August 25, 2025 • 40 mins
Big Ben talks about Micah Parsons antics during the Cowboys preseason finale, if Mariners Cal Raleigh has surpassed Aaron Judge in the AL MVP race, Maller to the Third Degree, Insta-Advice Line, and much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:24):
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Speaker 1 (00:32):
Was it Cowboy Up or Cowboy Down? Or just Cowboy
lay down? Welcome in the beginning of another week of
the Ben Malor Show. We are in the air everywhere
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(01:19):
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buying show be so our lead this hour, play the
hits mom Man, we'll go to football. I want to
think everyone that showed up. We had a great turnout
(01:59):
in Vegas over the weekend thanks to everyone that was there.
Was awesome and had a lot of fun. Ended up
staying a lot longer than we had scheduled. We say
we'll only be there for a couple hours. We got
to stand for like another hour and a half or
something like that, but close the place down. So it
was a lot of fun. But our lead this hour.
We'll get more on that later. We'll go to Dallas, well,
Dallas adjacent and another weekend filled with the drama. O rama,
(02:23):
that's what they do. They down't do football, they do
drama in the heart of Texas. So I thought this
was a compelling story because it's continued throughout the weekend.
It didn't end, It didn't end over the weekend. It's
continued through the weekend. So if you haven't heard about
the details on this, maybe not the coach and I
say that loosely. The coach, Brian Schottenheimer, as has said,
(02:47):
and he said this over the weekend, he was gonna
have a pow wow with Micah Parsons. This is supposed
to take place on Sunday. We do not know how
that went. We don't know if it even happened, but
it was scheduled to happen. Now, the reason that par
Parsons is being called out here is because he made
a bunch of headlines over the weekend the final exhibition
football game for some tawdry behavior, some naughty behavior by
(03:11):
Micah Parsons there in the final preseason game. So without
this is a quote from Shottenhimer, Brian shot and racy.
Without talking to Micah, I need to figure out what
he was doing. What he was doing, said the coach
in name only, Michael Parson's boss. Wink wink, nod nod.
(03:33):
Brian Schottenheimer says, So until I talked to him, I'm
obviously not going to talk about it close quote, and
that meeting was supposed to take place on today. So
let us discuss the question for the esteem panel. How
do you read Michah Parsons and his activity during the
Cowboys final exhibition game which took place near the end
(03:54):
of last week. So I've got Garfield, All State and
eight ball, and we will combine all of these things
together and we are going to make some kettle corn,
is what we're gonna make. That's that's an upgrade from
just regular popcorn because it's got the sugar on, it's carmel.
It's an upgrade. So A Micah Parsons spoke volumes, volumes
(04:19):
in volumes at the Cowboys preseason game, the last one
that they played there. And the great thing about this
he did not have to say anything. Not a single
word was said by Michaeh Parsons that would lead you
to lead in one way or another. It was just
Michah Parsons coming up. Body language. We talk about body language,
the mannerisms, the gyrations by Michaeh Parsons, whatever you want
(04:42):
to call it. You know, any of those things, all
those things together you can make them all together. That's
why the guy was eating nachos, delicious stadium nachos in
the hallways underneath the stadium there where the Cowboys were playing,
like he was at the Texas State Fair. So can
I get some nachos in a corn dog?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, sure, why not? And then the famous viral photo
of Micah Parsons laying on the trainer's table like he
had just had his achilles pop and he was laying
down there while the Cowboys were on the offensive there
and doing the call me gesture to Falcon fans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That was when Falcon fans said, hey, why don't you
come play for the Atlanta Falcons And he did the
old he call me? You know, we called yeah, okay,
no problem. Uh. So that's not a great look. It's
not the end of the world. I mean, it's it's
ridiculous that we're here, but we are here having this conversation.
So you've got Micah Parsons having a bit of a
(05:45):
conniption fit in real time, in real time during the
last Cowboy exhibition game. And even without playing, he didn't play,
didn't playing the game there, and Parsons knew going into
that situation. He was going to be in Center Square.
He knew it right, and he was a full on thespian.
(06:06):
Michael Parsons putting on a performance, and what was the message?
Who was he channeling? What character was Michael parton? So
I'm going with Garfield the cat. Now Parsons was acting
like a fat cat. Now instead of lasagna, he likes nachos.
Mike a good stadium nachos, he likes that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Meanwhile, the thing that is great about this story on
so many levels is there's this false belief that Michael
Parsons doesn't have a contract and that he's all up
in arms because he's not getting paid and he needs
to make some real money, and it's just it's just
a great injustice what is going on to Michael Parsons.
And then you take a couple of steps back and you're like, well,
(06:48):
wait a minute, he is under contract and the Cowboys
are paying him twenty four million dead Presidents this season
twenty four two four, and then an m for million
right after that. That is more than most of the
state lotteries in America today if you go state by state,
(07:09):
and there are some that are bigger, but for the
most part that each state lottery is less than Michael
Parsons is going to get to play for the Cowboys
this season. And he's moping around boooo oh my god,
I can't believe man alive. And so despite all that money,
you know, he's enjoying the camaraderie with the fans and
(07:32):
the nachos and all that stuff. And he knows exactly
what he's doing to it's obvious. I mean, all this
stuff has played out for the cameras and he's trolling
Jerry Jones. He's upset. Oh this is not right. I'm
gonna lay into it. He's basically just saying, hey, Jerry,
you want me engaged. Jerry, you want me engaged with
the Cowboys? Pay me, pay me the body, show me
the mody. But here's the thing. Does he not come
(07:57):
across It's just like totally spoiled. What are you doing?
I mean, the and I don't want to speak for
Cowboy fans because I'm not a Cowboy fan. However, don't
you want to see your so called franchise player at
least pretend pretend to be somewhat engaged, you know, maybe
not lay on the table and all that it's just petulant,
(08:20):
is what it is. Andy listen, we enjoy We've all
grown up at some point had conniption fits when we
were kids, but Jamy grow out of it. The optics
are horrendous on this for Michael Parsons, and he wants
to be a showman and he's going to do it
one way or another. And I still maintain my position
that all of this hullabaloo will end up with just
(08:43):
before the start of the season the Cowboys working out
an agreement with with Michael Parsons. Now it gets a
little tricky here because they do play in the first
game of the year. The Eagles and Cowboys will kick
off the NFL seasons. There's less time to play with
on that. But I maintained my position that there will
(09:05):
be last second negotiations to try to work out an agreement.
All right, Now turn the pitch. Does San Francisco we
go or San Francisco adjacent Santa Clair, which is not
San Francisco proper, but nonetheless the forty nine ers officially
over the weekend they signed the key docu signed there.
(09:26):
They crossed the t's and they dotted the eyes and
commander's running back Brian Robinson Junior is now headed to
the forty nine ers. He goes from Washington to San Francisco.
Kyle Shanahan was asked about the team's plans for the
former Commander running back the old Redskins. There Robinson on
(09:48):
the depth chart, and Shanahan said, over the weekend quote,
we brought him here to be our two back. Shanahan
explained Robinson will be working closely behind Christian McCaffrey in
the forty nine er backfield there. So what the question
on this one? What is the real story? We know
what Shanahan said, We know what Kyle Shanahan said. We
(10:10):
take what coaches say with a great AsSalt. So what
is the real story on the Commander's running back Brian
Robinson going to the forty nine ers for basically nothing? Right,
late round draft picks are worthless. So this is a tell.
Some would say it's a dad, a dad, give it now.
The real story is the forty nine ers here do
(10:33):
not believe. They're not believers. They don't believe that McCaffrey
is going to make it through the season healthy, that
there's a durability issue with McCaffrey. He was hurt last
year before that, he actually had a stretch where he
was relatively healthy. So the thing about this is they're
not saying it out loud. They're not barking, oh yeah,
(10:53):
we don't think this guy's gonna be out there, because
you never say that. Yoah, I believe in my players
all this stuff. They're not saying it, but I'm telling
you their actions tell you they do not trust Christian
McCaffrey to hold up. They don't, and they're telling you
that by making this particular transition. The forty nine ers
basically called up the all State Mayhem guy and McCaffrey
(11:17):
goes down Boom Mayhem, Right, that's Mayhem, and you bring
in Dean Winters there, and the Niners are just trying
to avoid a situation where the inevitable happens. McCaffrey week
three or four gets hurt and then they have a
stable of running backs. Has always been a plug and
play position for the forty nine ers, that old Mike
Shanahan system, that Kyle Shanahan's just copied off his dad's
(11:41):
work there, and so it's always been well, I just
pluging waing, well man, they're saying, well, we need something
with a little extra And that also is a tell.
Right now, we know that Brian Robinson is insurance, NFL
insurance and all that stuff, but they're expecting to cash it,
like that's the thing. They expecting to cash it, and
(12:02):
you look around the underlying condition here, Okay, the underlying
condition is brock Purty, who they paid and he got
paid good for him. Congratulations, you're not that good, but
you got paid. And so brock Purty got paid. The
Nighters know though, that he doesn't make players around him better,
which is generally the rule for paying a quarterback elite money.
(12:23):
He's like, well, this guy's got to make other players
around them better. And anybody who knows ball knows that
brock Purty is not that guy. So Brian Robinson, who
was acquired for a late round pick, would give them
a little more, a little more in their offense there,
So he's insurance. And that's the issue. Brock Purty's not
going to carry anything offensively for the forty nine ers.
(12:45):
He needs weaponry. He needs people around him yards after
the catch, all that stuff, explosive plays. He's not going
to lead players to overperform their expectation and So if
McCaffrey gets hurt, or when Christian mca after he gets hurt,
and you're looking at the season going down down, down, down, down, down,
down down down down down. All right. Now, meanwhile, we
(13:08):
had a minor of flurry, a flurry of minor roster moves.
I guess that's the way we'll describe it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
One that caught a lot of attention despite being a
player that was not even drafted, not even drafted. That
would be Tampa we Go, where the Buccaneers inform rookie
safety Shiloh Sanders that your services are not needed. You're
being wave, which is a nice politically correct term. It's
code for being you've politely been fired. Please clean out
(13:37):
your locker and get the hell out of here. The
grim Reaper is paying you the Turk, not Turk Stevens
he used to working, But the Turk is coming to
track you down. And the agent on this Shrew Rosenhaus.
Now he's of course hoping that Sanders kid will be
claimed on waivers and get a job somewhere else. There's
also the possibility ends up on the practice squad. Now
(13:58):
there is some chatter, oh the buck hear should have
kept Shiloh on the on the roster, which I don't
I don't understand that. Like, did did Shiloh Sanders get
a raw deal from the Buccaneers? I'm like, and what
world are you living? It like, You're not in the
world that I'm in. So I'm shaking my head. No,
I'm not. I mean the Bucks gave him the old
(14:18):
handshake and a bus ticket and a plane ticket and
said get out of here, bye bye, You're you're not
needed here. But he was undrafted. When you're undrafted, you
start out with cooties. You're behind the eight ball when
you're undrafted, So you're behind the eight ball, The cues crooked,
the chalk is getting wet. That all of that right,
(14:39):
And if you're honest, I mean, that's exactly what happened here.
Now you could say, well, you should have gotten more
of an opportunity, But I listen, did I watch every
Buccaneers game? No? I did not. Uh. Did I watch
the clips that are all over the place, Yes I did.
I watched the clips and what I saw on the
clips and those that break this stuff down as a tackler,
(15:00):
Dion Sanders kid at the safety for the Bucks. Now
no longer with the Bucks. He was like in Mexico
as a matador or or or or the tackling was
not great. Now he does have the aura, the Sanders aura,
So Shiloh's got that going for him. However, apparently that
does not help if you're not good at tackling and
(15:22):
you're a safety. And there's also the little Komodo dragon
in the room where he walloped he meleaid a Bills
player in the final Bucks exhibition game, he threw a punch. Yeah,
like it was like Mike Tyson's punch out or something
like that. And that appears to be the final body blow.
Body blow, body blow, final body blow. And that's the
(15:45):
equivalent if you're desperately trying to get a job and
you're on a job interview and you end up punching
someone at the job interview. It is a kin to
showing up to a job interview and flip and then
yelling at the receptionist when you get to the place
to the interviews, well, why am I waiting? You know
(16:07):
who I am? Yeah, yeah, come on, forget about and
forget about that gig. You're not getting that gig at all,
So any listen, he was undersized. Why are we talking
about this because it's all over the place. And will
he end up on a practice squad? Shiloh Sanders probably
probably will end up somewhere on a practice squad. Maybe
he gets another chance with the Buccaneers on their practice
(16:29):
squad or somewhere else. But yeah, it's a it's a name,
it's a name referred, but an undrafted name, and let's
leave it to that.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
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(17:06):
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Covino and Rich. A big dumper delight, Welcome in the
beginning of another hour of the Ben Mathers Show. We
(17:51):
are in the air everywares we huddle up and go
on a shopping spree coast to coast, border to border
and beyond. On the mast and lip smackingly powerful microphones
of fs are am monating live from the whirlwind. It's
(18:11):
just a whirlwind of whispers as we try to avoid
joining the drifters. Coast to coast and all that good
stuff from the world famous Fox Sports Radio studios here
as approved by the caller. We had last our big
balls Bob who won the Talent Show, which was a
spur of the moment. It was not really a talent show.
It was a karaoke thing that we did in Vegas.
(18:35):
And this portion of the Ben Mahler Show on Fox
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installation tier rac dot com the way tire buying shure
would be. So our lead this hour is from baseball
and we'll go to Seattle with the story everyone's been
yapping about. Here cal Raleigh doing it again. The Mariners
star cal Raley homer and his first two at bats
against Jacob Lopez of the Athletics. Not the Sacramento Athletics,
(19:17):
not the Oakland Athletics, not the Kansas City Athletics, not
the Philadelphia Athletics. They're just the Athletics. But that home
run bonanzo by cal Raley. He broke the MLB record
for home runs by a catcher in a single season
minimum seventy five percent of games played as a catcher.
So I assume you heard about that. If you've been listening,
(19:39):
you know about it. We've talked about it and maybe not.
But Salvador Perez of the Royals had the previous record
with forty eight home runs. That was back in twenty
twenty one. Man, it was so long ago, like four
or five years ago. Wow. Now Raleigh has forty home
runs this season while playing behind home play. Forty home
(20:00):
runs as a catcher, so he's still technically not one,
but two home runs away from that record. Just home
runs by a catcher. That was Hobby Lopez of the
Atlanta Braves back in the day forty two the most ever.
Take that, Mike Piazza and all those other catchers. They
hit a lot of home runs back in the day.
All right, So let us discuss the question based on
(20:21):
the latest developments. Has cal Rawley passed Aaron Judge by
in the American League MVP race? So I've got Google Maps, Airbnb,
and modern art, and we will combine all of these
things together and we will ring the bell again and
(20:42):
again and again and again. So number one, I said,
number one? Yeah, alright, So They're in a dead heat
at this point, right dead heat. If you look at
the American League MVP race down the stretch we go.
Here we are, it's late August, the baseball season heating up. Boy,
(21:03):
it's toasty hot most places, and we're setting up for
a photo finish like at the Kentucky Derby the very
end there. And if you look at where we're at,
cal Raley's got this record, the record as opposed to
the Royals catcher. He's got that. He's gonna have the
all time record. He's going to hit at least three
more home runs this year unless he gets hurt, so
(21:24):
he's gonna have the all time record. And we know
that catching is more difficult than playing outfield like Aaron
Judges for the Yankees or dhing, which he's been doing
somewhat lately because of some injury stuff. So the issue though,
and this is the problem, and I want that dope
from Seattle to call up. You hate Kyl Rally. We
(21:45):
do the show today. We're worried about today's show. So today,
as we talk today, cal Raley is dead even and
even has a slight edge, a hair of an edge
over Aaron Judge the issue is Google Maps. If you
look look at the geography. Cal Roley plays, as the
old NFL coach Jimmy Johnson said back in the day,
he plays in southern Alaska. There's no workaround to that.
(22:08):
There won't about the Internet. There's no work around you have.
You have to overcome the geography and Aaron Judge, all
things being equal, Aaron Judge East Coast bias and all
that stuff. And also even in the age of social media,
Aaron Judge playing in New York and he's got that
superhero costume, the pinstripes you good luck, right, the tie
(22:32):
will go to Judge. If it's even, the tie goes
to Aaron Judge. So Raleigh needs to be a full
head and shoulders ahead of Aaron Judge to take home
the American League MVP Award this year. And the Yankees
have a one game lead over the Mariners. If you
look at the overall standings in a lost column, a
one game lead for the wild and Ano. They're both wildcard teams,
(22:53):
but the Mariners are one game behind the Yankees in
the head to head standings. Judge is on pace. He's
on pace. Didn't play well, particularly on that Sunday night
game I was watching. The Yankees did actually beat the
Red Sox, which I didn't think they could do anymore,
but they did. I was watching that game a little bit.
The Yankees have a one game lead. As I mentioned,
Judge on pace head ahead with the Mariners. Judge on
(23:14):
pace for thirty two doubles, fifty home runs and one
hundred and fifteen RBIs now cal Raley is tracking for
twenty three doubles and he's also on pace to hit
sixty I believe it. With sixty one home runs at
this point and one hundred and thirty one RBIs so
so big time numbers there. Now Page two, we stay
(23:35):
in the Bronx and we were talking about Aaron Judge,
and we're not going to talk about Aaron Judge right
now because the Yankees made a roster decision prior to
that game with the Red Sox on Sunday Night that
raised some eyebrows here. The Yankees have benched shortstop Anthony
Volpi Sunday Night base but he was out of the
starting lineup. He did get in the game as a
(23:56):
defensive replacement late, but he was no longer the start
shortstop for the new York Yankees in their win against
the Red Sox. So the question, is this the beginning
of the end for Anthony Volpi in the Bronx? Is
this it? The Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpi there benched in
(24:17):
that game last night. So I'm gonna nod my head
yes on this one in terms of this being the end.
We did a rant about Anthony Volpi a couple weeks back,
and it's only gotten worse. It's only gotten worse at
this particular point. And the Vulpy thing just isn't working.
The message has been sent here and the Yankees are
(24:38):
trying to sell Vulpi. They've been trying to sell them,
and this is gonna all work out. You know, He's
got to hold the roots. He's got the backstory. Everyone
loves the backstory and all that. He's the next Derek
Jeter and all that. And what they've got is they've
got the equivalent of a version of Windows Vista that
is promised as this next big innovation and all that stuff,
(25:01):
but it's actually just filled with a virus. And that's
what they got. The numbers don't like. Vulpi is hitting
two to eight well, building average doesn't matter, Well, it
doesn't matter to some people. Two eight he's a career
two twenty two hitter, so he's barely above the Mendoza line,
which is terrible. And his ops is in the six hundreds,
which I'm told is not particularly good. That is not
(25:22):
Yankee shortstop material. It should not be whether you have
Derek Jeter or not. That should not be the case there.
That is where you're playing in Central Park, playing softball,
and that's where you are with that kind of stat line.
And he's got more errors at this point than our
friend Big Balls Bob trying to get on the internet.
(25:44):
There's a lot of errors there. And the Yankees fans
have been living this mirage. They're like, oh yeah, yeah,
ever since Jeter retired, it's like, oh eah, we're gonna
be We're gonna find the next year. It's flotsam and
jetsam that they've had at short stop. They tried d D. Gregorious,
that workout not good, Glaber Torres, that was a bus.
(26:04):
Now they have Volpi who throws balls into the stands.
He wants to give everyone a souvenir. Does that a
lot ball bounces in the dart bounces in the crowd
the whole thing there. And it's like the Yankees are
running an airbn b. It's an Airbnb for shortstops at
this particular point. There's a different guy every couple of years,
every couple of years. None of them seem to live
(26:26):
up to the brochure, and you know the photos and
there you sign up for the airbnbing and like all right,
I'm gonna stay there. And you show up and instead
of the presidential suite in the nice king sized bed there,
you're given a sleeping bag under and overpass. And that
is you know, it's it's indoor outdoor living, is what
it is. Indoor outdoor living, and that's it. And that's
(26:50):
just not the way it's supposed to go. It's like,
you know, you're not in Rancho Cucamonga, You're You're the
New York Yankees and all that. And if you stink
for multiple seasons with Vulpi is there, he costs them.
He helped cost them the World Series. Now I loved it.
When he was a stumblebomb against the Dodgers in the
fifth inning of Game five of the World Series, everyone
(27:10):
focuses on Aaron Judge muffing the ball in the outfield
and Garrett Cole not making the play, not covering first base.
But how about Vulpi he booted a ball in that
World Series also, so the guy's a bust with a
capitol B at this point, and ye go out and
replace him. Now they can't do anything now. The trade
deadline's pass, so they're stuck with what they have. The Yankees,
(27:31):
good luck on that all right now. Final point to
San Diego, we go where the Podres did not did
not sweep the Dodgers, but the Dodger oftens very limp
over the weekend they're in San Diego. The Dodgers did
rally back to beat the Podres in the game that
was played on Sunday to avoid the old sweep. The
(27:51):
old sweeperoo at the hands of the fish Tacos. There
was something that happened the game within the game. Here
they caught my attention and got a lot of buzz,
a lot of attention. So I don't know I saw
the highlight or heard about the highlight or not. The
Dodgers were getting smoked early in the game, not smoke,
but they were down. They had a futile offense all
(28:13):
week and they came back and they got a little
bit of insurance late when shohy Otani connect. And the
story is about that home run. So there was a
Padre fan who was sitting right next to the Dodger
dugout in San Diego, and this guy was busting the
balls of show al time, busting his chops all series
(28:35):
and Otani was horrific. He had ten at bats, He
was zero for ten for the Dodgers against the Padres
in this Showdown NL West matchup prior to that home run.
So he was doing absolutely bupkus for the Dodgers up
until then. And then finally what happens. He goes Deepits
a home run. There you go. And what did Otani
(28:58):
do after the home run? He gave the guy a
high five. He gave the guy a high five. So
what is the word? Here's the question. What is the
word for Dodger star shohe Otani high fiving a Heckler
wearing Padre merch. All right, so my word is refreshing
(29:19):
with a capital R. Refreshing with a capital R. Here's why.
I'll tell you why, because how many stories have we
done over the last couple of years about athlete X
losing their mind, losing their mind because somebody was heckling
them and they crossed the line. This is not right
and all that. So I found it refreshing that rather
(29:44):
than have the fan escorted out of the stadium, which
Otani could have done, all Otani had do was tap
on the shoulder of the security guy and that would
have been it for the heckler. So it was refreshing
that Otani not do that. Most of these guys today
seem to be very thin skinned, and they're very touchy
(30:05):
and hyper sensitive to all the noise and all this stuff,
and anybody boos them boom. We used to have a
guy called boom Man that called the show back of
the boom Man. And normally what happens is if you
boost certain of the players, these guys will immediately contact
stadium security like a mall cop and get that person
(30:27):
out of there. You're done and all that stuff. And
so to me, heckling it is modern art when done properly.
It should be hung in an art museum. When you're
able to heckle properly and get a player off his
game a little bit, And I said, well, this is
this backfired? Well, did it backfire or Tony had one
home run. The entire series was zero for ten prior
(30:49):
to that at bad but this is a masterpiece. So
like Picasso or Warhol, one of the great painters there.
And you get in the player's head, your rasm right,
give them a hard time, and then and that's what
he players pretend like, I don't hear it. I got
my earmuffs on. I'm not hearing what's going on there.
And then you end up hitting a home run like Otani.
And Otani, you'd think he'd be relieved because that really
(31:12):
cemented the game for the Dodgers, and they were about
to get swept by the Padres if they had not
come back in that game. But he wasn't seemingly overjoyed
because he hit the home run that helped guarantee the
Dodgers got to win. He was happy because you got
to put a cork in the heckler's mouth. That's what
he was happy about. That's great, Like, thank god, I
(31:32):
finally got one. That's the way to do it. Now.
The pottery fan basically pushed him into the home run
was all over Otani. It was great and finally he
connected on one and that's that's how it ended. But
this is not This is not the way it normally
goes done. So many of these stories where it's like
this guy's gotta get kicked out, that guy's gotta get
(31:53):
kicked out, it's like, what are we doing here? In fact,
there was a time for players it was emasculating. If
you had a fan kicked out, it was like a
badge of honor the heckling that would be going on
back in the day. And then so it's it's different,
but the boo birds are chirping. That is a sign
of honor. That is not something to be upset about.
You should be honor day. As the old line goes,
(32:14):
they don't boot nobody's right, you're gonna be good to
get booed. And so there's Otani the face of major
League baseball, not even close the face of major League baseball.
You got Otani out there working his magic, hitting a
home run, and then that fans, you know, some guy
making normal dough and he ends up getting in Otani's head.
(32:36):
So that is a w for the heckler and also
inspiration for other hecklers around Major League baseball. When the
playoffs get going, here in a month, and the Dodgers,
whether they win the division or the wild card team,
they're gonna be in the playoffs somewhere, and then Otani
will have an opportunity to be heckled by random people
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern even be em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Here we are, Mallard. How about that?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
To the third degree? This is one big vent gets grilled.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Here we all and to the koop a loop for
the questions the quiz that we call Mallard of the
third degree.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
The Phillies announced on Saturday the starting pitcher Zach Wheeler
will miss the remainder of the season.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes, he could have died. People die from blood clots, Coop,
They die from blood clots.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Yes, Ben, How big of a blow is this for
the Phillies World series hopes?
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Well, it sucks. However, the Phillies, I am convinced if
they're gonna do anything here, it's going to be based
on their offense. I don't think that's an outrageous take. Oh,
you're really a shock jock with that take. No, they
remember a couple of years ago they got the World
Series and then they stopped hitting. But you've got a
lineup that is absolutely stacked with Trey Turner, Kyle Schwarber,
Bryce Harper, jt Riamuto at the top. Those top four
(33:53):
hitters are among the top hitters in all of the
National League, all of baseball. So if they score runs,
they've got an enough pitching. Oh you're you're crazy. No,
Sanchez has been wonderful this year. He's their number one
now with Wheeler out, Lozardo is not terrible, and Rangel
Suarez has had had some moments. So, I mean, there's
(34:13):
some other guys in there, Taiwan Walker and whatnot. But
I'm I don't think this eliminates the Phillies by any means.
It makes it a little more difficult. It makes it
a better story for the Phillies to get to the
World Series. I look at the National League's wide open.
The Dodgers are beatable. Not only the Podres are invincible
by any means. Here you look around, the Brewers look good,
(34:35):
but can they do in the playoffs? Trees cubs. So,
to answer your question, Coop, it hurts, but it's not
a kill shot for the Phillies.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Next Over the weekend, the Vikings traded backup quarterback Sam
Howell and signed Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
The great former Ram Carson Wentz.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Right, well, yeah, a lot of people are calling this
an upgrade at backup, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
No, it is a lateral move. It is not an
up I'm actually a ran. More about this later. Carson
Wentz has been washed up for five years, six years,
and he still gets jobs in the NFL. Wouldn't that
be great if you're you proven you're not good at
your job and he gets bounced around. He's played for
the Eagles, Colts, Commanders, Rams, Chiefs and now the Vikings
(35:19):
since twenty twenty. Either way, the Vikings are putting all
their chips in the JJ McCarthy basket. We all know that, right.
If McCarthy sucks, they're cooked. They're absolutely cooked. It's not
like they're in better shape if Carson Wentz gets it
there in place. It's not like all of a sudden,
Oh we're in good shit. We got Carson Wentz. We're
ready to go.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Come on, all right next, Paul Skin's just the way
gem in his fiftieth start in the majors and now
has the second lowest ere of any pitcher in the
live ball era through fifty starts. But do you think
the Pirates are going to waste a generational talent much
like the angel did with Mike Trout.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Well, waste, you mean, but Trout's still there. They're just
not winning. Toni Otani would be the better, right because
the cud's already wasted.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
He's a thirty four now.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
But Otani. They got nothing for Otani. They just let
Otani leave in free agency. They could have traded Otani
like Paul Skeans. The Pirates are going to end up
trading him in the next couple of years, right, So
they're not gonna get nothing for him. Are they gonna
win the Pirates? No, that's another team. There's a lot
of teams in baseball coupe good ballpark, bad team. The
(36:25):
Pirates are on that good ballpark the Giants, Now we
had that our buddy, the Giant fans showed up to
that meet and greet the ugly orange Giant hat on.
I said, good good ballpark, bad team. The Pirates are
on that list. But no, they're not gonna win. They'll
win when Paul Skeans pitches, and then when he doesn't pitch,
you know, it's like well, and then every once in
a while you get a team that because they have
so many terrible seasons, they get all these collection of
(36:48):
young players at the same time. But no, I'm they're
gonna they're not gonna win anything in Pittsburgh with Paul
Skeins while he's there, and he'll go pitch for the
Yankees or the Dodgers, the Red Sox or someone like that,
or mystery team, and then he'll go on and find
glory somewhere else. All right there, it is Mallard of
the third degree. How did we do you pass this edition?
(37:09):
That is a pass? Yeah, So, so we had we
had Tree, and I gave Tree the ten centaur of
the Fox Sports Radio studios. I pointed, I said, that's
where the cockroaches die. I said, that's the room where
wrong button Bob turned the entire network off. Right over there,
there's a button. We don't know which button he pressed,
but there's a button. I said, here's the vending machine,
(37:30):
which used to be cheap. And then one of the
one of the board ops complained and they raised the prices.
Either he's not here anymore, so I don't know his name.
I forget his name. I don't know who that is.
But that's a bad job by him, bad job by him.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Hey you sports figure, guy or girl? Here you talking
to sons? Here something advice?
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Hold that don no one's paid attention to me for
ten whole seconds.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
And if you don't like it, and no way we go.
It's the inta advice line on screen Radio. Let's get
right into it. We do know a lot, a lot
of time to waste here, so who needs our advice?
Micah Parsons. A week from Thursday, the NFL season begins.
It's almost here. MICHAEH. Parsons upset, had a conniption fit
(38:25):
in the last Cowboy exhibition game trying to work out
a contract extension. Any advice to Micah Parsons. You're live
on the air. When you hear my voice line one, Hello,
you're on their advice to Michael Parsons, line one, Yeah,
have lorainas one? All right? Something about music? You're on
the air, line too. Hello, Line two.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You gotta be a man that leave the Alice cowgirl.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
There, you go, leave the cowgirls behind. Hello call her.
Line four. Your next line for advice to MICHAEH. Parsons.
Line four, Mike, it needs.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
To talk to Bob about getting something.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
That's right, big balls, Bob the star, the star of
the show. Line five. Hello, line five.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
If you like donuts, go to Pismo Beach.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
No, that's right, baby, those ah my god, you've ever
been to You know, you've never been there. You don't
even know where Pismo Beach is. Old West cinnamon rolls.
They should buy commercials. Amazing in Pismo Beach, greatest cinnamon
roll shop. Run Hello. Line six, you're on the air
line Sex.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
Hello, Yeah, morning time. Yeah, give give them a serial
reference up Ben Hello.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Now yeah that's right. What could you have here? Whedi'es
wheedies the wheedies thing. Yeah, yeah, all right, get it.
Rick and Maryland. Line one. You're on the airline one. Hello,
we're giving advice to mic up Parsons. David free the
gerbil Okay. Where is a line Line three? Hello? Line three?
(39:50):
Line three is not paying attention. We're going to line
for it's the incident advice line. Hello. Line four, we're
giving advice to Micah Parsons.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Line four, go down to Florida and get a hand
like bloody craft and pay the official.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
There it is now it's officially the inst of device
Lotter Buddy from Maine and checked in. Line two. You're
on the airline too, please your advice to Micah Parsons. Okay, congratulations.
Line five, you're on the airline five.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Hello, yeah, man, the way the way for Jerry to
solve the Micah Proud Parsons problem is to hire lots
of male NFL cheerleaders with pompa.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Well, clearly that's gone very well there for the NFL.
Line six, you're on the air Hello. Line said, you're
sober there. Hello, Line six, where's the mass call up? Oh?
I know no Nascar, no peace last one quick gray
Line five. Line five, you're on the Airline five. Michael
Parson's advice go but day, but day
Thanks for listening to the best of the Ben Maler
Show podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weeknight
from two to six Eastern eleven pm to three am
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and to find your local
station for the Benmalers Show at Foxsports Radio dot com.
You can find it there or stream us live every
night on the iHeartRadio app by searching FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This is the best of the Ben Maler Show on
Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Was it Cowboy Up or Cowboy Down? Or just Cowboy
lay down? Welcome in the beginning of another week of
the Ben Malor Show. We are in the air everywhere
as we flock together play the audio Jungle gym game
(00:55):
all night long here coast to coast, border to border
and beyond on the van and pleasantly powerful microphones of
fsre am mondating Live go love the Edge, the mathematical
house Edge as we are hanging out here at the
world famous Fox Sports Radio Studios. As approved by Snooker.
(01:19):
I never met Snooker. I met Snooker in Vegas over
the weekend, a big fan of the show, and he's upset.
He wants us to talk about Snooker, and if we
do that, we won't have a show anymore. This portion
of the Ben Maler Show on Fox made possible in
part by our friends at tire Iraq. For over forty years,
ty Iraq has been helping customers find the right tires
(01:39):
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buying show be so our lead this hour, play the
hits mom Man, we'll go to football. I want to
think everyone that showed up. We had a great turnout
(01:59):
in Vegas over the weekend thanks to everyone that was there.
Was awesome and had a lot of fun. Ended up
staying a lot longer than we had scheduled. We say
we'll only be there for a couple hours. We got
to stand for like another hour and a half or
something like that, but close the place down. So it
was a lot of fun. But our lead this hour.
We'll get more on that later. We'll go to Dallas, well,
Dallas adjacent and another weekend filled with the drama. O rama,
(02:23):
that's what they do. They down't do football, they do
drama in the heart of Texas. So I thought this
was a compelling story because it's continued throughout the weekend.
It didn't end, It didn't end over the weekend. It's
continued through the weekend. So if you haven't heard about
the details on this, maybe not the coach and I
say that loosely. The coach, Brian Schottenheimer, as has said,
(02:47):
and he said this over the weekend, he was gonna
have a pow wow with Micah Parsons. This is supposed
to take place on Sunday. We do not know how
that went. We don't know if it even happened, but
it was scheduled to happen. Now, the reason that par
Parsons is being called out here is because he made
a bunch of headlines over the weekend the final exhibition
football game for some tawdry behavior, some naughty behavior by
(03:11):
Micah Parsons there in the final preseason game. So without
this is a quote from Shottenhimer, Brian shot and racy.
Without talking to Micah, I need to figure out what
he was doing. What he was doing, said the coach
in name only, Michael Parson's boss. Wink wink, nod nod.
(03:33):
Brian Schottenheimer says, So until I talked to him, I'm
obviously not going to talk about it close quote, and
that meeting was supposed to take place on today. So
let us discuss the question for the esteem panel. How
do you read Michah Parsons and his activity during the
Cowboys final exhibition game which took place near the end
(03:54):
of last week. So I've got Garfield, All State and
eight ball, and we will combine all of these things
together and we are going to make some kettle corn,
is what we're gonna make. That's that's an upgrade from
just regular popcorn because it's got the sugar on, it's carmel.
It's an upgrade. So A Micah Parsons spoke volumes, volumes
(04:19):
in volumes at the Cowboys preseason game, the last one
that they played there. And the great thing about this
he did not have to say anything. Not a single
word was said by Michaeh Parsons that would lead you
to lead in one way or another. It was just
Michah Parsons coming up. Body language. We talk about body language,
the mannerisms, the gyrations by Michaeh Parsons, whatever you want
(04:42):
to call it. You know, any of those things, all
those things together you can make them all together. That's
why the guy was eating nachos, delicious stadium nachos in
the hallways underneath the stadium there where the Cowboys were playing,
like he was at the Texas State Fair. So can
I get some nachos in a corn dog?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, sure, why not? And then the famous viral photo
of Micah Parsons laying on the trainer's table like he
had just had his achilles pop and he was laying
down there while the Cowboys were on the offensive there
and doing the call me gesture to Falcon fans.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
That was when Falcon fans said, hey, why don't you
come play for the Atlanta Falcons And he did the
old he call me? You know, we called yeah, okay,
no problem. Uh. So that's not a great look. It's
not the end of the world. I mean, it's it's
ridiculous that we're here, but we are here having this conversation.
So you've got Micah Parsons having a bit of a
(05:45):
conniption fit in real time, in real time during the
last Cowboy exhibition game. And even without playing, he didn't play,
didn't playing the game there, and Parsons knew going into
that situation. He was going to be in Center Square.
He knew it right, and he was a full on thespian.
(06:06):
Michael Parsons putting on a performance, and what was the message?
Who was he channeling? What character was Michael parton? So
I'm going with Garfield the cat. Now Parsons was acting
like a fat cat. Now instead of lasagna, he likes nachos.
Mike a good stadium nachos, he likes that.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
Now.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Meanwhile, the thing that is great about this story on
so many levels is there's this false belief that Michael
Parsons doesn't have a contract and that he's all up
in arms because he's not getting paid and he needs
to make some real money, and it's just it's just
a great injustice what is going on to Michael Parsons.
And then you take a couple of steps back and you're like, well,
(06:48):
wait a minute, he is under contract and the Cowboys
are paying him twenty four million dead Presidents this season
twenty four two four, and then an m for million
right after that. That is more than most of the
state lotteries in America today if you go state by state,
(07:09):
and there are some that are bigger, but for the
most part that each state lottery is less than Michael
Parsons is going to get to play for the Cowboys
this season. And he's moping around boooo oh my god,
I can't believe man alive. And so despite all that money,
you know, he's enjoying the camaraderie with the fans and
(07:32):
the nachos and all that stuff. And he knows exactly
what he's doing to it's obvious. I mean, all this
stuff has played out for the cameras and he's trolling
Jerry Jones. He's upset. Oh this is not right. I'm
gonna lay into it. He's basically just saying, hey, Jerry,
you want me engaged. Jerry, you want me engaged with
the Cowboys? Pay me, pay me the body, show me
the mody. But here's the thing. Does he not come
(07:57):
across It's just like totally spoiled. What are you doing?
I mean, the and I don't want to speak for
Cowboy fans because I'm not a Cowboy fan. However, don't
you want to see your so called franchise player at
least pretend pretend to be somewhat engaged, you know, maybe
not lay on the table and all that it's just petulant,
(08:20):
is what it is. Andy listen, we enjoy We've all
grown up at some point had conniption fits when we
were kids, but Jamy grow out of it. The optics
are horrendous on this for Michael Parsons, and he wants
to be a showman and he's going to do it
one way or another. And I still maintain my position
that all of this hullabaloo will end up with just
(08:43):
before the start of the season the Cowboys working out
an agreement with with Michael Parsons. Now it gets a
little tricky here because they do play in the first
game of the year. The Eagles and Cowboys will kick
off the NFL seasons. There's less time to play with
on that. But I maintained my position that there will
(09:05):
be last second negotiations to try to work out an agreement.
All right, Now turn the pitch. Does San Francisco we
go or San Francisco adjacent Santa Clair, which is not
San Francisco proper, but nonetheless the forty nine ers officially
over the weekend they signed the key docu signed there.
(09:26):
They crossed the t's and they dotted the eyes and
commander's running back Brian Robinson Junior is now headed to
the forty nine ers. He goes from Washington to San Francisco.
Kyle Shanahan was asked about the team's plans for the
former Commander running back the old Redskins. There Robinson on
(09:48):
the depth chart, and Shanahan said, over the weekend quote,
we brought him here to be our two back. Shanahan
explained Robinson will be working closely behind Christian McCaffrey in
the forty nine er backfield there. So what the question
on this one? What is the real story? We know
what Shanahan said, We know what Kyle Shanahan said. We
(10:10):
take what coaches say with a great AsSalt. So what
is the real story on the Commander's running back Brian
Robinson going to the forty nine ers for basically nothing? Right,
late round draft picks are worthless. So this is a tell.
Some would say it's a dad, a dad, give it now.
The real story is the forty nine ers here do
(10:33):
not believe. They're not believers. They don't believe that McCaffrey
is going to make it through the season healthy, that
there's a durability issue with McCaffrey. He was hurt last
year before that, he actually had a stretch where he
was relatively healthy. So the thing about this is they're
not saying it out loud. They're not barking, oh yeah,
(10:53):
we don't think this guy's gonna be out there, because
you never say that. Yoah, I believe in my players
all this stuff. They're not saying it, but I'm telling
you their actions tell you they do not trust Christian
McCaffrey to hold up. They don't, and they're telling you
that by making this particular transition. The forty nine ers
basically called up the all State Mayhem guy and McCaffrey
(11:17):
goes down Boom Mayhem, Right, that's Mayhem, and you bring
in Dean Winters there, and the Niners are just trying
to avoid a situation where the inevitable happens. McCaffrey week
three or four gets hurt and then they have a
stable of running backs. Has always been a plug and
play position for the forty nine ers, that old Mike
Shanahan system, that Kyle Shanahan's just copied off his dad's
(11:41):
work there, and so it's always been well, I just
pluging waing, well man, they're saying, well, we need something
with a little extra And that also is a tell.
Right now, we know that Brian Robinson is insurance, NFL
insurance and all that stuff, but they're expecting to cash it,
like that's the thing. They expecting to cash it, and
(12:02):
you look around the underlying condition here, Okay, the underlying
condition is brock Purty, who they paid and he got
paid good for him. Congratulations, you're not that good, but
you got paid. And so brock Purty got paid. The
Nighters know though, that he doesn't make players around him better,
which is generally the rule for paying a quarterback elite money.
(12:23):
He's like, well, this guy's got to make other players
around them better. And anybody who knows ball knows that
brock Purty is not that guy. So Brian Robinson, who
was acquired for a late round pick, would give them
a little more, a little more in their offense there,
So he's insurance. And that's the issue. Brock Purty's not
going to carry anything offensively for the forty nine ers.
(12:45):
He needs weaponry. He needs people around him yards after
the catch, all that stuff, explosive plays. He's not going
to lead players to overperform their expectation and So if
McCaffrey gets hurt, or when Christian mca after he gets hurt,
and you're looking at the season going down down, down, down, down, down,
down down down down down. All right. Now, meanwhile, we
(13:08):
had a minor of flurry, a flurry of minor roster moves.
I guess that's the way we'll describe it.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
One that caught a lot of attention despite being a
player that was not even drafted, not even drafted. That
would be Tampa we Go, where the Buccaneers inform rookie
safety Shiloh Sanders that your services are not needed. You're
being wave, which is a nice politically correct term. It's
code for being you've politely been fired. Please clean out
(13:37):
your locker and get the hell out of here. The
grim Reaper is paying you the Turk, not Turk Stevens
he used to working, But the Turk is coming to
track you down. And the agent on this Shrew Rosenhaus.
Now he's of course hoping that Sanders kid will be
claimed on waivers and get a job somewhere else. There's
also the possibility ends up on the practice squad. Now
(13:58):
there is some chatter, oh the buck hear should have
kept Shiloh on the on the roster, which I don't
I don't understand that. Like, did did Shiloh Sanders get
a raw deal from the Buccaneers? I'm like, and what
world are you living? It like, You're not in the
world that I'm in. So I'm shaking my head. No,
I'm not. I mean the Bucks gave him the old
(14:18):
handshake and a bus ticket and a plane ticket and
said get out of here, bye bye, You're you're not
needed here. But he was undrafted. When you're undrafted, you
start out with cooties. You're behind the eight ball when
you're undrafted, So you're behind the eight ball, The cues crooked,
the chalk is getting wet. That all of that right,
(14:39):
And if you're honest, I mean, that's exactly what happened here.
Now you could say, well, you should have gotten more
of an opportunity, But I listen, did I watch every
Buccaneers game? No? I did not. Uh. Did I watch
the clips that are all over the place, Yes I did.
I watched the clips and what I saw on the
clips and those that break this stuff down as a tackler,
(15:00):
Dion Sanders kid at the safety for the Bucks. Now
no longer with the Bucks. He was like in Mexico
as a matador or or or or the tackling was
not great. Now he does have the aura, the Sanders aura,
So Shiloh's got that going for him. However, apparently that
does not help if you're not good at tackling and
(15:22):
you're a safety. And there's also the little Komodo dragon
in the room where he walloped he meleaid a Bills
player in the final Bucks exhibition game, he threw a punch. Yeah,
like it was like Mike Tyson's punch out or something
like that. And that appears to be the final body blow.
Body blow, body blow, final body blow. And that's the
(15:45):
equivalent if you're desperately trying to get a job and
you're on a job interview and you end up punching
someone at the job interview. It is a kin to
showing up to a job interview and flip and then
yelling at the receptionist when you get to the place
to the interviews, well, why am I waiting? You know
(16:07):
who I am? Yeah, yeah, come on, forget about and
forget about that gig. You're not getting that gig at all,
So any listen, he was undersized. Why are we talking
about this because it's all over the place. And will
he end up on a practice squad? Shiloh Sanders probably
probably will end up somewhere on a practice squad. Maybe
he gets another chance with the Buccaneers on their practice
(16:29):
squad or somewhere else. But yeah, it's a it's a name,
it's a name referred, but an undrafted name, and let's
leave it to that.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven pm Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app. Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
(17:06):
sports and pop culture, stories that well, other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something right, So
check us out. We like to get you involved too,
take your phone calls, chop it up. As they say,
I'd say, the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on planetar. Be sure to
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and the iHeartRadio app from five to seven pm Eastern
two to four Pacific, And if you miss any of
the live show, just search Covino on Rich wherever you
get your podcasts, and of course on social media that's
Covino and Rich. A big dumper delight, Welcome in the
beginning of another hour of the Ben Mathers Show. We
(17:51):
are in the air everywares we huddle up and go
on a shopping spree coast to coast, border to border
and beyond. On the mast and lip smackingly powerful microphones
of fs are am monating live from the whirlwind. It's
(18:11):
just a whirlwind of whispers as we try to avoid
joining the drifters. Coast to coast and all that good
stuff from the world famous Fox Sports Radio studios here
as approved by the caller. We had last our big
balls Bob who won the Talent Show, which was a
spur of the moment. It was not really a talent show.
It was a karaoke thing that we did in Vegas.
(18:35):
And this portion of the Ben Mahler Show on Fox
made possible in part by our friends at tire Rack.
For over forty years, that's two generations, tire Rack has
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installation tier rac dot com the way tire buying shure
would be. So our lead this hour is from baseball
and we'll go to Seattle with the story everyone's been
yapping about. Here cal Raleigh doing it again. The Mariners
star cal Raley homer and his first two at bats
against Jacob Lopez of the Athletics. Not the Sacramento Athletics,
(19:17):
not the Oakland Athletics, not the Kansas City Athletics, not
the Philadelphia Athletics. They're just the Athletics. But that home
run bonanzo by cal Raley. He broke the MLB record
for home runs by a catcher in a single season
minimum seventy five percent of games played as a catcher.
So I assume you heard about that. If you've been listening,
(19:39):
you know about it. We've talked about it and maybe not.
But Salvador Perez of the Royals had the previous record
with forty eight home runs. That was back in twenty
twenty one. Man, it was so long ago, like four
or five years ago. Wow. Now Raleigh has forty home
runs this season while playing behind home play. Forty home
(20:00):
runs as a catcher, so he's still technically not one,
but two home runs away from that record. Just home
runs by a catcher. That was Hobby Lopez of the
Atlanta Braves back in the day forty two the most ever.
Take that, Mike Piazza and all those other catchers. They
hit a lot of home runs back in the day.
All right, So let us discuss the question based on
(20:21):
the latest developments. Has cal Rawley passed Aaron Judge by
in the American League MVP race? So I've got Google Maps, Airbnb,
and modern art, and we will combine all of these
things together and we will ring the bell again and
(20:42):
again and again and again. So number one, I said,
number one? Yeah, alright, So They're in a dead heat
at this point, right dead heat. If you look at
the American League MVP race down the stretch we go.
Here we are, it's late August, the baseball season heating up. Boy,
(21:03):
it's toasty hot most places, and we're setting up for
a photo finish like at the Kentucky Derby the very
end there. And if you look at where we're at,
cal Raley's got this record, the record as opposed to
the Royals catcher. He's got that. He's gonna have the
all time record. He's going to hit at least three
more home runs this year unless he gets hurt, so
(21:24):
he's gonna have the all time record. And we know
that catching is more difficult than playing outfield like Aaron
Judges for the Yankees or dhing, which he's been doing
somewhat lately because of some injury stuff. So the issue though,
and this is the problem, and I want that dope
from Seattle to call up. You hate Kyl Rally. We
(21:45):
do the show today. We're worried about today's show. So today,
as we talk today, cal Raley is dead even and
even has a slight edge, a hair of an edge
over Aaron Judge the issue is Google Maps. If you
look look at the geography. Cal Roley plays, as the
old NFL coach Jimmy Johnson said back in the day,
he plays in southern Alaska. There's no workaround to that.
(22:08):
There won't about the Internet. There's no work around you have.
You have to overcome the geography and Aaron Judge, all
things being equal, Aaron Judge East Coast bias and all
that stuff. And also even in the age of social media,
Aaron Judge playing in New York and he's got that
superhero costume, the pinstripes you good luck, right, the tie
(22:32):
will go to Judge. If it's even, the tie goes
to Aaron Judge. So Raleigh needs to be a full
head and shoulders ahead of Aaron Judge to take home
the American League MVP Award this year. And the Yankees
have a one game lead over the Mariners. If you
look at the overall standings in a lost column, a
one game lead for the wild and Ano. They're both wildcard teams,
(22:53):
but the Mariners are one game behind the Yankees in
the head to head standings. Judge is on pace. He's
on pace. Didn't play well, particularly on that Sunday night
game I was watching. The Yankees did actually beat the
Red Sox, which I didn't think they could do anymore,
but they did. I was watching that game a little bit.
The Yankees have a one game lead. As I mentioned,
Judge on pace head ahead with the Mariners. Judge on
(23:14):
pace for thirty two doubles, fifty home runs and one
hundred and fifteen RBIs now cal Raley is tracking for
twenty three doubles and he's also on pace to hit
sixty I believe it. With sixty one home runs at
this point and one hundred and thirty one RBIs so
so big time numbers there. Now Page two, we stay
(23:35):
in the Bronx and we were talking about Aaron Judge,
and we're not going to talk about Aaron Judge right
now because the Yankees made a roster decision prior to
that game with the Red Sox on Sunday Night that
raised some eyebrows here. The Yankees have benched shortstop Anthony
Volpi Sunday Night base but he was out of the
starting lineup. He did get in the game as a
(23:56):
defensive replacement late, but he was no longer the start
shortstop for the new York Yankees in their win against
the Red Sox. So the question, is this the beginning
of the end for Anthony Volpi in the Bronx? Is
this it? The Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpi there benched in
(24:17):
that game last night. So I'm gonna nod my head
yes on this one in terms of this being the end.
We did a rant about Anthony Volpi a couple weeks back,
and it's only gotten worse. It's only gotten worse at
this particular point. And the Vulpy thing just isn't working.
The message has been sent here and the Yankees are
(24:38):
trying to sell Vulpi. They've been trying to sell them,
and this is gonna all work out. You know, He's
got to hold the roots. He's got the backstory. Everyone
loves the backstory and all that. He's the next Derek
Jeter and all that. And what they've got is they've
got the equivalent of a version of Windows Vista that
is promised as this next big innovation and all that stuff,
(25:01):
but it's actually just filled with a virus. And that's
what they got. The numbers don't like. Vulpi is hitting
two to eight well, building average doesn't matter, Well, it
doesn't matter to some people. Two eight he's a career
two twenty two hitter, so he's barely above the Mendoza line,
which is terrible. And his ops is in the six hundreds,
which I'm told is not particularly good. That is not
(25:22):
Yankee shortstop material. It should not be whether you have
Derek Jeter or not. That should not be the case there.
That is where you're playing in Central Park, playing softball,
and that's where you are with that kind of stat line.
And he's got more errors at this point than our
friend Big Balls Bob trying to get on the internet.
(25:44):
There's a lot of errors there. And the Yankees fans
have been living this mirage. They're like, oh yeah, yeah,
ever since Jeter retired, it's like, oh eah, we're gonna
be We're gonna find the next year. It's flotsam and
jetsam that they've had at short stop. They tried d D. Gregorious,
that workout not good, Glaber Torres, that was a bus.
(26:04):
Now they have Volpi who throws balls into the stands.
He wants to give everyone a souvenir. Does that a
lot ball bounces in the dart bounces in the crowd
the whole thing there. And it's like the Yankees are
running an airbn b. It's an Airbnb for shortstops at
this particular point. There's a different guy every couple of years,
every couple of years. None of them seem to live
(26:26):
up to the brochure, and you know the photos and
there you sign up for the airbnbing and like all right,
I'm gonna stay there. And you show up and instead
of the presidential suite in the nice king sized bed there,
you're given a sleeping bag under and overpass. And that
is you know, it's it's indoor outdoor living, is what
it is. Indoor outdoor living, and that's it. And that's
(26:50):
just not the way it's supposed to go. It's like,
you know, you're not in Rancho Cucamonga, You're You're the
New York Yankees and all that. And if you stink
for multiple seasons with Vulpi is there, he costs them.
He helped cost them the World Series. Now I loved it.
When he was a stumblebomb against the Dodgers in the
fifth inning of Game five of the World Series, everyone
(27:10):
focuses on Aaron Judge muffing the ball in the outfield
and Garrett Cole not making the play, not covering first base.
But how about Vulpi he booted a ball in that
World Series also, so the guy's a bust with a
capitol B at this point, and ye go out and
replace him. Now they can't do anything now. The trade
deadline's pass, so they're stuck with what they have. The Yankees,
(27:31):
good luck on that all right now. Final point to
San Diego, we go where the Podres did not did
not sweep the Dodgers, but the Dodger oftens very limp
over the weekend they're in San Diego. The Dodgers did
rally back to beat the Podres in the game that
was played on Sunday to avoid the old sweep. The
(27:51):
old sweeperoo at the hands of the fish Tacos. There
was something that happened the game within the game. Here
they caught my attention and got a lot of buzz,
a lot of attention. So I don't know I saw
the highlight or heard about the highlight or not. The
Dodgers were getting smoked early in the game, not smoke,
but they were down. They had a futile offense all
(28:13):
week and they came back and they got a little
bit of insurance late when shohy Otani connect. And the
story is about that home run. So there was a
Padre fan who was sitting right next to the Dodger
dugout in San Diego, and this guy was busting the
balls of show al time, busting his chops all series
(28:35):
and Otani was horrific. He had ten at bats, He
was zero for ten for the Dodgers against the Padres
in this Showdown NL West matchup prior to that home run.
So he was doing absolutely bupkus for the Dodgers up
until then. And then finally what happens. He goes Deepits
a home run. There you go. And what did Otani
(28:58):
do after the home run? He gave the guy a
high five. He gave the guy a high five. So
what is the word? Here's the question. What is the
word for Dodger star shohe Otani high fiving a Heckler
wearing Padre merch. All right, so my word is refreshing
(29:19):
with a capital R. Refreshing with a capital R. Here's why.
I'll tell you why, because how many stories have we
done over the last couple of years about athlete X
losing their mind, losing their mind because somebody was heckling
them and they crossed the line. This is not right
and all that. So I found it refreshing that rather
(29:44):
than have the fan escorted out of the stadium, which
Otani could have done, all Otani had do was tap
on the shoulder of the security guy and that would
have been it for the heckler. So it was refreshing
that Otani not do that. Most of these guys today
seem to be very thin skinned, and they're very touchy
(30:05):
and hyper sensitive to all the noise and all this stuff,
and anybody boos them boom. We used to have a
guy called boom Man that called the show back of
the boom Man. And normally what happens is if you
boost certain of the players, these guys will immediately contact
stadium security like a mall cop and get that person
(30:27):
out of there. You're done and all that stuff. And
so to me, heckling it is modern art when done properly.
It should be hung in an art museum. When you're
able to heckle properly and get a player off his
game a little bit, And I said, well, this is
this backfired? Well, did it backfire or Tony had one
home run. The entire series was zero for ten prior
(30:49):
to that at bad but this is a masterpiece. So
like Picasso or Warhol, one of the great painters there.
And you get in the player's head, your rasm right,
give them a hard time, and then and that's what
he players pretend like, I don't hear it. I got
my earmuffs on. I'm not hearing what's going on there.
And then you end up hitting a home run like Otani.
And Otani, you'd think he'd be relieved because that really
(31:12):
cemented the game for the Dodgers, and they were about
to get swept by the Padres if they had not
come back in that game. But he wasn't seemingly overjoyed
because he hit the home run that helped guarantee the
Dodgers got to win. He was happy because you got
to put a cork in the heckler's mouth. That's what
he was happy about. That's great, Like, thank god, I
(31:32):
finally got one. That's the way to do it. Now.
The pottery fan basically pushed him into the home run
was all over Otani. It was great and finally he
connected on one and that's that's how it ended. But
this is not This is not the way it normally
goes done. So many of these stories where it's like
this guy's gotta get kicked out, that guy's gotta get
(31:53):
kicked out, it's like, what are we doing here? In fact,
there was a time for players it was emasculating. If
you had a fan kicked out, it was like a
badge of honor the heckling that would be going on
back in the day. And then so it's it's different,
but the boo birds are chirping. That is a sign
of honor. That is not something to be upset about.
You should be honor day. As the old line goes,
(32:14):
they don't boot nobody's right, you're gonna be good to
get booed. And so there's Otani the face of major
League baseball, not even close the face of major League baseball.
You got Otani out there working his magic, hitting a
home run, and then that fans, you know, some guy
making normal dough and he ends up getting in Otani's head.
(32:36):
So that is a w for the heckler and also
inspiration for other hecklers around Major League baseball. When the
playoffs get going, here in a month, and the Dodgers,
whether they win the division or the wild card team,
they're gonna be in the playoffs somewhere, and then Otani
will have an opportunity to be heckled by random people
all over the place.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Ben Meller
Show weekdays at two am Eastern even be em Pacific.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
Here we are, Mallard. How about that?
Speaker 2 (33:03):
To the third degree? This is one big vent gets grilled.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Here we all and to the koop a loop for
the questions the quiz that we call Mallard of the
third degree.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
The Phillies announced on Saturday the starting pitcher Zach Wheeler
will miss the remainder of the season.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes, he could have died. People die from blood clots, Coop,
They die from blood clots.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Yes, Ben, How big of a blow is this for
the Phillies World series hopes?
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Well, it sucks. However, the Phillies, I am convinced if
they're gonna do anything here, it's going to be based
on their offense. I don't think that's an outrageous take. Oh,
you're really a shock jock with that take. No, they
remember a couple of years ago they got the World
Series and then they stopped hitting. But you've got a
lineup that is absolutely stacked with Trey Turner, Kyle Schwarber,
Bryce Harper, jt Riamuto at the top. Those top four
(33:53):
hitters are among the top hitters in all of the
National League, all of baseball. So if they score runs,
they've got an enough pitching. Oh you're you're crazy. No,
Sanchez has been wonderful this year. He's their number one
now with Wheeler out, Lozardo is not terrible, and Rangel
Suarez has had had some moments. So, I mean, there's
(34:13):
some other guys in there, Taiwan Walker and whatnot. But
I'm I don't think this eliminates the Phillies by any means.
It makes it a little more difficult. It makes it
a better story for the Phillies to get to the
World Series. I look at the National League's wide open.
The Dodgers are beatable. Not only the Podres are invincible
by any means. Here you look around, the Brewers look good,
(34:35):
but can they do in the playoffs? Trees cubs. So,
to answer your question, Coop, it hurts, but it's not
a kill shot for the Phillies.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Next Over the weekend, the Vikings traded backup quarterback Sam
Howell and signed Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
The great former Ram Carson Wentz.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
Right, well, yeah, a lot of people are calling this
an upgrade at backup, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
No, it is a lateral move. It is not an
up I'm actually a ran. More about this later. Carson
Wentz has been washed up for five years, six years,
and he still gets jobs in the NFL. Wouldn't that
be great if you're you proven you're not good at
your job and he gets bounced around. He's played for
the Eagles, Colts, Commanders, Rams, Chiefs and now the Vikings
(35:19):
since twenty twenty. Either way, the Vikings are putting all
their chips in the JJ McCarthy basket. We all know that, right.
If McCarthy sucks, they're cooked. They're absolutely cooked. It's not
like they're in better shape if Carson Wentz gets it
there in place. It's not like all of a sudden,
Oh we're in good shit. We got Carson Wentz. We're
ready to go.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Come on, all right next, Paul Skin's just the way
gem in his fiftieth start in the majors and now
has the second lowest ere of any pitcher in the
live ball era through fifty starts. But do you think
the Pirates are going to waste a generational talent much
like the angel did with Mike Trout.
Speaker 1 (35:53):
Well, waste, you mean, but Trout's still there. They're just
not winning. Toni Otani would be the better, right because
the cud's already wasted.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
He's a thirty four now.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
But Otani. They got nothing for Otani. They just let
Otani leave in free agency. They could have traded Otani
like Paul Skeans. The Pirates are going to end up
trading him in the next couple of years, right, So
they're not gonna get nothing for him. Are they gonna
win the Pirates? No, that's another team. There's a lot
of teams in baseball coupe good ballpark, bad team. The
(36:25):
Pirates are on that good ballpark the Giants, Now we
had that our buddy, the Giant fans showed up to
that meet and greet the ugly orange Giant hat on.
I said, good good ballpark, bad team. The Pirates are
on that list. But no, they're not gonna win. They'll
win when Paul Skeans pitches, and then when he doesn't pitch,
you know, it's like well, and then every once in
a while you get a team that because they have
so many terrible seasons, they get all these collection of
(36:48):
young players at the same time. But no, I'm they're
gonna they're not gonna win anything in Pittsburgh with Paul
Skeins while he's there, and he'll go pitch for the
Yankees or the Dodgers, the Red Sox or someone like that,
or mystery team, and then he'll go on and find
glory somewhere else. All right there, it is Mallard of
the third degree. How did we do you pass this edition?
(37:09):
That is a pass? Yeah, So, so we had we
had Tree, and I gave Tree the ten centaur of
the Fox Sports Radio studios. I pointed, I said, that's
where the cockroaches die. I said, that's the room where
wrong button Bob turned the entire network off. Right over there,
there's a button. We don't know which button he pressed,
but there's a button. I said, here's the vending machine,
(37:30):
which used to be cheap. And then one of the
one of the board ops complained and they raised the prices.
Either he's not here anymore, so I don't know his name.
I forget his name. I don't know who that is.
But that's a bad job by him, bad job by him.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in
the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio
dot com and within the iHeartRadio app search FSR to
listen live.
Speaker 1 (37:54):
Hey you sports figure, guy or girl? Here you talking
to sons? Here something advice?
Speaker 3 (38:01):
Hold that don no one's paid attention to me for
ten whole seconds.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
And if you don't like it, and no way we go.
It's the inta advice line on screen Radio. Let's get
right into it. We do know a lot, a lot
of time to waste here, so who needs our advice?
Micah Parsons. A week from Thursday, the NFL season begins.
It's almost here. MICHAEH. Parsons upset, had a conniption fit
(38:25):
in the last Cowboy exhibition game trying to work out
a contract extension. Any advice to Micah Parsons. You're live
on the air. When you hear my voice line one, Hello,
you're on their advice to Michael Parsons, line one, Yeah,
have lorainas one? All right? Something about music? You're on
the air, line too. Hello, Line two.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
You gotta be a man that leave the Alice cowgirl.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
There, you go, leave the cowgirls behind. Hello call her.
Line four. Your next line for advice to MICHAEH. Parsons.
Line four, Mike, it needs.
Speaker 4 (38:53):
To talk to Bob about getting something.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
That's right, big balls, Bob the star, the star of
the show. Line five. Hello, line five.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
If you like donuts, go to Pismo Beach.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
No, that's right, baby, those ah my god, you've ever
been to You know, you've never been there. You don't
even know where Pismo Beach is. Old West cinnamon rolls.
They should buy commercials. Amazing in Pismo Beach, greatest cinnamon
roll shop. Run Hello. Line six, you're on the air
line Sex.
Speaker 4 (39:18):
Hello, Yeah, morning time. Yeah, give give them a serial
reference up Ben Hello.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Now yeah that's right. What could you have here? Whedi'es
wheedies the wheedies thing. Yeah, yeah, all right, get it.
Rick and Maryland. Line one. You're on the airline one. Hello,
we're giving advice to mic up Parsons. David free the
gerbil Okay. Where is a line Line three? Hello? Line three?
(39:50):
Line three is not paying attention. We're going to line
for it's the incident advice line. Hello. Line four, we're
giving advice to Micah Parsons.
Speaker 2 (39:56):
Line four, go down to Florida and get a hand
like bloody craft and pay the official.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
There it is now it's officially the inst of device
Lotter Buddy from Maine and checked in. Line two. You're
on the airline too, please your advice to Micah Parsons. Okay, congratulations.
Line five, you're on the airline five.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Hello, yeah, man, the way the way for Jerry to
solve the Micah Proud Parsons problem is to hire lots
of male NFL cheerleaders with pompa.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Well, clearly that's gone very well there for the NFL.
Line six, you're on the air Hello. Line said, you're
sober there. Hello, Line six, where's the mass call up? Oh?
I know no Nascar, no peace last one quick gray
Line five. Line five, you're on the Airline five. Michael
Parson's advice go but day, but day
Host
Ben Maller
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