January 10, 2025 • 38 mins
Guardians President Of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti joins the show to talk about all of the offseason news and notes to this point as the calendar turns to 2025. Plus, Rosey one on one with newly named Hall of Fame broadcaster and the voice of the Guardians Tom Hammilton. That's all on this edition of Guardians Weekly with Jim Rosenhaus on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive Helping Guardians
fans save hundreds on car insurance.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hi, everyone, well, welcome to our first edition of Guardians
Weekly for twenty twenty five. Jim rosannounce along with you
as we join you for Baseball Talk on the radio
after our hiatus from Thanksgiving through the holiday season and
then the new year. And here we go. If you
are listening to this show on the radio on our
(01:20):
flagship station WTAM, that is Saturday, January eleventh, one month
away from pitchers and catchers reporting the spring training in Goodyear, Arizona,
and the first full squad workout in the first exhibition
game not far behind that, so we're closing in on it.
Just a month to go, and all kinds of great
(01:42):
stuff for you lined up for our show this week.
We hope you can stay with us for the second
half of the show. We'll be joined by longtime voice
of the Indian Slash Guardians, Tom Hamilton, who was elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame as this year's Frick
Award winner. On that broadcast side. What a great honor
(02:03):
for Hammy. We'll talk to him about the day it
was announced, his reactions, and some great stories from when
he first began with Cleveland way back in the early nineties.
So some good stuff coming in the second half of
the show and some great stuff coming in the first
half of the show as well. As we'll be joined
after our first break by President of Baseball Operations Chris
(02:26):
Antonetti to kind of set the scene heading into the
new year with a month to go till spring training,
as the front office was very busy during the months
of November and December trying to reconfigure the roster and
get it in a really good spot not only for
this season but in the years ahead. And along those lines,
just recapping the trades and acquisitions that were made by Cleveland.
(02:50):
First off, a trade of their Platinum Glove second baseman
and a multi time Gold Glove Award winner, Andre Cimenez.
He went to the Blue Jays, and although Spencer Horwitz
and infielder was acquired from Toronto, he was with Cleveland
for about twenty minutes, it seemed, and they flipped him
to Pittsburgh with the id being how do they supplement
(03:10):
the starting rotation. Well, they got a good one. A
young right hander in Luis or Tees. We saw him
late in the year and he had a beauty against
Cleveland while pitching with Pittsburgh, six shutout innings, allowing just
one hit. So you couldn't ask for a better opportunity
to scout a young starting pitcher. But he's coming off
his best major league season after beginning the year in
(03:33):
the bullpen with Pittsburgh. Or Tees is just twenty five
years of age, throws hard, and should slot right into
that starting rotation. They also got a couple of young
pitching prospects in left hander Michael Kennedy and lefty Josh Hardle,
both highly regarded prospects with the Pirates, and they're still
a little ways away, but we'll certainly follow their careers
(03:54):
through the minor league system and see if they can't
contribute at some point and time as well. Staying on
the pitching front, the Guardians also re signed Shane Bieber
to a two year contract. There isn't opt out after
the first season. He's coming off to Tommy John surgery,
but he's the Cy Young Award winner, two time All Star,
and gosh, he was off to a great start. A
(04:16):
year ago when the elbow gave out, had Tommy John surgery.
Look for him around mid season if all goes well,
and certainly the early reports are that everything has been
going according to plan for really one of the best
pitchers that the Guardians have had, certainly in recent memory,
but continuing in that long line of tremendous starting pitching
(04:38):
and Cy Young Award winner since the turn of the century.
So Bieber's back in the fold and look for him
around mid season. And then that one more trade that
was pulled off just before Christmas time, Josh Naylor was
sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Slade Secone
and he'll slot, if not the bullpen, perhaps the starting rotation,
(05:02):
but certainly a valuable arm coming back. Naylor coming off
a tremendous season and a fine career with Cleveland. They'll
miss him for sure, but they just felt the move
was the timing was right for the move, and we'll
certainly hear from Chris Moore on that in just a
little bit. So a very busy offseason so far for
the Guardians. Is there more to come?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
There's still some time between now and spring training and
we've seen before, acquisitions made, ass spring training has gone along,
So a lot happening. And when we come back, we'll
hear from the president of Baseball Operations for the Guardians,
Chris Antinetti, heading into his twenty seventh year in the organization.
That is an eternity in the game of baseball with
(05:44):
one organization. If you're in the front office. This is
his tenth season coming up as president of Baseball Operations,
and you attack on five years prior to that as
the general manager. Last fifteen years he has been the
man in charge of making moves and when you look
at the results twenty thirteen, Cleveland has the third most
wins in all of baseball and a World Series appearance
(06:07):
as well. So some great work by Chris Antonedni and
will talk to him about what he's done so far
this offseason and what's to come when we come back.
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Speaker 2 (06:57):
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly, joining us now President of
Baseball Operations for the Guardians, Chris Antonetti, as we begin
a new year, and Chris, a busy busy time really
from the end of the season to the end of
the calendar year and before again in the specific players
and trades. You've had this run going where the team
(07:17):
has been in contention or a playoff ball club for
more than a decade now, and that consistency, I imagine
it is challenging. But it seems like this is what
you have to do to constantly churn that roster to
keep it relevant. And how challenging can that be from
year to year?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's certainly hard. I mean, I think we all experience
it on an emotional level oftentimes. For us to build
continually successful teams moving forward, it necessitates us making some
difficult trades, and those trades often involve players we have
grown to appreciate and love and admire for not only
their contributions on the field, but their engagement in the community,
(07:57):
the teammates that they are, so those decisions can be tough,
but again we're guided by that light of trying to
make sure we do everything we can to be a
consistently competitive team, find ways to win the division and
then get to in advance in the postseason. And it's
often important to remember in moments like when you think
about trading Andre Simenez or Josh Naylor, to recognize that
(08:18):
those players were only here because we made some difficult
decisions in the past to trade with some other very popular,
very productive players.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And why don't we start with the Josh Naylor trade.
How difficult was that just based on what he has
become and what did he mean to this organization. During
the period of time that he was here.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
We saw Josh grow and develop into a really consistent
and productive offensive player that was highlighted by him being
selected to the All Star Game in twenty twenty four,
So we all know what he's capable of doing offensively
on the field. He's also really beloved as a teammate
in the locker room, he's been engaged in the community,
He's been part of some pretty special team moments along
(08:57):
the way. So we have a great admiration for Josh
all that he's provided for us. But at the end,
we were approaching a point in time where he only
had one year left with it in the organization, and
so we made a really difficult decision to trade Josh
to be able to get back a player that we
think a pitcher that can help us this year and
moving forward, a competitive balance B pick, which means we'll
(09:18):
get a pick after the second and third round in
the twenty twenty five Major League Baseball Draft. And then
that was paired with resigning Carlos Santana to fill that
void on the Major League ross or the trading Josh created.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And how does all that fit together timing wise, where
you obviously want to fill a gap if you can,
and how aware were you of Carlos's interest to come
back here and be a part of it again.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Well, as talks intensified with Josh, we were engaged on
the free agent market to determine and trade market for
that matter, to determine which players might be available to
us to come back and backfill an event we did
make a trade, so we were having kind of operating
down parallel pass And this is the second time this
winter that we've had trans actions that were related to
each other. Even though they weren't the same transactions, they
(10:03):
were important. It was important to pair them together for
it to make sense for us. Obviously the trades involving
around the time of Andrea Simenez and now with Josh
where we had to have two transactions that complement each other,
and I think when you zoom out and look at
them in total, you can see maybe where some of
the logic wasn't how it made sense.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Did you ever think when you started your career you
would acquire the same player three different times over the
course of your end his career.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I'm not sure I would have expected that. But we
are thrilled to welcome Carlos back to the organization. So
it made a huge impact on so many people here,
been part of so many great moments, and the fact
that he will continue to be guardian moving forward and
be here in twenty twenty five, we're really thrilled about.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
You mentioned the picture from the diamondback slate Soconi coming
this way, What can you tell us about him? And
expectations heading into spring training.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Slat has a good track record in the minor leagues.
His calling card has been his ability to pound the
strike zone and throw strikes.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
He's got a good four pitch mix, highlighted.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
By mid nineties fastball that has touched the upper nineties
when he's been in a relief role. His best secondary
pitch is a curveball. And more excited to have him
join the organization and continue to partner with him in
his development. We think he'll come into spring training with
a chance to compete for a spot on the pitching staff,
could be in the rotation, could be in the pen,
and then hopefully impact us out of the gate next year.
(11:25):
But if he doesn't make the team, we're confident that
he can help us win some games in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And beyond, and obviously if you have to do what's
right for the ball club with this trade. There was
a family dynamic though with the Nailor brothers. A great
story and does that impact in any way maybe how
you look at the trade, but at least how you
handle it in terms of notifying different people and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Yeah, obviously, with bo Bo and Josh being brothers playing
on the same major league team, it's awesome, obviously a
dream come true for them and pretty fun to be
a part of and see what they were able to
achieve to get other in those games and innings where
they hit the same hit home runs in the same
innings and some of those cool moments along the way
certainly add to that, and you know, we're mindful of that.
(12:09):
At the same time, I know Bo was an incredible professional,
a great teammate, a great worker, and he'll be able
to move forward productively even with Josh in a different organization.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Chris Antonetti joining us, the Guardian's president of Baseball Operations, pitching,
you added some arms, brought one back, a big one
that hopefully will help at some point in Shane Bieber.
But Luis Ortiz, what did you see in him that
that made him a target as part of that the
evolving trade of andre C Menez.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
There are a lot of things to like with Luis Ortiz.
He was a former top one hundred prospect in the industry.
His transition to the major leagues wasn't very smooth, where
he bounced around a little bit between the bullpen and rotation.
Had had some struggles to start the year, but we
feel like you really found his stride in the second half,
and we think he's got a chance and pitch really
effectively in the starting role, And we think he's got
(12:59):
a chance to be a really effective starter for us.
He's got four high quality pitches. He's got a great
eleven sits in the mid to high nineties with his fastball.
He's got a four seam or a two seam, or
a cutter or a slider. So we're excited to work
with him to continue to help him grow and develop
as a major league pitcher. But it's exciting to think
about what he can continue to develop and become.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And with Shane Bieber, Number one, were you surprised, just
based on some of the reports of other offers that
he had, that he did agree to come back, and
maybe what does that say about the system in place
here from a pitching standpoint.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
We were really hopeful at the end of the year
that we could find some way to align with Shane.
But as we know, when players go to free agency,
it can be very difficult to have that continuity and
for players to make the choice to come back. But
in Shane's case, I think he placed a premium on
remaining with an organization that he's known from the time
he's drafted, the pitching team that's in place here that
(13:55):
supported his growth and development, and then as important, the
medical group that is regarded as one of, if not
the best in baseball. And I think Change rejoining the organization,
I think is a testament to those things. And we
are thrilled that Change made that choice because we've all
seen what Chain's capable of doing when he's healthy, and
we think he's got a chance to get back on
(14:15):
the mound in a major league setting in the second
half of the season and help propel US forward.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Chris Antonetti joining US President of Baseball Operations, You mentioned
the pitching group, and just to kind of wrap things up,
some additions to the coaching staff and some tweaks to
the coaching staff and and that pitching group at the
major league level, you added a bullpen coach and Brad
Goldberg moves into the dugout. What does that do for
(14:40):
continuing to move it forward and get the most out
of your arms that you can.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think our whole goal was used to try to
find the best and create the best environment, provide the
best resources, the best coaching for our players to grow
and develop and get better. And we're elated to be
able to add Caleb Bulongshore, who is really well regarded
in our minor leagues, has had an impact on a
number of the players that have moved through our minor
leagues into the major league level, and so he will
(15:06):
now join the group of Carl and Brad Goldberg and
Joe Torres to hopefully support our players and them getting better.
They all have slightly different skills and experiences, but together
we think they form an incredible team.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And on the hitting side, Grant Fak name hitting instructor,
the head hitting coach for the hitting group. What does
he bring as someone who's been in the organization as.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, Yeah, Grant has been has made a massive impact.
Again in his time with us, He's done a lot
of work out of our Arizona complex, So not only
has he impacted a lot of minor league players along
the way, but as many of our major league players
go to Arizona for their offseason training and spring training,
Grant has often been the point person helping them execute
(15:49):
those plans, and he's done an extraordinary job with that.
He's a great commuter, communicator, understands a swing exceptionally well,
and so we feel like adding him to the major
league group and partnering him with the coaches that were
already in place gives us a really strong hitting team
there as well.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So an extremely busy offseason so far, certainly on the
transaction front. As the new year develops, Now, how much
more is out there that you're looking to tweak and
do some things to help improve this club.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
That will means to be seen, Rosie, The answer is,
I'm not quite sure. We'll continue to be engaged on
opportunities to add to our group if the right opportunities
are there. If not, and this is the group we
go with in spring training, I feel like we are
better positioned to succeed now than we were at the
start of the off season.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, Chris, as always, thanks so much for coming by,
and we'll look forward to seeing in spring training real soon.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
My pleasure, Rosie, look forward to Seenian good year in
a few weeks.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
As President of Baseball Operations. Chris and today and we
certainly thank him for his time this week, as he
kind of sets the scene heading into twenty twenty five
with a month ago until spring training. Our first radio
broadcast will be February the twenty second, Guardians and Reds
from Goodyear and on the car as he has been
for thirty five straight years, it will be Tom Hamilton
(17:06):
joining me in the broadcast booth as the voice of
the Cleveland Guardians. Hammy has been in that role for
a long long time now, and this offseason was recognized
for his great contributions to this ball club and his
great calls and everything that goes along with being the
lead play by play voice of a franchise. He was
elected to Cooper's Town's Hall of Fame, the Ford Frick
(17:28):
Award winner for twenty twenty five. And when we come back,
we'll talk to Hammy has some great stories about his
early years with Cleveland and some good stuff about the
morning that the announcement was made to So stay with us.
More to come as we continue with Guardians Weekly on
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Net. Hang on, folks, this
(17:54):
baby isn't over yet. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly, our
(18:20):
first show of the new year, as we look forward
to a new season coming up soon. And really one
of the best developments in the offseason. Just a tremendous
honor for my good friend and broadcast partner. Tom Hamilton
will be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame as this
(18:40):
year's Fort Frick Award winner this coming July and Cooper's
Town and Hammy joins us now as part of the show.
And Tom, first off, congratulations. I imagine it has been
a whirlwind here the last month or so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, it has been. Thank you, Rosie. I appreciate the
kind words. And you're a part of it too, because
these things don't happen unless you have great partners, and
you've been a great partner and a great friend. And yeah,
it's We're very grateful. It still seems pretty surreal. But
had a chance today to talk to jokistigleone from the
(19:16):
former Red Sox broadcaster who went into Cooperstown last July.
So kind of fun to pick his brain, and then
it kind of seems like it's more of a reality
when he starts telling you, Okay, you better prepare the speech,
you better start thinking about where to put people in
Cooper's down. So yeah, it, like I say, we're very grateful.
(19:40):
And we just we know how how much we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yeah, it seems when when something like this happens for someone,
they hear from people they haven't heard from in a
long time with well wishes. Anyone that surprised you, or
maybe you hadn't heard from in a long time from
maybe when you're growing up, or even within the game
that that surprised you.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, Yeah, like former teammate of mine, Johnny Bench called
and you know we hadn't we hadn't talked in years.
But I think Rosie, that was the one that floored
me the most because I got the call on December
eleventh at about eleven forty in the morning from the
president of the Baseball Hall of Fame telling us that,
(20:27):
you know, we were going in and you know, then
the rest of that day obviously spent time with you
and Curtis and had a great time with you guys
at the house and you know, you got it ended
up being about five hundred text messages, which you're so
you know, appreciative and grateful of the people that took
(20:47):
the time to reach out to you. And you got
a number of phone calls, and that one certainly came
out of the blue. I think I met Johnny Bench
when he was doing the CBS Game of the Week
on a race when we're at the old Stadium, so
it would have been sometime in the early nineties. I
know he doesn't remember it. I sure do, but I've
(21:11):
never had any dealings with him in my life. And
for him to make that kind of a call and
that kind of a gesture, and it still is to
me just an incredible, thoughtful gesture on his part, because
at the end of the day, look, it's an unbelievable honor,
but the Hall of Fame is still about the players.
(21:32):
I'm not a player, but for a guy that's still
considered the best catcher to ever play the game to
take that kind of time and talk to you and
congratulate you and offer some advice about that upcoming weekend,
that was incredible. And you heard from a number of people.
I sure don't want to slight anybody, but Jim Kott,
(21:52):
who's a Hall of Famer and was a great broadcaster
called from Florida, Tony Kubeck, who so many of us
grew up watching the NBC Game of the Week. If
you're as old as I am and was a tremendous
player on those great Yankee teams with Maris Mantle, Whitey
Ford and on a shortstop on that team for Tony
(22:15):
Kuback to call. Those were certainly among the many that
meant a lot to me, but probably the most unexpected,
I guess you could.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Say, just amazing. And I chose you to what a
fraternity it is, the people who are in it and
what they think of who is to come this summer.
Tom take us for fans who maybe would never know
what that's like. What was that morning like before you
got that phone call from Cooperstown Having been a candidate before,
(22:48):
so you had been through it before. But what is
that morning like for you as you anticipate it happening
or not happening, and trying to get through that day?
Speaker 1 (22:58):
In all sincerity, Rose, see, I did not anticipate it happening.
And to your point, you know I have been nominated
three other times, and you know, Hawk Harrelson went in
one of the years, Pat Hughes went in one of
the years, and Joe Costiglione went in one of the
years that I was nominated. And when they call you
(23:19):
to tell you you're one of the ten nominees, and
that happened in the late summer months. They just tell you, look,
you know, on this day we're going to make the announcement.
This year, it happened to be December eleventh, And can
you make sure you are available to take a phone
(23:39):
call the morning of December eleventh if you're the person
that got voted in. If you are, we will call you.
If you're one of the nine that didn't get in,
we will not call you. So I've been pretty used
to the phone not ringing. So it's just one of
those things. I know people probably may not believe it,
(24:01):
but I didn't really sit around that morning and think
of it, or you know, I knew it obviously was
happening that day. Do you have a chance, Well, yeah,
you had a ten percent chance. But your life isn't
going to be better or worse. I mean, if it is,
then I think you've got a pretty shallow life. It's
an incredible honor, but at the end of the day,
(24:23):
your family and all of that is still your utmost
you know, regard. And so we just my wife and
I went about our normal day and about eleven o'clock
she had said to me, Hey, I've got lunch with
a friend at noon, Do you mind if I get ready?
I go, oh my gosh, yeah, we're If we were
going in, we would have got the call by now.
(24:45):
So she got ready for lunch, and I kept myself
busy with other things that I was doing and had
a bunch of things to get done with the holidays
around the corner, and hadn't really given it much thought.
Once to get to eleven o'clock, you were pretty much
assuming that, yeah, I'm not getting the caller. I would
have heard by now. And so when I get the
(25:06):
call at eleven forty, I don't think I could have
been more flabbergasted or shocked, just because again I thought
I would have heard by them. And then from that
point on, everything's a blur. It's just very surreal.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So you get this great news and we're joined by
Tom Hamilton heading to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
this summer, and you think of it in those terms, Hammy,
but take us back. I love when you tell the
story about your first spring training ride with your first partner,
the great legendary Herb Score. Tell us about that, and
(25:43):
would you have ever thought you'd get to this point,
Oh my god, Well, as that day is unfolding.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
No, I think all of us, and I know you
were in the same boat when any of us are
in the minor leagues and we're coming up or trying
to in our minds, you know, have the impossible dream
become a reality. That phone call is as great as
the phone call was from Cooper's town. No phone call
will ever beat the phone call that I got in
(26:11):
January nineteen ninety saying we've chosen you to be Herb's
new partner. Will you accept the job? And so then
that year there was a strike, a lockout. I mean,
it seemed like it was going on every other year.
So spring training was delayed, so everything was at a
rushed pace. You were going to a much shorter spring
(26:34):
training because they were going to start the season a
week later than expected. And back in those days, we
were the only team in Tucson, and anytime we had
a road game that meant at least a two hour
drive to Phoenix. So yeah, I don't think I could
have been more nervous. I didn't know Herb. We hadn't
spent much time together because spring training had been so abbreviated.
(26:59):
We were moving from Columbus, had no idea when we
were even going to go to spring training, just because
of what was going on, you know, with the players
Association and with ownership. So it was a long drive
to Scottsdale. We played the San Francisco Giants. I got
one of the kindest gestures in my life from a
(27:20):
great broadcaster who has since left us, Hank Greenwald, who
had done Major League baseball for decades and was a
really good Major League play by play guy whom I own.
I didn't know, but I knew who he was, and
I went up introduced myself to him before the ballgame,
(27:41):
and he put his arm around me and said, Hey,
I want you to go out today and just have
a good time. You earned this job. You're going to
do a great job. He goes, you just don't do
anything different than you did that got you here, and
you're going to be just fine. And I can't tell
(28:01):
you how much that settled my nerves that day, the
first time I ever met Hank Greenwald, and he took
the time to extend those words to me, and it
was an incredible act of kindness on his part. Then
Herb and I do the game is about. Oh, it
was ungodly hot that day in Scottsdale's in the nineties.
(28:23):
I'm wrung out after the game because of nerves and
everything else. I also know that once I give back
into the car with Herb, we have another two hours
and twenty minutes of every song Frank Sinatra had ever sung,
which was if you were going to listen to music
with Herb. One he controlled what you listened to. And secondly,
(28:43):
there was only one person you were listening to, So
I pretty much knew every song by heart that Frank
Sinatra ever recorded by the time spring training was over.
But that day Herb said, you know what, this was
a really good first start, really enjoyed it. Why don't
you go and take the equipment to the car. I'll
go get us a couple of beers and we'll have
(29:07):
a beer on that picnic table over there, just kind
of relaxed a little bit, then get in the car
and head south to Tucson. Now I'm from Wisconsin, so
basically in Wisconsin you go from milk to beer. At
least that used to be the case back in the day,
And so I can't believe he's doing this and comes
back to the car empty handed, and I go Herb.
(29:29):
They were all out, hon he goes, Yep, all they
had was Miller lt. Let's go. So in Herb's mind,
that was not beer and he wasn't going to get
two beers if it was Miller lite, and we were
going to go back to Tucson. So that was my
introduction to Herb and he was just a phenomenal person
(29:51):
to me, and I was so fortunate to start my
career with him and work the final eight years of
his legendary career.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I always find it interesting. I think what people appreciate
from your broadcast time is just the stories you relate
from talking to players and the relationships that you have
built up with managers. Early on, it sounded like guys
like Bud Black and among others, were the just great
(30:23):
players to help you get comfortable in the game. What
did they mean to you and how did they help
you settle in?
Speaker 4 (30:29):
Well?
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Again, as you know, when you get here, you think
you're ready, you think you've earned the spot, but there's
always a lot of self doubt, and or at least
there was in my case. I mean, this's a whole
different level. Again, you won the lottery. You have, in essence,
had a miracle happen in your life, is the way
(30:51):
I looked at it. To get that job, and so
you have no idea what you're going to be dealing
with with major league players. Do they give a who
you are? How are they going to treat you? And
you know, back then I was obviously much younger, So
you know, in a lot of cases with a lot
of the players, you were in similar age bracket, you know,
(31:12):
give or take a couple of years here and there,
so you had a lot more in common with them
because of that. The game was also different then. Yeah,
the money was good, but it's not the astronomical money
that you see now. And our pitching staff had Buddy Black,
Tom Candiotti, Greg Swindell, and John Ferrell. And you're not
(31:34):
going to be around four better people than those four pitchers.
And they're all friends to this day thirty five years later.
You know, that's the first pitching staff I was exposed to.
And then eventually Charlie Naggy was coming up from the
minor leagues. You know, Sandy Alomar was the Rookie of
the Year unanimous in nineteen ninety. My first year, and
(31:58):
so those are would have now become lifelong friendships and
relationships with those guys, even though you may not have
that much to do with them now that everyone's moved on,
but they were just they were a special group. I
think it was because of Cleveland. Nobody really was looking
forward to being a Cleveland Indian in those days because
(32:20):
the club never was very good. They were playing in
the worst facility in all of sports from a baseball standpoint,
and you know, the club never had much money. There
never seemed to be any direction. Little did we know
that that was all changing, because the greatest thing, you know,
the Jacob's brothers ever did was after buying the club,
(32:43):
higher Hank Peters from the Baltimore Orioles to come up
with a plan and get this thing turned around. And
everything changed when the Jacobs brothers bought the ball club,
hired Hank Peters, and then he brought to town Danny
O'Dowd and John Hart and the rest is hit history.
But you know, it was kind of us against everybody
(33:04):
else back in those days. And then of course in
the mid nineties, Cleveland became the big bat bully and
they were dominating people. But I just think there was
a bond there that you know was unique. Maybe I
didn't realize it at the time, but looking back at
it now, I sure do.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
And in closing and you kind of touched on it
a little bit, you get the one thing you can't
control is the wins and losses, and you're there to
broadcast the games. But when you were hired, you're right,
the track record for Cleveland was not good for a
long time. And now all of a sudden you have
you fast forward and you've been a part of one
(33:42):
of the great stretches, extended stretches in Cleveland history in
terms of success and the World Series appearances. Could you
have ever imagine when when you got that job, based
on what it was when it started.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
No, And again, at that time, I didn't care if
I was in Siberia, if it was in the major leagues.
You know, there's no such thing as a bad major
league job. Some are better than others. I didn't realize
it at the time that I was landing a job
that was as good as it's going to get. In
(34:16):
our game, you can't work for better people than I
have worked for in the Jacobs family and now the
Dolan family. The people we've had in our front offices
have been among the very best in the game of baseball.
Over the last thirty five years, we've been in the playoffs.
I think it's fourteen times since nineteen ninety five. If
(34:39):
I'm not mistaken, in a twenty year period, I beg
your pardon. In a thirty year period, been in the
playoffs fourteen times. That's basically every other year you're in
the playoffs. And you know, it all started back then,
and people back then were despising the Indians still because
they had traded their superstar Joe Carter, and I was like, well,
(35:02):
here we go again. Well, Hank Peters knew they weren't
going to be able to keep Joe Carter, and he
made pretty good trade, getting Carlos by Erga, Chris James,
and Sandy Alomar Junior, and then drafted Charlie Naggey and
that was the beginning of what as you have mentioned,
I mean, the last thirty years here, people in Cleveland
(35:23):
have been among the most fortunate in all of baseball
to have that consistent winning. And again, I think that's
the other part that's made this job so great. We
were able to raise four children in what we think
is an incredible community, and the fans here have been
so good to us. You know, you have no idea
how your life is going to turn out, But my lord,
(35:47):
have we been fortunate that we got hired and have
been able to stay here in Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
That is Tom Hamilton going into the Hall of Fame
this summer as the Ford Frick Award winner in this summer.
To what maybe if you get there? Still wait, I'm
still waiting for that phone call that comes. I don't
know how to tell you this, but we made a mistake.
Well how about that. Have you started your speech yet? No,
(36:13):
I'd wigh you wait till the night before, got some
notes down on a napkin.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, that'll go for big stay with us.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Folks will have more after this on the Cleveland Clinic
Guardians Radio.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
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Speaker 2 (37:09):
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim rosen House along with
you as we bring you Baseball Talk on the radio
now each Saturday on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
We air on WTAM, our flagship station in Cleveland each
Saturday morning at seven. Check your local affiliate listings if
your affiliate carries our show as well, and if you
(37:30):
can't catch it on the radio, it does convert to
podcast form a short time later on Saturday and you
can listen whenever you like.
Speaker 7 (37:37):
And that's going to do it for this week's show.
We'll talk to you again next week. Thanks as always
to Brian Motsei. Matzi's back for another year as well,
and we're glad to have him. He puts together our
show each and every week and does a great job
on the game broadcast as well. Until next week, this
is Jim Rosen House reminding you that you've been listening
the Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio network.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Guardians Weekly has been brought to you by Progressive Helping
Guardians fans save hundreds of car insurance
Speaker 3 (38:40):
Sh
Welcome to Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Guardians Radio Network.
Guardians Weekly is brought to you by Progressive Helping Guardians
fans save hundreds on car insurance.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hi, everyone, well, welcome to our first edition of Guardians
Weekly for twenty twenty five. Jim rosannounce along with you
as we join you for Baseball Talk on the radio
after our hiatus from Thanksgiving through the holiday season and
then the new year. And here we go. If you
are listening to this show on the radio on our
(01:20):
flagship station WTAM, that is Saturday, January eleventh, one month
away from pitchers and catchers reporting the spring training in Goodyear, Arizona,
and the first full squad workout in the first exhibition
game not far behind that, so we're closing in on it.
Just a month to go, and all kinds of great
(01:42):
stuff for you lined up for our show this week.
We hope you can stay with us for the second
half of the show. We'll be joined by longtime voice
of the Indian Slash Guardians, Tom Hamilton, who was elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame as this year's Frick
Award winner. On that broadcast side. What a great honor
(02:03):
for Hammy. We'll talk to him about the day it
was announced, his reactions, and some great stories from when
he first began with Cleveland way back in the early nineties.
So some good stuff coming in the second half of
the show and some great stuff coming in the first
half of the show as well. As we'll be joined
after our first break by President of Baseball Operations Chris
(02:26):
Antonetti to kind of set the scene heading into the
new year with a month to go till spring training,
as the front office was very busy during the months
of November and December trying to reconfigure the roster and
get it in a really good spot not only for
this season but in the years ahead. And along those lines,
just recapping the trades and acquisitions that were made by Cleveland.
(02:50):
First off, a trade of their Platinum Glove second baseman
and a multi time Gold Glove Award winner, Andre Cimenez.
He went to the Blue Jays, and although Spencer Horwitz
and infielder was acquired from Toronto, he was with Cleveland
for about twenty minutes, it seemed, and they flipped him
to Pittsburgh with the id being how do they supplement
(03:10):
the starting rotation. Well, they got a good one. A
young right hander in Luis or Tees. We saw him
late in the year and he had a beauty against
Cleveland while pitching with Pittsburgh, six shutout innings, allowing just
one hit. So you couldn't ask for a better opportunity
to scout a young starting pitcher. But he's coming off
his best major league season after beginning the year in
(03:33):
the bullpen with Pittsburgh. Or Tees is just twenty five
years of age, throws hard, and should slot right into
that starting rotation. They also got a couple of young
pitching prospects in left hander Michael Kennedy and lefty Josh Hardle,
both highly regarded prospects with the Pirates, and they're still
a little ways away, but we'll certainly follow their careers
(03:54):
through the minor league system and see if they can't
contribute at some point and time as well. Staying on
the pitching front, the Guardians also re signed Shane Bieber
to a two year contract. There isn't opt out after
the first season. He's coming off to Tommy John surgery,
but he's the Cy Young Award winner, two time All Star,
and gosh, he was off to a great start. A
(04:16):
year ago when the elbow gave out, had Tommy John surgery.
Look for him around mid season if all goes well,
and certainly the early reports are that everything has been
going according to plan for really one of the best
pitchers that the Guardians have had, certainly in recent memory,
but continuing in that long line of tremendous starting pitching
(04:38):
and Cy Young Award winner since the turn of the century.
So Bieber's back in the fold and look for him
around mid season. And then that one more trade that
was pulled off just before Christmas time, Josh Naylor was
sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Slade Secone
and he'll slot, if not the bullpen, perhaps the starting rotation,
(05:02):
but certainly a valuable arm coming back. Naylor coming off
a tremendous season and a fine career with Cleveland. They'll
miss him for sure, but they just felt the move
was the timing was right for the move, and we'll
certainly hear from Chris Moore on that in just a
little bit. So a very busy offseason so far for
the Guardians. Is there more to come?
Speaker 1 (05:22):
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
There's still some time between now and spring training and
we've seen before, acquisitions made, ass spring training has gone along,
So a lot happening. And when we come back, we'll
hear from the president of Baseball Operations for the Guardians,
Chris Antinetti, heading into his twenty seventh year in the organization.
That is an eternity in the game of baseball with
(05:44):
one organization. If you're in the front office. This is
his tenth season coming up as president of Baseball Operations,
and you attack on five years prior to that as
the general manager. Last fifteen years he has been the
man in charge of making moves and when you look
at the results twenty thirteen, Cleveland has the third most
wins in all of baseball and a World Series appearance
(06:07):
as well. So some great work by Chris Antonedni and
will talk to him about what he's done so far
this offseason and what's to come when we come back.
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Speaker 2 (06:57):
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly, joining us now President of
Baseball Operations for the Guardians, Chris Antonetti, as we begin
a new year, and Chris, a busy busy time really
from the end of the season to the end of
the calendar year and before again in the specific players
and trades. You've had this run going where the team
(07:17):
has been in contention or a playoff ball club for
more than a decade now, and that consistency, I imagine
it is challenging. But it seems like this is what
you have to do to constantly churn that roster to
keep it relevant. And how challenging can that be from
year to year?
Speaker 4 (07:35):
It's certainly hard. I mean, I think we all experience
it on an emotional level oftentimes. For us to build
continually successful teams moving forward, it necessitates us making some
difficult trades, and those trades often involve players we have
grown to appreciate and love and admire for not only
their contributions on the field, but their engagement in the community,
(07:57):
the teammates that they are, so those decisions can be tough,
but again we're guided by that light of trying to
make sure we do everything we can to be a
consistently competitive team, find ways to win the division and
then get to in advance in the postseason. And it's
often important to remember in moments like when you think
about trading Andre Simenez or Josh Naylor, to recognize that
(08:18):
those players were only here because we made some difficult
decisions in the past to trade with some other very popular,
very productive players.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And why don't we start with the Josh Naylor trade.
How difficult was that just based on what he has
become and what did he mean to this organization. During
the period of time that he was here.
Speaker 4 (08:36):
We saw Josh grow and develop into a really consistent
and productive offensive player that was highlighted by him being
selected to the All Star Game in twenty twenty four,
So we all know what he's capable of doing offensively
on the field. He's also really beloved as a teammate
in the locker room, he's been engaged in the community,
He's been part of some pretty special team moments along
(08:57):
the way. So we have a great admiration for Josh
all that he's provided for us. But at the end,
we were approaching a point in time where he only
had one year left with it in the organization, and
so we made a really difficult decision to trade Josh
to be able to get back a player that we
think a pitcher that can help us this year and
moving forward, a competitive balance B pick, which means we'll
(09:18):
get a pick after the second and third round in
the twenty twenty five Major League Baseball Draft. And then
that was paired with resigning Carlos Santana to fill that
void on the Major League ross or the trading Josh created.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
And how does all that fit together timing wise, where
you obviously want to fill a gap if you can,
and how aware were you of Carlos's interest to come
back here and be a part of it again.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Well, as talks intensified with Josh, we were engaged on
the free agent market to determine and trade market for
that matter, to determine which players might be available to
us to come back and backfill an event we did
make a trade, so we were having kind of operating
down parallel pass And this is the second time this
winter that we've had trans actions that were related to
each other. Even though they weren't the same transactions, they
(10:03):
were important. It was important to pair them together for
it to make sense for us. Obviously the trades involving
around the time of Andrea Simenez and now with Josh
where we had to have two transactions that complement each other,
and I think when you zoom out and look at
them in total, you can see maybe where some of
the logic wasn't how it made sense.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Did you ever think when you started your career you
would acquire the same player three different times over the
course of your end his career.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I'm not sure I would have expected that. But we
are thrilled to welcome Carlos back to the organization. So
it made a huge impact on so many people here,
been part of so many great moments, and the fact
that he will continue to be guardian moving forward and
be here in twenty twenty five, we're really thrilled about.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
You mentioned the picture from the diamondback slate Soconi coming
this way, What can you tell us about him? And
expectations heading into spring training.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Slat has a good track record in the minor leagues.
His calling card has been his ability to pound the
strike zone and throw strikes.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
He's got a good four pitch mix, highlighted.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
By mid nineties fastball that has touched the upper nineties
when he's been in a relief role. His best secondary
pitch is a curveball. And more excited to have him
join the organization and continue to partner with him in
his development. We think he'll come into spring training with
a chance to compete for a spot on the pitching staff,
could be in the rotation, could be in the pen,
and then hopefully impact us out of the gate next year.
(11:25):
But if he doesn't make the team, we're confident that
he can help us win some games in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
And beyond, and obviously if you have to do what's
right for the ball club with this trade. There was
a family dynamic though with the Nailor brothers. A great
story and does that impact in any way maybe how
you look at the trade, but at least how you
handle it in terms of notifying different people and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Yeah, obviously, with bo Bo and Josh being brothers playing
on the same major league team, it's awesome, obviously a
dream come true for them and pretty fun to be
a part of and see what they were able to
achieve to get other in those games and innings where
they hit the same hit home runs in the same
innings and some of those cool moments along the way
certainly add to that, and you know, we're mindful of that.
(12:09):
At the same time, I know Bo was an incredible professional,
a great teammate, a great worker, and he'll be able
to move forward productively even with Josh in a different organization.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Chris Antonetti joining us, the Guardian's president of Baseball Operations, pitching,
you added some arms, brought one back, a big one
that hopefully will help at some point in Shane Bieber.
But Luis Ortiz, what did you see in him that
that made him a target as part of that the
evolving trade of andre C Menez.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
There are a lot of things to like with Luis Ortiz.
He was a former top one hundred prospect in the industry.
His transition to the major leagues wasn't very smooth, where
he bounced around a little bit between the bullpen and rotation.
Had had some struggles to start the year, but we
feel like you really found his stride in the second half,
and we think he's got a chance and pitch really
effectively in the starting role, And we think he's got
(12:59):
a chance to be a really effective starter for us.
He's got four high quality pitches. He's got a great
eleven sits in the mid to high nineties with his fastball.
He's got a four seam or a two seam, or
a cutter or a slider. So we're excited to work
with him to continue to help him grow and develop
as a major league pitcher. But it's exciting to think
about what he can continue to develop and become.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And with Shane Bieber, Number one, were you surprised, just
based on some of the reports of other offers that
he had, that he did agree to come back, and
maybe what does that say about the system in place
here from a pitching standpoint.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
We were really hopeful at the end of the year
that we could find some way to align with Shane.
But as we know, when players go to free agency,
it can be very difficult to have that continuity and
for players to make the choice to come back. But
in Shane's case, I think he placed a premium on
remaining with an organization that he's known from the time
he's drafted, the pitching team that's in place here that
(13:55):
supported his growth and development, and then as important, the
medical group that is regarded as one of, if not
the best in baseball. And I think Change rejoining the organization,
I think is a testament to those things. And we
are thrilled that Change made that choice because we've all
seen what Chain's capable of doing when he's healthy, and
we think he's got a chance to get back on
(14:15):
the mound in a major league setting in the second
half of the season and help propel US forward.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Chris Antonetti joining US President of Baseball Operations, You mentioned
the pitching group, and just to kind of wrap things up,
some additions to the coaching staff and some tweaks to
the coaching staff and and that pitching group at the
major league level, you added a bullpen coach and Brad
Goldberg moves into the dugout. What does that do for
(14:40):
continuing to move it forward and get the most out
of your arms that you can.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think our whole goal was used to try to
find the best and create the best environment, provide the
best resources, the best coaching for our players to grow
and develop and get better. And we're elated to be
able to add Caleb Bulongshore, who is really well regarded
in our minor leagues, has had an impact on a
number of the players that have moved through our minor
leagues into the major league level, and so he will
(15:06):
now join the group of Carl and Brad Goldberg and
Joe Torres to hopefully support our players and them getting better.
They all have slightly different skills and experiences, but together
we think they form an incredible team.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
And on the hitting side, Grant Fak name hitting instructor,
the head hitting coach for the hitting group. What does
he bring as someone who's been in the organization as.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Well, Yeah, Grant has been has made a massive impact.
Again in his time with us, He's done a lot
of work out of our Arizona complex, So not only
has he impacted a lot of minor league players along
the way, but as many of our major league players
go to Arizona for their offseason training and spring training,
Grant has often been the point person helping them execute
(15:49):
those plans, and he's done an extraordinary job with that.
He's a great commuter, communicator, understands a swing exceptionally well,
and so we feel like adding him to the major
league group and partnering him with the coaches that were
already in place gives us a really strong hitting team
there as well.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
So an extremely busy offseason so far, certainly on the
transaction front. As the new year develops, Now, how much
more is out there that you're looking to tweak and
do some things to help improve this club.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
That will means to be seen, Rosie, The answer is,
I'm not quite sure. We'll continue to be engaged on
opportunities to add to our group if the right opportunities
are there. If not, and this is the group we
go with in spring training, I feel like we are
better positioned to succeed now than we were at the
start of the off season.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, Chris, as always, thanks so much for coming by,
and we'll look forward to seeing in spring training real soon.
Speaker 4 (16:39):
My pleasure, Rosie, look forward to Seenian good year in
a few weeks.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
As President of Baseball Operations. Chris and today and we
certainly thank him for his time this week, as he
kind of sets the scene heading into twenty twenty five
with a month ago until spring training. Our first radio
broadcast will be February the twenty second, Guardians and Reds
from Goodyear and on the car as he has been
for thirty five straight years, it will be Tom Hamilton
(17:06):
joining me in the broadcast booth as the voice of
the Cleveland Guardians. Hammy has been in that role for
a long long time now, and this offseason was recognized
for his great contributions to this ball club and his
great calls and everything that goes along with being the
lead play by play voice of a franchise. He was
elected to Cooper's Town's Hall of Fame, the Ford Frick
(17:28):
Award winner for twenty twenty five. And when we come back,
we'll talk to Hammy has some great stories about his
early years with Cleveland and some good stuff about the
morning that the announcement was made to So stay with us.
More to come as we continue with Guardians Weekly on
the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Net. Hang on, folks, this
(17:54):
baby isn't over yet. Welcome back to Guardians Weekly, our
(18:20):
first show of the new year, as we look forward
to a new season coming up soon. And really one
of the best developments in the offseason. Just a tremendous
honor for my good friend and broadcast partner. Tom Hamilton
will be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame as this
(18:40):
year's Fort Frick Award winner this coming July and Cooper's
Town and Hammy joins us now as part of the show.
And Tom, first off, congratulations. I imagine it has been
a whirlwind here the last month or so.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Yeah, it has been. Thank you, Rosie. I appreciate the
kind words. And you're a part of it too, because
these things don't happen unless you have great partners, and
you've been a great partner and a great friend. And yeah,
it's We're very grateful. It still seems pretty surreal. But
had a chance today to talk to jokistigleone from the
(19:16):
former Red Sox broadcaster who went into Cooperstown last July.
So kind of fun to pick his brain, and then
it kind of seems like it's more of a reality
when he starts telling you, Okay, you better prepare the speech,
you better start thinking about where to put people in
Cooper's down. So yeah, it, like I say, we're very grateful.
(19:40):
And we just we know how how much we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Yeah, it seems when when something like this happens for someone,
they hear from people they haven't heard from in a
long time with well wishes. Anyone that surprised you, or
maybe you hadn't heard from in a long time from
maybe when you're growing up, or even within the game
that that surprised you.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Well, Yeah, like former teammate of mine, Johnny Bench called
and you know we hadn't we hadn't talked in years.
But I think Rosie, that was the one that floored
me the most because I got the call on December
eleventh at about eleven forty in the morning from the
president of the Baseball Hall of Fame telling us that,
(20:27):
you know, we were going in and you know, then
the rest of that day obviously spent time with you
and Curtis and had a great time with you guys
at the house and you know, you got it ended
up being about five hundred text messages, which you're so
you know, appreciative and grateful of the people that took
(20:47):
the time to reach out to you. And you got
a number of phone calls, and that one certainly came
out of the blue. I think I met Johnny Bench
when he was doing the CBS Game of the Week
on a race when we're at the old Stadium, so
it would have been sometime in the early nineties. I
know he doesn't remember it. I sure do, but I've
(21:11):
never had any dealings with him in my life. And
for him to make that kind of a call and
that kind of a gesture, and it still is to
me just an incredible, thoughtful gesture on his part, because
at the end of the day, look, it's an unbelievable honor,
but the Hall of Fame is still about the players.
(21:32):
I'm not a player, but for a guy that's still
considered the best catcher to ever play the game to
take that kind of time and talk to you and
congratulate you and offer some advice about that upcoming weekend,
that was incredible. And you heard from a number of people.
I sure don't want to slight anybody, but Jim Kott,
(21:52):
who's a Hall of Famer and was a great broadcaster
called from Florida, Tony Kubeck, who so many of us
grew up watching the NBC Game of the Week. If
you're as old as I am and was a tremendous
player on those great Yankee teams with Maris Mantle, Whitey
Ford and on a shortstop on that team for Tony
(22:15):
Kuback to call. Those were certainly among the many that
meant a lot to me, but probably the most unexpected,
I guess you could.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Say, just amazing. And I chose you to what a
fraternity it is, the people who are in it and
what they think of who is to come this summer.
Tom take us for fans who maybe would never know
what that's like. What was that morning like before you
got that phone call from Cooperstown Having been a candidate before,
(22:48):
so you had been through it before. But what is
that morning like for you as you anticipate it happening
or not happening, and trying to get through that day?
Speaker 1 (22:58):
In all sincerity, Rose, see, I did not anticipate it happening.
And to your point, you know I have been nominated
three other times, and you know, Hawk Harrelson went in
one of the years, Pat Hughes went in one of
the years, and Joe Costiglione went in one of the
years that I was nominated. And when they call you
(23:19):
to tell you you're one of the ten nominees, and
that happened in the late summer months. They just tell you, look,
you know, on this day we're going to make the announcement.
This year, it happened to be December eleventh, And can
you make sure you are available to take a phone
(23:39):
call the morning of December eleventh if you're the person
that got voted in. If you are, we will call you.
If you're one of the nine that didn't get in,
we will not call you. So I've been pretty used
to the phone not ringing. So it's just one of
those things. I know people probably may not believe it,
(24:01):
but I didn't really sit around that morning and think
of it, or you know, I knew it obviously was
happening that day. Do you have a chance, Well, yeah,
you had a ten percent chance. But your life isn't
going to be better or worse. I mean, if it is,
then I think you've got a pretty shallow life. It's
an incredible honor, but at the end of the day,
(24:23):
your family and all of that is still your utmost
you know, regard. And so we just my wife and
I went about our normal day and about eleven o'clock
she had said to me, Hey, I've got lunch with
a friend at noon, Do you mind if I get ready?
I go, oh my gosh, yeah, we're If we were
going in, we would have got the call by now.
(24:45):
So she got ready for lunch, and I kept myself
busy with other things that I was doing and had
a bunch of things to get done with the holidays
around the corner, and hadn't really given it much thought.
Once to get to eleven o'clock, you were pretty much
assuming that, yeah, I'm not getting the caller. I would
have heard by now. And so when I get the
(25:06):
call at eleven forty, I don't think I could have
been more flabbergasted or shocked, just because again I thought
I would have heard by them. And then from that
point on, everything's a blur. It's just very surreal.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So you get this great news and we're joined by
Tom Hamilton heading to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
this summer, and you think of it in those terms, Hammy,
but take us back. I love when you tell the
story about your first spring training ride with your first partner,
the great legendary Herb Score. Tell us about that, and
(25:43):
would you have ever thought you'd get to this point,
Oh my god, Well, as that day is unfolding.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
No, I think all of us, and I know you
were in the same boat when any of us are
in the minor leagues and we're coming up or trying
to in our minds, you know, have the impossible dream
become a reality. That phone call is as great as
the phone call was from Cooper's town. No phone call
will ever beat the phone call that I got in
(26:11):
January nineteen ninety saying we've chosen you to be Herb's
new partner. Will you accept the job? And so then
that year there was a strike, a lockout. I mean,
it seemed like it was going on every other year.
So spring training was delayed, so everything was at a
rushed pace. You were going to a much shorter spring
(26:34):
training because they were going to start the season a
week later than expected. And back in those days, we
were the only team in Tucson, and anytime we had
a road game that meant at least a two hour
drive to Phoenix. So yeah, I don't think I could
have been more nervous. I didn't know Herb. We hadn't
spent much time together because spring training had been so abbreviated.
(26:59):
We were moving from Columbus, had no idea when we
were even going to go to spring training, just because
of what was going on, you know, with the players
Association and with ownership. So it was a long drive
to Scottsdale. We played the San Francisco Giants. I got
one of the kindest gestures in my life from a
(27:20):
great broadcaster who has since left us, Hank Greenwald, who
had done Major League baseball for decades and was a
really good Major League play by play guy whom I own.
I didn't know, but I knew who he was, and
I went up introduced myself to him before the ballgame,
(27:41):
and he put his arm around me and said, Hey,
I want you to go out today and just have
a good time. You earned this job. You're going to
do a great job. He goes, you just don't do
anything different than you did that got you here, and
you're going to be just fine. And I can't tell
(28:01):
you how much that settled my nerves that day, the
first time I ever met Hank Greenwald, and he took
the time to extend those words to me, and it
was an incredible act of kindness on his part. Then
Herb and I do the game is about. Oh, it
was ungodly hot that day in Scottsdale's in the nineties.
(28:23):
I'm wrung out after the game because of nerves and
everything else. I also know that once I give back
into the car with Herb, we have another two hours
and twenty minutes of every song Frank Sinatra had ever sung,
which was if you were going to listen to music
with Herb. One he controlled what you listened to. And secondly,
(28:43):
there was only one person you were listening to, So
I pretty much knew every song by heart that Frank
Sinatra ever recorded by the time spring training was over.
But that day Herb said, you know what, this was
a really good first start, really enjoyed it. Why don't
you go and take the equipment to the car. I'll
go get us a couple of beers and we'll have
(29:07):
a beer on that picnic table over there, just kind
of relaxed a little bit, then get in the car
and head south to Tucson. Now I'm from Wisconsin, so
basically in Wisconsin you go from milk to beer. At
least that used to be the case back in the day,
And so I can't believe he's doing this and comes
back to the car empty handed, and I go Herb.
(29:29):
They were all out, hon he goes, Yep, all they
had was Miller lt. Let's go. So in Herb's mind,
that was not beer and he wasn't going to get
two beers if it was Miller lite, and we were
going to go back to Tucson. So that was my
introduction to Herb and he was just a phenomenal person
(29:51):
to me, and I was so fortunate to start my
career with him and work the final eight years of
his legendary career.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I always find it interesting. I think what people appreciate
from your broadcast time is just the stories you relate
from talking to players and the relationships that you have
built up with managers. Early on, it sounded like guys
like Bud Black and among others, were the just great
(30:23):
players to help you get comfortable in the game. What
did they mean to you and how did they help
you settle in?
Speaker 4 (30:29):
Well?
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Again, as you know, when you get here, you think
you're ready, you think you've earned the spot, but there's
always a lot of self doubt, and or at least
there was in my case. I mean, this's a whole
different level. Again, you won the lottery. You have, in essence,
had a miracle happen in your life, is the way
(30:51):
I looked at it. To get that job, and so
you have no idea what you're going to be dealing
with with major league players. Do they give a who
you are? How are they going to treat you? And
you know, back then I was obviously much younger, So
you know, in a lot of cases with a lot
of the players, you were in similar age bracket, you know,
(31:12):
give or take a couple of years here and there,
so you had a lot more in common with them
because of that. The game was also different then. Yeah,
the money was good, but it's not the astronomical money
that you see now. And our pitching staff had Buddy Black,
Tom Candiotti, Greg Swindell, and John Ferrell. And you're not
(31:34):
going to be around four better people than those four pitchers.
And they're all friends to this day thirty five years later.
You know, that's the first pitching staff I was exposed to.
And then eventually Charlie Naggy was coming up from the
minor leagues. You know, Sandy Alomar was the Rookie of
the Year unanimous in nineteen ninety. My first year, and
(31:58):
so those are would have now become lifelong friendships and
relationships with those guys, even though you may not have
that much to do with them now that everyone's moved on,
but they were just they were a special group. I
think it was because of Cleveland. Nobody really was looking
forward to being a Cleveland Indian in those days because
(32:20):
the club never was very good. They were playing in
the worst facility in all of sports from a baseball standpoint,
and you know, the club never had much money. There
never seemed to be any direction. Little did we know
that that was all changing, because the greatest thing, you know,
the Jacob's brothers ever did was after buying the club,
(32:43):
higher Hank Peters from the Baltimore Orioles to come up
with a plan and get this thing turned around. And
everything changed when the Jacobs brothers bought the ball club,
hired Hank Peters, and then he brought to town Danny
O'Dowd and John Hart and the rest is hit history.
But you know, it was kind of us against everybody
(33:04):
else back in those days. And then of course in
the mid nineties, Cleveland became the big bat bully and
they were dominating people. But I just think there was
a bond there that you know was unique. Maybe I
didn't realize it at the time, but looking back at
it now, I sure do.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
And in closing and you kind of touched on it
a little bit, you get the one thing you can't
control is the wins and losses, and you're there to
broadcast the games. But when you were hired, you're right,
the track record for Cleveland was not good for a
long time. And now all of a sudden you have
you fast forward and you've been a part of one
(33:42):
of the great stretches, extended stretches in Cleveland history in
terms of success and the World Series appearances. Could you
have ever imagine when when you got that job, based
on what it was when it started.
Speaker 1 (33:56):
No, And again, at that time, I didn't care if
I was in Siberia, if it was in the major leagues.
You know, there's no such thing as a bad major
league job. Some are better than others. I didn't realize
it at the time that I was landing a job
that was as good as it's going to get. In
(34:16):
our game, you can't work for better people than I
have worked for in the Jacobs family and now the
Dolan family. The people we've had in our front offices
have been among the very best in the game of baseball.
Over the last thirty five years, we've been in the playoffs.
I think it's fourteen times since nineteen ninety five. If
(34:39):
I'm not mistaken, in a twenty year period, I beg
your pardon. In a thirty year period, been in the
playoffs fourteen times. That's basically every other year you're in
the playoffs. And you know, it all started back then,
and people back then were despising the Indians still because
they had traded their superstar Joe Carter, and I was like, well,
(35:02):
here we go again. Well, Hank Peters knew they weren't
going to be able to keep Joe Carter, and he
made pretty good trade, getting Carlos by Erga, Chris James,
and Sandy Alomar Junior, and then drafted Charlie Naggey and
that was the beginning of what as you have mentioned,
I mean, the last thirty years here, people in Cleveland
(35:23):
have been among the most fortunate in all of baseball
to have that consistent winning. And again, I think that's
the other part that's made this job so great. We
were able to raise four children in what we think
is an incredible community, and the fans here have been
so good to us. You know, you have no idea
how your life is going to turn out, But my lord,
(35:47):
have we been fortunate that we got hired and have
been able to stay here in Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
That is Tom Hamilton going into the Hall of Fame
this summer as the Ford Frick Award winner in this summer.
To what maybe if you get there? Still wait, I'm
still waiting for that phone call that comes. I don't
know how to tell you this, but we made a mistake.
Well how about that. Have you started your speech yet? No,
(36:13):
I'd wigh you wait till the night before, got some
notes down on a napkin.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Yeah, that'll go for big stay with us.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
Folks will have more after this on the Cleveland Clinic
Guardians Radio.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
Network with Progressives Name your Price tool. You get coverage
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car insurance, and then you decide how to spend the
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Speaker 6 (36:37):
Because you're in charge today, You're gonna be done. You're
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(36:58):
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Speaker 2 (37:09):
Welcome back to Guardians Weekly. Jim rosen House along with
you as we bring you Baseball Talk on the radio
now each Saturday on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio Network.
We air on WTAM, our flagship station in Cleveland each
Saturday morning at seven. Check your local affiliate listings if
your affiliate carries our show as well, and if you
(37:30):
can't catch it on the radio, it does convert to
podcast form a short time later on Saturday and you
can listen whenever you like.
Speaker 7 (37:37):
And that's going to do it for this week's show.
We'll talk to you again next week. Thanks as always
to Brian Motsei. Matzi's back for another year as well,
and we're glad to have him. He puts together our
show each and every week and does a great job
on the game broadcast as well. Until next week, this
is Jim Rosen House reminding you that you've been listening
the Guardians Weekly on the Cleveland Clinic Guardians Radio network.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
Guardians Weekly has been brought to you by Progressive Helping
Guardians fans save hundreds of car insurance
Speaker 3 (38:40):
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