On this week’s edition of Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob discusses why he's feeling better than ever about his 'Blue Jays in 6' prediction from before the World Series, why he's not a fan of all these outside-the-box managerial hires in baseball, and why it's clear that most regular MLB players are jealous of superstars like Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. Later, 3x MLB All-Star Vernon Wells stops by to tell us what Toronto needs to do to finish off the Los Angeles Dodgers and win their first World Series title in over three decades. Plus, MLB Network an FOX Sports Radio MLB insider Jon Morosi checks in to share his thoughts on the World Series as a whole. Finally, Rob hits us with his latest appearance on MLB Network.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
From the Berkshars to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number fifty seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Come on, I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost
forty years now, in New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit,
in LA.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I love this game.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Let's go.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm your host, Rob Parker with a very special World
Series edition of Inside the Parker coming up.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Former Major League center fielder Vernon.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Wells, of course, played for the Blue Jays for a
long time. He'll stop by. Plus John Morosi from MLB Network,
he'll drop by. We'll have so much to talk about
the World Series, as we had to Game six in Toronto.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Let's go better up.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
To lead off. It's getting rocked to keep them on.
Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major
League Baseball. Number one.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Before the World Series started, I was on Dave Simms podcast.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Hey now Dave Sims.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Of course, the Yankees played by play radio man, and
Vernon Wells was on that podcast as well, But.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
I had a prediction. People looked at me sideways.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
They were kind of looking like I was crazy talking
about I want to pick the Blue Jays in five,
but I'll pick them in six and take a listen
to my prediction.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
And I don't want to pat myself on the.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
Back, but I was spot on.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I'm the Nate Sayer, and I'm gonna say this. First
of all, the Brewers were dead. It's absolutely dead. I'm
not knocking the starters that the Dodgers have, but everybody
jumped on, Oh, look how great old Tony was. Well,
wait a minute, Snell pitch eight inning was outstanding, right, Yeah,
I'm a moto pitch nine inning. It's a complete game,
and everybody's telling me, how great show Hey Before show
(02:16):
Hay's three home runs in that game, he was batting
one fifty in the playoffs with sixteen strikeouts in thirty
four games. Go look at the Dodgers' run total. They
haven't been hitting. They've been winning two to one. They
won Game one on a misplay and a bases loaded walk.
All I'm saying is I'm not buying that they're dominant,
and there's no chance that the Blue Jays have the
(02:36):
chance to win. They swing the bats, they score a
lot of runs. I like the blue Jays up and
down this series. The Dodgers will not be able to
score enough runs to beat the blue Jay.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 7 (02:49):
Rob brings up a good point like these are the
upstart wildcard Dodgers, the number one seed Phillies, and the
number two seed Brewers. This is really a miraculous run
that the Dodgers are on. They don't have home phill advantage.
They're facing another number one seed in the American League.
The Blue Jays, Like, Rob, You're right, the Dodgers they
don't have a chance.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
I didn't say they didn't have a chance.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Steven, I'm just playing man, I'm playing with.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Him number two.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I'm sorry, but I don't understand the managerial hiring this
offseason in Major League Baseball. First we saw the San
Francisco Giants hire a college coach. My god, never happened
in the history of Major League Baseball. And now the
Washington Nationals have picked up Blake but Terra, thirty three
(03:35):
years old. Thirty three years old, and he becomes the
youngest manager since the Twins hired a thirty three year
old back in nineteen seventy two. So but Terra was
a minor league player, you know, never made it to
(03:58):
the big leagues, but played. Was drafted in twenty fifteen
by Tampa Bay thirty fifth round, played at Boston College,
and has been in Tampa Bay's farm system as their
farm director in charge of its entire player development process.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
So you look at this.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Is this guy a savant, some genius baseball guy or
is this just a thirty three year old puppet that
they the front office can dictate what they want done.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
I mean, that's what you got to ask yourself when
this kind of hire is being made. I granted, there
aren't a lot of veteran managers with.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
World Series championships in their pockets, so I get there
aren't that many people, but my goodness, crazy, there's all
kinds of major league level coaches dying for their opportunity
in Major League Baseball, some guys waiting for their second
chances who maybe managed once somewhere. So there we have it.
A thirty three year old in Washington doesn't sound good
(05:02):
to me.
Speaker 8 (05:03):
Number three, The MLBPA Players Choice Awards were announced, and
guess what it weaked of jealousy, and you know, players
having skin in the game and not wanting to acknowledge
the other great players that they play.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Against, because somehow, some way, the best player in the
National League was Schwarber, not Otani, and the best player
in the American League was Raleigh not Judge, And you know,
you could make your choices wherever you want. Just seems
(05:44):
really weird that Judge put together this unbelievable year and
players didn't vote for him. Like in a league where
people batting two point forty two is the average, Judge
hit three point thirty one with power.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yes, Raleigh hit sixty home runs.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I get it, and I'm not taking away from the
year he had, but it seems weird. And the same
thing here we are here in every day fans and
reporters and analysts talking about Otani's the greatest player of
all time, and yet he's not the National League Player
of the Year by the Players Association.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I've said it before. People always say, don't let the
sports writers vote for anything.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Those guys they hate the player, They're always holding grudges.
No writers broadcast, they don't have skin in the game.
Players have skin in the game. And unfortunately, we've seen
this before. We saw one hundred and twenty five players
not vote for Lebron James for an All Star Game. Yes,
(06:53):
they're tired of Judge and Otani getting all the love
for as good as they are, so they want to
see somebody. Let's vote for some I'm tired of Otani,
I'm tired of Judge.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yes, that's not the way it should be.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You should celebrate the greatest players who play, and they did.
Both of them deserve to have won the Choice Award
in both leagues.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Here comes the big interviews. Listen and learn.
Speaker 9 (07:20):
We're so good.
Speaker 10 (07:22):
All right, let's welcome in former Major league outfielder Vernon Wells,
who played eleven years in Toronto for the Blue Jays. Centerfielder,
gold Glove winner, had a tremendous career, and we were
on the Dave Simms podcast, Hey Now last week previewing
(07:42):
the World Series.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We both picked the Blue Jays in six games. Now,
the Blue Jays are here with a chance to close
it out in six games in Toronto.
Speaker 11 (07:54):
What do you think The only thing that stands in
between our predictions of them winning in six is Yamamoto
and He was the one person on that podcast that
I was worried about because he's nasty, but the Blue
Jays hadn't seen him up until that point. Now they've
seen him. They've all had plenty of it bats against him.
Now now that approach changes. Now they have a better
(08:14):
idea of okay, he's going. He's mixing in more off
speed stuff than his heater, even though the heater can
get up to ninety nine. So it's now I think
their approach is going to be different. Now they can
work counts a little bit better, they can battle a
little bit more, and yeah, they get him out of
the game a little earlier, or get him out of
the game period. Then they get in that bullpen and
they stand a chance. So I think our prediction could
(08:37):
be right. But it's going to be a lower scoring
game that the Blue Jays tend to pull out.
Speaker 9 (08:43):
Anyways, Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Exciting The series wind up being good, like really really good.
I think despite the Dodger struggles because a lot of
people came in and they just thought, oh, this is
a whitewash because they swept the Brewers and thought, oh well,
a Dodge is a winning I don't know how many
people told me, oh, back to back. And you notice, Vernon,
it's hard to win back to back championships in Major
(09:08):
League Baseball. We got to go back to the Yankees
ninety eight, ninety nine, two twenty five years ago. And
if you go to the National League, the last National
League team to win back to back championships the seventy
five seventy six Reds.
Speaker 11 (09:26):
Wow, I mean that's yeah, baseball, basketball, like I mean,
even football. It's like you you put your body through
so much more another month of baseball like it is.
It's a lot of baseball that's being played at shortens
or offseason. It does so many things and all those
sports that just put your body in a different place.
And to be able to repeat and come back and
(09:49):
even put yourself in that situation again to possibly do
it is hard. But then to go through sweep the
Brewers and talked about it on the podcast. The Brewers
just they weren't the Brewers at that point.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
They were dead, they were dead to be offensive. They
scored four runs in four games.
Speaker 11 (10:06):
Yeah, and you spoke on that and it was just
you hit that right on the head and its translated
over to this series. It's just the Dodgers haven't been
what they have been in the regular season at points,
and yeah they can they snap.
Speaker 9 (10:20):
Out of it without a doubt.
Speaker 11 (10:22):
I've ouldn't put it past the three Hall of Famers
to snap out of it in a game or two games.
Speaker 9 (10:27):
I'm hoping that doesn't happen, but I wouldn't put.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
It past those three to be able to do that
and flush everything that's happened before before this point and
come out and hit because it's a good it's a
great place to hit.
Speaker 9 (10:40):
It's one of the best places to hit in baseball.
Speaker 11 (10:41):
You see the ball so well, but that crowd, that atmosphere,
and they they're used to it, but Toronto hits a
little differently when when when their home team has a
chance to win a World Series.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Oh yeah, I was up there when they won back
in the nineties.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I've been covering baseball almost forty years and remember that
how great it was up there. But this will be interesting. Hey,
Vernon of great to talk baseball with you. Thanks for
your insight and appreciate it, my man.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 11 (11:10):
Yeah, ro good talking to you, man, Appreciate it.
Speaker 12 (11:14):
It's the gambler here. Vice President of operations for mlbbro
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Speaker 4 (11:24):
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When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto.
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Speaker 5 (13:22):
Now let's welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
John Morosi, of course from MLB Network, does a Fox
Sports Radio Baseball Insider for us as well, one of
the one of my favorite people in.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
The baseball media.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
And of course it's October, so it's only right John
that we would be talking as we're about to crowd
a new World Series champ within the next two games.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Right, how are you.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Doing great rob This has been an amazing October.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You kidding me?
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Some all time games, the eighteen inning game, there are
Game three Dodgers Blue Jays, one of the best World
Series games ever. You've had Otani have two of the
greatest postseason days in the history of the game within
the same span of ten days. So we have just
seen some amazing performances here lately.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
John, I want to ask you now, I picked the
Blue Jays in six prior. What was your original law,
you know, prediction on this series.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
What was it? I'm going to get that first.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Yes, my original thought was Dodgers in six. I thought
Dodgers and six, which felt I mean at the time,
I like the way that the Dodgers were playing. I
know that they've had some shortcomings offensively, even even against
the Brewers, but I just felt as though their overall
talent level was going to allow them to win this series.
But clearly it won't be a six game Dodger win.
(14:47):
That much we know. And I did believe though, from
having covered the Jays in the last round, that they
were equal to the task. That this was not. I
think there was a real misconception from too many folks
from the media thinking, oh, the Dodgers, they're just gonna
walk over the Blue Jays, No chance.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I agree with that, John, There was so many and
I was stunned that dismissed the team that was averaging
six and a half runs coming to the World Series.
You know, baseball, six and a half runs is a
ton of runs.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
That's right. I think Rob, people were not paying attention.
They were not watching this team. Look the Dodgers. Yes,
they've got superstars, multiple Hall of Famers. It's how you
are playing right now.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Not the.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Resume, exactly, your resume. Your resume doesn't go three for four.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It's not how it works.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
You can't put a put a piece of paper up
at home plate. That doesn't do any hitting for you. Okay,
So I think in general the J's were in a
really good run of form. I think offensively and the
thing they do, Rob that I love, that makes me.
It just it con up a lot of really positive
memories for me, is they build rallies. They build rallies.
(16:06):
As much as we talk about the Yankees the most,
really the last great dynasty we had in baseball, they
built rallies. They're there and then it would be Brocious
getting the big hit or Lerrett's getting the big hit.
These were moments that built one at bat after another,
and we're seeing that right now with the Toronto Blue Jays,
(16:28):
a team that understands how to build rallies, and you're
seeing guys like Barger and Jimenez and Kirk. I mean, again,
Kirk's an All Star caliber player and Jimenez is two, but.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Jimnez has got so many big hits in the playoffs
at the bottom of the final.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
I just I think Rob that there were a lot
of people that just missed how good this team was.
And and let us be fair too, the resiliency they
showed after Game three. Not only do they lose the game,
they lose it in eighteen innings, They use up all
their pitching, and George Springer, their most consistent player during
the season, is hurt, and yet you have Bishett stepping
(17:07):
in there. I thought the way they've turned around game
three to Game four was one of the more impressive
performances I have seen from the manager coaching staff on
down of understanding how to put that loss in the
rearview mirror, contextualize at lever them and say, hey, we
just played one of the great World Series games ever.
We shut down the Dodgers for like ten straight innings. Okay,
(17:30):
they did something right there, and I just thought overall,
it was a very impressive performance, especially in Game four
for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
And let's talk about Game five obviously.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know, they beat up Blake Snell the first game
they got to them, and here they are with a
chance Blake Snell pitching at Dodgers Stadium. You know, his
team could put them within the you know, one win
away from the World Series with their basically ace on
the mound right and three pitches in two balls leave
(18:01):
the yard. And it just I think people were shook
after those two swings.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
They were, And and I was that a case of
just the Jays being more aggressive? Was it the case
of the Jays knowing the scouting report better than what
the Dodgers did. Clearly you don't expect the game to
begin that way, and and their early aggressiveness on some level,
they had to expect Snell's gonna be around the plate,
Snell's gonna give us some pitches that we can hit
(18:29):
early in counts. And the adjustment was eventually made. It
was made a little bit too late. But I will
also say this, Rob Blake, Snell is not the reason
why why the Dodgers lost that game. The Dodgers lost
that game because there was no there was no CounterPunch.
And if you look at what what Snell did, his
overall score line was fine, especially by the standards opposing
(18:51):
the baseball. He gave his team a chance to win that.
Now there are there's what Treya Savage did, which was
even better than that.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You've been coming baseball for a long time. For a
twenty two year old with more starts in the postseason
in TRIPLEA to pitch at Dodger Stadium in an epic
important Game five against a guy like Snows, had nothing
but success in the postseason, strikeout twelve, no Walks, faced
(19:22):
three potential Hall of Future Hall of famers in the
first four batters and have as many swings and misses.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
And he was incredible.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
He was and I think this morning, actually I was listening,
Xavier Scruggs made a really good point Rob about the
difference between the first Y Savage starting in this World
Series and the second one. And then the first one,
as Xavier pointed out, you Savage didn't really have is
good splitter, And so we talk about the benefit you
(19:53):
get from facing a pitcher twice in the same series,
which is real. You certainly do have a benefit you're
familiar with him now. In all though, those things are
very legitimate. But the Dodgers didn't face that tray of
Savage in games.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
That's a good point because they didn't face.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
That one didn't have the splitter, So all of a
sudden you're like, whoa, where did this come from? This
was not part of my lived experience here. And so
because they didn't face that pitch and that guy, everything
changed and they never really looked comfortable. And I think
the important thing that you mentioned, Rob, Yeah, the strikeout
(20:31):
total was extraordinary, right, one of the best ever for
a pitcher of that young in the World Series. But
also the zero walks stands up to me in a
huge way because when you talk about a dangerous lineup,
this is the one issue that I ran into with
with the way the Jays, and I think they did
the right thing in Game three, because what other option
did you really have? Oh Tani was having one of
the best days ever.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
I just didn't like to walk in the ninth inning.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
I think it's every time every time you walk someone,
you're giving that part of the lineup more opportunities. You're
giving Freddie Freeman one more at bat, and eventually it
ended on a Freddy Freeman at bat. So when you're
walking guys as not just well walks of walk, yeah,
but it moves the lineup forward. And so not only
did you Savage keep the bases clean, basically he was
(21:14):
able to work so efficiently that the Dodgers never really
had enough opportunities to get their confidence going again and
really build momentum. So we talk so much rob about
what it means to win a postseason game.
Speaker 9 (21:28):
Or even a series.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I look at them as rounds of a boxing match,
even when you don't score runs. And I think John
Smoltz made this point the other day, and it's it
is true, even if you don't score a bunch of runs,
you're still grinding the guy down. You're doing things that score.
Some Body blows early in a game that show up
with fatigue later on, or you have to then face
(21:51):
a reliever multiple times. You get more looks at the reliever.
You feel better about it the second and third and
fourth time you face them in a series, and I
just think that the Toronto Blue They've not just won
three games, but they have won three games in such
a way that that has given them a continued advantage
they have not had. They didn't have to use Jeff
(22:12):
Hoffman in Game four. Little things that make a huge difference.
When you talk about how can you possibly beat the
Dodgers in a seven game series, you do it with
the type of baseball the Toronto Blueches are playing right now. Now.
I'm not saying that they're inevitably going to win it,
because there's a dude named Yabamoto who's gonna pitch in
(22:32):
Game six, and last I checked, he's pretty good. So
the Dodgers are one victory away from all of us saying, hey,
it's Game seven, anything gonna happen. God bless you, and
have fun playing the game where we're one good Yabamoto
outing away from that being the case. Again, So I
don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. But
when you talk about how you clinically win a series,
(22:53):
the Jays are playing baseball in what I consider to
be a clinical and fundamentally sound fashion.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
All right, last thing, and you're right now my motal
could go out there and pitch a great game.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
I do not.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Believe the Dodgers will be able to force a game
seven because I think maybe they get to the bullpen,
maybe they're off. The reason I picked the Blue Jays
I did not believe John that they had that the Dodgers'
offense could score enough runs.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
And these guys are really struggling.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't know, is a button gonna be pushed and
they're gonna hit the last two days, the last two
games of the season. You know, their resume says one thing,
but they're admired in such bad slumps. Freddy, I mean,
he had to walk off, but he's not hitting. Nobody's
hitting for power, nobody's hitting. Even when you look at Otani,
(23:50):
you take away those two great games, a lot of strikeouts,
you know what I mean, a lot of pop ups.
I just Mookie Betts is lost. I don't see it
at the bottom of the lot months he's not hitting.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Who's hitting right well?
Speaker 6 (24:07):
And let's be honest. You talk about the Dodgers, and
even when they were winning, they swept the NLCS, But
let me tell you how many runs they scored in
each game? Two five three and five. Again, it wasn't
like there was Moore in ten runs they and you
go back even and you look at how they played
against the Phillies. That was a pretty darn tight series.
(24:30):
In that series they scored five, four, two and two.
So again like, this is not they, this is not
even the lineup they had last year in terms of
how productive the players are. So I think that it's
it's in general a concerning sign for the Dodgers. It's
(24:50):
a core that is not really getting much younger. The
one of their younger position players who was really important
to them during the season, Andy Pakez, was benched in
Game five for Alex call to come in there because
that was really the one move they could make. You
start thinking around and where is the impact coming from
show A show A cannot do this by himself all
(25:11):
the time, And I think you're you're not seeing even
if you look back in the series against the Phillies,
two guys at home runs Edmund and Hernandez and and
even then there it's not as though really Edmund or
or Taylor are really going at this moment in time.
So there's I think there's some some lacking production really
across the board, it seems like to me, the Dodgers, Rob,
(25:32):
with the exception of Otani, it's almost like they're all
down about ten or fifteen percentage points and their overall
effectiveness from what they should be. And when you add
all of that up, at bat to bat to at bat,
the Jays are not feeling the stress that you would
expect them to feel against this Dodger team. And now, Rob,
those last two games are back in Toronto, a very
(25:54):
different situation.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
No doubt. All right.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
John Morosi's his name, and be Network check them out
here on Fox Sports Radio as well Joins Us and
other shows. Of course, the Odd Couple John always a pleasure,
And man, I think they close it out in six games.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
That was my original pick. I'm gonna stick with it.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Hey, Rob, listen, I gotta tell you this. I think
it'll go seven. Uh now, But I tell you this
if you if you're correct, I don't know if anybody
else in all the baseball media said Jason six. So Rob,
here's what you gotta do on every platform you got
for social media. You gotta take that pick when you
made it, put it up there, and then pin that
thing to your profile from now until the end of time.
(26:36):
Because any anytime anybody says hey, Rob, I didn't like
your take on the Lions, and say hey look at this,
I'll write a time I got this out.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I'm gonna take credit for it because people try to
shut down on that pick, no doubt. John.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
All right, buddy, we appreciate you. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Always good to see it, Rob.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
Thank thanks for the conversation. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
In case you miss Rob Parker the MLB Networks, here's
his latest appearance on mlbina.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Traditional Showdown on the Road. Though. We find a coastal
town and here's Rob Parker in the flesh Bay bad all.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Ros up, Bka, great, welcome to my town. You know
I live out here in la is your town.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
You have a press box where you're Connecticut? In Connecticut,
you got your high school in Queens. You can't you
can't own every town. Rom all over there you are.
That's great to see you always. All right, So let's
start off. You made a bit of news because that's
Rob being Rob. Shoeotani had this unbelievable game. We can
agree on that, right, get three home runs, hit six
shot out innings, ten strikeouts, and the question is it
(27:40):
the greatest postseason game ever?
Speaker 3 (27:42):
And you say, no way, nohow BK.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
The hyperbole after that was ridiculous, seriously, And it's not
to take anything away from Shoeo Tani and what he's
able to do.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
But when people start saying that was the greatest.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Game ever and he's the greatest play ever because of
that game, I cannot stamp that.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I'm with you. I begn't get a bit a bit now.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I even throw up, what are the greatest postseason games ever?
And it was Bob Gibson sixty seven games, seven hit
a home run, won the game, drikeouts, ten strike I
won a complete game, not six week game. And he
had three complete games in the series. Right, So I'm
saying that obviously Don Larson didn't give the Dodgers a
base runner a perfect game. We have Babe Ruth. By
(28:27):
the way, people forget Babra. The babe never did this.
The Babe won a game on the mound and hit
a two run triple to drive in two for the
Red Sox that he later needed a guy to pitch
two innings, but Joe Bush, remember him, good guy? He
got two outs and he closed out. But Babe Ruth's
game for the Red Sox over the Cubs was an
all time great game and or a Hersheiser went three
for three with a complete game against a dynamite packed Jack.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I'm glad you say that, because part of my issue
with the six innings and the ten strikeouts the Milwaukee
Brewers at that point, we're ba dead because Snell had
pitched great against them.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I'm a modal pitch a complete game against them. They
weren't getting.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Anybody, Yeah, they were, they were.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
They were dead in the water.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Now it's one of the greatest games in posts. I
got that, Okay, greatest, he said, yes, not that. It's
not a hater and you know it frequently now in
this sort of transformative media age where we have a
lot of young people who are just used to I
hate to use this, but they just gotta get onto
the hype. They don't have a knowledge of the history.
I don't want to be just everything has that context,
(29:31):
right and and and that's why we're here to say,
hold on, Bob Gibson.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Game sets humped the breaks, humped the breaks.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
A little bit. So you're right, you got a lot
of flat for that all. Rob Parker's a hater, but
I know what you were saying. You were like, just
put it in proper context, that's all.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And the other one too.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
And I know it's not with the pitching, but Reggie
Jackson's performance with three consecutive home runs on three consecutive
pitches against three different pitchers.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's in the World Series. How is that not one
of the in a clinching game.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yes, Now he didn't pitch because it's ridiculous, and what
o'tanny did was unbelievable, But it's there with Gibson and
Babe Ruth and Don Larson. I think that's good enough. Right,
that's there all right? Now quickly doing something now, pupping
the brakes. Cito Gaston. We saw Cito come out throw
out the first was awesome. Blue Jays. You think he
should be a Hall of Fame manager. I do.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
And he won back to back World Series, right, we
talk about all the time.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
The last team to win back to back the Yankees
twenty five years ago when they won the three in
a row and in the National League. It hasn't been
done since the Big Red Machine in seventy five seventy six.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So it's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
And all I'm gonna say is, if you're gonna fire
the guy when things don't go right and blame him
when things don't go right, how do you not give
him credit when things go right?
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And you went back to back World Series. I think
he's up.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
There with We've talked about this, but there is a
class of Davy Johnson, Loup Penela, they're all right there
where you could put them in the Hall of Fame.
It's a very subjective thing.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Well, it's the same thing Jim Leland got in and
Jim Leland won Florida.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
He didn't win in Detroit with some really good team.
He won a lot, but not one, but he didn't win.
I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
I always say sports has a short menu beka wins
and losses, especially in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Sto Gaston belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
You're so right through all of this. No, no, no,
you could be right. No, someone should be making that
case and you are. Now. Could you go talk to
Joel Sherman and Yandro A Lonzo and talk some sentence them.
I can't.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I've known Joel for forty years.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
It's too late. It is too late. He's right there.
Everything Hey, everything's good. You didn't hear that.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
In the words of New York TV legend the late
Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time, this time until
next time.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Rob Parker out. He can't get it. This could be
an inside of Parker.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
See you next week, the same bad time, same man's station.
From the Berkshars to the sound from wherever you live
in MLB America. This is Inside the Parker. You give
us twenty two minutes and we'll give you the scoop
on major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame
voter number fifty seven, Rob Parker.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Come on, I've been covering Major League Baseball for almost
forty years now, in New York, in Cincinnati, in Detroit,
in LA.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I love this game.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Let's go.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
Welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm your host, Rob Parker with a very special World
Series edition of Inside the Parker coming up.
Speaker 5 (00:46):
Former Major League center fielder Vernon.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Wells, of course, played for the Blue Jays for a
long time. He'll stop by. Plus John Morosi from MLB Network,
he'll drop by. We'll have so much to talk about
the World Series, as we had to Game six in Toronto.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Let's go better up.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
To lead off. It's getting rocked to keep them on.
Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major
League Baseball. Number one.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Before the World Series started, I was on Dave Simms podcast.
Speaker 5 (01:24):
Hey now Dave Sims.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Of course, the Yankees played by play radio man, and
Vernon Wells was on that podcast as well, But.
Speaker 5 (01:33):
I had a prediction. People looked at me sideways.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
They were kind of looking like I was crazy talking
about I want to pick the Blue Jays in five,
but I'll pick them in six and take a listen
to my prediction.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
And I don't want to pat myself on the.
Speaker 6 (01:48):
Back, but I was spot on.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
I'm the Nate Sayer, and I'm gonna say this. First
of all, the Brewers were dead. It's absolutely dead. I'm
not knocking the starters that the Dodgers have, but everybody
jumped on, Oh, look how great old Tony was. Well,
wait a minute, Snell pitch eight inning was outstanding, right, Yeah,
I'm a moto pitch nine inning. It's a complete game,
and everybody's telling me, how great show Hey Before show
(02:16):
Hay's three home runs in that game, he was batting
one fifty in the playoffs with sixteen strikeouts in thirty
four games. Go look at the Dodgers' run total. They
haven't been hitting. They've been winning two to one. They
won Game one on a misplay and a bases loaded walk.
All I'm saying is I'm not buying that they're dominant,
and there's no chance that the Blue Jays have the
(02:36):
chance to win. They swing the bats, they score a
lot of runs. I like the blue Jays up and
down this series. The Dodgers will not be able to
score enough runs to beat the blue Jay.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 7 (02:49):
Rob brings up a good point like these are the
upstart wildcard Dodgers, the number one seed Phillies, and the
number two seed Brewers. This is really a miraculous run
that the Dodgers are on. They don't have home phill advantage.
They're facing another number one seed in the American League.
The Blue Jays, Like, Rob, You're right, the Dodgers they
don't have a chance.
Speaker 5 (03:06):
I didn't say they didn't have a chance.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Steven, I'm just playing man, I'm playing with.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Him number two.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
I'm sorry, but I don't understand the managerial hiring this
offseason in Major League Baseball. First we saw the San
Francisco Giants hire a college coach. My god, never happened
in the history of Major League Baseball. And now the
Washington Nationals have picked up Blake but Terra, thirty three
(03:35):
years old. Thirty three years old, and he becomes the
youngest manager since the Twins hired a thirty three year
old back in nineteen seventy two. So but Terra was
a minor league player, you know, never made it to
(03:58):
the big leagues, but played. Was drafted in twenty fifteen
by Tampa Bay thirty fifth round, played at Boston College,
and has been in Tampa Bay's farm system as their
farm director in charge of its entire player development process.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
So you look at this.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Is this guy a savant, some genius baseball guy or
is this just a thirty three year old puppet that
they the front office can dictate what they want done.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
I mean, that's what you got to ask yourself when
this kind of hire is being made. I granted, there
aren't a lot of veteran managers with.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
World Series championships in their pockets, so I get there
aren't that many people, but my goodness, crazy, there's all
kinds of major league level coaches dying for their opportunity
in Major League Baseball, some guys waiting for their second
chances who maybe managed once somewhere. So there we have it.
A thirty three year old in Washington doesn't sound good
(05:02):
to me.
Speaker 8 (05:03):
Number three, The MLBPA Players Choice Awards were announced, and
guess what it weaked of jealousy, and you know, players
having skin in the game and not wanting to acknowledge
the other great players that they play.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Against, because somehow, some way, the best player in the
National League was Schwarber, not Otani, and the best player
in the American League was Raleigh not Judge, And you know,
you could make your choices wherever you want. Just seems
(05:44):
really weird that Judge put together this unbelievable year and
players didn't vote for him. Like in a league where
people batting two point forty two is the average, Judge
hit three point thirty one with power.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
Yes, Raleigh hit sixty home runs.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
I get it, and I'm not taking away from the
year he had, but it seems weird. And the same
thing here we are here in every day fans and
reporters and analysts talking about Otani's the greatest player of
all time, and yet he's not the National League Player
of the Year by the Players Association.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I've said it before. People always say, don't let the
sports writers vote for anything.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Those guys they hate the player, They're always holding grudges.
No writers broadcast, they don't have skin in the game.
Players have skin in the game. And unfortunately, we've seen
this before. We saw one hundred and twenty five players
not vote for Lebron James for an All Star Game. Yes,
(06:53):
they're tired of Judge and Otani getting all the love
for as good as they are, so they want to
see somebody. Let's vote for some I'm tired of Otani,
I'm tired of Judge.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Yes, that's not the way it should be.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
You should celebrate the greatest players who play, and they did.
Both of them deserve to have won the Choice Award
in both leagues.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Here comes the big interviews. Listen and learn.
Speaker 9 (07:20):
We're so good.
Speaker 10 (07:22):
All right, let's welcome in former Major league outfielder Vernon Wells,
who played eleven years in Toronto for the Blue Jays. Centerfielder,
gold Glove winner, had a tremendous career, and we were
on the Dave Simms podcast, Hey Now last week previewing
(07:42):
the World Series.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
We both picked the Blue Jays in six games. Now,
the Blue Jays are here with a chance to close
it out in six games in Toronto.
Speaker 11 (07:54):
What do you think The only thing that stands in
between our predictions of them winning in six is Yamamoto
and He was the one person on that podcast that
I was worried about because he's nasty, but the Blue
Jays hadn't seen him up until that point. Now they've
seen him. They've all had plenty of it bats against him.
Now now that approach changes. Now they have a better
(08:14):
idea of okay, he's going. He's mixing in more off
speed stuff than his heater, even though the heater can
get up to ninety nine. So it's now I think
their approach is going to be different. Now they can
work counts a little bit better, they can battle a
little bit more, and yeah, they get him out of
the game a little earlier, or get him out of
the game period. Then they get in that bullpen and
they stand a chance. So I think our prediction could
(08:37):
be right. But it's going to be a lower scoring
game that the Blue Jays tend to pull out.
Speaker 9 (08:43):
Anyways, Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Exciting The series wind up being good, like really really good.
I think despite the Dodger struggles because a lot of
people came in and they just thought, oh, this is
a whitewash because they swept the Brewers and thought, oh well,
a Dodge is a winning I don't know how many
people told me, oh, back to back. And you notice, Vernon,
it's hard to win back to back championships in Major
(09:08):
League Baseball. We got to go back to the Yankees
ninety eight, ninety nine, two twenty five years ago. And
if you go to the National League, the last National
League team to win back to back championships the seventy
five seventy six Reds.
Speaker 11 (09:26):
Wow, I mean that's yeah, baseball, basketball, like I mean,
even football. It's like you you put your body through
so much more another month of baseball like it is.
It's a lot of baseball that's being played at shortens
or offseason. It does so many things and all those
sports that just put your body in a different place.
And to be able to repeat and come back and
(09:49):
even put yourself in that situation again to possibly do
it is hard. But then to go through sweep the
Brewers and talked about it on the podcast. The Brewers
just they weren't the Brewers at that point.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
They were dead, they were dead to be offensive. They
scored four runs in four games.
Speaker 11 (10:06):
Yeah, and you spoke on that and it was just
you hit that right on the head and its translated
over to this series. It's just the Dodgers haven't been
what they have been in the regular season at points,
and yeah they can they snap.
Speaker 9 (10:20):
Out of it without a doubt.
Speaker 11 (10:22):
I've ouldn't put it past the three Hall of Famers
to snap out of it in a game or two games.
Speaker 9 (10:27):
I'm hoping that doesn't happen, but I wouldn't put.
Speaker 11 (10:30):
It past those three to be able to do that
and flush everything that's happened before before this point and
come out and hit because it's a good it's a
great place to hit.
Speaker 9 (10:40):
It's one of the best places to hit in baseball.
Speaker 11 (10:41):
You see the ball so well, but that crowd, that atmosphere,
and they they're used to it, but Toronto hits a
little differently when when when their home team has a
chance to win a World Series.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Oh yeah, I was up there when they won back
in the nineties.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I've been covering baseball almost forty years and remember that
how great it was up there. But this will be interesting. Hey,
Vernon of great to talk baseball with you. Thanks for
your insight and appreciate it, my man.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 11 (11:10):
Yeah, ro good talking to you, man, Appreciate it.
Speaker 12 (11:14):
It's the gambler here. Vice President of operations for mlbbro
dot Com and executive producer of the MLB Bro Show
podcast The Mixtape.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Every Friday. You heard that right. Every Friday, we.
Speaker 12 (11:29):
Bring you the best from the world of Black and
Brown baseball. We cover the seven point two percent of
melanated Major leaguers from soup to nuts, but with our
own cultural flair and unique voice, will take you on
a ride reflecting on the accomplishments, clutch moments, and contributions
to culture that the Bros continue to breathe into baseball.
(11:52):
From Mookie Wilson to Mookie Betts, Doctor k to Doctor Sticks,
from Bro Bombs to stolen bases to Black Aces. We're
live at the ballparks and also bringing you segments like
Classic Hits with David Grubb, the Black Ace Report, the Rundown,
the Walk Off, and Going Deep, just to name a
(12:13):
few of the segments that truly capture the voice of
black baseball.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
If things get.
Speaker 12 (12:18):
Out of hand is the Boss, Rob Parker.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
He's kicking up dust.
Speaker 12 (12:22):
We will gladly pay you On Tuesday from an MLB
bro doubleheader today. Remember the heart of the game lies
in the diversity of the game and the spirit of
black baseball that dates back to the Negro leagues. I've
the Gambler, your friendly neighborhood diamond checker, making sure that
you stay on top of the game and in touch
(12:42):
with the soul of MLB, fucking up for a wild
baseball journey, showing respect to the Ogs and highlighting the
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all pitching with the sound of black Baseball.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
We got the.
Speaker 4 (12:59):
Best starting five in the business.
Speaker 12 (13:01):
Listen to the MLB bro Show podcast the Mixtape on
the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
App, Apple Podcasts, or.
Speaker 12 (13:09):
Wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto.
If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer
or broadcaster, old or new.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Now let's welcome into the podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
John Morosi, of course from MLB Network, does a Fox
Sports Radio Baseball Insider for us as well, one of
the one of my favorite people in.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
The baseball media.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
And of course it's October, so it's only right John
that we would be talking as we're about to crowd
a new World Series champ within the next two games.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Right, how are you.
Speaker 6 (13:49):
Doing great rob This has been an amazing October.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
You kidding me?
Speaker 6 (13:54):
Some all time games, the eighteen inning game, there are
Game three Dodgers Blue Jays, one of the best World
Series games ever. You've had Otani have two of the
greatest postseason days in the history of the game within
the same span of ten days. So we have just
seen some amazing performances here lately.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
John, I want to ask you now, I picked the
Blue Jays in six prior. What was your original law,
you know, prediction on this series.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
What was it? I'm going to get that first.
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Yes, my original thought was Dodgers in six. I thought
Dodgers and six, which felt I mean at the time,
I like the way that the Dodgers were playing. I
know that they've had some shortcomings offensively, even even against
the Brewers, but I just felt as though their overall
talent level was going to allow them to win this series.
But clearly it won't be a six game Dodger win.
(14:47):
That much we know. And I did believe though, from
having covered the Jays in the last round, that they
were equal to the task. That this was not. I
think there was a real misconception from too many folks
from the media thinking, oh, the Dodgers, they're just gonna
walk over the Blue Jays, No chance.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
I agree with that, John, There was so many and
I was stunned that dismissed the team that was averaging
six and a half runs coming to the World Series.
You know, baseball, six and a half runs is a
ton of runs.
Speaker 6 (15:22):
That's right. I think Rob, people were not paying attention.
They were not watching this team. Look the Dodgers. Yes,
they've got superstars, multiple Hall of Famers. It's how you
are playing right now.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Not the.
Speaker 6 (15:38):
Resume, exactly, your resume. Your resume doesn't go three for four.
Speaker 5 (15:42):
It's not how it works.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
You can't put a put a piece of paper up
at home plate. That doesn't do any hitting for you. Okay,
So I think in general the J's were in a
really good run of form. I think offensively and the
thing they do, Rob that I love, that makes me.
It just it con up a lot of really positive
memories for me, is they build rallies. They build rallies.
(16:06):
As much as we talk about the Yankees the most,
really the last great dynasty we had in baseball, they
built rallies. They're there and then it would be Brocious
getting the big hit or Lerrett's getting the big hit.
These were moments that built one at bat after another,
and we're seeing that right now with the Toronto Blue Jays,
(16:28):
a team that understands how to build rallies, and you're
seeing guys like Barger and Jimenez and Kirk. I mean, again,
Kirk's an All Star caliber player and Jimenez is two, but.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Jimnez has got so many big hits in the playoffs
at the bottom of the final.
Speaker 6 (16:43):
I just I think Rob that there were a lot
of people that just missed how good this team was.
And and let us be fair too, the resiliency they
showed after Game three. Not only do they lose the game,
they lose it in eighteen innings, They use up all
their pitching, and George Springer, their most consistent player during
the season, is hurt, and yet you have Bishett stepping
(17:07):
in there. I thought the way they've turned around game
three to Game four was one of the more impressive
performances I have seen from the manager coaching staff on
down of understanding how to put that loss in the
rearview mirror, contextualize at lever them and say, hey, we
just played one of the great World Series games ever.
We shut down the Dodgers for like ten straight innings. Okay,
(17:30):
they did something right there, and I just thought overall,
it was a very impressive performance, especially in Game four
for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Speaker 5 (17:37):
And let's talk about Game five obviously.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know, they beat up Blake Snell the first game
they got to them, and here they are with a
chance Blake Snell pitching at Dodgers Stadium. You know, his
team could put them within the you know, one win
away from the World Series with their basically ace on
the mound right and three pitches in two balls leave
(18:01):
the yard. And it just I think people were shook
after those two swings.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
They were, And and I was that a case of
just the Jays being more aggressive? Was it the case
of the Jays knowing the scouting report better than what
the Dodgers did. Clearly you don't expect the game to
begin that way, and and their early aggressiveness on some level,
they had to expect Snell's gonna be around the plate,
Snell's gonna give us some pitches that we can hit
(18:29):
early in counts. And the adjustment was eventually made. It
was made a little bit too late. But I will
also say this, Rob Blake, Snell is not the reason
why why the Dodgers lost that game. The Dodgers lost
that game because there was no there was no CounterPunch.
And if you look at what what Snell did, his
overall score line was fine, especially by the standards opposing
(18:51):
the baseball. He gave his team a chance to win that.
Now there are there's what Treya Savage did, which was
even better than that.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
You've been coming baseball for a long time. For a
twenty two year old with more starts in the postseason
in TRIPLEA to pitch at Dodger Stadium in an epic
important Game five against a guy like Snows, had nothing
but success in the postseason, strikeout twelve, no Walks, faced
(19:22):
three potential Hall of Future Hall of famers in the
first four batters and have as many swings and misses.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
And he was incredible.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
He was and I think this morning, actually I was listening,
Xavier Scruggs made a really good point Rob about the
difference between the first Y Savage starting in this World
Series and the second one. And then the first one,
as Xavier pointed out, you Savage didn't really have is
good splitter, And so we talk about the benefit you
(19:53):
get from facing a pitcher twice in the same series,
which is real. You certainly do have a benefit you're
familiar with him now. In all though, those things are
very legitimate. But the Dodgers didn't face that tray of
Savage in games.
Speaker 5 (20:06):
That's a good point because they didn't face.
Speaker 6 (20:08):
That one didn't have the splitter, So all of a
sudden you're like, whoa, where did this come from? This
was not part of my lived experience here. And so
because they didn't face that pitch and that guy, everything
changed and they never really looked comfortable. And I think
the important thing that you mentioned, Rob, Yeah, the strikeout
(20:31):
total was extraordinary, right, one of the best ever for
a pitcher of that young in the World Series. But
also the zero walks stands up to me in a
huge way because when you talk about a dangerous lineup,
this is the one issue that I ran into with
with the way the Jays, and I think they did
the right thing in Game three, because what other option
did you really have? Oh Tani was having one of
the best days ever.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
I just didn't like to walk in the ninth inning.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
I think it's every time every time you walk someone,
you're giving that part of the lineup more opportunities. You're
giving Freddie Freeman one more at bat, and eventually it
ended on a Freddy Freeman at bat. So when you're
walking guys as not just well walks of walk, yeah,
but it moves the lineup forward. And so not only
did you Savage keep the bases clean, basically he was
(21:14):
able to work so efficiently that the Dodgers never really
had enough opportunities to get their confidence going again and
really build momentum. So we talk so much rob about
what it means to win a postseason game.
Speaker 9 (21:28):
Or even a series.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
I look at them as rounds of a boxing match,
even when you don't score runs. And I think John
Smoltz made this point the other day, and it's it
is true, even if you don't score a bunch of runs,
you're still grinding the guy down. You're doing things that score.
Some Body blows early in a game that show up
with fatigue later on, or you have to then face
(21:51):
a reliever multiple times. You get more looks at the reliever.
You feel better about it the second and third and
fourth time you face them in a series, and I
just think that the Toronto Blue They've not just won
three games, but they have won three games in such
a way that that has given them a continued advantage
they have not had. They didn't have to use Jeff
(22:12):
Hoffman in Game four. Little things that make a huge difference.
When you talk about how can you possibly beat the
Dodgers in a seven game series, you do it with
the type of baseball the Toronto Blueches are playing right now. Now.
I'm not saying that they're inevitably going to win it,
because there's a dude named Yabamoto who's gonna pitch in
(22:32):
Game six, and last I checked, he's pretty good. So
the Dodgers are one victory away from all of us saying, hey,
it's Game seven, anything gonna happen. God bless you, and
have fun playing the game where we're one good Yabamoto
outing away from that being the case. Again, So I
don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. But
when you talk about how you clinically win a series,
(22:53):
the Jays are playing baseball in what I consider to
be a clinical and fundamentally sound fashion.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
All right, last thing, and you're right now my motal
could go out there and pitch a great game.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
I do not.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Believe the Dodgers will be able to force a game
seven because I think maybe they get to the bullpen,
maybe they're off. The reason I picked the Blue Jays
I did not believe John that they had that the Dodgers'
offense could score enough runs.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
And these guys are really struggling.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
I don't know, is a button gonna be pushed and
they're gonna hit the last two days, the last two
games of the season. You know, their resume says one thing,
but they're admired in such bad slumps. Freddy, I mean,
he had to walk off, but he's not hitting. Nobody's
hitting for power, nobody's hitting. Even when you look at Otani,
(23:50):
you take away those two great games, a lot of strikeouts,
you know what I mean, a lot of pop ups.
I just Mookie Betts is lost. I don't see it
at the bottom of the lot months he's not hitting.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
Who's hitting right well?
Speaker 6 (24:07):
And let's be honest. You talk about the Dodgers, and
even when they were winning, they swept the NLCS, But
let me tell you how many runs they scored in
each game? Two five three and five. Again, it wasn't
like there was Moore in ten runs they and you
go back even and you look at how they played
against the Phillies. That was a pretty darn tight series.
(24:30):
In that series they scored five, four, two and two.
So again like, this is not they, this is not
even the lineup they had last year in terms of
how productive the players are. So I think that it's
it's in general a concerning sign for the Dodgers. It's
(24:50):
a core that is not really getting much younger. The
one of their younger position players who was really important
to them during the season, Andy Pakez, was benched in
Game five for Alex call to come in there because
that was really the one move they could make. You
start thinking around and where is the impact coming from
show A show A cannot do this by himself all
(25:11):
the time, And I think you're you're not seeing even
if you look back in the series against the Phillies,
two guys at home runs Edmund and Hernandez and and
even then there it's not as though really Edmund or
or Taylor are really going at this moment in time.
So there's I think there's some some lacking production really
across the board, it seems like to me, the Dodgers, Rob,
(25:32):
with the exception of Otani, it's almost like they're all
down about ten or fifteen percentage points and their overall
effectiveness from what they should be. And when you add
all of that up, at bat to bat to at bat,
the Jays are not feeling the stress that you would
expect them to feel against this Dodger team. And now, Rob,
those last two games are back in Toronto, a very
(25:54):
different situation.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
No doubt. All right.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
John Morosi's his name, and be Network check them out
here on Fox Sports Radio as well Joins Us and
other shows. Of course, the Odd Couple John always a pleasure,
And man, I think they close it out in six games.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
That was my original pick. I'm gonna stick with it.
Speaker 6 (26:14):
Hey, Rob, listen, I gotta tell you this. I think
it'll go seven. Uh now, But I tell you this
if you if you're correct, I don't know if anybody
else in all the baseball media said Jason six. So Rob,
here's what you gotta do on every platform you got
for social media. You gotta take that pick when you
made it, put it up there, and then pin that
thing to your profile from now until the end of time.
(26:36):
Because any anytime anybody says hey, Rob, I didn't like
your take on the Lions, and say hey look at this,
I'll write a time I got this out.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
I'm gonna take credit for it because people try to
shut down on that pick, no doubt. John.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
All right, buddy, we appreciate you. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Always good to see it, Rob.
Speaker 6 (26:54):
Thank thanks for the conversation. We'll catch up again soon.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
In case you miss Rob Parker the MLB Networks, here's
his latest appearance on mlbina.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Traditional Showdown on the Road. Though. We find a coastal
town and here's Rob Parker in the flesh Bay bad all.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Ros up, Bka, great, welcome to my town. You know
I live out here in la is your town.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
You have a press box where you're Connecticut? In Connecticut,
you got your high school in Queens. You can't you
can't own every town. Rom all over there you are.
That's great to see you always. All right, So let's
start off. You made a bit of news because that's
Rob being Rob. Shoeotani had this unbelievable game. We can
agree on that, right, get three home runs, hit six
shot out innings, ten strikeouts, and the question is it
(27:40):
the greatest postseason game ever?
Speaker 3 (27:42):
And you say, no way, nohow BK.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
The hyperbole after that was ridiculous, seriously, And it's not
to take anything away from Shoeo Tani and what he's
able to do.
Speaker 3 (27:55):
But when people start saying that was the greatest.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Game ever and he's the greatest play ever because of
that game, I cannot stamp that.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I'm with you. I begn't get a bit a bit now.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I even throw up, what are the greatest postseason games ever?
And it was Bob Gibson sixty seven games, seven hit
a home run, won the game, drikeouts, ten strike I
won a complete game, not six week game. And he
had three complete games in the series. Right, So I'm
saying that obviously Don Larson didn't give the Dodgers a
base runner a perfect game. We have Babe Ruth. By
(28:27):
the way, people forget Babra. The babe never did this.
The Babe won a game on the mound and hit
a two run triple to drive in two for the
Red Sox that he later needed a guy to pitch
two innings, but Joe Bush, remember him, good guy? He
got two outs and he closed out. But Babe Ruth's
game for the Red Sox over the Cubs was an
all time great game and or a Hersheiser went three
for three with a complete game against a dynamite packed Jack.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I'm glad you say that, because part of my issue
with the six innings and the ten strikeouts the Milwaukee
Brewers at that point, we're ba dead because Snell had
pitched great against them.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
I'm a modal pitch a complete game against them. They
weren't getting.
Speaker 4 (29:07):
Anybody, Yeah, they were, they were.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
They were dead in the water.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Now it's one of the greatest games in posts. I
got that, Okay, greatest, he said, yes, not that. It's
not a hater and you know it frequently now in
this sort of transformative media age where we have a
lot of young people who are just used to I
hate to use this, but they just gotta get onto
the hype. They don't have a knowledge of the history.
I don't want to be just everything has that context,
(29:31):
right and and and that's why we're here to say,
hold on, Bob Gibson.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Game sets humped the breaks, humped the breaks.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
A little bit. So you're right, you got a lot
of flat for that all. Rob Parker's a hater, but
I know what you were saying. You were like, just
put it in proper context, that's all.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And the other one too.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
And I know it's not with the pitching, but Reggie
Jackson's performance with three consecutive home runs on three consecutive
pitches against three different pitchers.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's in the World Series. How is that not one
of the in a clinching game.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yes, Now he didn't pitch because it's ridiculous, and what
o'tanny did was unbelievable, But it's there with Gibson and
Babe Ruth and Don Larson. I think that's good enough. Right,
that's there all right? Now quickly doing something now, pupping
the brakes. Cito Gaston. We saw Cito come out throw
out the first was awesome. Blue Jays. You think he
should be a Hall of Fame manager. I do.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
And he won back to back World Series, right, we
talk about all the time.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
The last team to win back to back the Yankees
twenty five years ago when they won the three in
a row and in the National League. It hasn't been
done since the Big Red Machine in seventy five seventy six.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
So it's hard to do.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
And all I'm gonna say is, if you're gonna fire
the guy when things don't go right and blame him
when things don't go right, how do you not give
him credit when things go right?
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And you went back to back World Series. I think
he's up.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
There with We've talked about this, but there is a
class of Davy Johnson, Loup Penela, they're all right there
where you could put them in the Hall of Fame.
It's a very subjective thing.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Well, it's the same thing Jim Leland got in and
Jim Leland won Florida.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
He didn't win in Detroit with some really good team.
He won a lot, but not one, but he didn't win.
I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
I always say sports has a short menu beka wins
and losses, especially in the World Series.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Sto Gaston belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (31:16):
You're so right through all of this. No, no, no,
you could be right. No, someone should be making that
case and you are. Now. Could you go talk to
Joel Sherman and Yandro A Lonzo and talk some sentence them.
I can't.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
I've known Joel for forty years.
Speaker 4 (31:29):
It's too late. It is too late. He's right there.
Everything Hey, everything's good. You didn't hear that.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
In the words of New York TV legend the late
Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time, this time until
next time.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Rob Parker out. He can't get it. This could be
an inside of Parker.
Speaker 6 (31:53):
See you next week, the same bad time, same man's station.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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