing, you have you do have a
(29:55):
lot of downtime and a lot of athlete play video games.
You know, I know a lot of you know, I
know a lot of baseball guys that play The Show
and All and and NBA two K, And I know
a lot of basketball players that played two K and Mad.
And it's like you you find yourself, you know, allocating
your time and in certain aspects. So I was playing
(30:15):
a lot of video games and look, I'm I'm at
the field. Um. When I played baseball in the Tigers organization,
we played a hundred and forty two games and a
hundred and fifty days, okay, which is insane. And it's
so you end up just the The only way you
get through it is a schedule and regimented. And this
(30:36):
is how I go about and this is how I
go about it. And I'm at the field from noon
to eleven midnight every day. You can't just go home
from playing a nine in a game and go to sleep.
You can't. Um, you gotta your your brain is still gone.
You kind of got to relax. So what I would
find myself doing is getting home, sitting on my couch
and playing video games for a couple of hours before
I went to bed. So I got really good at
(30:57):
the show probably better at the show than I am
in real life. Get out of here. So so what happened?
I ended I stopped playing baseball. I was done with baseball,
and actually the pandemic hit and my my roommate at
the time said, dude, you're really good at this game.
(31:18):
You have a good personality. I love Twitch. Do get
on Twitch. I'm like, what am I gonna do? Like,
I don't know. That was one thing. Why why would
anybody want to watch me play baseball? And but I
started doing it and immediately loved it and started building
(31:39):
this community of people that clearly cares about me, about
what I have to say, and it just becomes this
community of people, and it just grew and grew and
grew and uh and and still to this day, even
you know, when I'm out here, I still try and
stream every every week day. And yeah, and so it
ended up the transition into media came when and I
(32:03):
truly believe being on twitch helps me, helps me, and
they set apart right, Yeah, there's no I mean, I
don't know any other media guys who are huge on Twitch. Again,
I might be ignorant and just not know them, but
I'm a little old school Ben, I don't know any
other guys who are on there. Yeah, and I and
I you know that too, but I truly, I mean
(32:23):
just it helps me. And look, I'm I'm on a camera.
I have twenty fifty a hundred, five hundred people watching me,
asking me any questions. I'm talking back to them, I'm
entertaining them, and I truly believe that helped me. And
then the day comes where I'm flying out to l
A and and my agent says, oh, I'm I'm good
(32:45):
friends with Mike Buckling and he talked about earlier I
love to have you talked to each other, and and
I did, and that's how the World Series Watch Party
came about. And and the rest is history. And you
know that it's just been this crazy like whirl end
of of of of time. But it's like, I truly
believe all of it has has helped me and laded
(33:05):
me to where I am right now. Yeah, it's it's funny.
So Ben and I played basketball one day and then
he was telling me about the Twitch. So I decided
to go on Twitch and look at him. And I
was with my kids who are hipped all this stuff, right,
So I go on there and Ben is like taking shots,
talking to these people, answering questions, and my kids are like,
he's drinking alcohol, Dad, you you should do this. You
(33:27):
drink alcohol. And I'm like, maybe there's something here. And
then Ben, of course i'd find out he's making a
lot of money on twitch. I'm like, this guy's really
crushing it. Um listen, man, you carve out a niche
anywhere you can, and like you're you're on fire right now.
I'm sure a lot of people are like excited the
you met Otani. Yeah. Man, Well, first off, so every
(33:47):
every Friday when I stream, I just call it fireball
fitness Friday. So it just happened to be a Friday
that we played basketball and hops in my stream and
you know, I'm like taking a shot and I don't
even drink a ton, but on Fridays it's you know,
content we back baby, So you know, I like take
(34:07):
a shot and I look, you know, I'm streaming, I'm
playing the game, and I looked down on my phone
and it's j MC and he says, hey, what's up man,
I'm in your stream. My kids are watching, and I'm like, oh,
it was awesome. It was awesome. Yeah, congrats on that.
We'll do some rapid fires. Second half baseball questions, Um,
what what the hell can the Angels do to get
(34:29):
to the playoffs so Otani can taste the postseason? Uh,
somehow acquire a bunch of pictures that you know, Um,
that's something. Yeah, I don't think it's possible. What they're
pitching step pitching, pitching wins in baseball. And they've proven
they have one of the best offenses in baseball, and
they've proven they just you know, they don't have the
(34:50):
pitching to do it. New York Yankees just not a
great first half. Um, I'm a little concerned. Are they
making the postseason? No? Oh my god, no Otani, No Yankees. No,
I don't. Look there's they're they're talented, but there's too
many good teams in that division. Uh, there's no easy
(35:11):
wins other than the Orioles. There's no easy wins. And
I've seen nothing from them at this point that says
they're going to turn a corn. We're over halfway through
the season and they're not just not pretty. You can
pick one um to build your line up around. Tattoos
or Vlad good question. I mean, they're both twenty two
(35:31):
and they're both incredible. Oh yeah, everything just offensively or
like your team, Yeah, yeah, team I'm gonna take. I'm
gonna take tattoos. Yeah, I feel I feel like that's
probably the move. He just has this magnetic thing about him. Um,
is he the next best young player in baseball? Or
am I missing someone? No, you're right, I think if you,
if you, if you strictly said offensively, who's better, I
(35:54):
would go lad. But it's it's everything about Tatis. It's
the charisma, it's the swaggy becaus. He's so cool, Like
I will never be a fifth as cool as he is.
He plays a premium position, he plays shortstop. He's incredible,
he flips his batty, he has so much fun, and
he's a he's a Latin player that speaks, you know,
(36:15):
is so good with with the media and it's incredible
to see him. So he's for sure a face of baseball.
Astros are on fire. Do people still hate them for
the scandal or is that over? I don't hear about
as much of it as I used to, not over
very much. Still, Oh my gosh, uh, and I guess
i'll wrap up. How much anger did you get from
(36:36):
Yankees fans for you, Ohtani better than Ruth thing, uh,
you know, not as bad and not as bad as
I thought a lot of people are on the you
know what I got more of was uh, well, of course,
because Babe Ruth was, you know, was eating hot dogs
and could almost hit seventy a fastballs, of course Otani
(36:59):
is better. And then there's a few that's like, well,
he's the best home run hitter of all time? How
dare you? And I'm just like okay, yeah, yeah, this
is like ninety five years ago. He was an amazing
baseball I don't even want to go down that path.
I mean, we in the NBA we talked like what
is Patrick Ewing right now in the NBA? Like does
he come off the bench for somebody? Uh? And you
look at football players and like, come on, tom Brady's
(37:19):
forty four. Go look at what forty four year olds
look like in you know, it's like come on. And
now going into the Super Bowl, there was a side
by side picture of Tom Brady and some Stabler I
think it was Key Stabler the Raiders. Yeah, and it
was like that guy looked like my grandpa exactly. I
mean Honestly, I don't want to like Babe Ruth. Great player,
(37:40):
I don't want to disparage him. I don't want to
get baseball fans mad. But like this idea that he
would dominate right now in baseball is a little bit comical.
I don't know. Maybe you agree or disagree. No, I
totally agree with that. We're not gonna end on bashing
Babe Ruth. But as Ben Verlander follow him on social media,
I'm sure you're gonna gain at least two does than
twitch fans from not from POT. I don't know a
(38:02):
lot of I know a lot of people that that
listen to the POT are on there. But Ben, keep
up the great stuff. Um and uh, you know, I'm
sure I'll see you so Jam, thanks so much for
having me man. I appreciate it.
Host
Jason McIntyre
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