June 3, 2025 • 24 mins
Tony and Austin chat with Joe Danneman from FOX19 about the Reds and Bengals, on ESPN 1530!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Subs since e three sixty of About Cincinnati from Cincinnatis,
sponsored in part by Penn Station East Coast Subs, handcrafted
hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries and lemonade. It's all
about good taste, Penn Station East Coast Subs.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Order online today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Penn Station is all about good taste, Austin. As we
get into our three of Sincy three sixty here, I
like to think that we have pretty good taste.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
In guest, I like the way you said on this show.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And uh, none more so than our guy from Fox nineteen,
Joe Daniman, who joins us each and every Tuesday. As
he prepares to check in with us right now, standing
by Joe Daniman, what's up, Joey d Tody?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Did you say that Sunday is your least favorite day
of the week?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
What a clown? Yes?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Can you explain?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Uh, well, once football season starts, it becomes my favorite. Uh,
but right now I look forward so much to the
weekend that Sunday just means the weekend is over and
it doesn't allow me to do the fun things that
I like, Like you know, golfing, and more importantly, spending
time with the kids.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
He actually he's got some difficult job that just drains
he since you're gonna talk about sports.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
For three hours, just an honest you're one of.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Those guys when when the sixty minute clock starts ticking
on CBS and you start getting the Sunday depression and
thinking about the five days ahead of you.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Depression, deep dark hal what's what's your worst day.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Of the week.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know if I have one, because that works
such an odd schedule. You know, my days off kind
of change every single week, so I don't have a
normal straight five days and two days off. I haven't
had two straight days off since I don't know, twenty
twenty three at that East. That's a tough thing. Man.
(01:55):
That's about to change, guys. I am going on my
first vacation whoa just before COVID later this month. Gosh,
I'm going to Hilty Head Wow in four weeks starts.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I think is going to be down there too. Man.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Let's go on the direct message meet the stuff he's
putting on Twitter about my opinions on Matt McClain directly
to my face.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Matt McLain's a good place to start, Joe, because Matt
McClain wasn't a good place to finish last night. Man, Look,
here's what I don't get it. And we talked about
this already. Matt McClain, at least in that at bat
last night, is still your best option at a power hitter.
He's got six home runs even though he's not hitting
(02:50):
the ball well at all. Austin Wins is batting four
hundred but a lot less plate appearances. And what I
didn't understand is the response from Terry frank Cone of
that the idea was to use Matt McClain as a runner.
If Garrett Hampson can do one thing, if he gets
on base, it's a base runner. So it wouldn't make
sense to me if Hampson had got on that McClain
(03:11):
comes in and runs. What did you make of the
way that game ended last night? And the ensuing response
from Terry FRANCONA.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, the response was interesting because if Matt McClain is
on the Reds roster and you're not going to use
him to pinch hit for Garrett Hampson, I cannot believe
this is a sentence We're saying in June, but if
we're not going to use Matt McClain there in that spot,
why is Matt McClain here? Yep? And you make your
(03:42):
point about the speed, right. The one thing Garrett Hampson
does do is run. But at this point of the season,
I think it's pretty obvious who the two Reds best
hitters are. It's TJ. Freedo and Elie de la Cruz.
You're down by a run of the ninth inning. You're
doing anything you can to get TJ. Friedel and the
way he's been swinging the bat the last couple of weeks,
(04:03):
I have as much confidence in him as anybody swinging
the bat in a Red uniform at this point. So
you're trying to find anybody in the ninth inning who
can get on base and give TJ. Friedel a chance
to hit. Even if that's not Matt McClean, it can't
be Garrett Hampson. It's got to be Austin Wins. Why
(04:24):
is Austin Wins on the roster if he's not going
to be used there? And I think you mentioned it,
and I think Lance nailed it. It's this arrogance and
confusion to Terry Francona that it was brought up that
I think rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
We were all told what Terry Francona was going to be.
We know the resume, but we heard from a lot
of people. You guys talked to Rob Dibble, I talked
(04:46):
to Sean Casey. We all talked to a lot of
people inside baseball about the person, about the human being,
about how entertaining and fun he was going to be.
It just hasn't been that so far. And last night
his answer to Charlie Goldsmith, and I'll let you guys
talk to Charlie about if this is becoming personal with
(05:06):
with Terry and him. I respect Charlie too much for
me to try to speak on something that I'm not
always there for his conversations with Terry Francona. But another
example last night of where it felt like it got
a little bit personal for whatever reason it is with
Terry Francona and Charlie Goldsmith. But back to your original question,
if Matt mcclin's not going to be used in that
(05:28):
spot or any point of the ninth inning, I don't
understand why he's here and not be given a chance
to go play every single day in triple A, try
to figure out whatever the problem is so the Reds
can get some semblance of what he's supposed to be,
and he's supposed to be this team's, if not the
second best hitter right there with Eli David Cruz and
what this team is built on. So I'm still scratching
(05:50):
my head about what happened last night.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Do you worry because you mentioned who we were told
and who we thought we were getting in Terry Francona,
And it doesn't seem like a guy. Obviously this not winning,
so it doesn't seem like a guy that's having a
ton of fun.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
He seems frustrated. He has at times.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Been stand offish with Charlie and with some of the media.
Are you concerned that as this team sits here right now,
not even seventy games into the season, that you're already
seeing this where on Terry Francona with what we know
to be a very difficult schedule coming up in June
as well.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Sure, I think anybody who would be talking about Terry
Francona in the long term outlook in Cincinnati, not only
this year, but in the future and say that everything's
fine and that there can't be concern is fooling themselves.
That's just the reality of the situation of what he
you know, his age, his health before this year. You know,
(06:45):
I'm not trying to talk the guy out of Cincinnati.
I'm not saying that they won't turn this thing around
this year. But what I am saying is, I don't
know how you couldn't be concerned with looking with all
the data points that we do have on Terry Francona
and the way it looks like this eason might ultimately
shape up here the last you know, one hundred games
left on the red schedule. So uh, certainly, it's It's
(07:07):
one of the things that I think you have to
speak carefully about because you are talking about a guy
with you know, a great resume, with with a lot
of respect and and a guy who who has proven
he can do uh things with with rosters that aren't
in large markets like he did in Cleveland. Uh. But
there's also the reality of what this is and what
(07:27):
it looks like. And and I think Austin made a
good point where it's it's it's you know, you don't
invest in and buy in and emotionally invest in every
single game because uh, there there's this there's a bigger
picture here you're looking at with this season and understanding
what it looks like right now. So uh yeah, I
think I think there has to be in the concern
in the back of everybody's mind going forward, you know,
(07:50):
how bought in Terry Francona can be to this, uh
when it looks like this right now, uh, and extrapolate
that out past this year and going forward in the future.
So yeah, I think in the back of my mind
that there is some concern about, you know, him staying
in bought in completely to what this organization is trying
(08:11):
to do, because he wouldn't have come out of when
we talked about this, He wouldn't have come out of
retirement and taken this job unless he thought it was
going to play out a certain way and look a
certain way. And it hasn't done that so far. So
that stuff wears on people. It's certainly wearing on Terry Francona.
We've seen it. It's there every single night in the
post game to see a guy who sounds and looks frustrated.
(08:34):
And I think at the back of everybody's mind, there's Yeah,
there's certainly some concern about the future, considering the way
it looks right now.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Where do you put that when you talk about he
took this job because he was adamant that he saw
something special here. The fact that things have gone the
way they have is that a Nick crawl roster construction standpoint,
is that lack of development from the star or cornerstone
players that we thought there or in Cincinnati? Where where
(09:01):
did where did that disconnect happen from clearly something that
Terry Francona saw enough of to want to get back
into it to where things stand now.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, So I think if you're spinning the circle of blame, right,
and you have these pieces of the pie, whether it's
whether it's ownership, whether it's front office, whether it's manager,
whether it's players, and you spin this thing and you
can land on every single piece of that pie and
you can throw blame on all of it. And I
think it's important too, as we have this conversation, that
(09:31):
that not all of this falls on the Castellini and
the Nick Crawls and the Terry Franconas. At some point
the finger has to be pointed directly at the players
as well for not performing. Because you know, guys like
Hunter Green, I think we can all step away and say, Okay,
he's taking a step. He's he's showing, he's improving, that's development,
(09:52):
he's getting better. Eligava Cruz seems to be right around
the same player he was last year, and that's fine.
We're talking about a guy who's a bona fide star.
He's an All Star. And I also saying, too, I think,
just what one sidebar on Ellie Dava Cruz. He's a
guy at a young age who's got a lot of
(10:14):
pressure on him to be the best player on the team.
I sometimes think about if Ellidava Cruz were playing for,
you know, the Dodgers, or was he in the Cubs lineup,
or was he in the the the Yankees lineup, just
how much his game might take off even more when
there's not as much pressure and focus on him as
there is in the Red lineup. You can see teams
(10:35):
fitting their bullpen sometime sometimes focus solely on him coming
to the plate, and that's the kind of attention he
gets here in Cincinnati. But I think there has to
be some finger pointed on the guys that haven't taken
that step. Obviously, Matt McCain hasn't taken that step. Spencer
Steere hasn't taken that step. You can go down the line.
Nicolodolo hasn't taken a markedly big step. So I think
(10:56):
there has to be some finger pointing at the players
as well, But I think generally it comes back to
decisions made by the front office and understanding that the
hands are tied, so to speak, by what the ownership
can spend, and I think you have to take that
sometimes out of it because the realistic view of this
(11:18):
is the ownership group in Cincinnati is going to be handcuffed.
It's not going to be the ownership group of LA
of Atlanta, of Chicago, of New York. So it really
to me falls on Nick Crawl trying to maximize what
he can. And you have to give him some credit
because he did supplement the roster well with Austin Hayes,
(11:40):
who's performed Gavin Lux, who's performed, Brady Singer's been fine,
and who's intravened. You has probably played above expectation. But
where have the missteps been in development of the young players?
And have they asked too much in this roster structure
of their young players. Have they put too much on
Hunter Green, Ellie Daylor Cruz and Matt McClain. And to me,
(12:03):
I think that's where the conversation is at this point,
is this is what you get sometimes, right if you
build around young players without long track records and a
lot of pressure on guys who haven't played a lot
of games. So I think that's where I would land
on it. Guys would be that when you structure a
team around young stars, and that's the reality of how
they're going to have to do this year in Cincinnati
(12:25):
if you want to catch lightning in a bottle with
a young team and get them before they price themselves
out of Cincinnati. But I think that, to me is
the number one reason why we're seeing such inconsistent play
and what really does feel like young players not taking
steps forward.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
We know what the schedule the rest of June looks like,
we know how bad this team has been against the
Milwaukee Brewers. If you just if it's not starting pitching,
are there things that you can at least look to
that you're seeing that would maybe signal they still have
a chance to stay above water, They still have a
chance to compete or do you feel like this has
(13:03):
the I guess, the ability to get out of hand
in June if it's not corrected. Are there things you
can see that you lean on right now for this club?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I do think it has the opportunity for this team
to bury itself this month. I don't think that's out
of the question considering what they've played. I will say this,
it feels like they have risen to the occasion multiple
times against some good teams. The results matter, I get it.
They've played six games against the Cubs. They've lost four
of those six games, and you can sit here and
(13:35):
jump through your phone and say I'm crazy, but it
felt like the Reds were right there to win multiple
games and maybe split those six games with the Cubs,
maybe even win four of those six games. So I
think there are moments throughout the season. They went to
San Francisco, the Giants are a good team. They want
a series out there. I think they've shown the ability
at times to ride to the occasion and compete with
(13:58):
some of the better teams that National League. Certainly, an
era of a starting staff that's top four in the
National League is going to give this team a chance
on every given night to go out there. That's something
to point to as a positive as well. And I
think too, if you look at the standings, that the
Reds aren't the only ones underachieving. It's funny because we
talk so much in the offseason, even early in the
(14:20):
season about the only pass for the Reds to make
the playoffs with the NL Central. Well, here we are
on June what third, and it feels like that's been
blown out of the water because the Cubs have been
a lot better than I think people thought they might be.
The addition of Kyle Tucker, Craig Council is a difference maker,
and that's a team that's going to add pitching at
the All Star break that they might run away with
(14:41):
this thing if Saint Louis can't stay hot in the
second half of the season. So I think there's a
chance the Reds might be buried already in the National
League Central. But the rest of the National League and
the teams that we figured would be in the National
League wild card race have shown some vulnerabilities. There are
some issues in Arizona. They're not playing well. Carbon Burns
(15:03):
is now out with an injury. It appears The Atlanta
Braves are a team that we all figured we could
just pencilan as a playoff team. They've got Acuna back,
but it's been leaked that Marcelo Zoon has been dealing
with some kind of an issue that that might linger
throughout the year, and they just haven't been as dominant
or as good as we expected. So there are some
teams that we thought might be hard for the Reds
(15:24):
to catch that have shown some vulnerabilities as well. So
if you lean on this team's ability we've seen in
some series to play up to competition, certainly a pitching
staff that albeit's been healthy and hasn't had to deal
with a lot of adversity so far this year, they've
been excellent. And then you see some of these wild
card teams who have shown some underachieving signs like the
(15:47):
Reds as well. And I think those are the three
things you can point to as maybe the Reds being
able to keep their head above water and make this
some kind of an interesting season in September.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I would be remiss completely shifting gears here, but you
mentioned the word excellence. You guys at Fox nineteen also
have the ability you cover a lot of high school
sports in the area. I saw today Mount Ponatowski at
Moler is named the Gatorade Player of the Year for baseball.
He was already named Gatorade Player of the Year in football.
He's mister Ohio. He's still just a junior. You've covered
(16:21):
a lot of high school athletes. Where does he rank
on the list of talent that you've seen here in
the Tri state area.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
He's so interesting. Have you worked with him before?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
No, I've not had a chance to work with him.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, he's so interesting because you know, we're around the
Molar baseball program this time every year. It feels light
because and good on Mason. The Mason baseball program has
stepped up and seemed to be one of the teams
that can really compete with Moler. Every year locally in baseball,
but usually in June, you're down to a handful of
softball and baseball teams. They get a lot of attention,
(16:55):
and you're around those programs a lot here in these
next couple of weeks. I remember four years ago, before
he was even in high school, hearing the name Matt
Potatowski and people saying that he was already getting college
offers that he was the number one ranked shortstop in
his class and he wasn't even in high school yet.
So in the back of all of our minds who
(17:18):
are around Moler, there was this idea that Matt Ponatowski
was going to be this amazing baseball player and that
was going to be his ticket to college and professionally
as well. And then he comes now playing football and
he's one of the best quarterbacks we've seen in the
last two decades in the Cincinnati area. And all along
(17:40):
we were told that he's this baseball player, and now
he's getting scholarship offers or at least getting attention from
from Ohio States and some of the bigger names in
college football. He's winning awards in football, he's obviously winning
awards in baseball. What he's doing in those two sports
is rare. It's cool, it's gonna be fun to watch.
(18:01):
And as you mentioned, he's only a junior, and what
this guy might do his senior year is going to
be fun. And you know, now I've said this because
I'm on a lot of committees. I'm on the Roses
Hall of Fame committee. By the way, if anybody can
find Nancy Gates Uh, do me a solid. Tell Yancy
Gates to give me a shout back. We're inducting him
in the Rose the Roses Hall of Fame in like
(18:22):
three weeks, and God bless him, we can't find him
looking for him. So so that that's that's the bat
signal out to Cincinnati, Ched Brindle, tell Yancy to call
me back. Man. But I'm doing I'm on these boards
and we we give out awards and we vote on people,
and we've e been in this era right of of
what d Alexander did over at Purcell Marrin that I
(18:44):
would argue is as good of a high school resume
as we've ever seen in Cincinnati. With four straight state championships,
three McDonald's season, McDonald's All American and three times Miss
Ohio basketball and going to UC, I mean what, And
now we get Matt pon a Who's who's gonna win
Player of the Year at football and baseball? Some of
(19:04):
these resumes we've seen, and I think it's important for
some of these these these guys like you and myself,
guys who have been around Cincinnati now a long time.
We're around forty years old. When people ask who are
the best high school players we've seen, you know, we
always go to the Shawn Alexander's and guys like that
from from like the nineties. Now, what these kids are
doing now is setting a new standard of some of
(19:27):
the best resumes we've ever seen in high school sports
in Cincinnati. And I think that's a really cool thing
that there's a next generation now that we can really
point to as is carrying on what Cincinnati does and
does well. And that's the high school football, baseball, in
every sport that we like to think here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Joe, before I let you go, something you guys did
and it aired last night. The father who lost his
son tragically, Who's who's visiting these different ballparks and playing
catch as someone you know, I'm coaching wild he's got
a baseball game, he's into baseball and you understand kind
of that dynamic for those that missed it, just the
(20:07):
special nature of that story you guys were able to
share last night.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, this was a great story because of what this
father is doing. This is a dad who's from the
Boston area. He and his son baseball was their thing.
They went to twelve different ballparks that they had a
plan to go see every single ballpark and watch a
game at every major League ballpark across the country at
some point in their life. But his son, twenty one
(20:32):
years old, was a college baseball player, was on a
weekend trip to Myrtle Beach. He was killed in a
hit and run accident. So last summer, the dad, while
he's trying to deal with all this grief, was trying
to find something to help him heal. So he visited
every ballpark in his son's name, and he donated one
thousand dollars to the RBI Fund in every city. And
(20:53):
he felt a connection in Cincinnati. You know, for everything
that we talk about with the Reds, one of the
great things the Reds do is community outreach. They do
it as well as anybody in baseball. And you know,
they rolled the red carpet out for Scott, and they
promised his son a brick here in Cincinnati, and so
he wanted to come back to Cincinnati to see the brick. Meantime,
(21:13):
he decided on his son's birthday to keep his son's
name alive in January that he was going to play
catch every single day with someone for fifteen minutes. You
put your phone down you put your iPad down, you
step away from your desk, you go outside, you play catch,
and you have a conversation. And when he came to
Cincinnati because we did the story on him last summer,
he asked me to play catch with him. And it
(21:35):
was an unbelievable experience because look, no one wants to
tell anybody else how to parent. We all parent, you
know how we parent. But he reminded me just of
the power of those fifteen minutes of you can't do
anything else but talk to the person you're playing catch with.
So it's one of those things if you have kids,
(21:56):
or if you have a dad who's still able to
go play catch for fifteen minutes because everything else is gone.
There's there's no tablet, there's no phone. It's just you
and that person playing catch. And he's touring the country.
And if anybody wants to be a part of this,
look for Catch to Heal. Catch the number two heel
on Instagram. Set them a message so you can be involved,
(22:18):
because he told me it's he'll walk with pain and
grief his entire life because he's lost his son, but
baseball has helped him heal, and baseball has helped him
meet so many people, and he's trying to make something
good out of a really hard situation.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Awesome, awesome piece and certainly appreciated. Joe, You're the best.
What's coming up next on Fox nineteen.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I'm trying to think. All I have is I have
like senioritis because I'm going on a vacation in life
three weeks.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Yeah, the door. It sounds like Frank Coney.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We are finalizing planned, guys, We are finalizing plan the
red or the Bengals are going to release their training
camp schedule very soon, and once that comes out, we
are planning on upping our training camp specials count this year.
We did two specials last year. We're gonna up that
(23:09):
this year. We're gonna go another step forward. That's to
be released later this week. So keep an eye out
for all the special programming we're going to be doing
around Bengals training camp this coming summer.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Joe, I don't know if you know this or not,
but iHeartMedia just reached a new agreement with the Bengals
and in the statement it was enhanced training camp coverage.
Sounds to me, boy, like the weather is ripe for
a potential collaboration.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Come on with it. Do you guys want to be
on our training camp show?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Man, if they let me come to training camp, I'll
be down. But I don't know if they'll let me.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay, okay, it has been announced yet, but I'm going
to leak it here. It's gonna be two o'clock to
three o'clock on specific dates during training camp. I got
to stop myself from giving away more information. I'll be there.
But what I want to have you guys on that show.
(24:05):
Let's let's just say there.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
We'll make something happen. Danaman, you're the best man. Have
a great week.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
See you boys there.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
He is Joe Daniman, Fox nineteen. Every time we get
to talk to Joe Austin, I just see if I
can keep him one minute longer, yeah, minute, five minute.
We might just see if we can get like a
forty minute segment.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
One day. We'll do it one of these times.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Can just keep going, just keep asking him questions until
he has to say, guys, I gotta go. Always appreciative
of Joe Daneman's time. It's our three plenty more still
to go. We'll take your phone calls as well. Five
one three seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty since he three
sixty thanks to Penn Station.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
On ESPN fifteen thirty, Lowegger, there was some booing of
the team last night.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
When it comes to sports, he's got something to say for.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Just natural byproducts, and plenty of it of poor play.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Loweger.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Today at three on ESPN fifteen thirty. Tony Pike with
my friends at Tri State Men's Hell
Subs since e three sixty of About Cincinnati from Cincinnatis,
sponsored in part by Penn Station East Coast Subs, handcrafted
hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries and lemonade. It's all
about good taste, Penn Station East Coast Subs.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Order online today.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Penn Station is all about good taste, Austin. As we
get into our three of Sincy three sixty here, I
like to think that we have pretty good taste.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
In guest, I like the way you said on this show.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
And uh, none more so than our guy from Fox nineteen,
Joe Daniman, who joins us each and every Tuesday. As
he prepares to check in with us right now, standing
by Joe Daniman, what's up, Joey d Tody?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Did you say that Sunday is your least favorite day
of the week?
Speaker 4 (00:48):
What a clown? Yes?
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Can you explain?
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Uh, well, once football season starts, it becomes my favorite. Uh,
but right now I look forward so much to the
weekend that Sunday just means the weekend is over and
it doesn't allow me to do the fun things that
I like, Like you know, golfing, and more importantly, spending
time with the kids.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
He actually he's got some difficult job that just drains
he since you're gonna talk about sports.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
For three hours, just an honest you're one of.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Those guys when when the sixty minute clock starts ticking
on CBS and you start getting the Sunday depression and
thinking about the five days ahead of you.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Depression, deep dark hal what's what's your worst day.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
Of the week.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I don't know if I have one, because that works
such an odd schedule. You know, my days off kind
of change every single week, so I don't have a
normal straight five days and two days off. I haven't
had two straight days off since I don't know, twenty
twenty three at that East. That's a tough thing. Man.
(01:55):
That's about to change, guys. I am going on my
first vacation whoa just before COVID later this month. Gosh,
I'm going to Hilty Head Wow in four weeks starts.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I think is going to be down there too. Man.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Let's go on the direct message meet the stuff he's
putting on Twitter about my opinions on Matt McClain directly
to my face.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Matt McLain's a good place to start, Joe, because Matt
McClain wasn't a good place to finish last night. Man, Look,
here's what I don't get it. And we talked about
this already. Matt McClain, at least in that at bat
last night, is still your best option at a power hitter.
He's got six home runs even though he's not hitting
(02:50):
the ball well at all. Austin Wins is batting four
hundred but a lot less plate appearances. And what I
didn't understand is the response from Terry frank Cone of
that the idea was to use Matt McClain as a runner.
If Garrett Hampson can do one thing, if he gets
on base, it's a base runner. So it wouldn't make
sense to me if Hampson had got on that McClain
(03:11):
comes in and runs. What did you make of the
way that game ended last night? And the ensuing response
from Terry FRANCONA.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, the response was interesting because if Matt McClain is
on the Reds roster and you're not going to use
him to pinch hit for Garrett Hampson, I cannot believe
this is a sentence We're saying in June, but if
we're not going to use Matt McClain there in that spot,
why is Matt McClain here? Yep? And you make your
(03:42):
point about the speed, right. The one thing Garrett Hampson
does do is run. But at this point of the season,
I think it's pretty obvious who the two Reds best
hitters are. It's TJ. Freedo and Elie de la Cruz.
You're down by a run of the ninth inning. You're
doing anything you can to get TJ. Friedel and the
way he's been swinging the bat the last couple of weeks,
(04:03):
I have as much confidence in him as anybody swinging
the bat in a Red uniform at this point. So
you're trying to find anybody in the ninth inning who
can get on base and give TJ. Friedel a chance
to hit. Even if that's not Matt McClean, it can't
be Garrett Hampson. It's got to be Austin Wins. Why
(04:24):
is Austin Wins on the roster if he's not going
to be used there? And I think you mentioned it,
and I think Lance nailed it. It's this arrogance and
confusion to Terry Francona that it was brought up that
I think rubs a lot of people the wrong way.
We were all told what Terry Francona was going to be.
We know the resume, but we heard from a lot
of people. You guys talked to Rob Dibble, I talked
(04:46):
to Sean Casey. We all talked to a lot of
people inside baseball about the person, about the human being,
about how entertaining and fun he was going to be.
It just hasn't been that so far. And last night
his answer to Charlie Goldsmith, and I'll let you guys
talk to Charlie about if this is becoming personal with
(05:06):
with Terry and him. I respect Charlie too much for
me to try to speak on something that I'm not
always there for his conversations with Terry Francona. But another
example last night of where it felt like it got
a little bit personal for whatever reason it is with
Terry Francona and Charlie Goldsmith. But back to your original question,
if Matt mcclin's not going to be used in that
(05:28):
spot or any point of the ninth inning, I don't
understand why he's here and not be given a chance
to go play every single day in triple A, try
to figure out whatever the problem is so the Reds
can get some semblance of what he's supposed to be,
and he's supposed to be this team's, if not the
second best hitter right there with Eli David Cruz and
what this team is built on. So I'm still scratching
(05:50):
my head about what happened last night.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
Do you worry because you mentioned who we were told
and who we thought we were getting in Terry Francona,
And it doesn't seem like a guy. Obviously this not winning,
so it doesn't seem like a guy that's having a
ton of fun.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
He seems frustrated. He has at times.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Been stand offish with Charlie and with some of the media.
Are you concerned that as this team sits here right now,
not even seventy games into the season, that you're already
seeing this where on Terry Francona with what we know
to be a very difficult schedule coming up in June
as well.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Sure, I think anybody who would be talking about Terry
Francona in the long term outlook in Cincinnati, not only
this year, but in the future and say that everything's
fine and that there can't be concern is fooling themselves.
That's just the reality of the situation of what he
you know, his age, his health before this year. You know,
(06:45):
I'm not trying to talk the guy out of Cincinnati.
I'm not saying that they won't turn this thing around
this year. But what I am saying is, I don't
know how you couldn't be concerned with looking with all
the data points that we do have on Terry Francona
and the way it looks like this eason might ultimately
shape up here the last you know, one hundred games
left on the red schedule. So uh, certainly, it's It's
(07:07):
one of the things that I think you have to
speak carefully about because you are talking about a guy
with you know, a great resume, with with a lot
of respect and and a guy who who has proven
he can do uh things with with rosters that aren't
in large markets like he did in Cleveland. Uh. But
there's also the reality of what this is and what
(07:27):
it looks like. And and I think Austin made a
good point where it's it's it's you know, you don't
invest in and buy in and emotionally invest in every
single game because uh, there there's this there's a bigger
picture here you're looking at with this season and understanding
what it looks like right now. So uh yeah, I
think I think there has to be in the concern
in the back of everybody's mind going forward, you know,
(07:50):
how bought in Terry Francona can be to this, uh
when it looks like this right now, uh, and extrapolate
that out past this year and going forward in the future.
So yeah, I think in the back of my mind
that there is some concern about, you know, him staying
in bought in completely to what this organization is trying
(08:11):
to do, because he wouldn't have come out of when
we talked about this, He wouldn't have come out of
retirement and taken this job unless he thought it was
going to play out a certain way and look a
certain way. And it hasn't done that so far. So
that stuff wears on people. It's certainly wearing on Terry Francona.
We've seen it. It's there every single night in the
post game to see a guy who sounds and looks frustrated.
(08:34):
And I think at the back of everybody's mind, there's Yeah,
there's certainly some concern about the future, considering the way
it looks right now.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Where do you put that when you talk about he
took this job because he was adamant that he saw
something special here. The fact that things have gone the
way they have is that a Nick crawl roster construction standpoint,
is that lack of development from the star or cornerstone
players that we thought there or in Cincinnati? Where where
(09:01):
did where did that disconnect happen from clearly something that
Terry Francona saw enough of to want to get back
into it to where things stand now.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, So I think if you're spinning the circle of blame, right,
and you have these pieces of the pie, whether it's
whether it's ownership, whether it's front office, whether it's manager,
whether it's players, and you spin this thing and you
can land on every single piece of that pie and
you can throw blame on all of it. And I
think it's important too, as we have this conversation, that
(09:31):
that not all of this falls on the Castellini and
the Nick Crawls and the Terry Franconas. At some point
the finger has to be pointed directly at the players
as well for not performing. Because you know, guys like
Hunter Green, I think we can all step away and say, Okay,
he's taking a step. He's he's showing, he's improving, that's development,
(09:52):
he's getting better. Eligava Cruz seems to be right around
the same player he was last year, and that's fine.
We're talking about a guy who's a bona fide star.
He's an All Star. And I also saying, too, I think,
just what one sidebar on Ellie Dava Cruz. He's a
guy at a young age who's got a lot of
(10:14):
pressure on him to be the best player on the team.
I sometimes think about if Ellidava Cruz were playing for,
you know, the Dodgers, or was he in the Cubs lineup,
or was he in the the the Yankees lineup, just
how much his game might take off even more when
there's not as much pressure and focus on him as
there is in the Red lineup. You can see teams
(10:35):
fitting their bullpen sometime sometimes focus solely on him coming
to the plate, and that's the kind of attention he
gets here in Cincinnati. But I think there has to
be some finger pointed on the guys that haven't taken
that step. Obviously, Matt McCain hasn't taken that step. Spencer
Steere hasn't taken that step. You can go down the line.
Nicolodolo hasn't taken a markedly big step. So I think
(10:56):
there has to be some finger pointing at the players
as well, But I think generally it comes back to
decisions made by the front office and understanding that the
hands are tied, so to speak, by what the ownership
can spend, and I think you have to take that
sometimes out of it because the realistic view of this
(11:18):
is the ownership group in Cincinnati is going to be handcuffed.
It's not going to be the ownership group of LA
of Atlanta, of Chicago, of New York. So it really
to me falls on Nick Crawl trying to maximize what
he can. And you have to give him some credit
because he did supplement the roster well with Austin Hayes,
(11:40):
who's performed Gavin Lux, who's performed, Brady Singer's been fine,
and who's intravened. You has probably played above expectation. But
where have the missteps been in development of the young players?
And have they asked too much in this roster structure
of their young players. Have they put too much on
Hunter Green, Ellie Daylor Cruz and Matt McClain. And to me,
(12:03):
I think that's where the conversation is at this point,
is this is what you get sometimes, right if you
build around young players without long track records and a
lot of pressure on guys who haven't played a lot
of games. So I think that's where I would land
on it. Guys would be that when you structure a
team around young stars, and that's the reality of how
they're going to have to do this year in Cincinnati
(12:25):
if you want to catch lightning in a bottle with
a young team and get them before they price themselves
out of Cincinnati. But I think that, to me is
the number one reason why we're seeing such inconsistent play
and what really does feel like young players not taking
steps forward.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
We know what the schedule the rest of June looks like,
we know how bad this team has been against the
Milwaukee Brewers. If you just if it's not starting pitching,
are there things that you can at least look to
that you're seeing that would maybe signal they still have
a chance to stay above water, They still have a
chance to compete or do you feel like this has
(13:03):
the I guess, the ability to get out of hand
in June if it's not corrected. Are there things you
can see that you lean on right now for this club?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
I do think it has the opportunity for this team
to bury itself this month. I don't think that's out
of the question considering what they've played. I will say this,
it feels like they have risen to the occasion multiple
times against some good teams. The results matter, I get it.
They've played six games against the Cubs. They've lost four
of those six games, and you can sit here and
(13:35):
jump through your phone and say I'm crazy, but it
felt like the Reds were right there to win multiple
games and maybe split those six games with the Cubs,
maybe even win four of those six games. So I
think there are moments throughout the season. They went to
San Francisco, the Giants are a good team. They want
a series out there. I think they've shown the ability
at times to ride to the occasion and compete with
(13:58):
some of the better teams that National League. Certainly, an
era of a starting staff that's top four in the
National League is going to give this team a chance
on every given night to go out there. That's something
to point to as a positive as well. And I
think too, if you look at the standings, that the
Reds aren't the only ones underachieving. It's funny because we
talk so much in the offseason, even early in the
(14:20):
season about the only pass for the Reds to make
the playoffs with the NL Central. Well, here we are
on June what third, and it feels like that's been
blown out of the water because the Cubs have been
a lot better than I think people thought they might be.
The addition of Kyle Tucker, Craig Council is a difference maker,
and that's a team that's going to add pitching at
the All Star break that they might run away with
(14:41):
this thing if Saint Louis can't stay hot in the
second half of the season. So I think there's a
chance the Reds might be buried already in the National
League Central. But the rest of the National League and
the teams that we figured would be in the National
League wild card race have shown some vulnerabilities. There are
some issues in Arizona. They're not playing well. Carbon Burns
(15:03):
is now out with an injury. It appears The Atlanta
Braves are a team that we all figured we could
just pencilan as a playoff team. They've got Acuna back,
but it's been leaked that Marcelo Zoon has been dealing
with some kind of an issue that that might linger
throughout the year, and they just haven't been as dominant
or as good as we expected. So there are some
teams that we thought might be hard for the Reds
(15:24):
to catch that have shown some vulnerabilities as well. So
if you lean on this team's ability we've seen in
some series to play up to competition, certainly a pitching
staff that albeit's been healthy and hasn't had to deal
with a lot of adversity so far this year, they've
been excellent. And then you see some of these wild
card teams who have shown some underachieving signs like the
(15:47):
Reds as well. And I think those are the three
things you can point to as maybe the Reds being
able to keep their head above water and make this
some kind of an interesting season in September.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
I would be remiss completely shifting gears here, but you
mentioned the word excellence. You guys at Fox nineteen also
have the ability you cover a lot of high school
sports in the area. I saw today Mount Ponatowski at
Moler is named the Gatorade Player of the Year for baseball.
He was already named Gatorade Player of the Year in football.
He's mister Ohio. He's still just a junior. You've covered
(16:21):
a lot of high school athletes. Where does he rank
on the list of talent that you've seen here in
the Tri state area.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
He's so interesting. Have you worked with him before?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
No, I've not had a chance to work with him.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay, he's so interesting because you know, we're around the
Molar baseball program this time every year. It feels light
because and good on Mason. The Mason baseball program has
stepped up and seemed to be one of the teams
that can really compete with Moler. Every year locally in baseball,
but usually in June, you're down to a handful of
softball and baseball teams. They get a lot of attention,
(16:55):
and you're around those programs a lot here in these
next couple of weeks. I remember four years ago, before
he was even in high school, hearing the name Matt
Potatowski and people saying that he was already getting college
offers that he was the number one ranked shortstop in
his class and he wasn't even in high school yet.
So in the back of all of our minds who
(17:18):
are around Moler, there was this idea that Matt Ponatowski
was going to be this amazing baseball player and that
was going to be his ticket to college and professionally
as well. And then he comes now playing football and
he's one of the best quarterbacks we've seen in the
last two decades in the Cincinnati area. And all along
(17:40):
we were told that he's this baseball player, and now
he's getting scholarship offers or at least getting attention from
from Ohio States and some of the bigger names in
college football. He's winning awards in football, he's obviously winning
awards in baseball. What he's doing in those two sports
is rare. It's cool, it's gonna be fun to watch.
(18:01):
And as you mentioned, he's only a junior, and what
this guy might do his senior year is going to
be fun. And you know, now I've said this because
I'm on a lot of committees. I'm on the Roses
Hall of Fame committee. By the way, if anybody can
find Nancy Gates Uh, do me a solid. Tell Yancy
Gates to give me a shout back. We're inducting him
in the Rose the Roses Hall of Fame in like
(18:22):
three weeks, and God bless him, we can't find him
looking for him. So so that that's that's the bat
signal out to Cincinnati, Ched Brindle, tell Yancy to call
me back. Man. But I'm doing I'm on these boards
and we we give out awards and we vote on people,
and we've e been in this era right of of
what d Alexander did over at Purcell Marrin that I
(18:44):
would argue is as good of a high school resume
as we've ever seen in Cincinnati. With four straight state championships,
three McDonald's season, McDonald's All American and three times Miss
Ohio basketball and going to UC, I mean what, And
now we get Matt pon a Who's who's gonna win
Player of the Year at football and baseball? Some of
(19:04):
these resumes we've seen, and I think it's important for
some of these these these guys like you and myself,
guys who have been around Cincinnati now a long time.
We're around forty years old. When people ask who are
the best high school players we've seen, you know, we
always go to the Shawn Alexander's and guys like that
from from like the nineties. Now, what these kids are
doing now is setting a new standard of some of
(19:27):
the best resumes we've ever seen in high school sports
in Cincinnati. And I think that's a really cool thing
that there's a next generation now that we can really
point to as is carrying on what Cincinnati does and
does well. And that's the high school football, baseball, in
every sport that we like to think here in Cincinnati.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Joe, before I let you go, something you guys did
and it aired last night. The father who lost his
son tragically, Who's who's visiting these different ballparks and playing
catch as someone you know, I'm coaching wild he's got
a baseball game, he's into baseball and you understand kind
of that dynamic for those that missed it, just the
(20:07):
special nature of that story you guys were able to
share last night.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Yeah, this was a great story because of what this
father is doing. This is a dad who's from the
Boston area. He and his son baseball was their thing.
They went to twelve different ballparks that they had a
plan to go see every single ballpark and watch a
game at every major League ballpark across the country at
some point in their life. But his son, twenty one
(20:32):
years old, was a college baseball player, was on a
weekend trip to Myrtle Beach. He was killed in a
hit and run accident. So last summer, the dad, while
he's trying to deal with all this grief, was trying
to find something to help him heal. So he visited
every ballpark in his son's name, and he donated one
thousand dollars to the RBI Fund in every city. And
(20:53):
he felt a connection in Cincinnati. You know, for everything
that we talk about with the Reds, one of the
great things the Reds do is community outreach. They do
it as well as anybody in baseball. And you know,
they rolled the red carpet out for Scott, and they
promised his son a brick here in Cincinnati, and so
he wanted to come back to Cincinnati to see the brick. Meantime,
(21:13):
he decided on his son's birthday to keep his son's
name alive in January that he was going to play
catch every single day with someone for fifteen minutes. You
put your phone down you put your iPad down, you
step away from your desk, you go outside, you play catch,
and you have a conversation. And when he came to
Cincinnati because we did the story on him last summer,
he asked me to play catch with him. And it
(21:35):
was an unbelievable experience because look, no one wants to
tell anybody else how to parent. We all parent, you
know how we parent. But he reminded me just of
the power of those fifteen minutes of you can't do
anything else but talk to the person you're playing catch with.
So it's one of those things if you have kids,
(21:56):
or if you have a dad who's still able to
go play catch for fifteen minutes because everything else is gone.
There's there's no tablet, there's no phone. It's just you
and that person playing catch. And he's touring the country.
And if anybody wants to be a part of this,
look for Catch to Heal. Catch the number two heel
on Instagram. Set them a message so you can be involved,
(22:18):
because he told me it's he'll walk with pain and
grief his entire life because he's lost his son, but
baseball has helped him heal, and baseball has helped him
meet so many people, and he's trying to make something
good out of a really hard situation.
Speaker 4 (22:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Awesome, awesome piece and certainly appreciated. Joe, You're the best.
What's coming up next on Fox nineteen.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
I'm trying to think. All I have is I have
like senioritis because I'm going on a vacation in life
three weeks.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Yeah, the door. It sounds like Frank Coney.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
We are finalizing planned, guys, We are finalizing plan the
red or the Bengals are going to release their training
camp schedule very soon, and once that comes out, we
are planning on upping our training camp specials count this year.
We did two specials last year. We're gonna up that
(23:09):
this year. We're gonna go another step forward. That's to
be released later this week. So keep an eye out
for all the special programming we're going to be doing
around Bengals training camp this coming summer.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Joe, I don't know if you know this or not,
but iHeartMedia just reached a new agreement with the Bengals
and in the statement it was enhanced training camp coverage.
Sounds to me, boy, like the weather is ripe for
a potential collaboration.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Come on with it. Do you guys want to be
on our training camp show?
Speaker 4 (23:40):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Man, if they let me come to training camp, I'll
be down. But I don't know if they'll let me.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Okay, okay, it has been announced yet, but I'm going
to leak it here. It's gonna be two o'clock to
three o'clock on specific dates during training camp. I got
to stop myself from giving away more information. I'll be there.
But what I want to have you guys on that show.
(24:05):
Let's let's just say there.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
We'll make something happen. Danaman, you're the best man. Have
a great week.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
See you boys there.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
He is Joe Daniman, Fox nineteen. Every time we get
to talk to Joe Austin, I just see if I
can keep him one minute longer, yeah, minute, five minute.
We might just see if we can get like a
forty minute segment.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
One day. We'll do it one of these times.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Can just keep going, just keep asking him questions until
he has to say, guys, I gotta go. Always appreciative
of Joe Daneman's time. It's our three plenty more still
to go. We'll take your phone calls as well. Five
one three seven, four, nine, fifteen thirty since he three
sixty thanks to Penn Station.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
On ESPN fifteen thirty, Lowegger, there was some booing of
the team last night.
Speaker 3 (24:44):
When it comes to sports, he's got something to say for.
Speaker 4 (24:47):
Just natural byproducts, and plenty of it of poor play.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Loweger.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Today at three on ESPN fifteen thirty. Tony Pike with
my friends at Tri State Men's Hell
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