March 26, 2020 • 25 mins
It's The Best of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Rob delivers his open letter to Major League Baseball and on what should have been MLB Opening Day, Chris unveils the 5 most memorable Opening Day moments of his lifetime in Broussard's Fab Five, and both guys explain why MLB would be bastardizing the sport if they go through with the plan to hold 7-inning double-headers as a way to get more games in.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brusso and Rob Harker. This is Rob Parker's open
letter to MLB America. I have just one word for
you on this day. It's heartbroken. No Opening Day. I
(00:45):
understand the circumstances. I'm not blind, I'm not crazy, and
the coronavirus has stopped many things, many things we love
and admire and enjoy. But it doesn't soften to blow. Still,
it's so cruel, so disappointing. Today is not just any day.
(01:08):
Today usually marks the best sports day of the year
for me and so many others. If you're old enough
to even remember this, the Reds always had the traditional
opening Day in Cincinnati. It used to be the greatest
Monday of the year because Major League Baseball would open
(01:30):
with the Reds playing their first game and then we'd
have the NCAA champion crown that night. This is deep rooted,
it's deep, it's deep down, it's a part of our DNA,
it's who we are, and it dates back. Early Opening
(01:53):
Day for me was like my Christmas, my present. Nothing
could stop my joy on this day. There was nothing
more I wanted to hear than wait. And it's not
just me, no way, no how, it's millions of Americans.
(02:15):
MLB cells seventy million baseball tickets a year, more than
all the other sports combine so much. My love for
baseball started at an early age, and my family knew
how much I loved baseball, even my mom, who was
(02:37):
a stickler for school and about getting your work done.
But when I was in junior high school, my mom
used to write a fake doctor's note for me so
that I could leave school early so that I could
get home to watch the Mets on Opening Day. I
had to see the first pitch of the season on TV.
I couldn't come home in the third or four thinning.
(03:00):
I had to see it from the beginning. And back
then I was a Mets fan. I wasn't a reporter.
I was a fan. Opening Day. That stands out to
me the most dates back to college nineteen eighty three.
(03:22):
I was a student at Southern Connecticut State University. Me
and my three buddies. We hopped in the car. We
barely had money for tickets, but we had to see
Tom Sever returned to the Mets. We drove from New Haven, Connecticut,
and I can remember standing up in our seats in
the bleachers and watching Tom sever walk from the bullpen
(03:46):
and to the mound. What a moment it was. And
even as I got into the sports writing business and
I wasn't a Mets fan anymore, I was still a
baseball fan, still blessed to work in some of the
(04:07):
greatest baseball towns in America. In New York to why,
I covered the Mets and the Yankees, and it was
awesome to be there, to be on that field where
Babe Ruth once played, and John Sterling, the Yankees announcer,
would give any big baseball fan goosebumps with his baseball
(04:28):
play by play calls. Swanne and driven an eat, tore
the line, jeers, Aaron judge, line, run right down the line,
a judge and blast alrise, here comes the judge. And
(04:48):
when I left my hometown of New York to go
to Cincinnati. I had a great job covering the Knicks
with the Daily News, but I wanted to cover baseball.
I went to Cincinnati, one of the all time great
baseball towns. And when I got there on opening Day
to see the spectacular that always heard about. It's a
(05:11):
holiday in Cincinnati. People are given the day off. Some
people there's a parade, People take TVs in the work.
That's how big baseball is in Cincinnati. Don't forget the
Cincinnati Reads with the first professional team in sports history
in his country, Yes, the Cincinnati Red Legs. And I
(05:37):
was honored to go to Detroit to work, to work
at the Detroit Free Press and then the Detroit News,
and to cover another charter member of the American League,
the Detroit Tigers. And people loved the Tigers and the
old Tiger Stadium. There was nothing more are amazing than
(06:00):
the sound of the crack of a bat at Tiger
Stadium and the roar of the crowd. And in Los Angeles,
where I am now and work, there's nothing better than
the voice of Vince Gully to get the game going.
Time for God your base and as a reporter, you
(06:30):
always wanted to get to Opening day hours early, four
hours early, to enjoy BP take it all in, usher
in a new season, see friends from the past, winter
gone by. Smell the fresh cut grass hot dogs with
spicy brown mustard. You could smell them from the field.
(06:56):
This has nothing to do with the other sports. But
this is tradition, part of who we are, part of
our fabric days Small Klazowski Campana talking days Ball, the
Man and Bobby Fella, the scooter, the barber, and the nuke.
(07:19):
They knew them all from Boston. Dude, damn you coronavirus.
Today was supposed to be our day. Today was supposed
to be Opening Day where we would stand and remove
our caps all over America to honor our tradition. And
(07:56):
we would do it to all over Canada and in
the bottom of the seventh inning, hanging out with your
(08:18):
buds or your family or your favorite girl in the
seventh inning. You know what we would do. Today is
(08:40):
a dark day. There's no other way to look at it.
There were no hot dogs. There were just there was
no beer. Worst of all, there was no baseball on
Opening Day in America. And this man here before you
(09:07):
are Fox Sports Radio I am just heartbroken. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris
Broussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
You know, they're obviously talking about all types of different
scenarios for when they start. Rob Man Fritz said the
(09:30):
day I saw him on CNN, he said, he hopes,
he says, you know, his aspirationally he's looking at a
May mid May start, but he seems to understand that
that's probably unrealistic. Could be yeah, a pipe dream, yeah yeah.
And same with Mark Cuban talking about that for the NBA.
I don't see anyway, and that's happening for either league.
(09:54):
Tim Kirchin from ESPN, he was on TV recently saying
he thinks it might be July. Wow. And then of
course there are those that you know, it could be
even later. So we don't know. But you know, people
around baseball are throwing out all types of possibilities for
whenever they do start. And the Blue Jay's general manager,
Ross Atkins, he tossed this out. Now, he wasn't saying
(10:17):
it was definitive, but he was just saying it was
something that's gone through his mind because they are talking
about doubleheaders, and he said, maybe they have seven inning
doubleheaders so they could get more games in. And you know,
I assume the single game would be nine innies. To me,
(10:40):
with all due respect to Ross Atkins, that's asinine. You
can't play half the games seven innings and half the
games nine innings. That makes no sense. So unless you're
playing every single game seven innings, which I don't think
anybody wants to see, you better play nine innies. If
you're gonna play doubleheaders, they gotta be nine inning games.
(11:03):
And I look, if they really want to experiment with
seven inning games as a you know, they obviously have
been talking about speeding up the game, and if they
wanted to really go to seven inning games eventually, that's
one thing. But to have half your game seven innies,
half of them nine, that's ridiculous. Robe with you. You
(11:24):
cannot bastardize the game, Chris, that's the only word I
could use. And that's what you would be doing if
you do that, either you're playing all seven inning games
or all nine inning games, right, And of course nobody
wants seven inning games. That's what softball's played in seven innings, right,
that's not that's not baseball. It's nine innings. And I
(11:46):
don't understand why people just can't. You know, we're experiencing,
going through, enduring something that most have never been through,
which is the country has been shut down, stopped. Everything
we know to be normal is not so. The baseball
season in twenty twenty will not be normal. But but
(12:06):
it doesn't mean that you change the game and the
way we play it. That's what has to stay the same. Yes,
we could play one twenty Chris, I'll take a hundred
games season as long as they keep it intact. And
if everybody plays a hundred games, the best team in
a hundred games should be the World Series, you know,
after it's all over the playoffs. I'll accept that championship,
(12:29):
not no problem with that, no question about that. Would
be a far more acceptable than a season in which
half the games were seven innings, or you came up
with some special rules that totally changed the game just
to try to fit in more games. Look when the
NBA in nineteen ninety nine they came off their lockout,
they had fifty games, and it was fifty eighty two
(12:50):
and it was fine. It still was legitimate because everybody's
playing under the same rules. And that's one of the
benefits robe of baseball and basketball playing so many regular
season games. Heck, if they played an eighty game baseball season,
I know nobody wants to see that, but if they
played eighty games, it would still be legitimate. That's a
(13:12):
lot of games. Still, It's not what we're used to, right,
but it's still a lot. It's eighty games, right. I
can figure out who's good and who's bad in eighty
games and it's legitimate. It would be different if you
were playing baseball and you said, Okay, the season's gonna
be sixteen games, then then it would be like Baseball's
not that right kind of sport, do you know what
I mean? That wouldn't work exactly because maybe the Seattle
(13:35):
Mariners might win the World Series. Right, But but I'm
with you. If it's a hundred, if it's eighty five,
if it's ninety, I'm cool with that. I really am,
considering the times and the circumstanced. Same thing with the NBA.
If we only want and Chris, some teams have already
played one six in the sixties, right, Yeah, there the
(13:57):
average team has played like almost sixty five games. Yeah,
so some have played like sixty seven. Some have played
and it's only eighty two. I could saffs from here.
Oh yeah. My only thing with that is just the
guys are out of shape. They will have to do
that or maybe have like a little uh you or
(14:17):
you know, if you either need to play games, you know,
regular season games, or have you know, maybe a two
week training camp and then you go right into the playoffs,
you know what I mean. But but yeah, I agree,
they've played enough games. We know who the best eight
teams are in each conference. You know, Washington is not
getting in. They're not making a run the Wizards. Okay,
(14:38):
sorry Wizards fans um and you could easily do it
the way it is. But yeah, baseball, and it's gonna
be interesting because you know, you saw this with the
NBA in two thy twelve, the first year Lebron win
his championship. That was a shortened season because of the lockout.
It was sixty six games and they were playing triple
(14:59):
back to backs. They're playing games and you know we
talk about now players don't like playing back to backs.
They were playing three games and three nights on occasion,
but Rob, the sense of urgency was tremendous and every
game felt like it mattered. Everybody was into the games.
And that's what you're gonna see in both of these sports,
(15:21):
Basketball and baseball if they come back. Baseball's games are
going to be so there's gonna be such a sense
of urgency. People are gonna be into it. If they
play a hundred games, they're gonna mean more than one
hundred and sixty two, So I think that and fans
are gonna they're gonna be missing the sport. So it's
(15:41):
going to be wildly popular. I believe whenever they do
come back. No, I agree. First of all, it'll be
the thirst of not having it right, like we just
went through today with Opening Day, no Opening Day, And
if it were to come back in a couple of months, Chris,
people would be just be all excited and then you're right,
(16:02):
you know, like you'll be like, well, I missed forty games,
I'm not missing anymore this year. To view everything, Chris
would be through the roof because people will be like,
you know, I need my fix. I've already missed forty
games or fifty games. I want to see as much
as I can, and I think it would be different.
(16:23):
And if it's a situation where they're playing I don't know,
you know, who knows what's gonna happen. If they're playing
the empty stadiums, then everybody's gonna be at home watching them.
There's no questionability. Let me ask you this, would you
if they and perhaps this is what Atkins meant? But
if you played, say you played seven games, you know,
(16:45):
any double headers, and you made every game seven innings
and you got in one sixty two? Would you prefer
that with every so every game is seven innings, even
when they played single you know headers, if you want
to call it that, Or would you rather a hundred
games that are nine innings? I'd rather a hundred games
(17:10):
at nine innings. I don't want because of the way
the game is broken up. And and I'm talking about
stats wise, U records wise, do you know what I mean?
Like you would you would totally change that that there's
no reason to change that. That would be like the
NFL saying we're gonna play Arena Football League in a
(17:31):
smaller what I mean, yeah, or something like that. I
just don't I don't think that's that's acceptable or good enough,
play the regular game, play the way it was originally
meant to play, and just be accept less games. I
know why they don't want to accept less games, Chris.
It's not because the quality of the games. It's because
(17:54):
of money. We all know it, am I right? They
want to they want the money. This is gonna be
devastating to all these leagues to have to not what
was the money that came out today about the NCAA.
What wasn't their story? I can't remember. I didn't say that,
but I know I know to say, see if you
(18:14):
can find a story about the what do you have it?
What what? Chris, Listen to this. It's because of no
March Madness that they're gonna have still the distribution in
June to their Division one members, but it's gonna be
three hundred seventy five million dollars less than what was budgeted,
and what they are able to distribute will mostly come
from insurance. Yeah, yeah, right, I do, Steve. They usually
(18:39):
make like nine hundred million dollars from March Madness, yeah,
minus operating expenses. But yeah, they have a lot to distribute.
Usually it's not going to be six hundred meal this year.
Well that's the thing too that these leagues might have
to recognize is when they do come back and fans
are able to go, if the economy, at least for
a few years is you know, somewhat decimated. Because of this,
(19:02):
people aren't gonna be their first you know, priorities, not
gonna be going to a game for season tickets, you know,
so they may have to drop the prices. That's something
else that they may have to consider. Who knows what
could happen going forward. So there, I get it. It's
their business for them, so it's hard to say money
(19:22):
can't be their first priority. Obviously that's what they're in
the business for. But things could change in many ways
for these owners of these teams, So we have to
see how it plays out. But I agree with you,
Rob though, I would rather a hundred games at nine
innings because part of the game, and this is true
(19:44):
for all sports, part of the game is stamina as well.
Like it's you know, in basketball, a bad team might
be able to hang with a great team for two
and a half or three quarters, but they can't do
it for four. It's a same in every sport. Remember
when the golfer that wanted to he was handicap and
(20:04):
he wanted to ride in the cart about twenty years ago,
thirty years ago. I can't remember that guy's name, Casey something.
I remember that story, and they didn't let him. If
people figured, well, he's handycat, he can't walk the course,
so why shouldn't he be able to ride in the cart.
But they didn't let him because part of the game
(20:25):
is walking the course, Like if you don't as a professional,
if you don't walk the course, you got a big
advantage over the guys that are walking the course. And
so part of finding out who's the best team and
and all of that is it's a nine any game.
You got that. That guy's name was Casey Martin, I
(20:46):
remember that, and they said he would have an advantage
over the other golfers walking if you ever walk eighteen holes.
I mean, it's a it's a whole, no question. And
so it's all a part of the game now, and
so with the bullpens and the closers, and especially now
with all the specialists, nine innings is what it is about.
(21:08):
It shouldn't go to seven, not at all. And and
I just can't imagine that baseball purists have been through
the Ringer Chris with you know, wild cards and all
these other changes and whatnot. And I do not believe
that there's any way that the people who um who
(21:30):
what they say, watch over the guardians of baseball will
about to happen. And I don't think you, as a commissioner,
would ever want to be a part of that, because
that would be a part of your legacy. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the iHeart Radio app search f SR
to listen live. Are you ready like lepron We're going big.
(21:56):
It's go town, It's Bruce Sard's Fab five. All right.
These are my most memorable Opening Day performances during my lifetime.
Most memorable Opening Day performances of my lifetime. Number five,
two thousand and seventeen. Madison Bumgardner goes deep twice against
(22:19):
the Arizona Diamondbacks to become the first pitcher ever to
hit two home runs in one game on opening day.
Bum Gardner had a perfect game on the mound through
five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth.
No problem in the seventh, he steps to the plate
and hits his second home run to tie the game
(22:39):
before turning the ball over to the bullpen. The Giants
lost the game, but it certainly wasn't a fall to Bumgardner,
who also struck out eleven. Number four, two thousand and thirteen,
Clayton Kershaw hits the only home run of his career
period the only home run of his career in the
(22:59):
game which he was terrific on the mound and at
the plate. In addition to the dinger, Kershaw through a
complete game shutout to lift the Dodgers over the Giants.
It was a precursor to things to come for Kershaw
that season. He drove in check it out a career
high ten runs that year at the plate and more importantly, though,
(23:19):
he went on to win the second of his three
cy Young Awards. Number three. Nineteen eighty eight, George Bell
becomes the first player ever to hit three home runs
in a game on opening Day. All three came off
a two time cy Young winner Brett Saberhagen. The performance
(23:40):
came fresh off the only MVP season the Bell's career,
and if you're wondering, three other players have gone on
to hit three home runs in an opening day game
Toughy Roads, Dmitri Young and Matt Davidson. Number two nineteen
ninety nine, Raoul Manda c goes four for five with
(24:02):
two home runs and six RBI in the Dodgers victory
over Arizona. So the Dodgers are down sixty three, two
men out in the bottom of the ninth, all appeared loss.
Mindusa steps to the plate smacks a three run homer
to tie it in force extra innings. Then two innings later,
with two outs and one man on, he goes yard
(24:24):
with a walkoff homer to give the Dodgers the eight
six win. Number one nineteen seventy four, Mark stole a
little of my thunder Mark from Sacramento Hank Aaron, receiving
hate mail throughout the entire offseason. Homers in his first
at bat to tie Babe Ruce record of seven hundred
(24:47):
fourteen home runs. Aaron wanted to sit out the whole
three game series in Cincinnati so he could break Ruf's
record in Atlanta, but under pressure from Commissioner Bowie kN
Aaron two of the three games. He went hitless. In
his other game in Cincinnati, he definitely he wanted to
break it in Atlanta, so in the first game the
(25:08):
Braves home opener against the Dodger, Dodgers Aaron Homers and
becomes the new home run king. Those are Bruce Sard's
five five for this week. What do you think, Rob? Wow,
very impressive that some good stuff surprised you. I was
like Steve say Mark from Sacramento stole a little bit
(25:31):
my thunder.
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brusso and Rob Harker. This is Rob Parker's open
letter to MLB America. I have just one word for
you on this day. It's heartbroken. No Opening Day. I
(00:45):
understand the circumstances. I'm not blind, I'm not crazy, and
the coronavirus has stopped many things, many things we love
and admire and enjoy. But it doesn't soften to blow. Still,
it's so cruel, so disappointing. Today is not just any day.
(01:08):
Today usually marks the best sports day of the year
for me and so many others. If you're old enough
to even remember this, the Reds always had the traditional
opening Day in Cincinnati. It used to be the greatest
Monday of the year because Major League Baseball would open
(01:30):
with the Reds playing their first game and then we'd
have the NCAA champion crown that night. This is deep rooted,
it's deep, it's deep down, it's a part of our DNA,
it's who we are, and it dates back. Early Opening
(01:53):
Day for me was like my Christmas, my present. Nothing
could stop my joy on this day. There was nothing
more I wanted to hear than wait. And it's not
just me, no way, no how, it's millions of Americans.
(02:15):
MLB cells seventy million baseball tickets a year, more than
all the other sports combine so much. My love for
baseball started at an early age, and my family knew
how much I loved baseball, even my mom, who was
(02:37):
a stickler for school and about getting your work done.
But when I was in junior high school, my mom
used to write a fake doctor's note for me so
that I could leave school early so that I could
get home to watch the Mets on Opening Day. I
had to see the first pitch of the season on TV.
I couldn't come home in the third or four thinning.
(03:00):
I had to see it from the beginning. And back
then I was a Mets fan. I wasn't a reporter.
I was a fan. Opening Day. That stands out to
me the most dates back to college nineteen eighty three.
(03:22):
I was a student at Southern Connecticut State University. Me
and my three buddies. We hopped in the car. We
barely had money for tickets, but we had to see
Tom Sever returned to the Mets. We drove from New Haven, Connecticut,
and I can remember standing up in our seats in
the bleachers and watching Tom sever walk from the bullpen
(03:46):
and to the mound. What a moment it was. And
even as I got into the sports writing business and
I wasn't a Mets fan anymore, I was still a
baseball fan, still blessed to work in some of the
(04:07):
greatest baseball towns in America. In New York to why,
I covered the Mets and the Yankees, and it was
awesome to be there, to be on that field where
Babe Ruth once played, and John Sterling, the Yankees announcer,
would give any big baseball fan goosebumps with his baseball
(04:28):
play by play calls. Swanne and driven an eat, tore
the line, jeers, Aaron judge, line, run right down the line,
a judge and blast alrise, here comes the judge. And
(04:48):
when I left my hometown of New York to go
to Cincinnati. I had a great job covering the Knicks
with the Daily News, but I wanted to cover baseball.
I went to Cincinnati, one of the all time great
baseball towns. And when I got there on opening Day
to see the spectacular that always heard about. It's a
(05:11):
holiday in Cincinnati. People are given the day off. Some
people there's a parade, People take TVs in the work.
That's how big baseball is in Cincinnati. Don't forget the
Cincinnati Reads with the first professional team in sports history
in his country, Yes, the Cincinnati Red Legs. And I
(05:37):
was honored to go to Detroit to work, to work
at the Detroit Free Press and then the Detroit News,
and to cover another charter member of the American League,
the Detroit Tigers. And people loved the Tigers and the
old Tiger Stadium. There was nothing more are amazing than
(06:00):
the sound of the crack of a bat at Tiger
Stadium and the roar of the crowd. And in Los Angeles,
where I am now and work, there's nothing better than
the voice of Vince Gully to get the game going.
Time for God your base and as a reporter, you
(06:30):
always wanted to get to Opening day hours early, four
hours early, to enjoy BP take it all in, usher
in a new season, see friends from the past, winter
gone by. Smell the fresh cut grass hot dogs with
spicy brown mustard. You could smell them from the field.
(06:56):
This has nothing to do with the other sports. But
this is tradition, part of who we are, part of
our fabric days Small Klazowski Campana talking days Ball, the
Man and Bobby Fella, the scooter, the barber, and the nuke.
(07:19):
They knew them all from Boston. Dude, damn you coronavirus.
Today was supposed to be our day. Today was supposed
to be Opening Day where we would stand and remove
our caps all over America to honor our tradition. And
(07:56):
we would do it to all over Canada and in
the bottom of the seventh inning, hanging out with your
(08:18):
buds or your family or your favorite girl in the
seventh inning. You know what we would do. Today is
(08:40):
a dark day. There's no other way to look at it.
There were no hot dogs. There were just there was
no beer. Worst of all, there was no baseball on
Opening Day in America. And this man here before you
(09:07):
are Fox Sports Radio I am just heartbroken. Be sure
to catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris
Broussard and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern, four
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
You know, they're obviously talking about all types of different
scenarios for when they start. Rob Man Fritz said the
(09:30):
day I saw him on CNN, he said, he hopes,
he says, you know, his aspirationally he's looking at a
May mid May start, but he seems to understand that
that's probably unrealistic. Could be yeah, a pipe dream, yeah yeah.
And same with Mark Cuban talking about that for the NBA.
I don't see anyway, and that's happening for either league.
(09:54):
Tim Kirchin from ESPN, he was on TV recently saying
he thinks it might be July. Wow. And then of
course there are those that you know, it could be
even later. So we don't know. But you know, people
around baseball are throwing out all types of possibilities for
whenever they do start. And the Blue Jay's general manager,
Ross Atkins, he tossed this out. Now, he wasn't saying
(10:17):
it was definitive, but he was just saying it was
something that's gone through his mind because they are talking
about doubleheaders, and he said, maybe they have seven inning
doubleheaders so they could get more games in. And you know,
I assume the single game would be nine innies. To me,
(10:40):
with all due respect to Ross Atkins, that's asinine. You
can't play half the games seven innings and half the
games nine innings. That makes no sense. So unless you're
playing every single game seven innings, which I don't think
anybody wants to see, you better play nine innies. If
you're gonna play doubleheaders, they gotta be nine inning games.
(11:03):
And I look, if they really want to experiment with
seven inning games as a you know, they obviously have
been talking about speeding up the game, and if they
wanted to really go to seven inning games eventually, that's
one thing. But to have half your game seven innies,
half of them nine, that's ridiculous. Robe with you. You
(11:24):
cannot bastardize the game, Chris, that's the only word I
could use. And that's what you would be doing if
you do that, either you're playing all seven inning games
or all nine inning games, right, And of course nobody
wants seven inning games. That's what softball's played in seven innings, right,
that's not that's not baseball. It's nine innings. And I
(11:46):
don't understand why people just can't. You know, we're experiencing,
going through, enduring something that most have never been through,
which is the country has been shut down, stopped. Everything
we know to be normal is not so. The baseball
season in twenty twenty will not be normal. But but
(12:06):
it doesn't mean that you change the game and the
way we play it. That's what has to stay the same. Yes,
we could play one twenty Chris, I'll take a hundred
games season as long as they keep it intact. And
if everybody plays a hundred games, the best team in
a hundred games should be the World Series, you know,
after it's all over the playoffs. I'll accept that championship,
(12:29):
not no problem with that, no question about that. Would
be a far more acceptable than a season in which
half the games were seven innings, or you came up
with some special rules that totally changed the game just
to try to fit in more games. Look when the
NBA in nineteen ninety nine they came off their lockout,
they had fifty games, and it was fifty eighty two
(12:50):
and it was fine. It still was legitimate because everybody's
playing under the same rules. And that's one of the
benefits robe of baseball and basketball playing so many regular
season games. Heck, if they played an eighty game baseball season,
I know nobody wants to see that, but if they
played eighty games, it would still be legitimate. That's a
(13:12):
lot of games. Still, It's not what we're used to, right,
but it's still a lot. It's eighty games, right. I
can figure out who's good and who's bad in eighty
games and it's legitimate. It would be different if you
were playing baseball and you said, Okay, the season's gonna
be sixteen games, then then it would be like Baseball's
not that right kind of sport, do you know what
I mean? That wouldn't work exactly because maybe the Seattle
(13:35):
Mariners might win the World Series. Right, But but I'm
with you. If it's a hundred, if it's eighty five,
if it's ninety, I'm cool with that. I really am,
considering the times and the circumstanced. Same thing with the NBA.
If we only want and Chris, some teams have already
played one six in the sixties, right, Yeah, there the
(13:57):
average team has played like almost sixty five games. Yeah,
so some have played like sixty seven. Some have played
and it's only eighty two. I could saffs from here.
Oh yeah. My only thing with that is just the
guys are out of shape. They will have to do
that or maybe have like a little uh you or
(14:17):
you know, if you either need to play games, you know,
regular season games, or have you know, maybe a two
week training camp and then you go right into the playoffs,
you know what I mean. But but yeah, I agree,
they've played enough games. We know who the best eight
teams are in each conference. You know, Washington is not
getting in. They're not making a run the Wizards. Okay,
(14:38):
sorry Wizards fans um and you could easily do it
the way it is. But yeah, baseball, and it's gonna
be interesting because you know, you saw this with the
NBA in two thy twelve, the first year Lebron win
his championship. That was a shortened season because of the lockout.
It was sixty six games and they were playing triple
(14:59):
back to backs. They're playing games and you know we
talk about now players don't like playing back to backs.
They were playing three games and three nights on occasion,
but Rob, the sense of urgency was tremendous and every
game felt like it mattered. Everybody was into the games.
And that's what you're gonna see in both of these sports,
(15:21):
Basketball and baseball if they come back. Baseball's games are
going to be so there's gonna be such a sense
of urgency. People are gonna be into it. If they
play a hundred games, they're gonna mean more than one
hundred and sixty two, So I think that and fans
are gonna they're gonna be missing the sport. So it's
(15:41):
going to be wildly popular. I believe whenever they do
come back. No, I agree. First of all, it'll be
the thirst of not having it right, like we just
went through today with Opening Day, no Opening Day, And
if it were to come back in a couple of months, Chris,
people would be just be all excited and then you're right,
(16:02):
you know, like you'll be like, well, I missed forty games,
I'm not missing anymore this year. To view everything, Chris
would be through the roof because people will be like,
you know, I need my fix. I've already missed forty
games or fifty games. I want to see as much
as I can, and I think it would be different.
(16:23):
And if it's a situation where they're playing I don't know,
you know, who knows what's gonna happen. If they're playing
the empty stadiums, then everybody's gonna be at home watching them.
There's no questionability. Let me ask you this, would you
if they and perhaps this is what Atkins meant? But
if you played, say you played seven games, you know,
(16:45):
any double headers, and you made every game seven innings
and you got in one sixty two? Would you prefer
that with every so every game is seven innings, even
when they played single you know headers, if you want
to call it that, Or would you rather a hundred
games that are nine innings? I'd rather a hundred games
(17:10):
at nine innings. I don't want because of the way
the game is broken up. And and I'm talking about
stats wise, U records wise, do you know what I mean?
Like you would you would totally change that that there's
no reason to change that. That would be like the
NFL saying we're gonna play Arena Football League in a
(17:31):
smaller what I mean, yeah, or something like that. I
just don't I don't think that's that's acceptable or good enough,
play the regular game, play the way it was originally
meant to play, and just be accept less games. I
know why they don't want to accept less games, Chris.
It's not because the quality of the games. It's because
(17:54):
of money. We all know it, am I right? They
want to they want the money. This is gonna be
devastating to all these leagues to have to not what
was the money that came out today about the NCAA.
What wasn't their story? I can't remember. I didn't say that,
but I know I know to say, see if you
(18:14):
can find a story about the what do you have it?
What what? Chris, Listen to this. It's because of no
March Madness that they're gonna have still the distribution in
June to their Division one members, but it's gonna be
three hundred seventy five million dollars less than what was budgeted,
and what they are able to distribute will mostly come
from insurance. Yeah, yeah, right, I do, Steve. They usually
(18:39):
make like nine hundred million dollars from March Madness, yeah,
minus operating expenses. But yeah, they have a lot to distribute.
Usually it's not going to be six hundred meal this year.
Well that's the thing too that these leagues might have
to recognize is when they do come back and fans
are able to go, if the economy, at least for
a few years is you know, somewhat decimated. Because of this,
(19:02):
people aren't gonna be their first you know, priorities, not
gonna be going to a game for season tickets, you know,
so they may have to drop the prices. That's something
else that they may have to consider. Who knows what
could happen going forward. So there, I get it. It's
their business for them, so it's hard to say money
(19:22):
can't be their first priority. Obviously that's what they're in
the business for. But things could change in many ways
for these owners of these teams, So we have to
see how it plays out. But I agree with you,
Rob though, I would rather a hundred games at nine
innings because part of the game, and this is true
(19:44):
for all sports, part of the game is stamina as well.
Like it's you know, in basketball, a bad team might
be able to hang with a great team for two
and a half or three quarters, but they can't do
it for four. It's a same in every sport. Remember
when the golfer that wanted to he was handicap and
(20:04):
he wanted to ride in the cart about twenty years ago,
thirty years ago. I can't remember that guy's name, Casey something.
I remember that story, and they didn't let him. If
people figured, well, he's handycat, he can't walk the course,
so why shouldn't he be able to ride in the cart.
But they didn't let him because part of the game
(20:25):
is walking the course, Like if you don't as a professional,
if you don't walk the course, you got a big
advantage over the guys that are walking the course. And
so part of finding out who's the best team and
and all of that is it's a nine any game.
You got that. That guy's name was Casey Martin, I
(20:46):
remember that, and they said he would have an advantage
over the other golfers walking if you ever walk eighteen holes.
I mean, it's a it's a whole, no question. And
so it's all a part of the game now, and
so with the bullpens and the closers, and especially now
with all the specialists, nine innings is what it is about.
(21:08):
It shouldn't go to seven, not at all. And and
I just can't imagine that baseball purists have been through
the Ringer Chris with you know, wild cards and all
these other changes and whatnot. And I do not believe
that there's any way that the people who um who
(21:30):
what they say, watch over the guardians of baseball will
about to happen. And I don't think you, as a commissioner,
would ever want to be a part of that, because
that would be a part of your legacy. Fox Sports
Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.
Catch all of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot
com and within the iHeart Radio app search f SR
to listen live. Are you ready like lepron We're going big.
(21:56):
It's go town, It's Bruce Sard's Fab five. All right.
These are my most memorable Opening Day performances during my lifetime.
Most memorable Opening Day performances of my lifetime. Number five,
two thousand and seventeen. Madison Bumgardner goes deep twice against
(22:19):
the Arizona Diamondbacks to become the first pitcher ever to
hit two home runs in one game on opening day.
Bum Gardner had a perfect game on the mound through
five innings, but gave up three runs in the sixth.
No problem in the seventh, he steps to the plate
and hits his second home run to tie the game
(22:39):
before turning the ball over to the bullpen. The Giants
lost the game, but it certainly wasn't a fall to Bumgardner,
who also struck out eleven. Number four, two thousand and thirteen,
Clayton Kershaw hits the only home run of his career
period the only home run of his career in the
(22:59):
game which he was terrific on the mound and at
the plate. In addition to the dinger, Kershaw through a
complete game shutout to lift the Dodgers over the Giants.
It was a precursor to things to come for Kershaw
that season. He drove in check it out a career
high ten runs that year at the plate and more importantly, though,
(23:19):
he went on to win the second of his three
cy Young Awards. Number three. Nineteen eighty eight, George Bell
becomes the first player ever to hit three home runs
in a game on opening Day. All three came off
a two time cy Young winner Brett Saberhagen. The performance
(23:40):
came fresh off the only MVP season the Bell's career,
and if you're wondering, three other players have gone on
to hit three home runs in an opening day game
Toughy Roads, Dmitri Young and Matt Davidson. Number two nineteen
ninety nine, Raoul Manda c goes four for five with
(24:02):
two home runs and six RBI in the Dodgers victory
over Arizona. So the Dodgers are down sixty three, two
men out in the bottom of the ninth, all appeared loss.
Mindusa steps to the plate smacks a three run homer
to tie it in force extra innings. Then two innings later,
with two outs and one man on, he goes yard
(24:24):
with a walkoff homer to give the Dodgers the eight
six win. Number one nineteen seventy four, Mark stole a
little of my thunder Mark from Sacramento Hank Aaron, receiving
hate mail throughout the entire offseason. Homers in his first
at bat to tie Babe Ruce record of seven hundred
(24:47):
fourteen home runs. Aaron wanted to sit out the whole
three game series in Cincinnati so he could break Ruf's
record in Atlanta, but under pressure from Commissioner Bowie kN
Aaron two of the three games. He went hitless. In
his other game in Cincinnati, he definitely he wanted to
break it in Atlanta, so in the first game the
(25:08):
Braves home opener against the Dodger, Dodgers Aaron Homers and
becomes the new home run king. Those are Bruce Sard's
five five for this week. What do you think, Rob? Wow,
very impressive that some good stuff surprised you. I was
like Steve say Mark from Sacramento stole a little bit
(25:31):
my thunder.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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