October 22, 2025 • 44 mins
Vinny Rottino, Brewers color commentator and studio analyst for FanDuel Sports Network, joins the show to break down the Brewers’ incredible season and preview the World Series. Wayne and Matt also discuss the Packers @ Steelers matchup and the Badgers game in Eugene, Oregon.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's so impressive that Murph has that gut feel and
can and seize things in players, and this kid took
a huge step and in Murph does see that in
players and he's able to make those adjustments again use
the analytics as a as a tool. He definitely does.
He embraces it, which all good managers I think do,
(00:22):
and I don't think there's any better manager than Pat
Murphy right now in the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This is the Laravian La Pey Podcast, a production of
iHeartRadio Podcasts with hosts Swayne Larvy, the voice of the
Green Bay Packers, and Matt Lapey, the voice of Wisconsin
Badgers football and men's basketball. The Larravian La Pey Podcast
is presented by Potawatamie Casino Hotel.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Your win is waiting. Hi everybody, I'm Wayne Larvy and
I'm Matt lape Welcome to the Lerravie La Pey Podcast,
presented by pottawatab Be Casino Hotel. Coming up on this episode,
we welcome Brewers analyst Vinnie Rattino to the Lair Vie
La Pey Podcast to wrap up the Brewers season and
for a preview of the World Series matching the defending
(01:08):
champion Dodgers and the America League champion Toronto Blue Jays.
Packers trying to put things together, but if the playoffs
begin today, they unfortunately don't. Green Bays four to one
on one record would be good enough for the number
one seed in the NFC and a bye, but of
course the playoffs don't begin now. Tough times in Madison
this fall, but college basketball just around the corner. We'll
(01:30):
discuss it all. Poto wannabe casino hotel. Your win is waiting.
We welcome in. Vinnie Ratino, current television analysts for FanDuel's
Sports Network in Wisconsin, covering the Milwaukee Brewers. He played
Major League Baseball for the Brewers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets,
and Cleveland Indians. Racine was conson native Wisconsin lacrosse. Vinnie,
(01:52):
did you get into broadcasting by design or did it
just happen for you?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
It kind of fell on my lap. And first of all,
thanks guys for having me on. This is an apple
so honor. I've been the huge fans of both of
yours growing up, Like you said, in Racine, Wisconsin, A
huge Wisconsin sports fan growing up. Still today obviously. So
I got into broadcasting after I was done playing. I
scouted for the Texas Rangers for four years. I played
for fourteen years professionally, parts of five seasons in the
(02:18):
Big leagues, and then I got into scouting. Had three
young girls at home, and it was like, this is
too much travel. I've already done the travel thing playing,
and so I got out of it. And I became
really good friends with Brian Anderson's brother, Mike Anderson, who
was a colleague of mine with the Texas Rangers. And
then after a couple of years of being out of
(02:39):
the game and just working a normal job, you know,
I contacted Mike and I said, look, I really missed
the game. And he said, you know, my brother thinks
you'd be a good broadcaster. And I said, no, I
would not. No, that sounds terrifying to me. And I
was not good at it. For the first couple of years,
I did the pre and postgame show. At the time,
it was called Bally Sports was Counts and uh and
(03:02):
and I just kind of, you know, kind of followed
the lead of Brian. Brian Anderson has been a mentor
of mine, and he's kind of like held my hand
every step of the way and ever since, I just
I just really kind of dove in with two feet
and kind of approached it just like I approached playing
and kind of tried to get the most out of
my talents and abilities that God gave me. As a player.
(03:25):
It wasn't very good, but you know, I feel like
I found my niche as a broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I love it more than playing, to be honest. As
much as I love playing and as much as I
love scouting, I just absolutely love it. And I it's
I'm with the best broadcast crew in all of baseball,
right so with with Brian Anderson, with Jeff Levering, he's
a rising star in the industry. Rock I get to
I get to bounce questions off of Rock how he
(03:51):
does it. He is one of the best in the game.
So it's been so much fun. And uh, it was
not by design, but I'm super glad that I dove
in with two feet with it.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, I say, it's working out really well for you.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Then you do. You do a great job.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
And when you talked about scouting, I just and I
got to know Mike Anderson a little bit as well.
But but I remember this was several years ago at
the ballpark. I was talking with Bob Yucker and a
But the importance of scouts everything. Now, there's the analytics
and that's all very very important, but scouts and you
lived it, you know this. Scouts can tell you some
stuff that you're not going to get in an iPad, right,
(04:26):
I mean, and I know there. You know a lot
of organizations are shifting a little bit. Then the importance
of scouts. It's pretty hard to overstage, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It really is, because you know, you can you can
look on a spreadsheet and the algorithm can kind of
spit out what you're looking for in terms of players
that have done it similarly similarly with similar numbers, and
the numbers aren't getting so granular now right where they're
looking at eggs and velocities, they're looking at lawunch angles okay,
and they're looking at even they're even looking at swing
(04:56):
path okay, and and swings. But you have to see
it with your eyes that hey, look this isn't gonna work,
or hey look this guy, I've seen him play the
game quite frankly at the low way level or even
double A triple A level and this guy, he doesn't care,
(05:17):
he doesn't care about winning, doesn't care about teammates. He's
a selfish player. And you can see and sense I
don't care what the numbers say, but you can see
some of those intangible things that are so necessary. And
Pat Murphy with the Milwaukee Brewers and Matt Arnold with
the Milwaukee Brewers kind of really nailed this thing down
in these last few years with what types of people
(05:40):
they want in the clubhouse. And there is no way
that you're going to be able to find that find
the right kind of person. And again Pat Murphy continues
to talk about quote unquote that right person that they
want in the clubhouse, the right group of people, and
there's no way you're gonna be able to find that
by just looking at a spreadsheet. There's it's an absolutely
valuable tool to have all those numbers to kind of
(06:01):
cross check what you're seeing with the eyes, and the
eyes can cross and the numbers can cross check what
the eyes are seeing as well. Because as scouts, I
love scouting. I really love trying to nail down that
player that I thought there was going to be that
next hidden gem. And you know, they the scouting side
of things. You can you have your biases. We're all
(06:25):
human beings, and so you have your biases of what
you think works. But the numbers can kind of cross
check and say, hey, look, you know there's about five
people ever to play the game that that worked with this,
you know, with a thirty seven percent strikeout rate. Okay,
So that the numbers can can can kind of be
a tool for you to help kind of cross check
what you're seeing with your eyes as well.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You know, Vinny, Matt and I have talked about this
a lot on this podcast over the years. You're so right,
and when it comes to scouting and you've been a scout,
the easiest thing to see is the athletic ability, right,
that's the you could see this guy, you can see that,
but being able to take that talent and okay, it's
(07:08):
not as Brian Cashman once said, he should tell because
they have a big payroll every year. It's not about talent.
It's about the right talent and that encompasses everything you said,
how does this guy fit in our clubhouse? Will he
fit in with this CBC? One of us, as Jerry
Krause the Old Bulls GM used to say, is he
(07:29):
our kind of people. And that's the hard thing, I
think for scouts to determine when you're looking at a
prospect who might be eighteen or twenty years old.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That is difficult to sense. And I'll tell you some
organizations a acquire players that already have some of those
traits and some of those attributes, the intangible attributes that
you're talking about, Wayne, and be some develop them better
than others as well. And I think again the Milwaukee
(08:00):
are on the right track with both of those, you know,
I think because because look at the end of the day,
if you get to the big leagues and you are
a player, a selfish player that cares about their batting average,
their arbitration number coming up, so they got to make
sure that they, you know, are making sure that they
(08:20):
get their numbers, then making sure they're getting enough at bats.
If if that kind of player a season isn't going
well for them, they're going to be a negative detriment
to the clubhouse. And think about what that does to
the clubhouse. It affects everybody the You could have one
one cancer, okay, and there's a different term for it
(08:44):
in the clubhouse that I can't really use. On the
on the podcast. But if you have one type of
player that's kind of a cancer to the group, it
affects so many different uh, player is it affects so
many players in the clubhouse. And then all of a
sudden you're having the team selfless type of player kind
of battle with that that cancer. And it is again,
(09:06):
so now your energy and your clubhouse is being which
should be used towards winning. How are we going to
beat this opponent tonight? And again this applies to really
anything in life. Of course, it applies to any sport
as well. And you when you see that obviously on
the NFL side as well, and in that you see
it on you know, the football pside, college side as
well with football and basketball. And but what people don't understand, guys,
(09:31):
is that this is a is a factor in the
game of baseball more than you realize, because it is
an individualized sport, right, So you you against the pitcher,
it's one at bat, it's one ground ball hits you,
it's it's your one inning. And so it is an
individual sport where you have control over how you know
the outcome of the team, what the outcome of the
(09:51):
team is going to be on that game. But at
the same time, you are with those guys one hundred
and sixty two games for one hundred and eighty days,
so you're with them every single day. And so if
you have that energy that we call them energy sucks,
you know, they suck the energy out of the clubhouse.
I'm telling you it is so hard to kind of
get that back on the rails. So again, what the
(10:12):
Brewers did and what I tried to do as a
scout is try to identify that and and and I would.
I would advise the Texas Rangers. I did it all
the time. Find find those cancers early, and get rid
of them. That's what successful organizations have been doing all
throughout time for the last one hundred and fifty years
(10:32):
of professional sports. That's what the successful teams have done.
They they identify them and then they get rid of them.
They trade them, they cut them, whatever they have to do.
And that's I tell you, that is the recipe for winning. Yes,
you have to have talent, but I'm telling you you
can get guys can get to their ceiling when there
(10:54):
is a culture of winning, when everyone is in it together,
pulling on the same rope. You guys get to their
ceiling quicker because they're not focused internally, right, they have
external focus on how can I beat this guy, how
can we win tonight? And all of a sudden, because
you're thinking like that, you actually play better more consistently.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
And that sounds like ben a big part of the
formula for a Brewers team that never lost more than
four in a row and never lost more than three
in a row. I guess last year. Now, under any
circumstances with the veteran team, that's impressive. It's remarkable with
the team this young, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It really is?
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It really is, you know, because again Pat Murphy, he
had a bunch of young players and he admits it
in college he said he would be able to brainwash
college kids, right, And so it's so difficult at the
major league level and so impressive at the major league
level that he was able to It wasn't brainwashing anybody.
(11:50):
I mean, because these are grown men are who do
have careers, and they are concerned about their careers. But
to be able to get these guys to really have
that prime mary focus and their number one priority be
the team. It is easier with younger players who Patt
Murphy talked about their their cliffhangers. They were hanging on
by by their by their fingernails of staying actually in
(12:13):
the big leagues. So it's easier with those guys to
have them buy into this mentality, to this approach. But
again I think they to a man, every single one
of those guys in the in the clubhouse. I got
to talk to a bunch of them, meet all those
guys and kind of interact with them. To a man,
those guys already had those attributes naturally.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
And again Murph just pulled a little bit more out
of them in that regard. And then again, once you
have that that snowball rolling down the hill, that thing grows,
and it is the guys that are kind of on
the fence as to being in that snowball. The snowball
is so big at that point they get gobbled up
by it, right or or they get out of the way.
(12:55):
But again, I don't think there was any guy on
that team this year that had to get out of
the way, because again, they all had buy in. And
that's you're right, man, that's exactly why you know, the
team really didn't struggle for long stretches of time, you know, so,
and they obviously it helps that they had a bunch
of talented players, but again, were they that much talented,
(13:16):
that much more talented than other rosters around the league.
I mean, the Mets didn't even make the playoffs, right,
so it's it was impressive. It really was. I don't
know if I've seen it at the major League Baseball
level the way that I saw it play out this year,
because again, to have everybody buy in. You'll see it
from teams get buy in like in September because oh
(13:39):
they can see the World Series coming. I mean, maybe
you see that from the Blue Jays, but they had
buy in early, and they didn't have it at first,
quite necessarily because they struggled all the way for the
first six seven weeks of the season. The first four
games they went on four and were outscored by thirty
six runs. So it was a struggle early. But again,
the way that they turn it around and the way
(14:00):
that everybody was in it together, I don't know if
I've seen that over the course of the season. It
was really really impressive.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Guys, Vllaravia and Lapay Podcast presented by Potowanamy Casino Hotel.
Your win is weighty.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Vinnie Rattino, analyst for the Milwaukee Brewers and fan duel
Matt and Vinnie, you guys brought up something. Okay, the
Brewers never had that long losing spell. The Yankees went
through a spell of about five weeks, the Dodgers went
through a spell of about four weeks where they hardly
could win a game. And these are two of the
(14:34):
winningest teams in baseball this year. I think that kind
of underscore is where the Brewers are. But my question
to you, as you watch baseball, it's always been stats driven.
It's always now we have more analytics, stats, and there
are things I don't even recognize. And I did baseball
back in the nineties, but terms we didn't even have,
(14:56):
or stats we didn't even have back then. And you
got all these stats and everything, all these analytics, and
some organizations from the top on down are really deep
into the analytics and all that stuff. I sense from
the outside looking in that Murph is a guy who
takes these analytics and says, Okay, but my gut says,
do this is that accurate or not?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He does He definitely does do that, and he uses
the analytics as a tool, you know, but at the
same time, and Caleb Durbin is a perfect example, right,
So here's here's a little nugget. So Caleb durban his
swing path. The analytics say that his swing path is
a little bit it can be exposed against good right
(15:41):
handed sinkers. Right right handed sinkers, I guess still have
nightmares against right handed sinkers. Right, So a good right
handed sinker is tough against the guy with a bad path,
like like Caleb Durbins. He had a little bit flatter path,
And so they they can analyze that and say, okay,
so maybe this is a better matchup to have someone
(16:04):
else in there, all right and play third base. Well,
this kid, I mean, you guys watched him play this year,
super impressive. He's five to seven, one hundred and eighty pounds.
He's built like a spark plug. And this kid believed
that he was a major league player. He's twenty seven
(16:26):
or twenty eight years old. Career minor leaguer and Division
three player. Drafted in the fourteenth round, traded twice draft
originally by the Atlanta Braves, trade over the Yankees, and
then trader over to the Brewers, and there is something
about his mindset that Murph sees guys. Quite frankly, I
(16:47):
did not see it. I'm a scout and I didn't
see it from him. I saw the mindset, I saw
the belief, but I didn't see the ability to make
the adjustment necessary to play everyday third base at the
big league level. Offensively. I thought he was going to
maybe get exposed over there. Not only was I wrong,
which good scouts kind of admit that they're wrong at times,
(17:08):
but he not only could play everyday third base, but
he all of a sudden turned himself into above average,
a plus third base defender. And the analytics actually bear
that out. I mean, he made play after play after play.
He was challenged over and over and over. So not
only could he play the defense, but he could also
He wanted to prove everybody that he could also hit
(17:29):
right handed pitching in right handed sinkers. That again, the
analytics said he wasn't going to be able to hit.
He did that, and then some this guy was what
an important cog in the wheel for the Brewers and
where would they have been? You can say this about
a lot of guys this year for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But where would they have been without Caleb Durban. They
did not have a third baseman going into the season.
He didn't make the team out of spring training, and
(17:52):
he was in Triple A for the first what was it,
first four or five weeks and then again, I think
I'm not one hundred percent sure on this, but I
can speculate that Murph was really pushing for him to
come up to the big leagues and be that everyday
third baseman. He was still it felt like, again I
don't know exactly, but it felt like he was getting
pushed back, perhaps saying like, Okay, we you know, I
(18:14):
don't know if this guy can play every day third base,
he's gonna get exposed against right handed sinkers. Well what happened.
This kid has a belief in himself that he was
going to be able to make the adjustment, and he
did and then some So yeah, Wayne, it's it's so
impressive that Murph has that gut feel and can and
seize things in players, and this kid took a huge
(18:35):
step and in Murph does see that in players and
he's able to make those adjustments. Again, use the analytic
analytics as as a tool. He definitely does. He embraces it,
which all good managers I think do, and I don't
think there's any better manager than Pat Murphy right now
in the major leagues because he has that great balance
between that gut feel and then using the numbers as well.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We never know exactly what will happen between now in
the beginning of next season, but it seems to me,
Vinny that this roster could look very similar next year.
There's the paralta question what he did with Woody. I
don't know Reese, Hoskins, Kintana, but the the core.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Of the team.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
I mean, you mentioned a Germanderman, but you know terrang
Contres freely, they're going to be here for a bit
and and their style of play, it just seems like
a perfect fit. They're not you know, they're not trying
to load up with the with a bunch of fifty
home run you know, they'll steel bases, they'll go first
to third. It seems like it's set up to be
(19:35):
pretty good contending for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Do you agree, Well, I I one hundred percent agree.
And the thing that I go back to a lot
is that you have you still have some some guys
I call them lineup anchors really, right, So you can
always go back to these guys that are that are
sitting in the middle of your order, that are going
to be able to produce, and that opposing pitchers are
really kind of worried about. And those guys are jack Centurio.
(20:00):
By the way, you have eight more years of control
over Jackson Curio. He's only going to be twenty two
years old. And since I mean we've I've talked at
nauseum about how good this kid is, and he is
just scratching the surface as to how good he's going
to be because again he's only twenty two. What were
you guys doing with I mean, I don't yeah, me too,
(20:22):
You to be lacrosse And so, yeah, this kid is special.
He's going to be a lineup banker. He's going to
produce driving runs, hit home runs, hit for average steel bases,
play good defense in the outfield. And then you have
Christian Yalich. He had a such a resurgent year. Now
I know everyone's probably clamoring he needed to produce a
little bit more in the in the playoffs. I think
(20:44):
it was just kind of a blip on the radar
struggling at the wrong time type of a thing. You'll
be fine, He's going to continue to produce. He's still young,
quite frankly, you know, and one of the older guys
in the team, but he's still in his he's still
on that age curf. Again. What the what the analytics
will show you is that guys start to decline a
little bit into their you know, mid thirties, and so
(21:08):
Christian Yelich is still kind of you know, before that,
and then William Catreres, he's he's only gonna continue to
get better. So and so then you have a bunch
of these kind of what Pat Murphy calls woodpeckers, right
and meaning they are guys that are just gonna give
you a great at bat. They're gonna be such tough outs.
They get on base, they hit for average. Talking about
(21:31):
salth Freelick, you know, Bryce Terrang might even be not
a woodpecker. He might be one of these lineup anchors.
As we saw that he hit eleven home runs in
the month of August. Now, I don't think he's gonna
hit eleven home runs every month, but he's certainly tapping
into some of that power. So He's going to be
a guy that is gonna you can plug and play
(21:51):
him at second base and he's gonna play that platinum
Glove caliber defense every night. He is a winner, steals bases.
I mean, there's so many attributes about all these players
that there's just not They're not one dimensional from one
through nine in the lineup any given night, any given night. Uh,
these guys are not one dimensional. And then you talk
about the starting pitching. They're going to continue to to
(22:13):
be great because they have Chris Hook, who's going to
continue to make tweaks with these guys. And and then
I mean you think about what he did with Quinn Priester.
Quinn Priest hat a six point two to three e
R going into the season. He started his career out
with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Brewers get a hold
of them, and Chris Hook does his magic and he
turned him into one of the better starting pitchers in
(22:35):
the game. We'll see what they do with Freddy Peralta. Now,
a lot of people I see the narrative out there
on social media and stuff. They you know, hey, the Brewers,
this is what's wrong with baseball. You know, Look, I
think this is the fact. And let me back up
the fact that they might trade Freddy Perlton, but this
is what they do. This is kind of how the
Brewers have to continue to sustain success. If they do
(22:59):
end up aiding Freddy Peralta, you know that, you know
that they're going to do it for the right price,
and they're going to get a package back, and they're
going to get a package back that could include a
couple of future Freddy Peralta's. That's how good this Matt
Arnold has been in the front office. They continue to
make these types of moves in order to sustain that
success and just continue to replenish the system and replenish
(23:24):
young players at the big league level. And I'll say
this too, it's almost an advantage that the Brewers are
a small market team because think about some of these
guys that have come up and need to finish off
their development at the big league level. You're talking about
a Quinn Priester. Now, if Quinn Priester is in any
other market, any other big market, you can you can
(23:45):
take this example with really a lot of the players
that have developed at the big league level with the Brewers.
You take a Quinn Priester and you throw them in
New York and he's and he would get perhaps booed
off the mound, you know, if he struggles one game.
The Brewers and the fans, best fans of baseball, they
understand this, So they give guys a longer leash. The
media understands this in Milwaukee, give guys a longer leash
(24:08):
in order to develop. It's almost a competitive advantage to
be in Milwaukee because now because of that, because of
the longer leash, because of the understanding that this is
how the Brewers have to sustain success. That's how they're
able to make these guys into really productive major league players,
where again they might not get that opportunity, that long
(24:28):
of an opportunity in other markets.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
And so.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Any changes that you do see to the roster guys
next year, you're going to see they're going to be
smart moves. They're going to be moves that are going
to help the future of the Brewers and help the
future or help the Brewers in the future perhaps win
that World Series that we're missing. I know we were
heartbroken again this year, but it was a better It
was a step in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
They just ran into a bus saw too, Righteah, the
Dodgers were just ridiculous that series.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
They were. I don't you know a lot of people
are saying, like, Okay, it would have been way different
if Bryce Terran got hit by that pitch with the
bases loaded in Game one, tied the game, and then
maybe they win that game game one, and they would
have been a completely different series. Guys. I don't know
if it would have been. The Dodgers were playing that well, right,
they just they might have won in five instead of four. Yeah,
(25:22):
so I'm room for the Blue Jays, I really am.
But we'll see if the Dodgers stick care of the
business and the World Series as well.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Bitty, before we let you go, I mean, yeah, you're what.
We would be remiss if we didn't get your analysis
of the World Series matchup. You saw the Blue Jays
during the regular season. The Brewers went up there and
I think swept them. They swept the Dodgers during the
regular season. You've just seen them in the playoffs. What
do you make of this World Series matchup? I mean,
to me, I'm kind of I think Matt's like this too.
(25:49):
The Dodgers seemed to be on a roll right now.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Man, they look so tough. Not only they're starting pitching,
but their lineup all of a sudden is hitting up
and down the line lip and that's what the Brewers
kind of caught them at a really good time during
the season where they swept them six and oh three
in Milwaukee and then three in La. If you remember,
Mookie Betts was not swinging the bat well during that series.
Neither was Freddy Freeman. Those guys were both struggling and
(26:18):
their third baseman was out as well, who was injured.
I'm not sure why I'm blinking on his day, but
so it was. This is a different Dodgers team right now.
It's gonna be a tough task for the Toronto Blue Jays,
although they are similarly built at like the Milwaukee Brewers
in that they have a bunch of guys up and
down the lineup that are tough outs. They were number
(26:39):
one in contact this season. They didn't strike out at all,
so they're an impressive group. They have the whole country
behind them as well, so thirty million fans, thirty million
people living in Canada and the entire countries behind them
because that's their only baseball team. They're a hockey country,
but they are all behind the Toronto Blue Jays, So
we'll see if that's a factor. We didn't see that
(27:00):
the fans were a factor, and just kind of the environment.
We're a factor against the Dodgers in Milwaukee. There's kind
of like, Okay, been there, done that. That's what experience
in the playoffs does do for you. They were not
phased by the loud crowds, but we'll see if that
does affect them. Because Toronto has home field advantage in
this World Series. Obviously give the edge to the Dodgers
(27:21):
just because of how well they're playing. And they're starting
to have four aces, four guys that basically throw a
hundred miles per hour that can run out there every
single night, including show Halo Tani including Blake Snell and
Tyler Glass now and then yet Yamamoto as well. So
they have the starting pitching and the horses to kind
of mow through the Toronto Blue Jays. But that's a
scrappy group. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I'm rooting.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I am rooting for the Blue Jays in this one.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
My final question here too, It isn't the debate. I
know we get accused often of recentcy bias, But when
you think of greatest performances on the big stage, isn't
the debate now, what's the second best after Shoi Otani
and gained four? I mean, Vinnie, we were talking Reggie
Jackson back in the seventies. We're hitting those bombs against
the Dodgers. He didn't pitch six, strike a shut out
(28:07):
at he's striking it out ten. I mean, I mean
it's second best. That's the debate as well.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I think about now you almost have to say, in
all time in sports history, right, the you know, the
big greatest ard I mean, Wilt Chamberlain one hundred points.
You know, I'm sure Michael Jordan's got a few games
that are gonna be argued to be up there for
the greatest performances of all time. But that one for
Otani to do it, he just it looked like he
(28:35):
wasn't gonna be denied, right, you know, Game four, I'm
gonna go ahead and win this one for us guys.
And it was I mean, three bombs, one of them
went out of the stadium, six innings, ten punch outs.
You kind of just had to marvel at it. I
talked to some of the coaches after and they were like, oh,
that was that was impressive. Just what what show Aotoni.
(28:58):
It was heartbreaking, of course to get knocked out of
the playoffs, but the fact that he did that, uh
and and for the and to do it against our
Brewers wasn't fun. But at the same time, it's like, wow,
that was something to watch and so greatest baseball player
of all time. He's going to be in that conversation
because he's there's no signs of slowing down. The fact
(29:18):
that he can do both pitch and hit. No one
ever has done that. Babe Ruth did it for a time,
but then he was only a hitter after he was
done pitching for the first few years of his career.
So he's going to be in that conversation and it's uh, yeah,
he's and he's a Dodger for a very long time
as well, so that he's going to be a thorn
in the Brewers side going forward.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, Vinny, can't thank you enough. Really enjoyed the conversation,
love the background and scouting and you know, the stuff
you bring on the air is just outstanding. And you
know what, uh and I look around Major League Baseball.
I know Matt does too because we're fans. But the
production overall of Brewers Baseball on the local level, it
is a It is a network quality broadcast every night regardless,
(30:03):
it really is. You got to be proud of that
and proud of your role in it.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Oh I am, I really am. And again it's it's
been so much fun and I'm hoping to do this
for a very long time because I am having so
much fun doing it. And again, thank you guys so
much for having me on. It is truly an honor
to have this conversation with you.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah, it's a pleasure having you. And then I'll echo
what Wayne said to you. Guys are great at what
you do. It's a family and when we when we
tune in, we're entertain We learn stuff too, So you check,
you check all the boxes.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Man appre sure.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Thanks guys, well Wayne, the highly anticipated Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I guess the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Oh, the Steelers and the Packers coming up? Just another game, right.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
You know, Matt to echo the company line, and you
know I'm a company guy. The Packers are playing the
Steelers who just happened to be quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers.
Aside from that, there's nothing more to it.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
What old boy can still sling it? Though, okay, he's
he's he still has it.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I'll tell you what, Matt. I'm watching tape this week
of him, and I didn't get a look. Well, he
didn't play a lot with the Jets at first, certainly
not the first year, but even last year. I didn't
really look at him. But I'm watching him now and
he's moving better than he has since before that Achilles
surgery he had two years ago. He's still I mean,
the accuracy, the velocity on the ball. Obviously he's always
(31:25):
been smart behind center, and you know, all those things.
He is really playing well and he will, you know,
he'll be tuned up for this ball game coming up.
Although you know, people are asking me kind of comparing
this to like when Farv went to the Vikings. Remember
two thousand and nine, he finally gets to the Vikings
and they played the Packers twice, and I remember Monday
(31:48):
night game in the Metrodome and far In the Vikings won,
and they won a few weeks later in Green Bay again,
and I remember Mike McCarthy saying, you know, gosh, they
almost their season almost went off the rails. The Packers
did make the playoffs that year, but their season almost
went off the rails because there was so much intensity
involved in that matchup because of the way the far
(32:11):
Era ended in Green Bay and a lot of the people,
the same people were on that team and nine and
they were really just sky high for it, maybe too much.
So I don't think that's so much the case here.
First off, we don't have the kind of animosity in
this matchup that we had Vikings and Packers. I mean,
Vikings are They're a regular rock full of the Packers
(32:33):
maybe the greatest rival. Secondly, the Steelers are not. They're
an infrequent rival, and there were a team the Packers
beating the Super Bowl years ago. But beside from that,
you don't have that kind of intensity regardless of who's
on the field. But the Rogers, you know, Packers matchup,
This is going to be very interesting. Jordan Love and
Rogers have an excellent relationship. They had a great working relationship,
(32:56):
and there's so much of Aaron Rodgers game in what
I see Jordan Love do when he's back there in
the pocket looking downfield. So it'll be an interesting game,
and yes, is it a big Is it just another game? No,
it's not, but I know Matt Laflora hopes you believe
it is just another game.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
The Steelers. I grew up in Southwest Ohio, so I
followed the Bengals a lot growing up and really learned
to not like the Steelers, which was that he'll be
kind of dumb because the Steelers were in their dynasty years,
you know, with the Steel Curtain and Bradshaw, Frank O'harris
Appleton's own Rocky Blier. They're kind of my second favorite
NFL team right now, though, Wayne, with all those Badgers
(33:38):
on the roster for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Well, I propose we start a new segment, and we
really ought to get the sales staff to sell this
Badgers against Packers, you know what I mean each week
because you know the program meant the Badger program has
been so great over the last thirty years that the
NFL stocked with a lot of ex Badgers across the league.
Every week we go and I keep forgetting to do
this every week we go in, I said, you know,
(34:04):
I had asked Matt about that guy in the podcast
because he you know, the guys played four years at Madison.
You've got two of them. You've got TJ. Watt and
Nick Herbig in this game. Two pass rushers who are
formidable when they're on the field together, and they're playing
for the Pittsburgh Steelers against Green Bay Packers. Tell me
about those two when they were undergrads at Wisconsin.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Well, you know, Nick Herbiy. It was really interesting because,
you know, in the COVID year, we're waiting for everything
to be checked off and start playing games. I sat
down with Jim Leonard, it was a defensive coordinator at
the time, and I was we were just doing I
was just going down the laundry list to certain players
and I got the Herbig and Jim said, he's different.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, he's he's.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
From Hawaii, very you know, really well known program down there,
and just somebody who in certain instance, as many instances,
was unblocked just to had a relentless nature to him.
He was one of those guys. I don't know how
many other people knew this, but the Wisconsin coaching staff
knew they had somebody really, really special. And and you know, t. J.
(35:11):
Watts is an interesting story here, and he obviously he
got the big contract over the summer. He was a
tight end here who couldn't stay healthy, and it was
like his career was never gonna unfold. At Wisconsin, he
had had some surgeries and then the coaching staff made
a decision to hey, let's try him an outside linebacker
(35:31):
that just might be at a better fit for him.
And yeah, it probably was a better fit. He went
from somebody Wayne who didn't know if he was ever
really gonna get a college career to speak of, into
becoming an All American and just being part of that,
you know, the Watt family royalty in the NFL. Remember
(35:53):
Derek Watt played with the Steelers as well as a fullback.
But everybody knows about JJ and he's selling in the
broadcast world right now. But he'll be inducted in the
Hall of Fame. It's it's when, not if, Probably as
soon as he's eligible. And I think TJ's on a
very similar path. He's just the story and the work
that he put in to just get in the league,
(36:18):
you know, and and now becomes a dominant force in
the NFL. But this was somebody his first couple of
years of Wisconsin. They can wow, I don't know about this.
You know Keanu Benton from Janesville, Raw as a football
player coming to Wisconsin, who was a really good wrestling
loved wrestling, turned himself into an NFL player and someone
(36:39):
that that they count on. Isaiah Laudermilk same thing, you
know in his career, just continue to develop. And that's
why when Paul christ was was a head coach at
pitt you know, they play in the same in the
same stadium, and he got to know I think Mike
Tomlin and some of those guys. So there there's been
a mutual admiration between the program and the Steelers on
(37:03):
a trick for the Badgers way and is to get
some more guys in the league. It's been a little
bit of a dip, but those dudes, all of them
represented Wisconsin really well and I'm thrilled for them for
what they've done.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I mean, TJ.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Watt has been for a while one of the best
out there.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Well, I tell you, and there's no question Matt, he
and JJ will be in the Pro Football Hall of
Fame sometimes sometime very soon JJ first and then TJ
when his career is over. But just phenomenal players and
herbig is playing a nice role in Pittsburgh, and he
got a chance to start a little bit earlier this
year as Alex Highsmith was out with an injury. But
(37:40):
at any rate, very good players. And I'm not going
to go back. I'm just going to mention it. The
Packers had a chance to draft TJ. Watt and they
needed a cornerback. They felt they could trade back in
the draft in twenty seventeen, they got the first pick
in the second round. TJ. Watt went a couple of
(38:01):
picks or a pick or two later to the Steelers. Wow.
The Packers at stayed put and made TJ. Watt their
first round draft choice that year. How different would things
be in Green Bay? And I say that, folks, because
t J. Watt is one of the rare people in
pro football that actually can make a difference across an
(38:21):
entire team. And it would have been a much different
situation in Green Bay, I think in terms of where
they are maybe right to this day, where they are
with players and that type of thing, because you know,
they've had to they had to hire, they had to
bring in free agents y Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and
now they had to go out and get Micah Parsons
and everything. What do they have TJ. Watt sitting there? Yeah,
(38:45):
film record.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
Yeah that is fortunate to now they have one by
the name of Parsons. Yeah, I'm saying it was a
good but yeah, it's a great family too. That's all
of them, JJ, Derek, TJ.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
The family.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
It's just it's an easy it's an easy group of
people to root for.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
So yeah, you know, I mean, and Matt, that's hard.
The part of the problem for I know, Packers fans
because what was Wisconsin, you know, yeah, exactly Wisconsin. Yeah,
you know, I mean, gee, but at any rate, that
was Ted Thompson's last draft in Green Bay, and you know,
things have changed considerably, but hindsight's always twenty twenty and
(39:24):
those stories are bound in draft circles. So the Packers
and the Steelers Sunday night, it'll be it'll be great theater.
Mike Mike Jeriko is especially pumped for this because a
couple of weeks ago when we were in Dallas, all
he was talking to me about was I can't wait
for the Rogers at Packers Matt John So I can
tell you the media has been looking ahead on this.
(39:44):
I trust the team does not. But now we're up
against it, and it should be interesting to see the
way the whole thing plays out. I will say this,
the Steelers and Packers are two teams who aren't even
close to putting it together. Yet. They're getting there, they're
making strides, but at this stay to the season, they've
they've got a they've got a ceiling that's pretty high up.
Both teams to meet before they're done with their duty
(40:07):
this year in the NFL. So it should be an
interesting ballgame. Nonetheless, the drama notwithstanding. All Right, the Badgers
head out to Oregon, and Matt give me something to
be positive about here, coming off the two home losses
they just had.
Speaker 4 (40:20):
Well, I talked to a young man who punted for
the first time last week. I named Sean West out
of Mechwan Homestead, and he had the biggest running play
of the game. It was a It was an uncalled
fake punt. A heis and that that was That was
the highlight in last week's game really against the Ohio State. Look,
they're a bad way. There's no I can't I can't
(40:42):
spend this. I mean, you and I are in the
profession of not you know, getting into debate shows and
hot takes and all that. But they're they're in a
bad way with this program right now. They're trying to
Chris Bacintosh, the athletic director, put out a letter to
season two fans season ticket holders, and you know they
want to increase their financial commitments, and that's certainly part
(41:04):
of the issue. Injuries have been part of the issue.
But I can tell everybody in the world that Luke
Fickle is a really good guy, and he is we
have a really good professional relationship. Oregon's really good again
or the highest scoring teams and all college football. Matter
of fact, it is, it's the second highest scoring team
(41:24):
in the land at forty four points a game. They're
very balanced. They're really physical too way and I think
that's the one thing real quick as we wrap this up.
I think there's this image of West Coast teams, if
it's SCU, C, l A or up in the Pacific Northwest.
But it's a finesse driven kind of approach, and they
have very skilled players, without a doubt, Dante more outstanding quarterback.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
But you know they're.
Speaker 4 (41:49):
Offensive and defensive fronts. Offensive line, they're defensive front. It's
a physical group. So I think that's one thing that
maybe some teams have found out the hard way. And
this is an Oregon is not afraid to line up
and you run the ball down your throat and defensively
get after you. So another very daunting assignment for Wisconsin
(42:11):
coming up. I'm it's supposed to be a kind of
a cold, rainy day in Eugene. So just to add
to it all.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Are there any other kind of days in Eugene except
cold and rainy?
Speaker 4 (42:21):
Well then they try to tell you it never rains
on Austin Stadium, but apparently it's going to. So it's
a Grateful Dead theme here, so like like they need
a special theme for this, but they're you know, the
the uniforms are going to have a different look. That'll
be impossible to see the numbers and all think of me, Wayne,
(42:41):
if you would, I appreciate it because I think of
you when these NFL teams go with their throwback unis
and you can't read the numbers. And that's all that
stuff that you and I talk about that nobody else cares.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Yeah, that nobody else cares about. But we're going to
talk about it because it placates us. And ex South
thought us. But but you know, the Steelers are going
to have some kind of goofy uniform from what I
understand this week, as well a throwback stuff. And you
know what I think of throwbacks. So I'd rather throw
up on our own back. Yeah, throw them, throw up
on them and then throw them back. Yeah. Well that'll
(43:13):
do it for the Hey, good luck out there. Auxtin
Stadiums in Austin. Awesome atmosphere for football. It's great setting
and I know you'll you'll enjoy that aspect of it.
And hopefully the Badgers will play an excellent ball game
out there, maybe steal a win. That would be awesome. Boy.
And I'm with you man. You know, Coach Fickle, there's
it's not for lack of trying resources, as the athletic
(43:35):
director pointed out, and need to be stepped up. There's
no doubt about that. But you know, Luke Fickele we
know is a very very good football coach. It's just
not going well at the moment. Hopefully we can get
something going out there that'd be great. Thanks to our
guest Brewers analyst Vinni Rattino, our engineer Dave McCann The
executive producer of the Lara of La Pay podcast on
iHeart is Monica whitcop for Math. This is Wayne and
(43:57):
we'll see you next time. I'm the Lery of Vila
pey Pie.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
The Larvian La Pey podcast is a production of iHeartRadio
Podcasts with hosts Way Larvy and Matt Lapey, with production
engineering by Dave McCann. The Lrevian La Peye podcast is
presented by Potawatamy Casino Hotel. Your win is waiting. Listen
to other episodes available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
It's so impressive that Murph has that gut feel and
can and seize things in players, and this kid took
a huge step and in Murph does see that in
players and he's able to make those adjustments again use
the analytics as a as a tool. He definitely does.
He embraces it, which all good managers I think do,
(00:22):
and I don't think there's any better manager than Pat
Murphy right now in the major leagues.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This is the Laravian La Pey Podcast, a production of
iHeartRadio Podcasts with hosts Swayne Larvy, the voice of the
Green Bay Packers, and Matt Lapey, the voice of Wisconsin
Badgers football and men's basketball. The Larravian La Pey Podcast
is presented by Potawatamie Casino Hotel.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Your win is waiting. Hi everybody, I'm Wayne Larvy and
I'm Matt lape Welcome to the Lerravie La Pey Podcast,
presented by pottawatab Be Casino Hotel. Coming up on this episode,
we welcome Brewers analyst Vinnie Rattino to the Lair Vie
La Pey Podcast to wrap up the Brewers season and
for a preview of the World Series matching the defending
(01:08):
champion Dodgers and the America League champion Toronto Blue Jays.
Packers trying to put things together, but if the playoffs
begin today, they unfortunately don't. Green Bays four to one
on one record would be good enough for the number
one seed in the NFC and a bye, but of
course the playoffs don't begin now. Tough times in Madison
this fall, but college basketball just around the corner. We'll
(01:30):
discuss it all. Poto wannabe casino hotel. Your win is waiting.
We welcome in. Vinnie Ratino, current television analysts for FanDuel's
Sports Network in Wisconsin, covering the Milwaukee Brewers. He played
Major League Baseball for the Brewers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets,
and Cleveland Indians. Racine was conson native Wisconsin lacrosse. Vinnie,
(01:52):
did you get into broadcasting by design or did it
just happen for you?
Speaker 1 (01:56):
It kind of fell on my lap. And first of all,
thanks guys for having me on. This is an apple
so honor. I've been the huge fans of both of
yours growing up, Like you said, in Racine, Wisconsin, A
huge Wisconsin sports fan growing up. Still today obviously. So
I got into broadcasting after I was done playing. I
scouted for the Texas Rangers for four years. I played
for fourteen years professionally, parts of five seasons in the
(02:18):
Big leagues, and then I got into scouting. Had three
young girls at home, and it was like, this is
too much travel. I've already done the travel thing playing,
and so I got out of it. And I became
really good friends with Brian Anderson's brother, Mike Anderson, who
was a colleague of mine with the Texas Rangers. And
then after a couple of years of being out of
(02:39):
the game and just working a normal job, you know,
I contacted Mike and I said, look, I really missed
the game. And he said, you know, my brother thinks
you'd be a good broadcaster. And I said, no, I
would not. No, that sounds terrifying to me. And I
was not good at it. For the first couple of years,
I did the pre and postgame show. At the time,
it was called Bally Sports was Counts and uh and
(03:02):
and I just kind of, you know, kind of followed
the lead of Brian. Brian Anderson has been a mentor
of mine, and he's kind of like held my hand
every step of the way and ever since, I just
I just really kind of dove in with two feet
and kind of approached it just like I approached playing
and kind of tried to get the most out of
my talents and abilities that God gave me. As a player.
(03:25):
It wasn't very good, but you know, I feel like
I found my niche as a broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I love it more than playing, to be honest. As
much as I love playing and as much as I
love scouting, I just absolutely love it. And I it's
I'm with the best broadcast crew in all of baseball,
right so with with Brian Anderson, with Jeff Levering, he's
a rising star in the industry. Rock I get to
I get to bounce questions off of Rock how he
(03:51):
does it. He is one of the best in the game.
So it's been so much fun. And uh, it was
not by design, but I'm super glad that I dove
in with two feet with it.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
Well, I say, it's working out really well for you.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Then you do. You do a great job.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
And when you talked about scouting, I just and I
got to know Mike Anderson a little bit as well.
But but I remember this was several years ago at
the ballpark. I was talking with Bob Yucker and a
But the importance of scouts everything. Now, there's the analytics
and that's all very very important, but scouts and you
lived it, you know this. Scouts can tell you some
stuff that you're not going to get in an iPad, right,
(04:26):
I mean, and I know there. You know a lot
of organizations are shifting a little bit. Then the importance
of scouts. It's pretty hard to overstage, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It really is, because you know, you can you can
look on a spreadsheet and the algorithm can kind of
spit out what you're looking for in terms of players
that have done it similarly similarly with similar numbers, and
the numbers aren't getting so granular now right where they're
looking at eggs and velocities, they're looking at lawunch angles okay,
and they're looking at even they're even looking at swing
(04:56):
path okay, and and swings. But you have to see
it with your eyes that hey, look this isn't gonna work,
or hey look this guy, I've seen him play the
game quite frankly at the low way level or even
double A triple A level and this guy, he doesn't care,
(05:17):
he doesn't care about winning, doesn't care about teammates. He's
a selfish player. And you can see and sense I
don't care what the numbers say, but you can see
some of those intangible things that are so necessary. And
Pat Murphy with the Milwaukee Brewers and Matt Arnold with
the Milwaukee Brewers kind of really nailed this thing down
in these last few years with what types of people
(05:40):
they want in the clubhouse. And there is no way
that you're going to be able to find that find
the right kind of person. And again Pat Murphy continues
to talk about quote unquote that right person that they
want in the clubhouse, the right group of people, and
there's no way you're gonna be able to find that
by just looking at a spreadsheet. There's it's an absolutely
valuable tool to have all those numbers to kind of
(06:01):
cross check what you're seeing with the eyes, and the
eyes can cross and the numbers can cross check what
the eyes are seeing as well. Because as scouts, I
love scouting. I really love trying to nail down that
player that I thought there was going to be that
next hidden gem. And you know, they the scouting side
of things. You can you have your biases. We're all
(06:25):
human beings, and so you have your biases of what
you think works. But the numbers can kind of cross
check and say, hey, look, you know there's about five
people ever to play the game that that worked with this,
you know, with a thirty seven percent strikeout rate. Okay,
So that the numbers can can can kind of be
a tool for you to help kind of cross check
what you're seeing with your eyes as well.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
You know, Vinny, Matt and I have talked about this
a lot on this podcast over the years. You're so right,
and when it comes to scouting and you've been a scout,
the easiest thing to see is the athletic ability, right,
that's the you could see this guy, you can see that,
but being able to take that talent and okay, it's
(07:08):
not as Brian Cashman once said, he should tell because
they have a big payroll every year. It's not about talent.
It's about the right talent and that encompasses everything you said,
how does this guy fit in our clubhouse? Will he
fit in with this CBC? One of us, as Jerry
Krause the Old Bulls GM used to say, is he
(07:29):
our kind of people. And that's the hard thing, I
think for scouts to determine when you're looking at a
prospect who might be eighteen or twenty years old.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
That is difficult to sense. And I'll tell you some
organizations a acquire players that already have some of those
traits and some of those attributes, the intangible attributes that
you're talking about, Wayne, and be some develop them better
than others as well. And I think again the Milwaukee
(08:00):
are on the right track with both of those, you know,
I think because because look at the end of the day,
if you get to the big leagues and you are
a player, a selfish player that cares about their batting average,
their arbitration number coming up, so they got to make
sure that they, you know, are making sure that they
(08:20):
get their numbers, then making sure they're getting enough at bats.
If if that kind of player a season isn't going
well for them, they're going to be a negative detriment
to the clubhouse. And think about what that does to
the clubhouse. It affects everybody the You could have one
one cancer, okay, and there's a different term for it
(08:44):
in the clubhouse that I can't really use. On the
on the podcast. But if you have one type of
player that's kind of a cancer to the group, it
affects so many different uh, player is it affects so
many players in the clubhouse. And then all of a
sudden you're having the team selfless type of player kind
of battle with that that cancer. And it is again,
(09:06):
so now your energy and your clubhouse is being which
should be used towards winning. How are we going to
beat this opponent tonight? And again this applies to really
anything in life. Of course, it applies to any sport
as well. And you when you see that obviously on
the NFL side as well, and in that you see
it on you know, the football pside, college side as
well with football and basketball. And but what people don't understand, guys,
(09:31):
is that this is a is a factor in the
game of baseball more than you realize, because it is
an individualized sport, right, So you you against the pitcher,
it's one at bat, it's one ground ball hits you,
it's it's your one inning. And so it is an
individual sport where you have control over how you know
the outcome of the team, what the outcome of the
(09:51):
team is going to be on that game. But at
the same time, you are with those guys one hundred
and sixty two games for one hundred and eighty days,
so you're with them every single day. And so if
you have that energy that we call them energy sucks,
you know, they suck the energy out of the clubhouse.
I'm telling you it is so hard to kind of
get that back on the rails. So again, what the
(10:12):
Brewers did and what I tried to do as a
scout is try to identify that and and and I would.
I would advise the Texas Rangers. I did it all
the time. Find find those cancers early, and get rid
of them. That's what successful organizations have been doing all
throughout time for the last one hundred and fifty years
(10:32):
of professional sports. That's what the successful teams have done.
They they identify them and then they get rid of them.
They trade them, they cut them, whatever they have to do.
And that's I tell you, that is the recipe for winning. Yes,
you have to have talent, but I'm telling you you
can get guys can get to their ceiling when there
(10:54):
is a culture of winning, when everyone is in it together,
pulling on the same rope. You guys get to their
ceiling quicker because they're not focused internally, right, they have
external focus on how can I beat this guy, how
can we win tonight? And all of a sudden, because
you're thinking like that, you actually play better more consistently.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
And that sounds like ben a big part of the
formula for a Brewers team that never lost more than
four in a row and never lost more than three
in a row. I guess last year. Now, under any
circumstances with the veteran team, that's impressive. It's remarkable with
the team this young, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (11:28):
It really is?
Speaker 1 (11:28):
It really is, you know, because again Pat Murphy, he
had a bunch of young players and he admits it
in college he said he would be able to brainwash
college kids, right, And so it's so difficult at the
major league level and so impressive at the major league
level that he was able to It wasn't brainwashing anybody.
(11:50):
I mean, because these are grown men are who do
have careers, and they are concerned about their careers. But
to be able to get these guys to really have
that prime mary focus and their number one priority be
the team. It is easier with younger players who Patt
Murphy talked about their their cliffhangers. They were hanging on
by by their by their fingernails of staying actually in
(12:13):
the big leagues. So it's easier with those guys to
have them buy into this mentality, to this approach. But
again I think they to a man, every single one
of those guys in the in the clubhouse. I got
to talk to a bunch of them, meet all those
guys and kind of interact with them. To a man,
those guys already had those attributes naturally.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
And again Murph just pulled a little bit more out
of them in that regard. And then again, once you
have that that snowball rolling down the hill, that thing grows,
and it is the guys that are kind of on
the fence as to being in that snowball. The snowball
is so big at that point they get gobbled up
by it, right or or they get out of the way.
(12:55):
But again, I don't think there was any guy on
that team this year that had to get out of
the way, because again, they all had buy in. And
that's you're right, man, that's exactly why you know, the
team really didn't struggle for long stretches of time, you know, so,
and they obviously it helps that they had a bunch
of talented players, but again, were they that much talented,
(13:16):
that much more talented than other rosters around the league.
I mean, the Mets didn't even make the playoffs, right,
so it's it was impressive. It really was. I don't
know if I've seen it at the major League Baseball
level the way that I saw it play out this year,
because again, to have everybody buy in. You'll see it
from teams get buy in like in September because oh
(13:39):
they can see the World Series coming. I mean, maybe
you see that from the Blue Jays, but they had
buy in early, and they didn't have it at first,
quite necessarily because they struggled all the way for the
first six seven weeks of the season. The first four
games they went on four and were outscored by thirty
six runs. So it was a struggle early. But again,
the way that they turn it around and the way
(14:00):
that everybody was in it together, I don't know if
I've seen that over the course of the season. It
was really really impressive.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Guys, Vllaravia and Lapay Podcast presented by Potowanamy Casino Hotel.
Your win is weighty.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Vinnie Rattino, analyst for the Milwaukee Brewers and fan duel
Matt and Vinnie, you guys brought up something. Okay, the
Brewers never had that long losing spell. The Yankees went
through a spell of about five weeks, the Dodgers went
through a spell of about four weeks where they hardly
could win a game. And these are two of the
(14:34):
winningest teams in baseball this year. I think that kind
of underscore is where the Brewers are. But my question
to you, as you watch baseball, it's always been stats driven.
It's always now we have more analytics, stats, and there
are things I don't even recognize. And I did baseball
back in the nineties, but terms we didn't even have,
(14:56):
or stats we didn't even have back then. And you
got all these stats and everything, all these analytics, and
some organizations from the top on down are really deep
into the analytics and all that stuff. I sense from
the outside looking in that Murph is a guy who
takes these analytics and says, Okay, but my gut says,
do this is that accurate or not?
Speaker 1 (15:17):
He does He definitely does do that, and he uses
the analytics as a tool, you know, but at the
same time, and Caleb Durbin is a perfect example, right,
So here's here's a little nugget. So Caleb durban his
swing path. The analytics say that his swing path is
a little bit it can be exposed against good right
(15:41):
handed sinkers. Right right handed sinkers, I guess still have
nightmares against right handed sinkers. Right, So a good right
handed sinker is tough against the guy with a bad path,
like like Caleb Durbins. He had a little bit flatter path,
And so they they can analyze that and say, okay,
so maybe this is a better matchup to have someone
(16:04):
else in there, all right and play third base. Well,
this kid, I mean, you guys watched him play this year,
super impressive. He's five to seven, one hundred and eighty pounds.
He's built like a spark plug. And this kid believed
that he was a major league player. He's twenty seven
(16:26):
or twenty eight years old. Career minor leaguer and Division
three player. Drafted in the fourteenth round, traded twice draft
originally by the Atlanta Braves, trade over the Yankees, and
then trader over to the Brewers, and there is something
about his mindset that Murph sees guys. Quite frankly, I
(16:47):
did not see it. I'm a scout and I didn't
see it from him. I saw the mindset, I saw
the belief, but I didn't see the ability to make
the adjustment necessary to play everyday third base at the
big league level. Offensively. I thought he was going to
maybe get exposed over there. Not only was I wrong,
which good scouts kind of admit that they're wrong at times,
(17:08):
but he not only could play everyday third base, but
he all of a sudden turned himself into above average,
a plus third base defender. And the analytics actually bear
that out. I mean, he made play after play after play.
He was challenged over and over and over. So not
only could he play the defense, but he could also
He wanted to prove everybody that he could also hit
(17:29):
right handed pitching in right handed sinkers. That again, the
analytics said he wasn't going to be able to hit.
He did that, and then some this guy was what
an important cog in the wheel for the Brewers and
where would they have been? You can say this about
a lot of guys this year for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But where would they have been without Caleb Durban. They
did not have a third baseman going into the season.
He didn't make the team out of spring training, and
(17:52):
he was in Triple A for the first what was it,
first four or five weeks and then again, I think
I'm not one hundred percent sure on this, but I
can speculate that Murph was really pushing for him to
come up to the big leagues and be that everyday
third baseman. He was still it felt like, again I
don't know exactly, but it felt like he was getting
pushed back, perhaps saying like, Okay, we you know, I
(18:14):
don't know if this guy can play every day third base,
he's gonna get exposed against right handed sinkers. Well what happened.
This kid has a belief in himself that he was
going to be able to make the adjustment, and he
did and then some So yeah, Wayne, it's it's so
impressive that Murph has that gut feel and can and
seize things in players, and this kid took a huge
(18:35):
step and in Murph does see that in players and
he's able to make those adjustments. Again, use the analytic
analytics as as a tool. He definitely does. He embraces it,
which all good managers I think do, and I don't
think there's any better manager than Pat Murphy right now
in the major leagues because he has that great balance
between that gut feel and then using the numbers as well.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
We never know exactly what will happen between now in
the beginning of next season, but it seems to me,
Vinny that this roster could look very similar next year.
There's the paralta question what he did with Woody. I
don't know Reese, Hoskins, Kintana, but the the core.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Of the team.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
I mean, you mentioned a Germanderman, but you know terrang
Contres freely, they're going to be here for a bit
and and their style of play, it just seems like
a perfect fit. They're not you know, they're not trying
to load up with the with a bunch of fifty
home run you know, they'll steel bases, they'll go first
to third. It seems like it's set up to be
(19:35):
pretty good contending for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Do you agree, Well, I I one hundred percent agree.
And the thing that I go back to a lot
is that you have you still have some some guys
I call them lineup anchors really, right, So you can
always go back to these guys that are that are
sitting in the middle of your order, that are going
to be able to produce, and that opposing pitchers are
really kind of worried about. And those guys are jack Centurio.
(20:00):
By the way, you have eight more years of control
over Jackson Curio. He's only going to be twenty two
years old. And since I mean we've I've talked at
nauseum about how good this kid is, and he is
just scratching the surface as to how good he's going
to be because again he's only twenty two. What were
you guys doing with I mean, I don't yeah, me too,
(20:22):
You to be lacrosse And so, yeah, this kid is special.
He's going to be a lineup banker. He's going to
produce driving runs, hit home runs, hit for average steel bases,
play good defense in the outfield. And then you have
Christian Yalich. He had a such a resurgent year. Now
I know everyone's probably clamoring he needed to produce a
little bit more in the in the playoffs. I think
(20:44):
it was just kind of a blip on the radar
struggling at the wrong time type of a thing. You'll
be fine, He's going to continue to produce. He's still young,
quite frankly, you know, and one of the older guys
in the team, but he's still in his he's still
on that age curf. Again. What the what the analytics
will show you is that guys start to decline a
little bit into their you know, mid thirties, and so
(21:08):
Christian Yelich is still kind of you know, before that,
and then William Catreres, he's he's only gonna continue to
get better. So and so then you have a bunch
of these kind of what Pat Murphy calls woodpeckers, right
and meaning they are guys that are just gonna give
you a great at bat. They're gonna be such tough outs.
They get on base, they hit for average. Talking about
(21:31):
salth Freelick, you know, Bryce Terrang might even be not
a woodpecker. He might be one of these lineup anchors.
As we saw that he hit eleven home runs in
the month of August. Now, I don't think he's gonna
hit eleven home runs every month, but he's certainly tapping
into some of that power. So He's going to be
a guy that is gonna you can plug and play
(21:51):
him at second base and he's gonna play that platinum
Glove caliber defense every night. He is a winner, steals bases.
I mean, there's so many attributes about all these players
that there's just not They're not one dimensional from one
through nine in the lineup any given night, any given night. Uh,
these guys are not one dimensional. And then you talk
about the starting pitching. They're going to continue to to
(22:13):
be great because they have Chris Hook, who's going to
continue to make tweaks with these guys. And and then
I mean you think about what he did with Quinn Priester.
Quinn Priest hat a six point two to three e
R going into the season. He started his career out
with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Brewers get a hold
of them, and Chris Hook does his magic and he
turned him into one of the better starting pitchers in
(22:35):
the game. We'll see what they do with Freddy Peralta. Now,
a lot of people I see the narrative out there
on social media and stuff. They you know, hey, the Brewers,
this is what's wrong with baseball. You know, Look, I
think this is the fact. And let me back up
the fact that they might trade Freddy Perlton, but this
is what they do. This is kind of how the
Brewers have to continue to sustain success. If they do
(22:59):
end up aiding Freddy Peralta, you know that, you know
that they're going to do it for the right price,
and they're going to get a package back, and they're
going to get a package back that could include a
couple of future Freddy Peralta's. That's how good this Matt
Arnold has been in the front office. They continue to
make these types of moves in order to sustain that
success and just continue to replenish the system and replenish
(23:24):
young players at the big league level. And I'll say
this too, it's almost an advantage that the Brewers are
a small market team because think about some of these
guys that have come up and need to finish off
their development at the big league level. You're talking about
a Quinn Priester. Now, if Quinn Priester is in any
other market, any other big market, you can you can
(23:45):
take this example with really a lot of the players
that have developed at the big league level with the Brewers.
You take a Quinn Priester and you throw them in
New York and he's and he would get perhaps booed
off the mound, you know, if he struggles one game.
The Brewers and the fans, best fans of baseball, they
understand this, So they give guys a longer leash. The
media understands this in Milwaukee, give guys a longer leash
(24:08):
in order to develop. It's almost a competitive advantage to
be in Milwaukee because now because of that, because of
the longer leash, because of the understanding that this is
how the Brewers have to sustain success. That's how they're
able to make these guys into really productive major league players,
where again they might not get that opportunity, that long
(24:28):
of an opportunity in other markets.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
And so.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Any changes that you do see to the roster guys
next year, you're going to see they're going to be
smart moves. They're going to be moves that are going
to help the future of the Brewers and help the
future or help the Brewers in the future perhaps win
that World Series that we're missing. I know we were
heartbroken again this year, but it was a better It
was a step in the right direction.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
They just ran into a bus saw too, Righteah, the
Dodgers were just ridiculous that series.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
They were. I don't you know a lot of people
are saying, like, Okay, it would have been way different
if Bryce Terran got hit by that pitch with the
bases loaded in Game one, tied the game, and then
maybe they win that game game one, and they would
have been a completely different series. Guys. I don't know
if it would have been. The Dodgers were playing that well, right,
they just they might have won in five instead of four. Yeah,
(25:22):
so I'm room for the Blue Jays, I really am.
But we'll see if the Dodgers stick care of the
business and the World Series as well.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
Well.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
Bitty, before we let you go, I mean, yeah, you're what.
We would be remiss if we didn't get your analysis
of the World Series matchup. You saw the Blue Jays
during the regular season. The Brewers went up there and
I think swept them. They swept the Dodgers during the
regular season. You've just seen them in the playoffs. What
do you make of this World Series matchup? I mean,
to me, I'm kind of I think Matt's like this too.
(25:49):
The Dodgers seemed to be on a roll right now.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Man, they look so tough. Not only they're starting pitching,
but their lineup all of a sudden is hitting up
and down the line lip and that's what the Brewers
kind of caught them at a really good time during
the season where they swept them six and oh three
in Milwaukee and then three in La. If you remember,
Mookie Betts was not swinging the bat well during that series.
Neither was Freddy Freeman. Those guys were both struggling and
(26:18):
their third baseman was out as well, who was injured.
I'm not sure why I'm blinking on his day, but
so it was. This is a different Dodgers team right now.
It's gonna be a tough task for the Toronto Blue Jays,
although they are similarly built at like the Milwaukee Brewers
in that they have a bunch of guys up and
down the lineup that are tough outs. They were number
(26:39):
one in contact this season. They didn't strike out at all,
so they're an impressive group. They have the whole country
behind them as well, so thirty million fans, thirty million
people living in Canada and the entire countries behind them
because that's their only baseball team. They're a hockey country,
but they are all behind the Toronto Blue Jays, So
we'll see if that's a factor. We didn't see that
(27:00):
the fans were a factor, and just kind of the environment.
We're a factor against the Dodgers in Milwaukee. There's kind
of like, Okay, been there, done that. That's what experience
in the playoffs does do for you. They were not
phased by the loud crowds, but we'll see if that
does affect them. Because Toronto has home field advantage in
this World Series. Obviously give the edge to the Dodgers
(27:21):
just because of how well they're playing. And they're starting
to have four aces, four guys that basically throw a
hundred miles per hour that can run out there every
single night, including show Halo Tani including Blake Snell and
Tyler Glass now and then yet Yamamoto as well. So
they have the starting pitching and the horses to kind
of mow through the Toronto Blue Jays. But that's a
scrappy group. We'll see what happens.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
I'm rooting.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
I am rooting for the Blue Jays in this one.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
My final question here too, It isn't the debate. I
know we get accused often of recentcy bias, But when
you think of greatest performances on the big stage, isn't
the debate now, what's the second best after Shoi Otani
and gained four? I mean, Vinnie, we were talking Reggie
Jackson back in the seventies. We're hitting those bombs against
the Dodgers. He didn't pitch six, strike a shut out
(28:07):
at he's striking it out ten. I mean, I mean
it's second best. That's the debate as well.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
I think about now you almost have to say, in
all time in sports history, right, the you know, the
big greatest ard I mean, Wilt Chamberlain one hundred points.
You know, I'm sure Michael Jordan's got a few games
that are gonna be argued to be up there for
the greatest performances of all time. But that one for
Otani to do it, he just it looked like he
(28:35):
wasn't gonna be denied, right, you know, Game four, I'm
gonna go ahead and win this one for us guys.
And it was I mean, three bombs, one of them
went out of the stadium, six innings, ten punch outs.
You kind of just had to marvel at it. I
talked to some of the coaches after and they were like, oh,
that was that was impressive. Just what what show Aotoni.
(28:58):
It was heartbreaking, of course to get knocked out of
the playoffs, but the fact that he did that, uh
and and for the and to do it against our
Brewers wasn't fun. But at the same time, it's like, wow,
that was something to watch and so greatest baseball player
of all time. He's going to be in that conversation
because he's there's no signs of slowing down. The fact
(29:18):
that he can do both pitch and hit. No one
ever has done that. Babe Ruth did it for a time,
but then he was only a hitter after he was
done pitching for the first few years of his career.
So he's going to be in that conversation and it's uh, yeah,
he's and he's a Dodger for a very long time
as well, so that he's going to be a thorn
in the Brewers side going forward.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, Vinny, can't thank you enough. Really enjoyed the conversation,
love the background and scouting and you know, the stuff
you bring on the air is just outstanding. And you
know what, uh and I look around Major League Baseball.
I know Matt does too because we're fans. But the
production overall of Brewers Baseball on the local level, it
is a It is a network quality broadcast every night regardless,
(30:03):
it really is. You got to be proud of that
and proud of your role in it.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Oh I am, I really am. And again it's it's
been so much fun and I'm hoping to do this
for a very long time because I am having so
much fun doing it. And again, thank you guys so
much for having me on. It is truly an honor
to have this conversation with you.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
Guys.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah, it's a pleasure having you. And then I'll echo
what Wayne said to you. Guys are great at what
you do. It's a family and when we when we
tune in, we're entertain We learn stuff too, So you check,
you check all the boxes.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Man appre sure.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Thanks guys, well Wayne, the highly anticipated Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
I guess the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
Oh, the Steelers and the Packers coming up? Just another game, right.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
You know, Matt to echo the company line, and you
know I'm a company guy. The Packers are playing the
Steelers who just happened to be quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers.
Aside from that, there's nothing more to it.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
What old boy can still sling it? Though, okay, he's
he's he still has it.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I'll tell you what, Matt. I'm watching tape this week
of him, and I didn't get a look. Well, he
didn't play a lot with the Jets at first, certainly
not the first year, but even last year. I didn't
really look at him. But I'm watching him now and
he's moving better than he has since before that Achilles
surgery he had two years ago. He's still I mean,
the accuracy, the velocity on the ball. Obviously he's always
(31:25):
been smart behind center, and you know, all those things.
He is really playing well and he will, you know,
he'll be tuned up for this ball game coming up.
Although you know, people are asking me kind of comparing
this to like when Farv went to the Vikings. Remember
two thousand and nine, he finally gets to the Vikings
and they played the Packers twice, and I remember Monday
(31:48):
night game in the Metrodome and far In the Vikings won,
and they won a few weeks later in Green Bay again,
and I remember Mike McCarthy saying, you know, gosh, they
almost their season almost went off the rails. The Packers
did make the playoffs that year, but their season almost
went off the rails because there was so much intensity
involved in that matchup because of the way the far
(32:11):
Era ended in Green Bay and a lot of the people,
the same people were on that team and nine and
they were really just sky high for it, maybe too much.
So I don't think that's so much the case here.
First off, we don't have the kind of animosity in
this matchup that we had Vikings and Packers. I mean,
Vikings are They're a regular rock full of the Packers
(32:33):
maybe the greatest rival. Secondly, the Steelers are not. They're
an infrequent rival, and there were a team the Packers
beating the Super Bowl years ago. But beside from that,
you don't have that kind of intensity regardless of who's
on the field. But the Rogers, you know, Packers matchup,
This is going to be very interesting. Jordan Love and
Rogers have an excellent relationship. They had a great working relationship,
(32:56):
and there's so much of Aaron Rodgers game in what
I see Jordan Love do when he's back there in
the pocket looking downfield. So it'll be an interesting game,
and yes, is it a big Is it just another game? No,
it's not, but I know Matt Laflora hopes you believe
it is just another game.
Speaker 4 (33:15):
The Steelers. I grew up in Southwest Ohio, so I
followed the Bengals a lot growing up and really learned
to not like the Steelers, which was that he'll be
kind of dumb because the Steelers were in their dynasty years,
you know, with the Steel Curtain and Bradshaw, Frank O'harris
Appleton's own Rocky Blier. They're kind of my second favorite
NFL team right now, though, Wayne, with all those Badgers
(33:38):
on the roster for the Steelers.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Well, I propose we start a new segment, and we
really ought to get the sales staff to sell this
Badgers against Packers, you know what I mean each week
because you know the program meant the Badger program has
been so great over the last thirty years that the
NFL stocked with a lot of ex Badgers across the league.
Every week we go and I keep forgetting to do
this every week we go in, I said, you know,
(34:04):
I had asked Matt about that guy in the podcast
because he you know, the guys played four years at Madison.
You've got two of them. You've got TJ. Watt and
Nick Herbig in this game. Two pass rushers who are
formidable when they're on the field together, and they're playing
for the Pittsburgh Steelers against Green Bay Packers. Tell me
about those two when they were undergrads at Wisconsin.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Well, you know, Nick Herbiy. It was really interesting because,
you know, in the COVID year, we're waiting for everything
to be checked off and start playing games. I sat
down with Jim Leonard, it was a defensive coordinator at
the time, and I was we were just doing I
was just going down the laundry list to certain players
and I got the Herbig and Jim said, he's different.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You know, he's he's.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
From Hawaii, very you know, really well known program down there,
and just somebody who in certain instance, as many instances,
was unblocked just to had a relentless nature to him.
He was one of those guys. I don't know how
many other people knew this, but the Wisconsin coaching staff
knew they had somebody really, really special. And and you know, t. J.
(35:11):
Watts is an interesting story here, and he obviously he
got the big contract over the summer. He was a
tight end here who couldn't stay healthy, and it was
like his career was never gonna unfold. At Wisconsin, he
had had some surgeries and then the coaching staff made
a decision to hey, let's try him an outside linebacker
(35:31):
that just might be at a better fit for him.
And yeah, it probably was a better fit. He went
from somebody Wayne who didn't know if he was ever
really gonna get a college career to speak of, into
becoming an All American and just being part of that,
you know, the Watt family royalty in the NFL. Remember
(35:53):
Derek Watt played with the Steelers as well as a fullback.
But everybody knows about JJ and he's selling in the
broadcast world right now. But he'll be inducted in the
Hall of Fame. It's it's when, not if, Probably as
soon as he's eligible. And I think TJ's on a
very similar path. He's just the story and the work
that he put in to just get in the league,
(36:18):
you know, and and now becomes a dominant force in
the NFL. But this was somebody his first couple of
years of Wisconsin. They can wow, I don't know about this.
You know Keanu Benton from Janesville, Raw as a football
player coming to Wisconsin, who was a really good wrestling
loved wrestling, turned himself into an NFL player and someone
(36:39):
that that they count on. Isaiah Laudermilk same thing, you
know in his career, just continue to develop. And that's
why when Paul christ was was a head coach at
pitt you know, they play in the same in the
same stadium, and he got to know I think Mike
Tomlin and some of those guys. So there there's been
a mutual admiration between the program and the Steelers on
(37:03):
a trick for the Badgers way and is to get
some more guys in the league. It's been a little
bit of a dip, but those dudes, all of them
represented Wisconsin really well and I'm thrilled for them for
what they've done.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I mean, TJ.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Watt has been for a while one of the best
out there.
Speaker 3 (37:20):
Well, I tell you, and there's no question Matt, he
and JJ will be in the Pro Football Hall of
Fame sometimes sometime very soon JJ first and then TJ
when his career is over. But just phenomenal players and
herbig is playing a nice role in Pittsburgh, and he
got a chance to start a little bit earlier this
year as Alex Highsmith was out with an injury. But
(37:40):
at any rate, very good players. And I'm not going
to go back. I'm just going to mention it. The
Packers had a chance to draft TJ. Watt and they
needed a cornerback. They felt they could trade back in
the draft in twenty seventeen, they got the first pick
in the second round. TJ. Watt went a couple of
(38:01):
picks or a pick or two later to the Steelers. Wow.
The Packers at stayed put and made TJ. Watt their
first round draft choice that year. How different would things
be in Green Bay? And I say that, folks, because
t J. Watt is one of the rare people in
pro football that actually can make a difference across an
(38:21):
entire team. And it would have been a much different
situation in Green Bay, I think in terms of where
they are maybe right to this day, where they are
with players and that type of thing, because you know,
they've had to they had to hire, they had to
bring in free agents y Darius Smith, Preston Smith, and
now they had to go out and get Micah Parsons
and everything. What do they have TJ. Watt sitting there? Yeah,
(38:45):
film record.
Speaker 4 (38:46):
Yeah that is fortunate to now they have one by
the name of Parsons. Yeah, I'm saying it was a
good but yeah, it's a great family too. That's all
of them, JJ, Derek, TJ.
Speaker 3 (38:56):
The family.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
It's just it's an easy it's an easy group of
people to root for.
Speaker 3 (39:03):
So yeah, you know, I mean, and Matt, that's hard.
The part of the problem for I know, Packers fans
because what was Wisconsin, you know, yeah, exactly Wisconsin. Yeah,
you know, I mean, gee, but at any rate, that
was Ted Thompson's last draft in Green Bay, and you know,
things have changed considerably, but hindsight's always twenty twenty and
(39:24):
those stories are bound in draft circles. So the Packers
and the Steelers Sunday night, it'll be it'll be great theater.
Mike Mike Jeriko is especially pumped for this because a
couple of weeks ago when we were in Dallas, all
he was talking to me about was I can't wait
for the Rogers at Packers Matt John So I can
tell you the media has been looking ahead on this.
(39:44):
I trust the team does not. But now we're up
against it, and it should be interesting to see the
way the whole thing plays out. I will say this,
the Steelers and Packers are two teams who aren't even
close to putting it together. Yet. They're getting there, they're
making strides, but at this stay to the season, they've
they've got a they've got a ceiling that's pretty high up.
Both teams to meet before they're done with their duty
(40:07):
this year in the NFL. So it should be an
interesting ballgame. Nonetheless, the drama notwithstanding. All Right, the Badgers
head out to Oregon, and Matt give me something to
be positive about here, coming off the two home losses
they just had.
Speaker 4 (40:20):
Well, I talked to a young man who punted for
the first time last week. I named Sean West out
of Mechwan Homestead, and he had the biggest running play
of the game. It was a It was an uncalled
fake punt. A heis and that that was That was
the highlight in last week's game really against the Ohio State. Look,
they're a bad way. There's no I can't I can't
(40:42):
spend this. I mean, you and I are in the
profession of not you know, getting into debate shows and
hot takes and all that. But they're they're in a
bad way with this program right now. They're trying to
Chris Bacintosh, the athletic director, put out a letter to
season two fans season ticket holders, and you know they
want to increase their financial commitments, and that's certainly part
(41:04):
of the issue. Injuries have been part of the issue.
But I can tell everybody in the world that Luke
Fickle is a really good guy, and he is we
have a really good professional relationship. Oregon's really good again
or the highest scoring teams and all college football. Matter
of fact, it is, it's the second highest scoring team
(41:24):
in the land at forty four points a game. They're
very balanced. They're really physical too way and I think
that's the one thing real quick as we wrap this up.
I think there's this image of West Coast teams, if
it's SCU, C, l A or up in the Pacific Northwest.
But it's a finesse driven kind of approach, and they
have very skilled players, without a doubt, Dante more outstanding quarterback.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
But you know they're.
Speaker 4 (41:49):
Offensive and defensive fronts. Offensive line, they're defensive front. It's
a physical group. So I think that's one thing that
maybe some teams have found out the hard way. And
this is an Oregon is not afraid to line up
and you run the ball down your throat and defensively
get after you. So another very daunting assignment for Wisconsin
(42:11):
coming up. I'm it's supposed to be a kind of
a cold, rainy day in Eugene. So just to add
to it all.
Speaker 3 (42:17):
Are there any other kind of days in Eugene except
cold and rainy?
Speaker 4 (42:21):
Well then they try to tell you it never rains
on Austin Stadium, but apparently it's going to. So it's
a Grateful Dead theme here, so like like they need
a special theme for this, but they're you know, the
the uniforms are going to have a different look. That'll
be impossible to see the numbers and all think of me, Wayne,
(42:41):
if you would, I appreciate it because I think of
you when these NFL teams go with their throwback unis
and you can't read the numbers. And that's all that
stuff that you and I talk about that nobody else cares.
Speaker 3 (42:52):
Yeah, that nobody else cares about. But we're going to
talk about it because it placates us. And ex South
thought us. But but you know, the Steelers are going
to have some kind of goofy uniform from what I
understand this week, as well a throwback stuff. And you
know what I think of throwbacks. So I'd rather throw
up on our own back. Yeah, throw them, throw up
on them and then throw them back. Yeah. Well that'll
(43:13):
do it for the Hey, good luck out there. Auxtin
Stadiums in Austin. Awesome atmosphere for football. It's great setting
and I know you'll you'll enjoy that aspect of it.
And hopefully the Badgers will play an excellent ball game
out there, maybe steal a win. That would be awesome. Boy.
And I'm with you man. You know, Coach Fickle, there's
it's not for lack of trying resources, as the athletic
(43:35):
director pointed out, and need to be stepped up. There's
no doubt about that. But you know, Luke Fickele we
know is a very very good football coach. It's just
not going well at the moment. Hopefully we can get
something going out there that'd be great. Thanks to our
guest Brewers analyst Vinni Rattino, our engineer Dave McCann The
executive producer of the Lara of La Pay podcast on
iHeart is Monica whitcop for Math. This is Wayne and
(43:57):
we'll see you next time. I'm the Lery of Vila
pey Pie.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
The Larvian La Pey podcast is a production of iHeartRadio
Podcasts with hosts Way Larvy and Matt Lapey, with production
engineering by Dave McCann. The Lrevian La Peye podcast is
presented by Potawatamy Casino Hotel. Your win is waiting. Listen
to other episodes available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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