September 20, 2024 • 16 mins
Gene Watson, director of player personnel for the Chicago White Sox, joins the show to discuss Shohei Ohtani's 50-50 season along with the scrutiny the White Sox front office and baseball club have faced over this years season.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time for our weekly conversation Talk Major League Baseball with
Jean Watson from the front office of the Chicago White Sox. Now,
before we get into pennant races, and I've got some
specific questions about your ball club, I want to ask
a geno. I have got to get your feedback on
what happened yesterday at Lone Depot Park in Miami. It's
(00:24):
being described as historic, maybe the greatest single day performance
at least by a hitter in baseball history. No man
has ever gone has hit three home runs and stolen
two bases in the same game in baseball history, let
alone the fifty one and fifty one. Now where he's
(00:45):
gone where no player has gone before. As Dave Roberts says,
he's one of one that sort of thing. And you
know him well because you were with the Angels last
year when Shoe Aotani was there. How about your thoughts
on show ways unbelievable, amazing performance yesterday to reach that
magical plateau of fifty to fifty out at fifty one
(01:07):
fifty one, and to do it in the way he
did it yesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, good afternoon, guys. Yeah, it's truly amazing. And what
I think we all felt he might get there. What's
really funny is like some players just love playing in
certain ballparks, And when you look at what show he
did in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan and
now yesterday's performance, it is a shame that the Marlins
(01:34):
can't ever get their.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Hands on it because he he loves to play in
that ballpark.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
It's just it's really unbelievable, and I don't think we've
ever seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again.
I will tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That my belief is that some of this is a
result of him not pitching and him not being taxed
on the mound and having to go through the dual
red that it.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Takes to do both.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think it kind of eased his mind a little
bit and let him relax, let his body relax, And
I think that this is the high seising result of
what he is a position player when he's not pitching.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Well, you know what what you just said echoes kind
of what Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager, said about him.
He said it was his take that show. Hey examined
the situation before the season and said, Okay, I'm not pitching.
How can I affect the game in other ways if
I'm only deaching? Well, he figured out that only and
(02:33):
I use quotation amounts, quotation quotation marks around that word only.
Dhing meant that he could do more than swing a
bat and then the other thing. And I'm sure you've
noticed it with your keen eye. And Dave Roberts talked
about he said, the fact that show a work diligently
with Clayton McCullough, the Dodgers first base coach, on not
(02:57):
just the fact that he's fast in an outstanding out,
but he learned how to become a base stealer. And
I think a lot of fans don't understand the difference.
They think if you're fast, you can steal bases. That's
not necessarily so. And you don't have to be a
speed burner if you know how to steal bases. I
remember Mary Wills used to say that that was that
something you noticed as well, how he developed as a
(03:18):
base stealer during the season and not just relying on
speed alone.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, the average lead at first base is twelve and
a half feet and the team that leads that department
is the LA Dodgers. Clayton mccola is one of the
bright young coaches in the game. He's going to have
a chance to manage at some point. His name's gonna
come up constantly for managerial positions. And when you just
have the time to study and look at reeds and
look at keys for pitchers, you know, tow down going
(03:45):
to the plate, tow way throwing to the bag, the
throwover rule that now exists. There's and so many teams
that just are given away to stolen base. And if
you look at a second stole in base yesterday, it
was truly no contest. And so I think that's a
big part of it. When you have that type of
system in place, where you're getting all the information and
(04:08):
the freedom to just move, that's that's going to be
the result.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And that's what he's done.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
When I ask you about the how you categorize the
type of player that he is, And I preface this
by saying, when I was driving home yesterday, I was
listening to the Dodger broadcast. I was listening to Tim
Never and Rick Monday on radio, and of course Rick
Monday is a long decorated Major League player. He's a
great answer to trivia question. In the modern age of
(04:34):
the draft, he was the first ever player drafted by
the Kansas City A's in nineteen sixty five. I think
a lot of Dodger fans finally remember, and a lot
of baseball fans remember when he rescued the American flag
when he was playing for the Cubs out in centerfield
and Dodger Stadium in seventy six. And then they traded
for him, and he hit that dramatic ninth inning home
run in the eighty one National League Championship Series decisive
(04:54):
game against the Expos. All of that stuff, and he
part of a world championship team. So his pedigrease be
for itself. And his comment about Showe was to say,
and I think I kind of like this. He said,
I'm not going to try to be a prisoner of
the moment. I'm not going to put things in exalted
categories of greatest of all time. YadA, YadA, YadA. He said,
(05:16):
what I will say is this, I've never seen anything
like it. I've never seen anything like him. And if
he continues to go at this pace, sure he'll get
to all those exalted platitudes. But is that a good
way you think to describe show A And when you
first started seeing him, seeing a guy who could pitch
like he could, swing the bat like he could, and
(05:37):
now run the bases like he can no question.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And so much of this beyond his talent, the way
he prepares and the way he works, is the environments
that he's been in. And I can tell you that
when we had him in an we had him in
a great environment. He was around make Trout, he was
around Anthony Rendome, he was around Albert pool Hooles. So
(06:01):
his introduction into the game and having those professionals around
was really big. On top of all that he can
do on the baseball field on both sides of the ball,
to have that kind of environment and that greatness around
you to kick off your season or your career was
really really big.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now to take that to the stage.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And the machine that is the Los Angeles Dodgers and
the infrastructure they have, the information, the coaching, it only
just takes this piece of clay that has all this
talent and puts him on the biggest stage with the
most information and the best talent around him for him
to reach his ceiling. And it's really a perfect storm
(06:45):
of a player that I don't think we're ever going.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
To see again.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You can talk about, you know, Mike Trout and what
he does, and all these players and what they do
for their organizations, but from a complete like ceiling of
a player, talent, culturally, everything, I don't think we'll ever
see this again.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And the Dodgers are planning on him pitching again, right,
I mean they're still planning on him. I mean, they
wouldn't have signed him to that kind of a contract
unless they were thinking he could pitch and help him
on the mound again.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
At some point he is gonna pitch again.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
It is going to take a toll because, like you know,
you you go out and you throw one hundred and
ten to fifteen pitches a game over you know, one
hundred and eighty two hundred innings, it's gonna take its
toll on you. That second and third day after the start.
Your body's not feeling as well. Now your mind gets
a taxed a little bit. Now you go into add
bats a little bit differently. So I mean it when
(07:35):
I say I do believe that this was a big
contributor to him reaching this ceiling performance wise, offensively, him
not being on the mound. But if he is at
any chance of being ready for October baseball, the thing
that's gonna be interesting to see is if they don't
just work behind the scenes to get him prepared to
throw and.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
En that highest leverage moment of October. That's when you
bring out the weapon. And if they do that, it's
going to be exciting.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Wow. Visiting with Gene Watson. All right, Geno, I'll get
back to the Pennant races in a minute, but I
want to ask you, because you've been in the position
obviously when you were brought in by the White Sox
to help them try to turn things around. Now we
knew you even said it before the start of the year.
There's gonna be a long year. There's gonna be there's
(08:23):
gonna be a lot of losses. We've got to we've
got to flesh through some things. We got to find
out the guys who are gonna help the ball club.
There'll be some deals made. All of that prophetic, all
of that has come true. Now here's my question to you. Uh,
the loss to the Angels yesterday or this week? You
know now, yeah, yesterday or on Wednesday in thirteen innings
(08:47):
has put the White Sox record at thirty six and
one seventeen. Those of us who are students of the
game and you know, and like to be history students
of the game, understand that number thirty six and one seventeen.
The thirty six and one seventeen mark for folks who
don't know, was the exact record of the eighteen ninety
nine Cleveland Spiders who became the Indians who are now
(09:09):
the Guardians. That is the fewest wins in Major League
history in a full season. They played one hundred and
fifty three games. They had a rainout, so they went
thirty six and one to seventeen. The New York Mets,
of course, hold the mark for most losses in a
season at one hundred and twenty their expansion year of
nineteen sixty two, they had two rainouts. They went forty
and one to twenty. The White Sox and the reason
(09:31):
why bring this up the White Sox have a tough
road ahead of them. They have to go to San
Diego this weekend. They're in San Diego this weekend, then
they return home for three against the Angels, and then
they finish at Detroit. A Detroit team that's very much
in the thick of the fight, as you pointed out
two weeks ago for a wild card spot. My question
to you, Geno, because you've been in that clubhouse and
(09:51):
you know everybody in that organization, does it weigh on
their mind or are they just trying to stay relaxed
and loose and not worry, not think about the one
hundred and twenty losses and all that other kind of
stuff and be professionals and go out and just and
try to do the best they can.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Well, this is this is really threefold. One. I've been
a part of this many times.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When we went to Miami, actually in San Diego in
ninety seven, we were for the worst team. In the
next week, went to the World Series in ninety eight Miami,
we were a complete rebuilt. After the ninety seven World Series,
we won the World Series in three we went to
Kansas City. It was it was worse than Expansion, and
we went to back to back World Series. So what
(10:35):
I would say to you is, I've seen this before
and we are in no way as worse off as
those organizations were at that time.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
So the wins and losses, it hurts.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I know the players have a lot of personal pride
and don't want that record to lay on them. But
when you lose, you know your number one starter for
a period of time, the middle of your order for
a lengthy period of time, you go through a managerial change.
Just everything that was centered around this ball club this
year and the organization. I don't think that it's something
(11:06):
that's going to marinate very long into the winner because
we knew we had work ahead of us, and if
you don't win the last game of the season, nobody
cares anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
It's a different it's a different time in.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Our game where it moves so fast that you look
at Detroit or they were last year and where they
are now, Look at Kansas City where they were last year,
where they are now, Texas the year before they won
the World Series. There's just too many examples of how
fast it moves and how quickly it can turn. And ultimately,
if you don't win the last game of the year,
nobody cares anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So we're certainly eyes forward and.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Something making day to day the best may day decisions
we can. And I know the players have a great
deal of personal pride and going out and playing the
best they can every day good stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's why I wanted to get your thoughts on that,
because you know, the casual fan might sit back and tell, well,
they've given up, they packed it in or something like that,
and you see it differently. You see those guys going
in and putting in the time and working and trying
to turn this thing around. So that's why I wanted
to get that out there.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
To do that.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
All right, let me go, let me go to the
to the Pennant Races now, and I'm curious to get
your thoughts in a couple of things, and we'll start.
In the American League. It's pretty much a given now
that the Astros are going to be the three seed.
The fight is between the Yankees and the Guardians for
the best overall record, and then the Orioles are still,
uh you know, mathematically and there to try to win
(12:26):
the division, but they are four games back and so
time's growing short. So the Yankees and the Guardians there
who is better suited to try to get that? Both
of them would get buys in the first round, obviously,
but to have home field all the way through the
American League. In your in your opinion, the Yankees are
the Guardians.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I think the Guardians are a little bit more dynamic
in the way that they score runs and the way
they play the game. I think they're a little more
sound defensively. I think the Yankees are just a team
that can They can beat you with one swing of
the bat, and you get that team in their ball park,
and they're going to be incredibly difficult to be Craig.
The thing that I would say about both the vision
(13:05):
both leagues right now is, and I was talking to
several of our coaches this morning, it is wide open
as to who could win the World Series right now.
If Arizona were to get in, if they can somehow
sneak their way in, they're going to be a very
dangerous team in the playoffs. If Detroit sneaks in, they're
going to be very dangerous. And that's what makes this
(13:29):
too great. Thing with the extra wildcard is that the
way teams are building their teams now, it's just amazing
that with the short series and the way the schedules
work that if these it's it's there's no clear cut
favorite to win the World Series right now, and that's
what makes this October gonna be very, very exciting.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
To watch, no doubt about it. And and you brought
up the Tigers. They have caught the Twins now for
the final wildcard spot. I heard the other night the
Tigers have the best record in the American League since
the All Star break. Yeah, then the Mariners are even
just two back, so they still have a shot. And
then in the Nation League wildcard you mentioned Arizona, they're
tied with those Mets who refuse to go away, and
(14:09):
all of a sudden, here's Atlanta to back, uh, you know,
with nine to go in in that deal, So how
about your thoughts on that. Nationally, of course, the Podres
continue to put the pressure on the Dodgers. They're you know,
they are four games back with nine to go. LA's
magic number six to win the division. But the Podres
continue to lead all the wildkers. That's the team I
think might be most dangerous and in either the league
(14:30):
right now.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
They are dangerous in Atlanta fight and get themselves in.
Have a huge three gay homestand three game homestand against
the Royals in the season, and the Royals are trying
to hang on by a thread right now, having lost
four in a rows. So it's just it's what the
Tigers have done.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I speak to aj Hinch almost daily.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
We had breakfast in Chicago three weeks ago, and you know,
at that time it was more of a you know,
had we not had injuries, had we made the move
on Hive baias a little ear went with our kids
a little earlier. You know, they traded away Jack Clary,
They traded away in one of their best starters. And
here they are with a chance, and if they wanted to,
they have arguably the best pitcher in minor league Baseball
(15:11):
and Jackson job if they wanted to to come up
and help them this last week to get in and
or if they get in, use him in the wildcard round.
So they have as many weapons as anybody. And look
out for the Tigers in twenty twenty five. But just
I think we're gonna have a lot of high drama
the last weekend with these series, especially the Atlanta Kansas
(15:34):
City series, and there's gonna be some situations where there's
gonna be a lot of scoreboard watching going into those
final three days of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, no doubt about it. I keep asking about the Mets,
and they refused to go away. They won fourid A row.
They took the first game of that big, huge weekend
series with the Phillies, and then they're not going to
catch Philadelphia for the division. They're six back, but here
they are tied for second on the wildcard chase right now.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Yeah, And they brought up the young Latuna and he's
energized club.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He's giving them a big boast, big boose, hitting a
big home run this week, and they've.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Just done a great job.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
David Searns has done a great job of just keeping
that thing together until they could get healthy and get
their team right, and they are clicking on all cylinders
right that Gino.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
We will visit next Friday, going into the final weekend
of the regular season. I appreciate you taking the time
as always and look forward to the visit. Thanks for
the insights, looking forward to you guys.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Have a great weekend you too.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
That's Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox and our
weekly MLB Insider Report, and we'll have more coming up
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone
of the iHeartRadio app.
Time for our weekly conversation Talk Major League Baseball with
Jean Watson from the front office of the Chicago White Sox. Now,
before we get into pennant races, and I've got some
specific questions about your ball club, I want to ask
a geno. I have got to get your feedback on
what happened yesterday at Lone Depot Park in Miami. It's
(00:24):
being described as historic, maybe the greatest single day performance
at least by a hitter in baseball history. No man
has ever gone has hit three home runs and stolen
two bases in the same game in baseball history, let
alone the fifty one and fifty one. Now where he's
(00:45):
gone where no player has gone before. As Dave Roberts says,
he's one of one that sort of thing. And you
know him well because you were with the Angels last
year when Shoe Aotani was there. How about your thoughts
on show ways unbelievable, amazing performance yesterday to reach that
magical plateau of fifty to fifty out at fifty one
(01:07):
fifty one, and to do it in the way he
did it yesterday.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, good afternoon, guys. Yeah, it's truly amazing. And what
I think we all felt he might get there. What's
really funny is like some players just love playing in
certain ballparks, And when you look at what show he
did in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan and
now yesterday's performance, it is a shame that the Marlins
(01:34):
can't ever get their.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Hands on it because he he loves to play in
that ballpark.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
It's just it's really unbelievable, and I don't think we've
ever seen anything like it.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again.
I will tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That my belief is that some of this is a
result of him not pitching and him not being taxed
on the mound and having to go through the dual
red that it.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Takes to do both.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
I think it kind of eased his mind a little
bit and let him relax, let his body relax, And
I think that this is the high seising result of
what he is a position player when he's not pitching.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Well, you know what what you just said echoes kind
of what Dave Roberts, the Dodgers manager, said about him.
He said it was his take that show. Hey examined
the situation before the season and said, Okay, I'm not pitching.
How can I affect the game in other ways if
I'm only deaching? Well, he figured out that only and
(02:33):
I use quotation amounts, quotation quotation marks around that word only.
Dhing meant that he could do more than swing a
bat and then the other thing. And I'm sure you've
noticed it with your keen eye. And Dave Roberts talked
about he said, the fact that show a work diligently
with Clayton McCullough, the Dodgers first base coach, on not
(02:57):
just the fact that he's fast in an outstanding out,
but he learned how to become a base stealer. And
I think a lot of fans don't understand the difference.
They think if you're fast, you can steal bases. That's
not necessarily so. And you don't have to be a
speed burner if you know how to steal bases. I
remember Mary Wills used to say that that was that
something you noticed as well, how he developed as a
(03:18):
base stealer during the season and not just relying on
speed alone.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, the average lead at first base is twelve and
a half feet and the team that leads that department
is the LA Dodgers. Clayton mccola is one of the
bright young coaches in the game. He's going to have
a chance to manage at some point. His name's gonna
come up constantly for managerial positions. And when you just
have the time to study and look at reeds and
look at keys for pitchers, you know, tow down going
(03:45):
to the plate, tow way throwing to the bag, the
throwover rule that now exists. There's and so many teams
that just are given away to stolen base. And if
you look at a second stole in base yesterday, it
was truly no contest. And so I think that's a
big part of it. When you have that type of
system in place, where you're getting all the information and
(04:08):
the freedom to just move, that's that's going to be
the result.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And that's what he's done.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
When I ask you about the how you categorize the
type of player that he is, And I preface this
by saying, when I was driving home yesterday, I was
listening to the Dodger broadcast. I was listening to Tim
Never and Rick Monday on radio, and of course Rick
Monday is a long decorated Major League player. He's a
great answer to trivia question. In the modern age of
(04:34):
the draft, he was the first ever player drafted by
the Kansas City A's in nineteen sixty five. I think
a lot of Dodger fans finally remember, and a lot
of baseball fans remember when he rescued the American flag
when he was playing for the Cubs out in centerfield
and Dodger Stadium in seventy six. And then they traded
for him, and he hit that dramatic ninth inning home
run in the eighty one National League Championship Series decisive
(04:54):
game against the Expos. All of that stuff, and he
part of a world championship team. So his pedigrease be
for itself. And his comment about Showe was to say,
and I think I kind of like this. He said,
I'm not going to try to be a prisoner of
the moment. I'm not going to put things in exalted
categories of greatest of all time. YadA, YadA, YadA. He said,
(05:16):
what I will say is this, I've never seen anything
like it. I've never seen anything like him. And if
he continues to go at this pace, sure he'll get
to all those exalted platitudes. But is that a good
way you think to describe show A And when you
first started seeing him, seeing a guy who could pitch
like he could, swing the bat like he could, and
(05:37):
now run the bases like he can no question.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And so much of this beyond his talent, the way
he prepares and the way he works, is the environments
that he's been in. And I can tell you that
when we had him in an we had him in
a great environment. He was around make Trout, he was
around Anthony Rendome, he was around Albert pool Hooles. So
(06:01):
his introduction into the game and having those professionals around
was really big. On top of all that he can
do on the baseball field on both sides of the ball,
to have that kind of environment and that greatness around
you to kick off your season or your career was
really really big.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now to take that to the stage.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
And the machine that is the Los Angeles Dodgers and
the infrastructure they have, the information, the coaching, it only
just takes this piece of clay that has all this
talent and puts him on the biggest stage with the
most information and the best talent around him for him
to reach his ceiling. And it's really a perfect storm
(06:45):
of a player that I don't think we're ever going.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
To see again.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
You can talk about, you know, Mike Trout and what
he does, and all these players and what they do
for their organizations, but from a complete like ceiling of
a player, talent, culturally, everything, I don't think we'll ever
see this again.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And the Dodgers are planning on him pitching again, right,
I mean they're still planning on him. I mean, they
wouldn't have signed him to that kind of a contract
unless they were thinking he could pitch and help him
on the mound again.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
At some point he is gonna pitch again.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
It is going to take a toll because, like you know,
you you go out and you throw one hundred and
ten to fifteen pitches a game over you know, one
hundred and eighty two hundred innings, it's gonna take its
toll on you. That second and third day after the start.
Your body's not feeling as well. Now your mind gets
a taxed a little bit. Now you go into add
bats a little bit differently. So I mean it when
(07:35):
I say I do believe that this was a big
contributor to him reaching this ceiling performance wise, offensively, him
not being on the mound. But if he is at
any chance of being ready for October baseball, the thing
that's gonna be interesting to see is if they don't
just work behind the scenes to get him prepared to
throw and.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
En that highest leverage moment of October. That's when you
bring out the weapon. And if they do that, it's
going to be exciting.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Wow. Visiting with Gene Watson. All right, Geno, I'll get
back to the Pennant races in a minute, but I
want to ask you, because you've been in the position
obviously when you were brought in by the White Sox
to help them try to turn things around. Now we
knew you even said it before the start of the year.
There's gonna be a long year. There's gonna be there's
(08:23):
gonna be a lot of losses. We've got to we've
got to flesh through some things. We got to find
out the guys who are gonna help the ball club.
There'll be some deals made. All of that prophetic, all
of that has come true. Now here's my question to you. Uh,
the loss to the Angels yesterday or this week? You
know now, yeah, yesterday or on Wednesday in thirteen innings
(08:47):
has put the White Sox record at thirty six and
one seventeen. Those of us who are students of the
game and you know, and like to be history students
of the game, understand that number thirty six and one seventeen.
The thirty six and one seventeen mark for folks who
don't know, was the exact record of the eighteen ninety
nine Cleveland Spiders who became the Indians who are now
(09:09):
the Guardians. That is the fewest wins in Major League
history in a full season. They played one hundred and
fifty three games. They had a rainout, so they went
thirty six and one to seventeen. The New York Mets,
of course, hold the mark for most losses in a
season at one hundred and twenty their expansion year of
nineteen sixty two, they had two rainouts. They went forty
and one to twenty. The White Sox and the reason
(09:31):
why bring this up the White Sox have a tough
road ahead of them. They have to go to San
Diego this weekend. They're in San Diego this weekend, then
they return home for three against the Angels, and then
they finish at Detroit. A Detroit team that's very much
in the thick of the fight, as you pointed out
two weeks ago for a wild card spot. My question
to you, Geno, because you've been in that clubhouse and
(09:51):
you know everybody in that organization, does it weigh on
their mind or are they just trying to stay relaxed
and loose and not worry, not think about the one
hundred and twenty losses and all that other kind of
stuff and be professionals and go out and just and
try to do the best they can.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Well, this is this is really threefold. One. I've been
a part of this many times.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
When we went to Miami, actually in San Diego in
ninety seven, we were for the worst team. In the
next week, went to the World Series in ninety eight Miami,
we were a complete rebuilt. After the ninety seven World Series,
we won the World Series in three we went to
Kansas City. It was it was worse than Expansion, and
we went to back to back World Series. So what
(10:35):
I would say to you is, I've seen this before
and we are in no way as worse off as
those organizations were at that time.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
So the wins and losses, it hurts.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
I know the players have a lot of personal pride
and don't want that record to lay on them. But
when you lose, you know your number one starter for
a period of time, the middle of your order for
a lengthy period of time, you go through a managerial change.
Just everything that was centered around this ball club this
year and the organization. I don't think that it's something
(11:06):
that's going to marinate very long into the winner because
we knew we had work ahead of us, and if
you don't win the last game of the season, nobody
cares anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
It's a different it's a different time in.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Our game where it moves so fast that you look
at Detroit or they were last year and where they
are now, Look at Kansas City where they were last year,
where they are now, Texas the year before they won
the World Series. There's just too many examples of how
fast it moves and how quickly it can turn. And ultimately,
if you don't win the last game of the year,
nobody cares anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
So we're certainly eyes forward and.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Something making day to day the best may day decisions
we can. And I know the players have a great
deal of personal pride and going out and playing the
best they can every day good stuff.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's why I wanted to get your thoughts on that,
because you know, the casual fan might sit back and tell, well,
they've given up, they packed it in or something like that,
and you see it differently. You see those guys going
in and putting in the time and working and trying
to turn this thing around. So that's why I wanted
to get that out there.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
To do that.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
All right, let me go, let me go to the
to the Pennant Races now, and I'm curious to get
your thoughts in a couple of things, and we'll start.
In the American League. It's pretty much a given now
that the Astros are going to be the three seed.
The fight is between the Yankees and the Guardians for
the best overall record, and then the Orioles are still,
uh you know, mathematically and there to try to win
(12:26):
the division, but they are four games back and so
time's growing short. So the Yankees and the Guardians there
who is better suited to try to get that? Both
of them would get buys in the first round, obviously,
but to have home field all the way through the
American League. In your in your opinion, the Yankees are
the Guardians.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I think the Guardians are a little bit more dynamic
in the way that they score runs and the way
they play the game. I think they're a little more
sound defensively. I think the Yankees are just a team
that can They can beat you with one swing of
the bat, and you get that team in their ball park,
and they're going to be incredibly difficult to be Craig.
The thing that I would say about both the vision
(13:05):
both leagues right now is, and I was talking to
several of our coaches this morning, it is wide open
as to who could win the World Series right now.
If Arizona were to get in, if they can somehow
sneak their way in, they're going to be a very
dangerous team in the playoffs. If Detroit sneaks in, they're
going to be very dangerous. And that's what makes this
(13:29):
too great. Thing with the extra wildcard is that the
way teams are building their teams now, it's just amazing
that with the short series and the way the schedules
work that if these it's it's there's no clear cut
favorite to win the World Series right now, and that's
what makes this October gonna be very, very exciting.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
To watch, no doubt about it. And and you brought
up the Tigers. They have caught the Twins now for
the final wildcard spot. I heard the other night the
Tigers have the best record in the American League since
the All Star break. Yeah, then the Mariners are even
just two back, so they still have a shot. And
then in the Nation League wildcard you mentioned Arizona, they're
tied with those Mets who refuse to go away, and
(14:09):
all of a sudden, here's Atlanta to back, uh, you know,
with nine to go in in that deal, So how
about your thoughts on that. Nationally, of course, the Podres
continue to put the pressure on the Dodgers. They're you know,
they are four games back with nine to go. LA's
magic number six to win the division. But the Podres
continue to lead all the wildkers. That's the team I
think might be most dangerous and in either the league
(14:30):
right now.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
They are dangerous in Atlanta fight and get themselves in.
Have a huge three gay homestand three game homestand against
the Royals in the season, and the Royals are trying
to hang on by a thread right now, having lost
four in a rows. So it's just it's what the
Tigers have done.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
I speak to aj Hinch almost daily.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
We had breakfast in Chicago three weeks ago, and you know,
at that time it was more of a you know,
had we not had injuries, had we made the move
on Hive baias a little ear went with our kids
a little earlier. You know, they traded away Jack Clary,
They traded away in one of their best starters. And
here they are with a chance, and if they wanted to,
they have arguably the best pitcher in minor league Baseball
(15:11):
and Jackson job if they wanted to to come up
and help them this last week to get in and
or if they get in, use him in the wildcard round.
So they have as many weapons as anybody. And look
out for the Tigers in twenty twenty five. But just
I think we're gonna have a lot of high drama
the last weekend with these series, especially the Atlanta Kansas
(15:34):
City series, and there's gonna be some situations where there's
gonna be a lot of scoreboard watching going into those
final three days of the season.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, no doubt about it. I keep asking about the Mets,
and they refused to go away. They won fourid A row.
They took the first game of that big, huge weekend
series with the Phillies, and then they're not going to
catch Philadelphia for the division. They're six back, but here
they are tied for second on the wildcard chase right now.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Yeah, And they brought up the young Latuna and he's
energized club.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
He's giving them a big boast, big boose, hitting a
big home run this week, and they've.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Just done a great job.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
David Searns has done a great job of just keeping
that thing together until they could get healthy and get
their team right, and they are clicking on all cylinders
right that Gino.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
We will visit next Friday, going into the final weekend
of the regular season. I appreciate you taking the time
as always and look forward to the visit. Thanks for
the insights, looking forward to you guys.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Have a great weekend you too.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
That's Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox and our
weekly MLB Insider Report, and we'll have more coming up
right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the zone
of the iHeartRadio app.
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