When Legends Strike: The Summer of Baseball's Highs and Lows

The Yankees are experiencing a frustrating summer slump with defensive issues and pitching injuries, losing their division lead as Clayton Kershaw makes MLB history by becoming just the 20th pitcher to record 3,000 career strikeouts. Toronto Blue Jays and Miami Marlins are the hot teams heading into the All-Star break, with the former taking the lead in the AL East and the latter climbing out of the division basement.

• Yankees playing poorly with sloppy defense, lazy at-bats, and bullpen struggles
• Clark Schmidt likely needs Tommy John surgery after a strong season
• Clayton Kershaw joins the elite 3000 strikeout club as only the 20th player in history
• Kershaw is one of only three players to achieve this milestone with one team
• Blue Jays take over AL East lead after sweeping Yankees and winning 9 of 10
• George Springer delivering clutch hits including grand slams in key moments
• Marlins winning 7 of 10 games and moving up from the bottom of their division
• All-Star game and draft coming up in Atlanta on July 15th
• RIP Dave Parker "The Cobra" - 7-time All-Star and Pirates legend

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
How we doing baseball fans.
The Yankees are taking thesummer plunge.
Kershaw's making history, theMartins and the Blue Jays are
the hottest team in baseball.
The all-star break and thedraft is right around the corner
.
So grab you some peanuts andCracker Jacks.
Let's talk some baseball.
All right, let's go ahead andtalk about the Yankees.
They're playing terriblebaseball this summer Sloppy

(00:22):
defense, lazy at bats, boone'smaking excuses, the bullpen
can't find a stripe.
We lost the lead in the East.
Clark Schmidt is out now forthe season, probably going to
need Tommy John surgery, andhe's been so good man.
I hate to see him injured likethat.
That's probably the worst thingthat's happened this summer.
When you put it all together,it's making me so frustrated I

(00:44):
don't even think I'm going towatch any games this week.
You know I'm just going to saveuntil after the All-Star break.
That means I'm going to missthe series against Seattle.
And you got Kyle Riley coming inwith 35 home runs.
You got Judgey with 33.
And much respect to Judge, man.
He's a bright spot, believethat Historic type of player,
and I'm proud of him, man.
But yeah, all right, maybe I'mgoing to watch the series, but

(01:07):
I'm telling you, if they getsloppy, I'm changing the channel
.
If they don't bring me joy,that's it.
I don't have to watch them,right?
I mean that's the rule, right?
Hey, it's tough to be a Yankeefan.
Just because we got the mostrings don't mean it's easy.

(01:33):
You know what I'm saying.
But let's talk about somethingelse.
All right, how about ClaytonKershaw joining the 3000 club?
He's one of only 20 players inall of baseball history to ever
throw 3000 strikeouts.
That's crazy.
And he's one of only threeplayers to do it with the same
ball club.
He's been a Dodger the wholetime.
He joins Walter Johnson of theSenators and Bob Gibson of the
Cardinals.
That's big history right there.
And there's only four leftiesthat have thrown 3,000
strikeouts Steve Carlton, randyJohnson and my man, cece

(01:56):
Sabathia.
Pretty crazy, if you thinkabout it, that's definitely an
elite club.
Listen, I'm no Dodger fan.
I'll save that for my friendHarry Russell, but I'm a
baseball fan and that's a bigdeal.
And it was pretty cool how hegot it on a called third strike
to end the inning, so he wasable to walk off the field to a
standing ovation.
Something like 53,000 fans,including his family, were all

(02:21):
standing up and cheering for himwith their arms in the air,
hugging and high-fiving eachother.
When they showed his family,his kids and everything, it just
gave me chills.
They were so full of pride andjoy.
You got to love a moment likethat.
It's nothing like baseball.
And like I say, if you thinkabout all the players who've
ever played this game, for only20 pitches to ever throw for

(02:43):
3,000 strikeouts, that's a bigdeal you got to ask yourself
who's next?
Well, I did some research andthere's two guys Chris Sims,
with the Atlanta Braves.
He's got 2,500.
And then my man, gary Cole, has2,250.
They both happen to be on theIL though, so can they come back

(03:04):
and throw another 750strikeouts?
500 strikeouts.
I don't know about you.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'll stick around and see who'snext to join the club, if
anybody that may be it.
I'll stick around and see who'snext to join the club, if
anybody that may be it.
I may not be a Dodger fan, butI'm an Antonio Knowles fan.
Key West's native son is in theDodgers organization with the
Tulsa Drillers, their double-Aclub, and he's dealing as

(03:26):
they're closing.
It's just a matter of timebefore they call him up, and
with all the injuries to theDodger lineup.
I don't know what they'rewaiting on, but I know when he
gets that call, key West isgoing to have a lot to celebrate
.
Talking about pride and joy,let's go, antonio.
I'm going to go ahead and tipmy cap to the Toronto Blue Jays.
They took over the lead in theEast, they swept the Yankees,

(03:48):
they won something like nine outof ten games.
They're stacking wins like it'snobody's business.
And George Springer, he's doingGeorge Springer things, hitting
grand slams and big home runsin key moments, which is what
they were hoping for when theywent and got him last year.
And Guerrero, you gotta lovehim.
The kid plays ball, justconsistently does his thing.

(04:08):
I gotta give a shout out to theBlue Jay fans because whenever
the Yankees are in town, theother teams sell out.
But in Toronto they were soldout and they was wearing red and
they wasn't cheering for theYankees.
So much respect to the fans inToronto.
Where you at Billy Wardlow,much respect, man.
But let's see how we finish.
And how about those Marlins?

(04:30):
They playing ball, they wonseven out of 10 and they're not
at the bottom of the divisionanymore, they're right in the
middle.
You know, I'm not sayingthey're going to win it all.
They got to get past thePhillies, right, but they're
playing ball and giving the fanssomething to cheer for, and
it's a much better view from themiddle than it is from the
bottom.
Believe that.

(04:56):
But now you got to wonder whatare they going to do with their
ace?
Sandy Alcazar?
Right, because even though he'sstruggling a little bit right
now, his upside makes him a hotcommodity With the trade
deadline at the end of July.
You got to think he's probablygoing to go somewhere.
We'd welcome him in New York,but I don't think we need
another banged up pitcher rightnow.
This isn't the time for us toget a pitcher like that, but I'm
sure he could do some teamssome good.
Who knows, maybe the Marlinswill keep him and make a run for

(05:17):
it.
The All-Star game and break iscoming up.
The game's on Tuesday, the 15thand Atlanta's hosting, so it's
going to be a big party.
The game itself is usuallypretty boring, but I'm
definitely going to watch a homerun derby.
I don't know who's all in ityet.
I think only three or four guyshave announced.
Count Raleigh's in it for sure.
He's making his first all-starappearance.

(05:37):
You know I'm on the roof forthe know.
I mean, unless a Yankee joinsat the last minute.
You got the Braves RonaldAcuna's in it.
He's going to get a lot ofcheers and a lot of hype from
the crowd.
So that'll be fun and probablythe only bright spot for the
Nationals.
James Wood that kid's likeAaron Judge, kind of big.
Now hold on.
I almost forgot to give JacobDeGrom a shout out.

(05:59):
That's why I'm rocking hisStetson hat-a-hat.
He's an all-star again, comingoff Tommy John surgery.
I think he's going to wincomeback player of the year.
He's having a great season withthe Rangers again.
He's looking good.
He's got nine wins already.
He'll probably get his 10thbefore the All-Star break.
So hats off to Jacob DeGrom.
You see what I did there Hatsoff, ha, let's go hats.

(06:20):
Also happening in Atlanta is thedraft.
Who's going to be the firstpick?
Will it be Cade Anderson of theLSU Tigers?
He just showcased his stuff inthe College World Series.
It could be my boy, jamieArnold.
He's definitely going to go inthe top 10.
A lot of people say Liam Doylefrom Tennessee will go.
There's a couple of high schoolkids too that are in the mix

(06:42):
Ethan Holiday.
I'm pulling for one of thecollege kids over a high school
kid to be the first pick, but atthe end of the day it's going
to be awesome and real excitingfor those families and for us
baseball fans.
It's a whole new group ofplayers to cheer for.
So we'll see how it shakes out.
I think the Nationals has thefirst pick and they just fired
their coach and the GM, sothat's going to be interesting

(07:03):
to see what happens.
If there's any GMs out therelistening, go with Jamie Arnold.
He's a safe bet and a good guy.
Believe that.
On a more serious note, I got tosay rest in peace to Dave
Parker the Cobra.
On a more serious note, I gotto say rest in peace to Dave
Parker the Cobra.
He was a superstar player withthe Pittsburgh Pirates when I
was a kid in the 70s and 80s andsadly he passed away before the
upcoming Hall of Fame inductionthat's set for the end of July.

(07:25):
Parker was a seven-timeAll-Star Gold Glove winner,
batting champion, mvp and WorldSeries champion.
Do yourself a favor and watchsome of the highlight reels from
Dave Parker.
They don't make them like thatanymore.
What an athlete and superstar.
Rest easy, sir, we'll wrap thisepisode right there.

(07:47):
Let's go baseball.