The Book of Joe: 2025 MLB Predictions

Joe Maddon and Tom Verducci welcome every team to the 2025 season!  What trends are we seeing on the field and could it be affecting the integrity of the game?  Tom looks at the changes that teams have made and how it will affect their outcome in 2025.  Joe and Tom compare their picks and share which teams they're a bit skeptical of out of the gate.  Which teams will make it to the World Series?  Plus, we reveal who will win the individual awards when the season is over!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, Daron, Welcome back to the Book of Joe Podcasts
with me, Tom Verducci and Joe Medden.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Joe, it's that time of year.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
It is opening day Baseball season twenty twenty five underway.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
But before we get there, I wanted to talk to you.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
About your golf game, because you played last week in
one of the events before the vals bar PGA event,
and you told me the course was tough. And now
I'm watching guys just going ballistic each day at that tournament,
Guys punting their putters, throwing their irons, and whacking the

(00:47):
top of a sprinkler head.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
How tough is that course?

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Joe, Yeah, I saw that.

Speaker 4 (00:52):
This is a sprinkler head incident. I'm telling you, man,
I believe been playing like three or three and a
half years, consistently shut it down for a long time
when I was managing early on, but nevertheles three years.
That was the toughest situation I've ever experienced. First of all,
it's big, it's hilly. It's not like a Florida, of course,
It's not flat by any stretch of the imagination. It's

(01:14):
more like a northeastern segment of the United States, kind
of a course a lot of roll to it, a
lot of hills, and then narrow, narrow fairways and incredibly thick.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
High rough. It was.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
I've never hit out of anything like listen. I've been
a rough a lot, but that was that rough was rough.
And then on top of that, the winds were incredibly strong.
I think it was gusting the thirty to forty miles
an hour of the day that I played, So it
was really I wasn't set up to perform well, and
if you got in the rough, it really took a
couple even just to get back to the fairway. It's

(01:48):
not easy just to get a club on it and
get it back to the fairway. So all the above
and the greens were slick. Man, they were first couple
of pots just zoomed by the whole. I had no idea,
and then you have to get used to it. And
I actually put it well by the end of the day.
But man, the best you know, I did really well.
I hit out of the sandtrafs around the green really
well because I was in them all the time. But otherwise, man,

(02:08):
I don't know. As a test in golf, you know,
I've never been like the masters. Obviously, all these other courses,
but that thing had to be one of the tougher
courses set up for these guys in a long time.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Well, it showed you saw professional golfers push to the
breaking point. Now, listen, I can't condone throwing equipment because
it is dangerous. Let's face it. Do you have crowds there?
But I don't mind it when guys show emotions, and
they don't do it very much in golf, so I
was definitely okay with that. Well that brings us to
Opening Day, Joe, and this is we're on the first

(02:41):
sea of the baseball season, and we've got to talk
about predictions because that's what people do this time of year.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
So we're going to get into our predictions really quickly.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Here.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
I want to first get into, Joe, what to expect
from baseball in twenty twenty five. I want to talk
about a couple of trends here that I don't think
are going to reverse, and I want you to chime
in on what you see. Number one is I call
it reduced exposure. When it comes to pitching. Guys are
throwing harder than ever, they're spinning the ball harder than ever,
and you're not going to ask these guys to modulate

(03:13):
their velocity. We talked about this, We saw this in
the day one of spring training, first time on the mound.
Guys are throwing even harder than they did last year
in the regular season.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
That's not going to change.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Just to give you some numbers, one hundred and eighty innings,
it used to be that was you know, that was
a lot.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
But it wasn't necessarily, you know, too many.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
Certainly wasn't anything too unusual last year, only twenty one
pitchers through one hundred and eighty innings. If you go
back just ten years from there, it was sixty six.
That's how much the game has changed quickly. Joe, I
don't see it changing. I think you're seeing a lot
of teams going to six man rotations. There are some
off days for a lot of teams in April, but

(03:53):
overall you're going to see just the six man rotation
being the way to go forward here. And I do
think that the Dodgers, especially with their pitchers and the
stuff they have and the injury history they have, are
just going to walk carefully through the season in terms
of building up innings.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
So to me, that's one.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Trend we can look for again, the trend of throwing harder,
spinning faster will continue with the cost being pitching less.

Speaker 4 (04:20):
Yeah, Listen, when I was with the Angels at the
end there, I really was advocating for the six man rotation.
Part of it was show Hey and the fact that
he would pitch once a week, and then part of
it was the kind of the negative side of it
was to get five other guys that you liked. And
my contention was you might actually find it easier to
find six that you liked than five that you like,

(04:41):
only because when you get to that level of that
many guys in your rotation, there's more rest in between.
And then I felt more comfortable pushing these starters and
hopefully getting more innings out of them, more pitches out
of them while they did start. That was my way
of my perception of looking at this whole thing, and
why I liked the six man from that perspective, based
on what's happening now. And then if you get Jack

(05:03):
and he's pitching rotation, or somebody that's used to pitching
on the sixth day, that's so prominent, you had to
make those adjustments. Part of it also with the six man,
I thought was just pretty much the way it's been
propaganda is regarding like a number of pitches you can
throw the third time through the batting order, etc. By
having more guys there, obviously, it did cover. It did cover,

(05:25):
and we kind of had these guys kind of start
believing that this was the way to go by pitching
once every six day as opposed to once every five days.
And with this you could, you know, your workouts in
between could be more diligent, harder. Possibly you could work
on this spin whatever it might be more in between.
All these things became a factor by having six men
as opposed to five men rotations. So I thought, again,

(05:49):
based on all of that, and I was just trying
to extrapolate more innings and more pitches out of the
guys by stretching it out further. And again it's kind
of like counterintuitive because most teams for years could even.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Five five guys that you liked.

Speaker 4 (06:04):
But I thought kind of rarely that you might actually
find six that you like because you could spread it
out more and you're going to get what you want.
It's not the right the genie's not going back in
the bottle. We've talked about this. It's going to be
about spin and velocity, et cetera for now and forever.
So yeah, that's what it's going to look like. And
I don't know what point it's going to talk about.
At what point does a human arm top out of

(06:25):
being able to throw that hard that long?

Speaker 3 (06:28):
And what number is going to be the highest number reached.
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (06:30):
It's really over the last ten fifteen years, it's really
accelerated a lot.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
So the six man has.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
Its based on the way things are done today and
the fact that you want to really harness how many
pitches and innings of your guys throw. I thought it
made sense. So I think it's here to stay. Like
you're saying, I don't think it's going anywhere for the
foreseeable future ever.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Okay, that's one trend. Number two trend the game's getting younger.
You look at the amount of at bats by players
twenty five and younger in the last two years, they've
had more at bats than any time in the last
sixty years. You're watching guys like Adam Duval and Anthony
Rizzo basically retired out of the game, can't get a job.
Veterans in their mid to late thirties. Just the flow

(07:14):
of young players and how well they are developed. And
I say that Joe understanding that they're being developed a
very different way. I mean, when I talk about developed,
I'm talking about their skills, not necessarily game awareness, but skills.
These guys can handle the deep end of the pool
in the major leagues, I think better than ever before.
So they can hit the ground running. You know, they've

(07:35):
trained on velocity. The biggest key for me young players
swing decisions. It's really hard to develop that at a
major league level in the minor leagues because the spin
just is so much better and so much better control
than the major leagues.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
But again, teams are more than willing, and yes, I
get it. Part of it is they're cheaper.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
But I think the old days you were reticent about
throwing a guy into the deep end of the pool
as a young player.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
You have to get him a certain number of bets
in the minor leagues. That's over with.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
We've seen plug and play young players coming off from
double A all the time, and you're going to continue
to see that young players the way forward.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
No, there's no argument there. That's exactly what's going on.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
I do feel for the middle class though, because I
think there's a better brand of baseball being played among
guys that have had a chance to really percolate a
little bit more into minor leagues, understand the game, better
understand how to you know, appropriately or properly play the
game regards to the nuance of the game. This is

(08:35):
more we've talked about this best and show kind of
a method of bringing guys to the big leagues. And yes,
skillfully athletically, there's no argument, you know, just the size
of these guys, the the speed throughout the team, just
the strength levels, and yes, the home run power, all
that stuff absolutely has increased over Don Maxwell at shortstop
you know back in the day, and you know even

(08:56):
Bellinger and all that. Who's the guy with the orioles,
the shortstop, Mark Bolanger. I mean, these guys like that,
there were Johnny Lamass. All these guys were just a
different athletic build and skill set compared to what everybody's
looking for now. So yes, I think if you're going
to do an Olympic kind of a thing where you
have different skill sets, you know, throwing harder, running faster,

(09:18):
jumping higher, these guys definitely I would I would win.
There's no question they would win that. I think when
it comes down to just purely playing the game and
competing wise and understanding the game. Obviously, the group that
had come before them I think has an edge. So
for me, I mean, giving the opportunity to do this
myself and to get guys to the big leagues, I
would really still emphasize the playing of the game more consistently.

(09:41):
After all, when you look at the leagues and you're
going to talk about who's going to win this year,
primarily the National League has an edge in better teams,
and when it comes to overall performance within the game,
neither league has an overall edge.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
I guess the Dodgers last year.

Speaker 4 (09:55):
Demonstrated what it's like to play the game right or
well and just to do analytically and just work off
math in order to get this really full product. There
should be more teams competing to win on an annual basis,
so that there's an incongruency with all of that. For me,
no argument, skill and athletici isn't better. The ability to
play the game properly less good.

Speaker 1 (10:16):
All right, So now you brought us to it's a
good transition to number three. Here we talked about you've
talked about the Dodgers playing the game the right way,
and of course the Yankees had a really tough time
with that. They just did not play clean baseball. There's
the biggest difference in the World Series, no question about it. Sure,
But overall this is trend number three. As we start
and we'll get into our predictions, you start picking teams

(10:39):
that you think can win the World Series, you have
to have power. You really have to have home run power.
And again I'm not ignoring the other things. We all love,
the details of the game and playing the game the
right way. Those still matter, but you have to it
is a requisite in the game today to have home
run power. I bring that up because let's go back

(11:00):
over the last five years and where team finished not
just in their league, but in the major leagues and
hitting home runs.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
First, third, fourth, third, third.

Speaker 1 (11:12):
Five years in a row, the World Series champion was
in the top four in home runs in Major League Baseball.
You have to go back to the twenty nineteen Nationals,
who played a style of play Joe, Frankly, you just
don't see it anymore. They won with pitchers starting pitchers
going deep into a game. You need a lot more
than that. We don't see pitchers going deep into game anymore.

(11:34):
The shus in Strasburg's and the two hundred plus inning guys.
So for me, I look at you know, potential World
Series winners. And again I am not dismissing the fact
that you have to play clean baseball, but you have
to hit the ball out of the ballpark. There's just
not enough hits in the game today. Pitching is just
too good. You have to have those one or two
game changing swings to win when it comes to the

(11:56):
regular season and especially the postseason.

Speaker 4 (11:59):
Yes, the formula being employed absolutely craves for that. They
want the power, they want the ball over the wall.
And you said it right there. The acceleration of the
pitching has really it's made it difficult to string things together.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
I get that.

Speaker 4 (12:14):
But on the other hand, the ability to string things
together really has not been explored. It's just been heavy handed.
On the one side, we're just trying to three true outcomes.
As hard as you can put the ball in the air.
It's okay if you strike out. Try to get your walks,
control your strikes on all that stuff. There's a lot
of good in there. I totally agree with that, but
I don't think the group has come forward recently that

(12:35):
is attempted to incorporate both sides of this. And that's
again when I was asked about this a lot as
a manager, and I would do interviews before the game
or after the game, I would always say, I want
it all.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
I want it all.

Speaker 4 (12:47):
I want the ability to hit the ball of the ballpark,
want the ability to make an adjustment it's necessary to
score a guy from third base with less than two outs,
to move a runner, because all these things become exaggerated,
and when it gets later in the season, in the postseason,
because nobody can do this part of the reason why
the home ern is so important and they can't. We've
talked about the kind of like the adaptation of the

(13:09):
hitters based on always seeing velocity, but the adaptation has
not really been pushed to the level where it's being
asked of them to be better at moving the baseball,
playing more of a small game when it's necessary, because
they don't want it. I've been in meetings that just
the analytical people don't want this because, like you said,
and it's true, the games have been decided by the

(13:31):
long bowl. But I'm saying part of it's only because
that's the only thing that's being stressed, and that's the
only thing that anybody wants. I still want to be
part of the group that has it all, and that's
you get your power guys, give them a two strike approach,
make them aware of situations, because after all, there's a
lot of games that they might win or lose three
to two or four to three or two to one,
but there may have been several opportunities to score other

(13:53):
runs just by moving the baseball in different situations that
really are not scrutinized or criticized as much as they
had been in the past. So, yes, there's a formula
that's being employed, being satiated satisfied by the methods being employed.
But that's not to say that you can't have that
and still have this other side. After all, your seven, eight,

(14:14):
nine hitters. Really, to me, that's part of it too.
Who is going to be more adaptable in this in
this kind of a game that really might play a
smaller game because the skill that just hit the ball
over the wall is not present. I don't want that
kind of a game for one through nine. I want
that game that part of the game. Maybe, like I'm
saying seven through nine, I want guys to be more adaptable,

(14:34):
doing different things, and maybe might even include the first
hitter in the lineup because I am into two, three, four, five, I,
you know, one of the first guys.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
I mean.

Speaker 4 (14:42):
I used to push for Jimmy Edmonds to bat second
with the Angels back in the day because I like that.
And when I was with the Cubbies, I liked hitting
the pitcher eighth because I wanted him out of the
way sooner. But then I wanted to build into the
number two hitter by hopefully getting a guy at number
nine that could feed him better. So there's different ways
to look at this. I just think it's the flavor
of the day right now and probably forever. You're right,

(15:04):
but I want it all so given the opportunity to
nurture this kind of a thing, I would insist in
the minor leagues that we get more into all this
other part of the game. I want to win two
to one, one nothing, three to two more consistently because
I can score a run in other ways.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
I love it, Joe, I love that I want it all.
It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes that
comes from Winston Churchill. I'm easily satisfied with the very
best that don't settle.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
That's it, I mean, right, everybody's always I mean, this
is this is the verbiage that's being utilized. And again
it's the overarching concept employed by all thirty teams. There's
no outliers, there's nobody trying to do something different anymore.
There's no there's no Dodger way, there's no Pirate way,
there's no Cardinal way, there's no way. It's it's it's
that they're all the Bronx attempted to be the Bronx

(15:51):
bombers right now. I just find it fascinating and interesting.
Given like this lab, this baseball lab, to work within
that you would really within the minor leagues.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
This is what I'm talking about.

Speaker 4 (16:03):
It's you can't say that it's gone forever, but it's
not because it's not being nurtured, it's not being attempted
to be taught.

Speaker 3 (16:10):
It's just not.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
I mean, like I said, when I got to the
Angels in twenty twenty, I was told bunny and base
running were not taught in the minor.

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Leagues for the previous several years.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
I couldn't believe that because it's always based on the
three true outcomes, and so if you're only teaching three
true outcomes, then the other potential outcomes obviously are going
to go away.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
They're going to become instinct.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
Those are the trends heading into twenty twenty five. Next,
we have to dive into the predictions, and I want
to start with a difficult one for mister Joe Madden.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
He knows this well.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
I guarantee you there are teams and probably two or
more that had a losing record in twenty twenty four
who will be playing in October playoff baseball, and Joe
Madden's teams have done that. We'll get his take on
who he thinks will do it in twenty twenty five
right after this, Welcome back to the Book of Joe. Hey, Joe,

(17:11):
I do this every year. You know, I look at
people's predictions of who's going to be in the postseason,
and if you just go strictly with chock man, I
you know I'm walking by.

Speaker 2 (17:19):
I'm not paying attention because.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
Literally, for nineteen straight years and for twenty nine out
of thirty years, there's been a team at least one
on an average of two to three every year that
is coming off a losing record that is going to
the postseason. That's too much of a trend to ignore.
So you have to build in what teams are going
to be. I call them surprise playoff teams. What surprise

(17:43):
playoff teams are going to be out there? So I
want you to pick for me two teams, Joe, that
a losing record last year that are going to be
playing in the postseason this year. Now, I'll give you
some options here. You can go with the Rangers, the Reds,
the Pirates, the Rays, the Blue Jays.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
The Oakland Athletic. Well, I said Oakland, I can't say
that anymore, the Athletics. Those are some of your options.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
I mean, you can go down the board if you
want to, Marlin's Rockies, White Sox. But who do you
have Give me two of those teams you think will
be playing in October?

Speaker 4 (18:18):
Well, the American Lake's easy for me. That's Texas. You know,
Boach always has this tendency to have teams that win
World Series and then and then do horribly the next year.
So I think with the grom being back and hopefully well,
because you just want to see that kind of talent
be well, and and just the built ins they had
from the year before, Sigret choice, stop all these other
dudes they have on a team. I think Texas should

(18:40):
win that division and they're going to get back to
the playoffs.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
On the other side, my pick, the click I circled
immediately before you gave me my options, was Pittsburgh. I
love their pitching staff, of course, and I think there's
a lot of young talent on that field that.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
They should always show.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
They get to a certain point and then they just decide, well,
we haven't been here before, we've never done this before,
we don't know how to do this, and eventually they slide.
And I've been there with the Angels when we first
started getting better, and then eventually you figure out how
to You have to figure out how to do it.
I know that sounds weird, but you have to believe
you can do it.

Speaker 3 (19:16):
You have to.

Speaker 4 (19:16):
You know, you get to that certain point in the
season and there as you just start writing this wave
of momentum based on everything you're created in spring training
and up to that point, which of course you have
to have the talent the ability to do so. So
I'm just based on their pitching staff alone, and of
course you could always predicate this with always everybody being
healthy and that that could be said for every team.
But that staff there, that'll that Pittsburgh staff being well

(19:40):
and some of the young players on that field. They're
very dynamic in regards what they can do. I like Pittsburgh.
I know Cincinnati could be argued about. They've been a
Cincinnati fan also, but the one team would be Pittsburgh,
and I think on the other side, Texas, just based
on a track record of Boat and his teams, I
think that's gonna happen there.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Yeah, I'm with you on Texas. To me, I've got
Texas winning that division. Weirdly, they just did not a fastballs.
They were the worst slugging team against fastballs last year.
The Texas Rangers makes no sense. So adding Jake Berger,
adding Jack Peterson, bounce back from Adolis Garcia. Yeah, I
like Texas as well, and I was close to picking Pittsburgh,

(20:20):
but I am going with Cincinnati, and I just love
the hiring of Terry Francona. There you've got a guy
like Elie de la Cruz, who if he just cuts
down a little bit on the strikeouts, he can win
an MVP. They have these young starting pitchers. I say young,
you're young veterans, you know, twenty six to twenty eight,
all of whom now should be getting into their prime.
So I do see Pittsburgh. You make a great point

(20:42):
about them. You know, they actually got to August last
year two games over five hundred, and then they collapsed.
They went one and eleven, and they had a run
against Arizona San Diego and the Dodgers and bury them
and they didn't recover. So I love the core of Pittsburgh,
especially Schemes and that staff. But they will have to
add about at some point during this season and maybe

(21:04):
veteran Bett as you mentioned, Joe, to kind of get
them over the hump. So I think we're in agreement
on Texas and we've got you can pick one of
those teams from the Central on the NL, Pittsburgh or
Cincinnati to keep this run going of surprise teams. All right,
let's talk about division winners, Joe. I'm going to run
through mine really quickly. In the American League, I actually

(21:24):
have the red Sox, the Tigers, and we already mentioned
the Rangers.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
Who do you got.

Speaker 3 (21:29):
I like Baltimore in the East there.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
I think last year there's a lot of learning gone
on from the last season. Over the last several years,
these guys have been picked and they've really they have ascended.
I think last year the expectations might have gotten to
them a little bit, and of course there's things they
have to improve they're pitching wise, et cetera. But Boston
seems to be the easy pick for me for most

(21:53):
people right there. I think the Yankees man a lot
to absorber with the injuries, etc. And losing Soto. Toronto
could be a surprise run there, but Toronto just seems
to shoot themselves in the foot every year. I like
Baltimore on that side of the fence when it goes
to the Kansas City's or Detroit, of course it's one
of those two. I like Kansas City there. I do

(22:15):
like Kansas City there to win. And of course I've
already said Texas, So I like Texas, Kansas City, and
Baltimore in the American League.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, I'm with you on I love Baltimore, Don't get
me wrong. I just think they to me, they don't
have that high end pitching, but they do have some
depth there.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
I'm not sure what to make of the Yankees, Joe,
I really don't.

Speaker 1 (22:39):
I think this is the one year where the Yankees
have a lot of variance in what their win total
could be. I do see them as a playoff team,
as a wildcard team, but starting out with the injuries
to Schmid, Cole and Heal, you know, relying on bounce
backs from gold, Schmidt and Bellinger to get Aaron Judge
pitches to hit just their base is just you know,

(23:02):
they'll have to figure that out on the fly.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
I don't think they have the answer just yet.

Speaker 1 (23:06):
Just a lot of questions that make you think the
Yankees could go anywhere from eighty eight to ninety eight wins.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
It's hard to predict the Yankees.

Speaker 3 (23:13):
I agree. I mean I read about them every day.

Speaker 4 (23:15):
I've actually sat down I see Brian Cashman several times
at our restaurant AVA here in Tampa, so we just
yes about them a little bit. But the primary problem there,
obviously is the injuries, and that's one of those uncontrollable
components of baseball, and those guys are missing are really
good guys, and they're very prominent.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
They're pitching. It's out of the shoot right now.

Speaker 4 (23:35):
They have to the pitching really has to step up
in order for them to maintain a reasonable distance from
being in first place or playoff contention until possibly heal
gets better and Schmidt comes back. They're you know, obviously
those guys are wonderful when they're pitching, but with the
injuries that they have, they're just kind of these injuries
that could linger a little bit. And of course Cole's

(23:56):
gone for the year, so that's the big thing with
me for me with them, I think on the field,
their base is a huge gaping hole, and they've thought
of different things, are going to try different folks over there.
And part of it is there their reliances, so all
left ten of hitters. They've been complaining about not having
too many leftis over the last couple of years, and
that's all they have now. And even their switch hitters
are better from the left side than the right side.

(24:17):
So there's all this quandary going on the balance of
that team right now.

Speaker 3 (24:22):
So I yeah, I just don't see it.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
You know, to even get to the wildcard might be
difficult because of like a Kansas City, in Detroit and
Cleveland all being so dominant in the Midwest there. So anyway, Yeah,
it's an interesting thing. Baltimore. I just like I said,
I've been involved in teams that were doing really well
and then all of a sudden they look in the
mirror and it's like we're supposed to be really good
and things don't really work out well. They just had

(24:47):
a different vibe about them last year. They didn't have
that energy that we had seen before that all these
young guys coming together, the Catchers are really big part
of this reascension to get back where they need to be,
and I think that will happen. So anyway, I could
go on on about this, but I I do like
Baltimore there and Toronto, like to the corner of your eye. Man,

(25:08):
if they could just get it right one time. And
I don't even know what happens up there. Sometimes they
look so good, they go good, and then all of
a sudden it just just seems to fly away. And
I know what the Vladimir controversy with the contract stuff.
I don't even know what kind of an impact that
has on their clubhouse. But there's a lot, there's a
lot to like there, but there's a lot to be

(25:28):
concerned about there too.

Speaker 2 (25:29):
Yeah, in a very tough division too.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
You have to realize that getting through a Major League
Baseball season now, a team is going to use between
fifty eight and sixty players, So half of those are
going to be pitchers. I mean, think about that. You
could need almost thirty pitchers to get through a season.
So if you're the Yankees and you begin the year
down your top three pitchers Cole Heel and Schmidt Matt,

(25:52):
you're already taxing your depth. And yeah, you find people,
but the step down in quality that can catch up
to you. So the Yankees are playing uphill when it
comes to pitching health art this season. Let's move on
to the National League. Joe, can we agree that Dodgers
are going to win the NL West?

Speaker 3 (26:09):
I got the Dodgers. I've got in a limb.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
I mean, let's say we all we like the Diamondbags,
we like the Padres. You know, it's a tough division.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
We get it.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Giants will be better, but there's nobody in the Dodgers' class.
So let's let's put them in and sharpie, Dodgers win
the NL West.

Speaker 3 (26:25):
Yeah, the for.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
Me the other two divisions. I mean, the East is
an absolute bear. I have the New York Mets winning
the East, and I have the Cincinnati Reds winning the Central.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Who do you got?

Speaker 4 (26:37):
Yeah, those are a little bit more difficult. I still
have Philadelphia. I am a Philly guy based on the
way they play.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
I like the makeup of the team.

Speaker 4 (26:50):
I think they got a bunch of dudes that they've
gotten close over the last couple of years. I don't
think they're going to be satisfied, or they haven't been satisfied. Actually,
the pressure of the city on them, I think works
in their favor.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Believe it or not.

Speaker 4 (27:02):
You know, the Mets on paper looks like things wonderful,
but there's still some question marks within their pitching staff too.
The guys that had good years last year, my Ada
and who's the other fell had a really good year
last year that's injured.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Right now, Yeah Sega who barely pitched last.

Speaker 3 (27:17):
Year, Singa and then the left hander Manaya.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
Yeah, he'll be back soon enough. I'm not too worried
about it.

Speaker 4 (27:23):
Yeah, I know, but but I'm not worried about him
in the sense that he's gonna be well. But I'm
saying the fact that is going to be as good.
That's that's not a lock based on performance over the
last several years prior to last year. So I don't know.
I think, you know the mess. Everybody's on the Mets.
I'm not on them as heavily. I like Philadelphia right there,
and I still think Atlanta is going to make noise again.
So I'm going with Philly in the second division. There,

(27:44):
you said the Midwest. You know, the clubs have done
a lot of nice things. Milwaukee coming off a good year.
It's going to be between I think Cincinnati could win.
I think Pittsburgh could be a wildcard team. You know,
when it comes down to the playoffs. We talked about
who's going to jump in there, and I picked Pittsburgh
over Cincinnati. But I think it's going to be close
between those two. One it's going to get there is
a wildcar team. What's going to win it? So if

(28:06):
I had to bet, if I had a bet on
a winning it, like you say, based on experience with
Tito there, I'd say Cincinnati and Pittsburgh real close, and
of course the Dodgers. So I got Philly, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
I have to pick one.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
I'll say Cincinnati and the Dodgers, who are pretty close
on that.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yeah, we're pretty close, and I think both of us
are a little skeptical on Chicago. The Cubs, to me,
I like their team, don't get me wrong. And I
think it's a very close race in that division. But
they have a very tough schedule coming out of the gate.
I mean I looked at the pitching staffs they're going
to see, you know, the Dodgers, the Phillies, the Braves,
the Padres. They have a tough road just getting out

(28:44):
of the gate here. And Joe, I know you're a
big believer on this. Getting out of the gate is
absolutely huge. And you know, like a guy like Matt Shaw,
to me, he looked overmatched against the Dodgers. But listen,
you're going up against premier pitching. You're a young guy
making your major league debut. I think he's going to
be fine, but he's going to be really tested out

(29:04):
of the gate. Does he get buried, does he ride
through it? We'll have to see about that. I look
at the Rays. I think the Rays are a dangerous
team in the American League. Nobody's talking about that. You know,
they're playing at George steinbr Or Field outdoors now, but
I think because they're trying to avoid the heat and
rain in the middle of the summer, they're actually front

(29:24):
loaded with home games, and I think that's an advantage.
They're actually going to have a place that's full, They're
gonna have amazing state of the art facilities behind the
scenes in terms of clubhouse and training room.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
I think the Rays are a team that get off
to a good start.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
So just give me, in general your feelings as a
manager about I know everybody says, let's get off to
a good start for you. How important is that to
get off and running in the month of April.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
It's big.

Speaker 4 (29:51):
I would talk about that from the first day of
spring training. Every spring training. I thought it was that
important when you get off to a good start. Obviously,
confidence sores. When you get off to a good start,
you're able to hide that bad moment you're gonna have
at some point, because you're gonna have a bad moment.
Happens to everybody. So I've liked it for a lot
of a variety of different reasons, but more than anything,

(30:12):
the momentum.

Speaker 3 (30:12):
Built early matters a lot.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
So when you do that, it's just, you know, you
create that vibe within the group that people start believing immediately.
But more than anything, like I said, I've always felt
that you're gonna you know, you're gonna go bad. I
would also tell the talk to the guys about that. Listen,
we're gonna a bumping a road here at some point,
there's no question about that. And how we react to
that it's really going to be the difference maker and
the success of our season. So good start hides some

(30:38):
of your zits and your pimples, whatever. But when you
don't do that, you constantly feel like you're trying to
catch up, and that could be exhausting.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
I've been involved in that too. Now.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
There's a couple of teams Mets last year, Washington a
couple of years ago that have absorbed really horrible starts
and have gone very deep in one one to the
World serieson won it. It can be done, but man,
it is exhausting. The one you're with the Rays, we
were eighteen eighteen games under five hundred eighteen early in
the season. That's ridiculous, and I built out a plan.

(31:10):
I said, we're going to get back to five hundred
and believe it or not, I think it was like
on sixty two and sixty two or something the early
sixties that we got it back to five hundred. I
remember talking to Alex Cobb in front of his locker
after the game. You know, how Jack, we were, how
excited we were. You know, quite an achievement. But of
course we fell from that because it takes a lot.

(31:31):
It's almost like a playing perfect baseball for a period
of time in order to overcome that kind.

Speaker 3 (31:37):
Of a deficit. So it's just it's just taxing. It's
just a taxing thing to do.

Speaker 4 (31:42):
So emotionally, physically, mentally, everything get off to that good
start because you're going to stink at some point.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
Yeah, that's a great point.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
It reminds me, you know, this time of year, especially
watching basketball games, college basketball games, the team is, you know,
double digits behind, all of a sudden they go on
a run. But to finish that run and get over
the top of the mountain is really really hard, and that's.

Speaker 2 (32:03):
What a baseball and is like.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
So that brings us to the point here, Joe of
our World Series picks.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
I think last year, if I.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Remember correctly, both of us liked the Phillies and the
Orioles neither got to the World Series. They were very
good teams that just couldn't get through the gauntlet of
the postseason. This year, I can't go against the Los
Angeles Dodgers. I mean I have to go back to
Joe Torre's Yankees. To think of a team that was
this favored to win it all like it would not

(32:33):
surprise me. We have not seen a repeat champion since
those Yankees back in two thousand. It's the longest period
in World Series history, a quarter of the century where
it's been impossible to repeat. But I like the makeup
of this team. I love the depth of the Dodgers,
I really do. I love the way they play baseball. Listen,
if they get to October and any three of their

(32:55):
top five starting pitchers are healthy, I don't see a
team taking them out.

Speaker 2 (32:59):
I really don't.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
And then the American League side, I've got the tech
Rangers going back there.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
It's an open field.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
It wouldn't surprise me at the Red Sox, with their
young players really bust through this year, they can get
to the World Series.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
You mentioned the Orioles. Wouldn't shock me.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
They have the base talent, especially if athlete Rushman bounces back,
because he absolutely created in the second half of last year,
which is weird to see.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
But that's my pick. I've got the Dodgers over the
Rangers in the World Series. How about you, Joe Well.

Speaker 4 (33:28):
I hate to disappoint the audience, but I had the
same thing, guy.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
I mean, really, yeah, it makes sense.

Speaker 4 (33:33):
I mean, of course, the Dodgers, like you said, and then,
like we just talked about Texas, there's too much to
like there. I mean, I'm looking at the other options
you mentioned Baltimore, like I said, I like them this year,
but and then like Kansas City is the other one
I like. I do like Kansas City a lot. I
like their young shortstop a lot, not just a little bit,

(33:55):
and the vibe that they created last year moving into
this year. Okay, I'm going to say Texas Dodgers, and
if somebody's going to surprise, I'm going to take the rule.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
I like it, like the Royals a lot. Love Bobby
Witch Junior. Yeah, that's a good call on your part.
I mean, the only thing that might concern me a
little bit, and this is hard to hold against them.
They're starting pitching was so good last year, and they
used kind of an old school philosophy where they stayed
on the fifth day and Matt Quatrera left his guys
in the game. You know, they would pitch six innings

(34:25):
sometimes seven on a routine basis. It's you know, with
Waka and Lugo being a little bit older, it's hard
to do that year after year. But they should do
it last year. So who am I to question whether
Kansas City can repeat in that regard? Yeah, I love
the talent based on that team.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
More predictions, Joe.

Speaker 1 (34:43):
We want to talk when we get back here on
the Book of Joe about MVPs cy young Rookies award winners.
It's prediction time the Major League Baseball twenty twenty five
baseball season, and we'll talk about the individual award winners next.

Speaker 2 (35:10):
Welcome back to the Book of Joe.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
We're handing out awards before the season starts. It's always risky.
But here's what's not risky to me, Joe. National League MVP.
I'll take show. Hey, Otani, you can have the field.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
I already wrote that down. I know. No.

Speaker 4 (35:26):
As soon as you said that, I said, okay, let
me look at the American League he's just he's just
it's it's now he's gonna pitch again. Oh my god,
I mean this. You have to understand this is a
different human being. Yeah, he wants to be the greatest.
He's motivated by that. He he is, He's kind of
like an automaton when he comes to this game. He

(35:47):
just he instinctively plays it better than anybody else.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
He sees it. He thinks it's better, he thinks it
through better.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
He just he has this this this weird edge that
I know he was born with that chip. And so
you just can't bet against this fall because he's gonna
if he's his arm as well, which I sounds like
it is, he's gonna pitch as well as you've seen
him in the past, and the offense may be a
little bit different because you know, pitching and now dhing,

(36:15):
you know, two different routines that he's got to say.

Speaker 3 (36:18):
Sheiate satisfyed. But yeah, I got show.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
Yeah, American League, I think we're going to agree on
this as well. I heard your praise for Bobby Witt Junior,
and I'm on board. I think he reminds me of
Mike Trout when he was younger, where you look at
this guy and you say he's the best player on
the field every single night. He does so many things well,
he fills up the stat sheet. He plays shortstop every

(36:43):
single day. You know, listen, love Gunner Henderson, you know,
love Aaron Judge. Wouldn't shock me if either one is
those two guys in the mix.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
But I've got to go with Bobby Witt Junior.

Speaker 4 (36:52):
Well, when I wrote down, Otani wrote down with On
the other side, I got my two my skit, my
standings of both teams in front of me, so I
don't try not to miss anything.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
But I wrote with immediately this guy here, like we
talked this.

Speaker 4 (37:06):
There was a discussion last year between him and the
Gunner and Henderson from Baltimore being the who's better Now.
That kid's really good, there's no question. But with to
me is just like wow, It's just there's something about
this fella.

Speaker 3 (37:19):
Just looking at him strength wise.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
The way he moves this entire game, and that was
just there's another gear to that. There's another level of
what we saw last year. It's no surprise I think
when they signed him to that big contract. You know,
he just like probably chilled even more. He's just out
there playing baseball, the game that he loves. He's an
impressive physical person.

Speaker 3 (37:40):
So I had, I had show Hey and Wit I did.

Speaker 4 (37:43):
I wrote that down immediately. And there's a lot of
nice players there. Like you said, judge whomever the other
candidates may be. But if you look throughout the whole thing,
I don't know everybody. I mean, there's so many rosters
that have changed in new talent that's come in that
I'm not as aware of. But I think from my
scouting perspective, I like show Hey and I like Wit.

Speaker 1 (38:02):
Absolutely talk about CY Young Award winners in the National League.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
I'm going with Paul Skeens.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
He's maybe his first opening day roster and we're already
talking about this guy as a CY Young winner.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
I mean, it's it's for a reason. His stuff is
that good.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
You know, there will be times this year where they
do pitch him on the fifth day, not a lot,
but last year they didn't do that at all, and
he finished the season like on a seven to zero
run and with an ERA under two, and it was ridiculous.
He got better as a year went on. This guy
is besides just having great stuff, he knows how to pitch.
You know, he's even added a couple of pitches this year,

(38:38):
a true sinker and a cutter. Doesn't need them, but
he feels like he needs them because he thought there
were gaps in his repertoire. So you know, he's like
a six to seven pitch guy now who throws one
hundred miles an hour, dedicated to the game high IQ.
It's his time, man. You know, the best young pitcher
I ever saw was Dwight Gooden. Dwight was Rookie of

(38:59):
the Year one year when the cy young the next
I think it's Paul Skeen's turn to do that trick.
And in the American League, I'm gonna go with Logan Gilbert.
I mean, this guy is remarkable to watch. Tall guy
gets down the mound like nobody else in the game,
great extension, knows how to pitch, can deaden the ball
really well as far as his change up split and

(39:21):
the velocity is certainly there. You know, he's done it
now a couple of years. It's been remarkable how durable
he's been for a big guy. He controls his body
really well. So I've got Logan Gilbert.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
And Paul Skeins two really big right handers.

Speaker 4 (39:35):
Gilbert is good. I saw him, man, that guy's got
great command. Guys don't get good swings at him. They
don't get good looks at him.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
I like him a lot. However, I'm gonna start with
the National League first.

Speaker 4 (39:46):
I'm going with a Wheeler with the Philadelphia Phillies. I've
been a huge fan of this guy for a long time,
understand schemes, and I know he's going to be wonderful again. Honestly,
my biggest concern is the addition of different pitches. Everybody
likes that, and that concerns me. So I might be wrong,
but I want to see that play out physically over

(40:08):
the course of the year with that dust for him
and the effect onness based on a different mix from him.
It could be more dominating, dominering, or it could be
less than I'm not sure, but Wheeler to me, I
love the sky. I love the way his arm works.
It's kind of pure, the way it comes out. He's
been very good over the last several years. When I
was with the Angels. When I first got there, it

(40:29):
was his free agent year, was also Garrett Cole's free
agent year. I thought it had been wise had we
signed Wheeler first, we might have been able to entice
a guy like Cole to come out there, indicating that
the Angels are serious about winning. I thought, you know,
obviously the pitching staff had to be rebuilt. Shohey was
hopefully going to be on the horizon. But I liked
Wheeler heavy. And then I thought, go after Garrett Cole.

(40:53):
Because with Cole, when I found out he had to
be convinced, you were all about, well, you know, he's
probably going to the Yankees from Jump Street, I think so.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
I don't know that.

Speaker 4 (41:00):
But in order to entice players like Garrett Cole's level
as a pitcher, I thought the rest of the staff
had to be augmented. I've been on Wheeler for years.
I thought he's a click below the gram in regards
to how he throws the baseball when I first saw him.
So I've been a big fan and I'm going to
stay with that. All those schemes is a wonderful pick.

Speaker 3 (41:20):
On the other.

Speaker 4 (41:20):
Side of the world, I'm going for a repeat, Schoobl.
I've seen this guy in person too. He's a bulldog man.
I know it's difficult to repeat. I'm almost thinking of
like Clayton Kershaw kind of a thing from the left side.
I just really love this guy's demeanor and the mix
of pitches. So those are my two picks, and I

(41:42):
can't argue with yours at all because I love Gilbert too,
But I'm going Wheeler schoobl Those.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
Are great picks.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
I mean, Wheeler is like, you know, they talking golf
about the best player never to win a Major. He's
the best pitcher never went a side. It was Garrett
Cole last year and now it's Wheeler. I mean he's due.
I mean, he can make easy argument. He's real close
to winning a couple already. No problem with that pick.
Really good pick. Rookies of the Year. You've seen rookie Sasaki.

(42:11):
We saw him pitch in Japan for the Dodgers. A
lot of people mentioning him as a Rookie of the
Year candidate.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
And understand that.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
I mean, I've said his split and I said this
before we saw him in that game, is going to
be the nastiest splitter in baseball. I mean, he barely
spins an rpm of five hundred. It's just no one
deadens the ball like him with so much movement. I
don't know whether he can do this purposely, but it's
like it's like Kyle Hendrick's change up, where he can

(42:39):
make it go two different directions. It's a difficult pitch.
Did If you get two strikes against Osaki, you're done.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
You're in jail.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
My question is can he win the Rookie of the
Year because he's never thrown more than one hundred and
twenty innings over there in Japan. You know how careful
the Dodgers are with pitching. I just don't know whether
he's going to have enough volume Joe to be a
Rookie of the Year. I do think at times his
fastball is going to get hit. I'm not in love
with his mechanics, but pure stuff. Yeah, he's going to

(43:11):
run up some really high strikeout rate numbers as a
rookie in the major leagues.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
Well, you talked about his fastball command in the past,
haven't we. It wasn't that an issue. Yeah, see, that
really starts there for me.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
He saw it his first start and now listen, he's
probably nervous. I get it, you know, but yeah, I
mean the fastball it plays, and the Dodgers brought back
velocity that was down last year for him in Japan.
They got the two ticks back on the on the heater.
But yeah, I mean, you know you're big on this.

Speaker 3 (43:40):
I know.

Speaker 1 (43:40):
Can you command your fastball? Can you can you place
it when you need to throw a fastball? Can you
put it where it's not in the slug zone?

Speaker 3 (43:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (43:47):
So I mean, to me, the the effectiveness of this
crazy pitch that he has, which the way he described
it to me sounds like a spitball.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:55):
I mean, if you ever had a face that's a
really good spitball pitcher back in the day when there
was not permitted but permitted, the ball came in it
had it looked like it had. It's like a hard
knuckleball almost. It could do almost anything. It could wobble.
So the really good, the really good spitball guys, there
was no spin on it and it would just disappear,
literally disappear, and you knew it was happening to you.

(44:18):
I would say to the MPIRET did you not see that?
Because nobody can do that with the baseball. So it
sounds like this is something nobody else can do with
the baseball to have it spin that little and be
that effective. But as a major league hitter. I mean,
if he doesn't throw his fastball first, right, they're going
to go up there and they really disciplined teams are
just going to try to take this pitch and not
swing at it. He has to force them to want

(44:41):
to swing at this pitch, or be ready to swing
at this pitch by getting ahead an account somehow. Now
I saw a show, hey, when I first got to
the Angels, bouncing his fastball a lot, really not commanding
his fastball at all, and then the next year he
was able to dot it whenever he did, I do believe,
and I don't not having seen him in the minor
leagues or in Japan breathing. I mean, it sounds almost

(45:02):
like it's an issue of this guy just really being
able to control his emotions, control himself in the moment.
I haven't seen the mechanics close up like you're talking about,
but I would just start with process routine and really
build a routine for this guy pre pitch routine that
when he's not ready to throw the baseball, don't But
although with the new rules it's more difficult to really

(45:24):
break out a routine that permits you to take more
time in order to get your breath together. So curious
about that. If the fastball command shows up, heads up,
because this pitch is ridiculously great and like I said,
I'd like to see it put up against Galer Perry's
spitball and see the spin on both pitches.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
That's what it sounds like.

Speaker 2 (45:45):
That's a great call.

Speaker 1 (45:46):
And that wraps up our predictions of the twenty twenty
five season in this episode of the Book of Joe
and Joe. As you know, well, the best part about
predictions is we're going to be wrong and we're going
to be happy about it. You should be happy about
it because to me, it's what I love about baseball
is that you cannot predicted right and there's going to

(46:06):
be surprises. So being wrong with prediction is actually a
good thing the way I always look at it that way,
because that's I look forward to the surprises of a
Major League Baseball season more so than being so called right.

Speaker 4 (46:18):
Yeah, we're in an entertainment business, right, and that's a
big part. Like the folks like yourself and I'm getting
involved a little bit right now, But all these describes
out there in the media is it's entertainment, man. People
tune in they want to hear all this stuff and
it creates the barroom argument that I used to so love.
That's really not a part of the scenario anymore now.

(46:39):
It's the barroom has really been relegated to social media online,
the different platforms that are out there. So instead of
going to a barroom like bell hops and sit down
next to patch I Fior or Dave Cassarella or all
these different guys that were totally locked into the local
teams that just argue, I'm not unlike, who's the better

(47:00):
center field. There's Snyder, Maser DiMaggio back in the day
or Mantle. I mean, that's the part that we have
to understand when being in the business. There's so many
ways for us to be criticized on the field, manager, players, whatever,
and you know, we take it to heart, and you know,
the way the information is distributed these days, it could

(47:22):
be very it could be very difficult to look at,
listen to and if you really don't understand you're in
the entertainment business, it could become very, very difficult to
live with. You take some of this stuff so deeply
embedded and that you want to lash out and try
to correct people. But that's not the point. I always
felt as if I had to try to explain myself

(47:42):
then I was making it sounded like I was making
an excuse all the time. So understand it is entertainment,
and understand all these predictions and everything else about it
stir up, stir up excitement, stir up business, make you
want to watch even more. And there's a lot of
times you're rooting against certain people to be wrong as
opposed to being right, and that's part of who we
are as human being. So just to understand it is entertainment.

(48:05):
It is there for that purpose, not primarily. I mean,
it's just entertain us and hopefully that our team wins
and that we could, you know, go to that World
Series victory party whatever at the end of the year.
But that's how I look at it, and I find
it entertaining. And you're right, there's those out there that
I think the minority roots for us to be right
and the majority roots for you to be wrong.

Speaker 1 (48:27):
Well, one thing I do take seriously your words of
wisdom that take us to the end of our episodes.
So on the eve of the twenty twenty five baseball season, Joe,
what do you have this week.

Speaker 4 (48:39):
Yeah, it was on focus in concentration and controllable assets,
controllable things, And that's the thing Kenny Revisia, the guru
of mental skills who's no longer with us, Kenny would
always throw at us, you know, control the controllables. I mean,

(48:59):
that was a big thing because we all get I'm
kind of like talking about that right now with people's
possible opinions that are negative and it gets to your
skin or your skin whatever, but.

Speaker 3 (49:09):
You can't control that. Anyway.

Speaker 4 (49:11):
I found a couple really interesting things that kind of
toftail into that. One comes from Ray Knight, which I
thought was one of the better phrases that I've read
about being in the zone and you know, blocking out
all external noise and influences that you don't want them
to influence you, either positively or negatively, because you don't

(49:32):
want to think too much of yourself and you don't
want to think too little of yourself.

Speaker 3 (49:35):
Ray Knight said, this pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when
it is absolutely necessary.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
God, that is so good. I mean, what is this zone?

Speaker 4 (49:46):
I mean you talk about you know, being able to
see the ball better, bigger, making it appear to be slower,
seeing they catchersmit larger that hard hit ground ball to you,
it seems like it's in slow motion. That first step
in the outfield is always on time and puts you
in line to make that catch seeing the outside edge
of the plate when it's like Zach Wheelers loaded up

(50:06):
for that down in the wat slider that I see
it well and I can slow it down. So you're
not really thinking about anything, but you're thinking about everything
but nothing at the same time when it's absolutely necessary.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
And I love that.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
And then when it comes down to control, a god
by name of Brian Klass, we control nothing but influence everything,
you know, that's really it. I mean, if you try
to control things that are outside of your control, wow,
that's like I said, that's impossible and it's worthless and
it creises a lot of concern. But we're at the
same time we're influencers in a sense. We're always influencing
the outcome by how we control it. And like Ray said,

(50:40):
being thinking about nothing when it's absolutely necessary. So these
are the things that I think when you talk to
your players at this time of the year to be successful.
To me, these are the kind of thoughts that are
necessary to be able to go out there on a
daily basis and perform at a high level and permit
whatever the talent is that you have. You might be
a three hundred hitter, you might be a two fifty hitter,

(51:01):
whatever that might be. But it comes to the forefront
of it daily basis because you control all this the
noise that is that you encounter on a daily basis,
and when you're able to block that out and really
narrow things down and keep your focus and keep the
blinders on in a sense, and not have this this
perspective of like like your vision, but you could see

(51:23):
through the corners of you are you're fish shining things
all the time, as opposed to just seeing the task
at hand. And that's what really I think separates the
great players from the less than great players.

Speaker 3 (51:32):
So I thought Ray Knight was great with that quote.

Speaker 2 (51:35):
That is a great quote. I had not heard that before.

Speaker 1 (51:37):
A great way of explaining what it means to be
in the zone, right from a guy with a pretty
good right hand too.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
Joe, Yeah, yeah, I need maaried the golfer.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
I mean, come on, the guy was brilliant.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
Hey, Happy opening Day, Joe, we'll see you next time
on the Book of Joe.

Speaker 4 (51:55):
You too, Tommy, Great Joab appreciate it, ye,