July 10, 2026 • 36 mins
Mo talks all things Reds, Bengals and whatever else on this Friday afternoon!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Well you sure have what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Six actter five, ESPN fifteen thirty Moeger, thank you for listening.
Hopefully a weekend that's off to a great start. Appreciate
you spending the start of your weekend or the end
of your work week or both with US.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Spain beats Belgium.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You just heard it in the top of the hour
Sports update from ESPN two to one.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
That was a fun game to watch.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So Spain and France will play in a semi final
next Tuesday, and that strikes me as must watch. We
will see, but the Belgium team that beat the US
has been eliminated. Something very strange happened to me during
the break, and I wanted to pass this along, if
for no other reason, to point out that the last
(00:46):
hour we just did was quite good and by the way,
that fell together almost by accident, because last night Steve
Oftenbaker from the Lockdown Reds podcast texted me and asked
if I was at the game, and I was not,
and I wrote back like wish I was, have a
great time, and then I wrote like how long in for?
(01:06):
Tells me he's in for the weekend. I'm like dude
come up in studio and visit and we'll do some stuff.
And so we just did an hour. So I'm sitting
here during the break and I'm actually kind of working
on something that's Bengals related, and I get a notification
for a team's call, right, which is big in the
corporate world, teams meetings, that sort of thing, unless it's scheduled.
(01:32):
I have never gotten a random team's call, so I'm
thinking this must be a big deal. It's during a break,
something's going on, And so I'll answer a team's call.
And I answer this team's call and I don't recognize
the number, and I should have gotten the guy's name.
He was very nice, but he made a team's call.
(01:55):
I answer it and he says, is this the Moegger Show?
And I said yeah kind of. And he goes, who
are those guys who were just on? And I said, well,
Jeff Carr and Steve Offfenbaker locked on Red's podcast. And
he says those guys were outstanding, which they were, and
then he says, is this mo And I go yeah,
(02:16):
and he said, you know, I appreciate the show, thanks,
you know whatever, And that was very very very very nice.
And I appreciate the interest in those guys and the
kind words about the show. I appreciate, I appreciate anybody
who listens to this, but that's the first time I've
ever gotten a team's call from someone in the audience,
and that was kind of different. So I should have
(02:37):
gotten the guy's name, and I didn't, but my apologies
for that, but thank you for the team's call. I
thought I was about to be engaged in some sort
of important work meeting, and let's be honest, when you
get a team's call right before five o'clock on Friday
in the corporate world, that is typically, or I guess,
oftentimes not a good thing. So I thought something bad
(02:58):
was about to happen. Instead, it was a guy listening
who said nice things about me, again, always appreciated, but
more than anything, said really nice things about Jeff and Steve.
And so if those guys are listening on their way
to the ballpark, this gentleman loved you, guys, and so
we might have to do that with more regularity. We
will see Reds and Cubs tonight. That GABP and I
(03:19):
talked about this at the top of the show. One
of the reasons why I got into this and many
many years ago as a kid, one of the reasons
I got another team's call.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Can't answer it. But as a general.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Rule, if you want to, if you want to get
ahold of the show, call seven four nine, fifteen thirty.
I can't do teams calls. Wait, I don't know I
know how you make it teams. I don't know how somebody,
I don't know how you're making teams call. And I
don't know how you get my infota to jump on.
I don't know. I know nothing about that. I will
get an invite occasion from people I work with because
we have a team's call for some reason, and I'll
(04:03):
click on the thing and there I am so please
as it was fun, it was interesting. We don't need
to be making teams calls on this show.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
We have a phone number five one three seven, fifteen thirty.
When I was a kid, I decided I wanted to
be in radio, and then soon thereafter I decided I
wanted to have a sports talk radio show. And one
of the reasons why I wanted a sports talk radio
show is I thought it would be fun to talk
about baseball.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I thought it'd be fun to talk about Red's baseball.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I thought it'd be a lot of fun to
talk about Red's baseball games because it is. Baseball's a
fun sport to discuss, relatively speaking, compared to some of
the other sports, strategies are a little bit simpler to understand,
right That's that's no knock on baseball, nor is it
a knock on the other sports. But I got into
this there were things I thought it would be really
(04:54):
fun to talk about and do professionally, to make a
living sitting in front of a microphone, having a talking
about teams I care about, talking about sports I love,
and I thought it would be fun to discuss baseball
games and baseball strategies and discuss lineup construction. That appealed
(05:14):
to me, and you know, so did other sports. Thought
it'd be a blast to talk about Area college basketball.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
But the games, because that's the fun part of sports, right,
the games. And sometimes it feels like the only fun
part of sports the games themselves, Like you might put
up with all the difficulties and being a sports fan
because you love the games. If you don't love the games,
I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Why you're listening to
(05:44):
this or making teams calls to me or anything like that.
But the games are supposed to be the best part.
The games are supposed to be the most fun. The
games are supposed to be the most entertaining, The games
are supposed to be the most interesting, And the games
are the things that are supposed to compel fun in discussions. Now,
one could argue successfully I'm not the best at making
(06:05):
those discussions fun or interesting, but I try. But that
was it for me, right. I was thinking about that
last night because I'm listening to my colleague and my
friend Lance McAllister, somebody who, as I decided, I wanted
to do this, like when I was in college. Like
Lance came to Cincinnati and was on the air, and
(06:25):
I'm like, well, I love to do what that guy
is doing. Probably never do it as well as him,
which has turned out to be the case. But I'm
listening to him last night and he's talking about the
ninth inning of last night's game. First and second, nobody
out a Euhanio Suarez at the plate a Euhaneo Suarez.
This season, unfortunately, has been a massive disappointment, massive disappointment.
(06:49):
I don't know what they can get at the trade
deadline for a Uhaneo Suarez, but that's a topic for
later on. I'm listening to Lance on Extra innings and
he's he's kind of outlining the ninth inning, the decision
that Tito had in front of him, and I guess
maybe he was hearing from folks on social media who
thought it was a good idea to instead of having
a Uhaneo Suarez bat, have him laid down a bun
(07:13):
and I think there's some fun and interesting discussions there now.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
As a general.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Rule with exceptions, there are exceptions, but as a general rule,
I don't love bunting as a strategy. I don't like
giving up outs, and there's nearly one hundred and fifty
years of data to support my way of thinking. Mathematically,
(07:38):
you decrease your odds of scoring, you decrease the number
of runs you're likely to score in an ending, the
more outs you make, even if you've moved the runners up,
you're giving away outs. There are exceptions, but like there
was a discussion to be had last night, like what
do you do there? Do you have Gino Bunn who
(08:00):
was brought to the team because he hits home runs,
a guy who hasn't laid down a bunt in a
major league game, a successful sacrifice bunt in like eleven years.
Do you bring somebody off the bench now? Last night,
the discussion was about Matt McClain. For what it's worth,
Matt McLain's on the injured list, he's down kee Brian
hayeses up McLain with the calf, So maybe that wasn't
an option, and his lance is making the case why
(08:21):
it didn't make sense to bunt. But I'm thinking, like
there's a kind of a fun discussion there, and I'm
sure in the stands at the ballpark last night there
were at least some who were discussing the merits of
having Geno swing versus lay one down, versus have a
pinchit or lay down a bun. But as I'm listening
to this, and this is no knock on the host
(08:42):
by any stretch of the imagination, I couldn't help but
feel like, who cares? Like who cares? What's the point?
It doesn't matter who cares? And that, to me is
the most frustrating thing about this Red season. Frankly, it's
(09:02):
the most frustrating thing about the Cincinnati Reds as a
general rule, because those of us who love baseball, the
thing we love most about baseball is baseball. But when
your baseball team is bad, you know what, we don't
talk nearly as much about baseball. That was an interesting
(09:24):
game last night because of how good Brady Singer was,
how good Jesus Lozardo was. I'm not sure why he
was yelling at the Reds and there dugout. That was
kind of stupid, And it was a game for right
for second guessing, and that stuff is fun to do.
Like it's fun to second guess the manager. It's fun
to first guest the manager. It's fun to be an
(09:45):
armchair manager. But you don't really do those things when
your team is playing out the string. And here in
early to mid July, the Reds are playing out the string,
or at least so it seems. That is agonizingly frustrating
if you love this sport and love the team in
town that plays this sport.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I said this three years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
The Reds like overnight, flip the page from what they
were in twenty twenty two, a one hundred lost team
to a team that as late as early August was
in first place, and I said it often that year.
I love this team because this team has re energized
the fan base. It's made people re engage with the product.
And now when we talk about baseball, we talk about baseball,
(10:29):
not why you're not going to games, or who should
be fired, or are they gonna sell the team, or
how good they used to be or how hopeless you are.
We're actually discussing strategies, personnel decisions, roster construction, lineup construction,
in game decision making, possible trades that they can make
(10:50):
that make the team better.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Fun stuff. That's fun stuff to talk about. When your
team stinks, you don't talk nearly as much about the
fun stuff. The same thing applies in foot ball two.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
At the end of the season, second half of the
season last year, we weren't discussing Zach Taylor going forward
or not going forward on fourth down, or some of
the things that defensively the Bengals could do to enhance
their chances of winning. It was Oh's NonStop yelling and
screaming about Duke Tobin, the team distrust firing people.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We didn't talk about football.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
When we talked about football, we talked about not shoveling
off the seats when it snows and stuff like that.
It's aggravating, it's maddening, it sucks, and that's what happens
when the losing is unending.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Won't talk about baseball anymore because like.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Last night, all right, let's go back and forth and
kick around whether or not Gino should have bunted, which
he shouldn't have, or if they should have used somebody else.
Lance took a caller last night, a guy who said
use a pitcher to bunt. Now, there might have been
a time when that maybe made sense, but pictures aren't
bad anymore. So they're probably the worst guys on the
(12:03):
team at bunting. But whatever. But when you're fifty, I'm sorry,
when you're forty two and fifty, who cares? And like,
if they win the game last night, which many of
us still watched, or many of us still listen to,
or many of us still attended, which speaks to the
(12:23):
fact that they're still interested in this team. If they
successfully execute the ninth inning, cool, then they're forty three
and forty nine. They pulled within six of five hundred, yeppie,
they did not successfully execute the ninth inning and so
(12:45):
they're forty two and fifty. The difference is negligible. We're
not going to look back at last night's game, in
all likelihood is the game that kept him out of
the wild card. We're not going to look at the
ninth inning of last night is a moment where Tito's
decision making may have negatively impacted their playoff chances. It
was just another game you check off that gets us
(13:05):
closer to the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And as a fan, that's not fun. As a fan,
You're you're not as.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Engaged with the games themselves and the stuff that goes
into the games, the decisions, the strategies, the pros and
cons of every individual move. Instead, it's fire, Nick fire,
t do fire, whoever sell the team, have a rebuild,
(13:41):
have a fire sale, and the unending discussions about the
patience that's never paid off. This is killing baseball. Like this,
this kills baseball. Not that the Reds are gonna die
or go away or be extinct because of it, but
like the fun part of being a baseball fan is
talking about the games. Well, when the games don't matter,
(14:02):
you don't talk about them. When the games don't matter,
you don't engage with them, and then as a talk
show host has tried to build a career around a
deep appreciation for and love for talking about games and
players and strategies. It's extraordinarily frustrating, and so like, I
(14:26):
don't have a question for you or a topic for you.
It's just a statement about what having just years of
seasons like this does to you as a fan, as
a consumer of the product, to somebody who loves the team,
and for what it's worth, folks who do what I
do for a living. If this team is a game
(14:50):
at a first place, if they lead the wild card race,
if they have a two and a half game lead
in the National League Central and they lose the game
last night, chances are we're talking about the game itself
and what went into it and why Tito did what
he did, and some of the alternatives to the strategy
that he chose to employ, the upside to what they
(15:11):
tried to do. And we're doing that with every single game.
We're doing that with every single game. Taking a pitcher
out how tonight's lineup looks like even today, The pros
and cons of Spencer Steer playing center field his first
major league start in center field. It's a thing. We'll
(15:33):
all recognize it, but doesn't matter that much. If Spencer
Steer drops two fly balls tonight and the Reds lose,
they're forty two and fifty one. Is that that different
from Spencer Steer making two miraculous catches in centerfield and
preserving a win that improves their record to forty three
and fifty. That's part of the frustration, and I would
(15:56):
imagine you would agree that's part of the frustration. The
thing that matters least when you have just repetitive seasons
that go nowhere are the actual games themselves and the
stuff that goes into determining.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Who wins them.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Twenty two after five, our lines are open at five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty eight sixty six seven oh two
three seven, seven six. I'll make an admission about the
Bengals offensive line coming up in twelve minutes on ESPN
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic o'clock.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. My name is Maegger, and
I appreciate listening. And now we'll talk to folks who
have called the show using more traditional means the dude
on the team's call could not have been nicer, and
it kills me is I'm a moron that I did
(17:01):
not get his name, And so I, first of all,
anybody who listens, I don't say this enough. I can't
whether it's two minutes, three hours, whether you're listening out
of hate, whether you're hate listening, or whether you just
really love this show. It means a lot to me.
And then anybody who reaches out and offers any sort
(17:22):
of correspondence even more so. And then anybody who offers
to participate in the show, well even more than that.
And so I appreciate anybody who offers feedback who wants
to engage with the show like it's I do not
express that as often as I should. This guy could
not have been nicer. I just I was taken aback
(17:42):
by the fact that it was a team's call. So
we have folks waiting who have used the more traditional
way of reaching out. Five when three seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty, let's see here, Bob in cold Spring. You're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Hi Bob, Hi maw a wonderful
You're self.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I'm great, I've been listening to you guys for many, many,
many many years.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You do a heck of a job.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
You really.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
I don't always agree with you.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
I don't always.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Agree with everybody.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
I've called everybody, uh, going back to Bob Trump.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
But I just walked out of the office and you
touched a chord when I turned on the radio, and
you're talking about the Reds and how as a professional
dealing with this and doing all the things you've got
to do, it's tough to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
I've talked to a couple of coworkers and they're more
worried about the Tarf's off tonight than they are the game.
And I'm an older guy, but I love my Reds.
Hardy wife brought me the subscription for the year, and
I turn it on and listened to Sadak and Barry
(18:52):
and and and my wife's like, how soon you're gonna
get mad tonight?
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Because I care.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
I love my red But that's why I.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Listen to you guys every day, to give me a
little sanity, because we're all going through this together.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yes, I'm a fan.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I'm not gonna complain.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
I love Keto. Here's the point I'm trying to make,
and I don't want to go all day on it good.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I truly, as a guy that's been watching the Red
since my uncle took me to the seventy whatever World
Series against Boston, I've been a die hard since then,
and I adore all those the local teams. But when
Phil came out a couple of years ago on opening
(19:39):
Day and said, if you don't like it, go somewhere else,
I swore that.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Day I would never go to pay for a game again, and.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I won't, And I can't believe more people don't talk
about that because that was one of the worst PR
blunders in the history of any successful business. And as
a long term, sixty year f since I was a
baby and went to Crosley Field, that was a slap
in my face. And all of this goes back to
(20:07):
Phil and his people. I don't even necessarily hold Kroll
to it.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Pedo's a Hall of Fame manager. What's he do when
he doesn't.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Have a bat off the bench that that cannot strike out,
When he doesn't have a reliever that can't throw strikes.
It's organizationally something that needs to change, and it starts
at the top. And if you don't want to do it,
and you don't want, I love your saying about the Brewers.
You are one thousand cent spot on. Let's compete with
(20:42):
the Brewers. Want to sign the show hey to a
seven hundred million dollar contract?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
If you can tell my voice, I can about this
because I look forward to the summer for.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
The rags and I think Phil and his family, if
you're listening, you blew it.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Let's go give us something to root for. Do you
know the numbers? And I know you do.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
What is our.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Salary compared to the Brewery. I think they're like one
or two million above us.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I think the Reds payroll this year is higher than
that of the Milwaukee Rivers.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Oh wow, okay, so much for that bo.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, and I will I'm going to look that up.
It so the Reds of the joint. Okay, yeah, Milwaukee
has I was wrong about that. Milwaukee has the nineteenth
highest payroll. Cincinnati is twenty. It's four million dollars.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Yes, yeah, so I was close.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Yeah, that's what I know. I know the stats.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
I know Elie's right handed versus left hand because I
love watching that. They used to play a game called
stratumatic that talked about the statistics of baseball, and ever
since then it's just been ingrained in me. And I
listened to you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
I want to pick something up new because I'm.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
A fan and it's just this year is hard.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah, I mean, look, I I I don't totally absolve
Tito because I think and and you know, it kind
of goes back to what I was talking about before.
No manager presses every correct button. But you know, there
have been times this year we've quibbled with Tito's strategy
and some decisions he's made. That is that is going
to happen. But on a macro level, is he the
(22:22):
biggest reason why this team is stuck in the mud.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
No, and and and and and and and part of
that is is independent of Nick Krawl, because there were
guys that we all felt like they were gonna be
able to count on that have just not performed. Nobody
was opposed to Euhaneo Suarez coming back. He hasn't gotten
the job done. Nobody was opposed to. Nobody was opposed to. Yeah,
just unfortunately he's maybe the worst offensive player in baseball
(22:49):
this year. Nobody was Nobody was opposed to the moves
that Nick Krawl made with the bullpen this offseason, and
unfortunately those moves haven't paid off. And so aret is
performance from guys that we thought were going to be
better than they have been an issue. Yes, is that
somewhat independent of the front office and Nick Krawl and
Brad Metta and others. Sure, But I think when you
(23:13):
kind of take a step back and you look at
the overall body of work, Nick Krawl has been in
his position now for six years, the results have been
very very limited. Ownership has been in control of the
team for twenty years. For the first fifteen years, nobody
said a negative word about them. But when you've gone
twenty years and you haven't done as much as advance
once in the postseason, at some point that becomes what
(23:34):
defines your your reign with to define your ownership tenure,
and that's inescapable. And so it's the problem is it's
when you never win. It's never just one thing. When
you have a season that has gone sideways, it's never
just one thing. And I think that's the issue here.
You could focus on Tito's performance and point to some
(23:56):
things you wish you would have done, better. Okay, Fine,
you could point up things that Nick Crawl has maybe
done poorly. Okay, that's fear. That's fine. You could point
to some players. It's it's not just one thing. If
it was, I think the fixes would be easy. And
I think that's part of what's so frustrating is it
feels like the fixes aren't that easy.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Then let me ask you one more thing and then
I'll hang up and let somebody else call. But do
you remember the quote bobcastleen Mate when he bought the TV.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
We will bring championship baseball to Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Fingo, you nailed it. It's quote unquote dead on. Okay,
So where is any resemblance of that?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
None doesn't exist, doesn't exist.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
And then if that's the case, sell it. I hate
to say that because the Casteleenis are good people in
Cincinnati and they've done a lot for the city. But
come on, don't tell me you can't compete because look
at Tampa Vaando Wolf.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, I mean, Bob, I appreciate you calling in, and
then I and I hope this isn't your last time.
I hope you have a great weekend as well. It's
you know, you hear it? All the time. Look at
us versus the Dodgers or the met and the Mets
aren't a great example because they're terrible too. And again,
it's the Brewers, it's the Rays, it's the Cleveland Guardians,
(25:18):
It's teams that find ways to stay relevant and competitive.
And you know it gets thrown back at me all
the time, Well, the Brewers have an advance of the
World Series, even during this long run where they've been
a postseason team every year.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I don't know, dude.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I'll take what they've had in Milwaukee for the better
part of the last nine years ahead of what we
have here. If you told me the Reds will make
the postseason eight of the next nine seasons, I'll take
it eight of the next nine years. But you have
no idea if they're going to make the World Series,
I'll take it right now.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I'll take it right now. And my guess is if
they go to the.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Postseason eight of the next nine years, they will find
themselves in one World Series. But they are so far
away from that that it's staggering. We are way late
twenty four from six ESPN FI eighteen.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
From the UC Health Traffic Center.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Very quickly.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Sports Dlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval for their family.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
To Yours for Life, kelseyshow dot Com.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Reds and Cubs. First of three tonight at GABP. Hunter
Green looks to improve upon his first start of the season,
which was gnarly. He gets ball tonight against the Cubbies
seven to ten. Tonight's first pitch seven hundred. Wlw's showta
Amanaga throws for Chicago. Starting line for the Reds Elie
de la Cruz, Al Stewart and Spencer Steer. Steer making
(26:40):
his first big league start in center field, Pladas and
lefts Warrez dhs Stevenson catches Martes and right field a
royal play second base. Kate Ryan Hayes, back off the
inter list, is playing third base and batting ninth. Hayes
up off the DL. Matt McClain to the ie OL
it's the eel now it has been for ten years.
He had to the IL with a CAF issue. Florence
(27:02):
hey All's on the road against Joliet. Spain beats Belgium
to one of the World Cup Quarterfinals. Spain will take
on France in the Semis or Semis on Tuesday, and
FC Cincinnati plays tonight and exhibition a friendly against jj
Watt's Burnley FC. Jj Watt owns part of that team,
(27:23):
went on social media and said he's gonna come eat
at Montgomery in and eat at Greaters, which is awesome,
But then he said he wasn't going to Skyline, so
he lost me. And then Austin tweeted him and asked
him to come on the show, and jj Watt, who's
mister social.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Media friendly like ignort them.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I would have asked jj Watt, how much were you
laughing at Andy Dalton when you caught that pass from
him in the twenty eleven wildcard game and ran it
back for a touchdown, But we didn't get a chance
because he's too busy And honestly, would you rather call
this radio station and answer questions from us or go
(28:02):
to the Montgomery in pretty simple answer for me? Or Greaters? Now,
I love Greaters is awesome. Greaters refuses to be the
official ice cream of this show. So we have a
lot of folks waiting and we have like how much
time is left in the show, Taren, how are we
doing on time?
Speaker 6 (28:26):
All right?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Well, apparently an unending amount of time, an infinite amount
of time. We could just go till midnight tonight. Uh,
let's see here, I got a lot of folks waiting.
Let's see who's been waiting the longest? Uh, Nick and Fairfield,
you're on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Yes, sir, First of all, thank you for the show today.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
I appreciate it. Totally's interesting. Wow. First of all, can
you hear me?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
You sound like a million dollars?
Speaker 6 (28:53):
Okay, just pitching coach that the ha that's not there
on him?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Uh, it's a personal issue that he is dealing with.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Or he's still at he.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Is still employed as the team's pitching coach and director
of pitching.
Speaker 6 (29:12):
Okay, I'm just curious. I hadn't spoken the whole I
kind of figured it must be a family thing that
they eat or an injury thing that they really can't
talk about.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Now, Yeah, it could be family, could be family, could
be health. I am a big believer in respecting people's
privacy when it comes to a personal issue, and so
I haven't feeled it felt the need to pry I
don't suspect that it's baseball related.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
That is. That's good because there's sometimes the media gets
just a little bit too much in guy, Yeah, what
you're doing this right now? The guy that was on
ahead of he kind of briefly said, this is all Terry. Well,
Harry's been given this pile of chicken feathers to make
chicken salad. That us this was here when he took
(30:02):
over the job. I'm kind of wondering if Terry might
be saying to himself because he he looks a little
ragged these days at these post post game interviews with
Jim Day. I'm wonder I said to himself, why did
I listen to the front of him. He just doesn't
(30:23):
have the people, and I can't kind of see why
because and he said this before. You may have heard
me say, you may have read this. I kind of
think the Red in a position, all things considered, what's
gonna take place in December that may have a little
(30:44):
bit to do with what's going on, But then again,
they turn around here after the break and you know what,
we might not have baseball next year, so let's put
some money in it. Get to work.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Yeah, maybe I think if they do that. You know,
for this year, it's probably going to be a little
bit too little, too late.
Speaker 6 (31:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
The Francona thing is what I know, how he looks
after games. I it depends on how much enjoyment he's having,
you know, And look, there's a I guess there's two
different ways of looking at it. One would be like,
for a guy whose legacy is secure and Terry Francona's
(31:24):
place in this game is secure, is is this something
he needs? On the flip side of it is, Hey,
I don't want to go out like this. I don't
want my final chapter to be one where I went
to Cincinnati and it ended poorly. And for what it's worth,
like he helped get him to the postseason last year,
I don't know. I do think it's fair to wonder,
(31:45):
given his age he is sixty seven years old, given
the fact that he has had you know, you talk
about personal issues, health issues, and you know, you do wonder.
I wonder when I watch him sometimes where he just
looks a little bit beaten down, is this something that
he's going to want to continue to do long term?
When the Reds hired him, I don't think he was
(32:05):
ever hired with the expectation that he was going to
be the manager of the team for an extraordinarily long time.
But you know, if if he's really getting a lot
of satisfaction and enjoyment out of the job, that I
would imagine he'll stay with it. And and if he says,
you know what, it's uh, it's not worth the time,
effort and energy that I have to put into this,
and I've accomplished everything I want in baseball, and so
(32:27):
I'll move on. Maybe he'll do that. I that I
I have no idea. I listened to and I hear
people speculate on that, and and frankly, I don't know
that any of us necessarily are really prepared or equipped
to be able.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
To do that.
Speaker 6 (32:40):
I hope he's stays. I like the guy. I like
when he played for the Reds, and that flight in
the home plate that looks like that scene out Major
League take a singer and say come here.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
You know I've seen the Yeah, Well.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
Get out of here. The teams are gonna have to
prepare themselves for big changes once this contract is up
in December, because it really looks like there's not gonna
be baseball next year. Or at least it's couldn't start
off off rapid late. That's the issues they're dealing with
financial and also adding the teams and changing the divisions.
(33:26):
No fortila. I think there's a lot that's gonna happen
that's gonna be gonna make us happy or make us
sick or too.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Thanks what well, thank you, Nick, I appreciate the phone call.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
All I'll say about the lockout right now, and I'm
short on time, is this whatever the sport looks like
coming out of the lockout, can we get a long
term CBA. Because there was a lockout at the end
of the twenty twenty one season and spring training got delayed.
The season began, I think on April the fourteenth. They
(33:58):
played a full season, but it mess with the schedule
a little bit. But we had a lockout. No games
were missed. When the lockout ended and they reached a
new collective bargaining agreement, everybody who covers the sport said
almost instantly, cool, the lockout is over. We're going to
have another one in four years. Whatever the sport looks
(34:19):
like economically or otherwise on field rules, division realignment, the
financial structure of the sport, expansion television deal, how they
share money, whatever it looks like. I just want there
to be a long term CBA that this is what
it's going to look like.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
The NFL's most recent collective bargaining agreement was struck. I
think after the twenty twenty season. Now there are the
potential for opt outs, but it basically was a decade
long CBA. Can I get something like that so that
we could stop talking about baseball labor for just once.
We'll see music means the show is over. If you're
(35:03):
on hold, my apologies we did not get to you.
What you can do is you could wait on hold
until a week from Monday, and I'll take your call
to start the.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Show, or call you on teams. Oh yeah, call me
on teams.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
By the way, I don't know what the most bizarre
thing that happened to me in the last hour was
Taran because outside my window is a drone the size
of a helicopter that's cleaning our windows.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
You didn't get that email either.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
No, I thought for a second a helicopter was gonna
come crashing through the window here at the iHeartMedia Building.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
It almost gave his kim Ahart tack. I hope Kim's okay.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
I mean, I'm sitting here and it was when the
second and last caller started talking and I thought there's
a helicopter flying towards the building, and then I realized
it's a large drone.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That's cleaning our windows. So anyway, that was fun.
Speaker 6 (35:51):
We have to go.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
I am off next week, Chadd. Chad's doing the show
next week, right correct?
Speaker 2 (35:58):
All right?
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Chad's here all week next week, All Star Week, so
you can complain about the All Star Game to him.
And then I am back a week from Monday, and
we'll be almost set to Star training camp, so looking
forward to that. My thanks to Taran Bland for producing,
and as always, thanks to you for listening. Have a
great weekend. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic
Fifteen thirty.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Well you sure have what's up?
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Six actter five, ESPN fifteen thirty Moeger, thank you for listening.
Hopefully a weekend that's off to a great start. Appreciate
you spending the start of your weekend or the end
of your work week or both with US.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Spain beats Belgium.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You just heard it in the top of the hour
Sports update from ESPN two to one.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
That was a fun game to watch.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So Spain and France will play in a semi final
next Tuesday, and that strikes me as must watch. We
will see, but the Belgium team that beat the US
has been eliminated. Something very strange happened to me during
the break, and I wanted to pass this along, if
for no other reason, to point out that the last
(00:46):
hour we just did was quite good and by the way,
that fell together almost by accident, because last night Steve
Oftenbaker from the Lockdown Reds podcast texted me and asked
if I was at the game, and I was not,
and I wrote back like wish I was, have a
great time, and then I wrote like how long in for?
(01:06):
Tells me he's in for the weekend. I'm like dude
come up in studio and visit and we'll do some stuff.
And so we just did an hour. So I'm sitting
here during the break and I'm actually kind of working
on something that's Bengals related, and I get a notification
for a team's call, right, which is big in the
corporate world, teams meetings, that sort of thing, unless it's scheduled.
(01:32):
I have never gotten a random team's call, so I'm
thinking this must be a big deal. It's during a break,
something's going on, And so I'll answer a team's call.
And I answer this team's call and I don't recognize
the number, and I should have gotten the guy's name.
He was very nice, but he made a team's call.
(01:55):
I answer it and he says, is this the Moegger Show?
And I said yeah kind of. And he goes, who
are those guys who were just on? And I said, well,
Jeff Carr and Steve Offfenbaker locked on Red's podcast. And
he says those guys were outstanding, which they were, and
then he says, is this mo And I go yeah,
(02:16):
and he said, you know, I appreciate the show, thanks,
you know whatever, And that was very very very very nice.
And I appreciate the interest in those guys and the
kind words about the show. I appreciate, I appreciate anybody
who listens to this, but that's the first time I've
ever gotten a team's call from someone in the audience,
and that was kind of different. So I should have
(02:37):
gotten the guy's name, and I didn't, but my apologies
for that, but thank you for the team's call. I
thought I was about to be engaged in some sort
of important work meeting, and let's be honest, when you
get a team's call right before five o'clock on Friday
in the corporate world, that is typically, or I guess,
oftentimes not a good thing. So I thought something bad
(02:58):
was about to happen. Instead, it was a guy listening
who said nice things about me, again, always appreciated, but
more than anything, said really nice things about Jeff and Steve.
And so if those guys are listening on their way
to the ballpark, this gentleman loved you, guys, and so
we might have to do that with more regularity. We
will see Reds and Cubs tonight. That GABP and I
(03:19):
talked about this at the top of the show. One
of the reasons why I got into this and many
many years ago as a kid, one of the reasons
I got another team's call.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Can't answer it. But as a general.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Rule, if you want to, if you want to get
ahold of the show, call seven four nine, fifteen thirty.
I can't do teams calls. Wait, I don't know I
know how you make it teams. I don't know how somebody,
I don't know how you're making teams call. And I
don't know how you get my infota to jump on.
I don't know. I know nothing about that. I will
get an invite occasion from people I work with because
we have a team's call for some reason, and I'll
(04:03):
click on the thing and there I am so please
as it was fun, it was interesting. We don't need
to be making teams calls on this show.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
We have a phone number five one three seven, fifteen thirty.
When I was a kid, I decided I wanted to
be in radio, and then soon thereafter I decided I
wanted to have a sports talk radio show. And one
of the reasons why I wanted a sports talk radio
show is I thought it would be fun to talk
about baseball.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I thought it'd be fun to talk about Red's baseball.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
And I thought it'd be a lot of fun to
talk about Red's baseball games because it is. Baseball's a
fun sport to discuss, relatively speaking, compared to some of
the other sports, strategies are a little bit simpler to understand,
right That's that's no knock on baseball, nor is it
a knock on the other sports. But I got into
this there were things I thought it would be really
(04:54):
fun to talk about and do professionally, to make a
living sitting in front of a microphone, having a talking
about teams I care about, talking about sports I love,
and I thought it would be fun to discuss baseball
games and baseball strategies and discuss lineup construction. That appealed
(05:14):
to me, and you know, so did other sports. Thought
it'd be a blast to talk about Area college basketball.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
But the games, because that's the fun part of sports, right,
the games. And sometimes it feels like the only fun
part of sports the games themselves, Like you might put
up with all the difficulties and being a sports fan
because you love the games. If you don't love the games,
I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Why you're listening to
(05:44):
this or making teams calls to me or anything like that.
But the games are supposed to be the best part.
The games are supposed to be the most fun. The
games are supposed to be the most entertaining, The games
are supposed to be the most interesting, And the games
are the things that are supposed to compel fun in discussions. Now,
one could argue successfully I'm not the best at making
(06:05):
those discussions fun or interesting, but I try. But that
was it for me, right. I was thinking about that
last night because I'm listening to my colleague and my
friend Lance McAllister, somebody who, as I decided, I wanted
to do this, like when I was in college. Like
Lance came to Cincinnati and was on the air, and
(06:25):
I'm like, well, I love to do what that guy
is doing. Probably never do it as well as him,
which has turned out to be the case. But I'm
listening to him last night and he's talking about the
ninth inning of last night's game. First and second, nobody
out a Euhanio Suarez at the plate a Euhaneo Suarez.
This season, unfortunately, has been a massive disappointment, massive disappointment.
(06:49):
I don't know what they can get at the trade
deadline for a Uhaneo Suarez, but that's a topic for
later on. I'm listening to Lance on Extra innings and
he's he's kind of outlining the ninth inning, the decision
that Tito had in front of him, and I guess
maybe he was hearing from folks on social media who
thought it was a good idea to instead of having
a Uhaneo Suarez bat, have him laid down a bun
(07:13):
and I think there's some fun and interesting discussions there now.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
As a general.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Rule with exceptions, there are exceptions, but as a general rule,
I don't love bunting as a strategy. I don't like
giving up outs, and there's nearly one hundred and fifty
years of data to support my way of thinking. Mathematically,
(07:38):
you decrease your odds of scoring, you decrease the number
of runs you're likely to score in an ending, the
more outs you make, even if you've moved the runners up,
you're giving away outs. There are exceptions, but like there
was a discussion to be had last night, like what
do you do there? Do you have Gino Bunn who
(08:00):
was brought to the team because he hits home runs,
a guy who hasn't laid down a bunt in a
major league game, a successful sacrifice bunt in like eleven years.
Do you bring somebody off the bench now? Last night,
the discussion was about Matt McClain. For what it's worth,
Matt McLain's on the injured list, he's down kee Brian
hayeses up McLain with the calf, So maybe that wasn't
an option, and his lance is making the case why
(08:21):
it didn't make sense to bunt. But I'm thinking, like
there's a kind of a fun discussion there, and I'm
sure in the stands at the ballpark last night there
were at least some who were discussing the merits of
having Geno swing versus lay one down, versus have a
pinchit or lay down a bun. But as I'm listening
to this, and this is no knock on the host
(08:42):
by any stretch of the imagination, I couldn't help but
feel like, who cares? Like who cares? What's the point?
It doesn't matter who cares? And that, to me is
the most frustrating thing about this Red season. Frankly, it's
(09:02):
the most frustrating thing about the Cincinnati Reds as a
general rule, because those of us who love baseball, the
thing we love most about baseball is baseball. But when
your baseball team is bad, you know what, we don't
talk nearly as much about baseball. That was an interesting
(09:24):
game last night because of how good Brady Singer was,
how good Jesus Lozardo was. I'm not sure why he
was yelling at the Reds and there dugout. That was
kind of stupid, And it was a game for right
for second guessing, and that stuff is fun to do.
Like it's fun to second guess the manager. It's fun
to first guest the manager. It's fun to be an
(09:45):
armchair manager. But you don't really do those things when
your team is playing out the string. And here in
early to mid July, the Reds are playing out the string,
or at least so it seems. That is agonizingly frustrating
if you love this sport and love the team in
town that plays this sport.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
I said this three years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
The Reds like overnight, flip the page from what they
were in twenty twenty two, a one hundred lost team
to a team that as late as early August was
in first place, and I said it often that year.
I love this team because this team has re energized
the fan base. It's made people re engage with the product.
And now when we talk about baseball, we talk about baseball,
(10:29):
not why you're not going to games, or who should
be fired, or are they gonna sell the team, or
how good they used to be or how hopeless you are.
We're actually discussing strategies, personnel decisions, roster construction, lineup construction,
in game decision making, possible trades that they can make
(10:50):
that make the team better.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Fun stuff. That's fun stuff to talk about. When your
team stinks, you don't talk nearly as much about the
fun stuff. The same thing applies in foot ball two.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
At the end of the season, second half of the
season last year, we weren't discussing Zach Taylor going forward
or not going forward on fourth down, or some of
the things that defensively the Bengals could do to enhance
their chances of winning. It was Oh's NonStop yelling and
screaming about Duke Tobin, the team distrust firing people.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
We didn't talk about football.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
When we talked about football, we talked about not shoveling
off the seats when it snows and stuff like that.
It's aggravating, it's maddening, it sucks, and that's what happens
when the losing is unending.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Won't talk about baseball anymore because like.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Last night, all right, let's go back and forth and
kick around whether or not Gino should have bunted, which
he shouldn't have, or if they should have used somebody else.
Lance took a caller last night, a guy who said
use a pitcher to bunt. Now, there might have been
a time when that maybe made sense, but pictures aren't
bad anymore. So they're probably the worst guys on the
(12:03):
team at bunting. But whatever. But when you're fifty, I'm sorry,
when you're forty two and fifty, who cares? And like,
if they win the game last night, which many of
us still watched, or many of us still listen to,
or many of us still attended, which speaks to the
(12:23):
fact that they're still interested in this team. If they
successfully execute the ninth inning, cool, then they're forty three
and forty nine. They pulled within six of five hundred, yeppie,
they did not successfully execute the ninth inning and so
(12:45):
they're forty two and fifty. The difference is negligible. We're
not going to look back at last night's game, in
all likelihood is the game that kept him out of
the wild card. We're not going to look at the
ninth inning of last night is a moment where Tito's
decision making may have negatively impacted their playoff chances. It
was just another game you check off that gets us
(13:05):
closer to the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
And as a fan, that's not fun. As a fan,
You're you're not as.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Engaged with the games themselves and the stuff that goes
into the games, the decisions, the strategies, the pros and
cons of every individual move. Instead, it's fire, Nick fire,
t do fire, whoever sell the team, have a rebuild,
(13:41):
have a fire sale, and the unending discussions about the
patience that's never paid off. This is killing baseball. Like this,
this kills baseball. Not that the Reds are gonna die
or go away or be extinct because of it, but
like the fun part of being a baseball fan is
talking about the games. Well, when the games don't matter,
(14:02):
you don't talk about them. When the games don't matter,
you don't engage with them, and then as a talk
show host has tried to build a career around a
deep appreciation for and love for talking about games and
players and strategies. It's extraordinarily frustrating, and so like, I
(14:26):
don't have a question for you or a topic for you.
It's just a statement about what having just years of
seasons like this does to you as a fan, as
a consumer of the product, to somebody who loves the team,
and for what it's worth, folks who do what I
do for a living. If this team is a game
(14:50):
at a first place, if they lead the wild card race,
if they have a two and a half game lead
in the National League Central and they lose the game
last night, chances are we're talking about the game itself
and what went into it and why Tito did what
he did, and some of the alternatives to the strategy
that he chose to employ, the upside to what they
(15:11):
tried to do. And we're doing that with every single game.
We're doing that with every single game. Taking a pitcher
out how tonight's lineup looks like even today, The pros
and cons of Spencer Steer playing center field his first
major league start in center field. It's a thing. We'll
(15:33):
all recognize it, but doesn't matter that much. If Spencer
Steer drops two fly balls tonight and the Reds lose,
they're forty two and fifty one. Is that that different
from Spencer Steer making two miraculous catches in centerfield and
preserving a win that improves their record to forty three
and fifty. That's part of the frustration, and I would
(15:56):
imagine you would agree that's part of the frustration. The
thing that matters least when you have just repetitive seasons
that go nowhere are the actual games themselves and the
stuff that goes into determining.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Who wins them.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Twenty two after five, our lines are open at five one, three, seven,
four nine, fifteen thirty eight sixty six seven oh two
three seven, seven six. I'll make an admission about the
Bengals offensive line coming up in twelve minutes on ESPN
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic o'clock.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. My name is Maegger, and
I appreciate listening. And now we'll talk to folks who
have called the show using more traditional means the dude
on the team's call could not have been nicer, and
it kills me is I'm a moron that I did
(17:01):
not get his name, And so I, first of all,
anybody who listens, I don't say this enough. I can't
whether it's two minutes, three hours, whether you're listening out
of hate, whether you're hate listening, or whether you just
really love this show. It means a lot to me.
And then anybody who reaches out and offers any sort
(17:22):
of correspondence even more so. And then anybody who offers
to participate in the show, well even more than that.
And so I appreciate anybody who offers feedback who wants
to engage with the show like it's I do not
express that as often as I should. This guy could
not have been nicer. I just I was taken aback
(17:42):
by the fact that it was a team's call. So
we have folks waiting who have used the more traditional
way of reaching out. Five when three seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty, let's see here, Bob in cold Spring. You're
on ESPN fifteen thirty. Hi Bob, Hi maw a wonderful
You're self.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
I'm great, I've been listening to you guys for many, many,
many many years.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (18:07):
You do a heck of a job.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
You really.
Speaker 5 (18:09):
I don't always agree with you.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
I don't always.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Agree with everybody.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
I've called everybody, uh, going back to Bob Trump.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
But I just walked out of the office and you
touched a chord when I turned on the radio, and
you're talking about the Reds and how as a professional
dealing with this and doing all the things you've got
to do, it's tough to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
I've talked to a couple of coworkers and they're more
worried about the Tarf's off tonight than they are the game.
And I'm an older guy, but I love my Reds.
Hardy wife brought me the subscription for the year, and
I turn it on and listened to Sadak and Barry
(18:52):
and and and my wife's like, how soon you're gonna
get mad tonight?
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Because I care.
Speaker 5 (18:58):
I love my red But that's why I.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Listen to you guys every day, to give me a
little sanity, because we're all going through this together.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Yes, I'm a fan.
Speaker 5 (19:08):
I'm not gonna complain.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
You know.
Speaker 5 (19:11):
I love Keto. Here's the point I'm trying to make,
and I don't want to go all day on it good.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
I truly, as a guy that's been watching the Red
since my uncle took me to the seventy whatever World
Series against Boston, I've been a die hard since then,
and I adore all those the local teams. But when
Phil came out a couple of years ago on opening
(19:39):
Day and said, if you don't like it, go somewhere else,
I swore that.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Day I would never go to pay for a game again, and.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I won't, And I can't believe more people don't talk
about that because that was one of the worst PR
blunders in the history of any successful business. And as
a long term, sixty year f since I was a
baby and went to Crosley Field, that was a slap
in my face. And all of this goes back to
(20:07):
Phil and his people. I don't even necessarily hold Kroll
to it.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
Pedo's a Hall of Fame manager. What's he do when
he doesn't.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Have a bat off the bench that that cannot strike out,
When he doesn't have a reliever that can't throw strikes.
It's organizationally something that needs to change, and it starts
at the top. And if you don't want to do it,
and you don't want, I love your saying about the Brewers.
You are one thousand cent spot on. Let's compete with
(20:42):
the Brewers. Want to sign the show hey to a
seven hundred million dollar contract?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
If you can tell my voice, I can about this
because I look forward to the summer for.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
The rags and I think Phil and his family, if
you're listening, you blew it.
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Let's go give us something to root for. Do you
know the numbers? And I know you do.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
What is our.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Salary compared to the Brewery. I think they're like one
or two million above us.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I think the Reds payroll this year is higher than
that of the Milwaukee Rivers.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
Oh wow, okay, so much for that bo.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Yeah, and I will I'm going to look that up.
It so the Reds of the joint. Okay, yeah, Milwaukee
has I was wrong about that. Milwaukee has the nineteenth
highest payroll. Cincinnati is twenty. It's four million dollars.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
Yes, yeah, so I was close.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Yeah, that's what I know. I know the stats.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
I know Elie's right handed versus left hand because I
love watching that. They used to play a game called
stratumatic that talked about the statistics of baseball, and ever
since then it's just been ingrained in me. And I
listened to you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
I want to pick something up new because I'm.
Speaker 5 (21:56):
A fan and it's just this year is hard.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Yeah, I mean, look, I I I don't totally absolve
Tito because I think and and you know, it kind
of goes back to what I was talking about before.
No manager presses every correct button. But you know, there
have been times this year we've quibbled with Tito's strategy
and some decisions he's made. That is that is going
to happen. But on a macro level, is he the
(22:22):
biggest reason why this team is stuck in the mud.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
No, and and and and and and and part of
that is is independent of Nick Krawl, because there were
guys that we all felt like they were gonna be
able to count on that have just not performed. Nobody
was opposed to Euhaneo Suarez coming back. He hasn't gotten
the job done. Nobody was opposed to. Nobody was opposed to. Yeah,
just unfortunately he's maybe the worst offensive player in baseball
(22:49):
this year. Nobody was Nobody was opposed to the moves
that Nick Krawl made with the bullpen this offseason, and
unfortunately those moves haven't paid off. And so aret is
performance from guys that we thought were going to be
better than they have been an issue. Yes, is that
somewhat independent of the front office and Nick Krawl and
Brad Metta and others. Sure, But I think when you
(23:13):
kind of take a step back and you look at
the overall body of work, Nick Krawl has been in
his position now for six years, the results have been
very very limited. Ownership has been in control of the
team for twenty years. For the first fifteen years, nobody
said a negative word about them. But when you've gone
twenty years and you haven't done as much as advance
once in the postseason, at some point that becomes what
(23:34):
defines your your reign with to define your ownership tenure,
and that's inescapable. And so it's the problem is it's
when you never win. It's never just one thing. When
you have a season that has gone sideways, it's never
just one thing. And I think that's the issue here.
You could focus on Tito's performance and point to some
(23:56):
things you wish you would have done, better. Okay, Fine,
you could point up things that Nick Crawl has maybe
done poorly. Okay, that's fear. That's fine. You could point
to some players. It's it's not just one thing. If
it was, I think the fixes would be easy. And
I think that's part of what's so frustrating is it
feels like the fixes aren't that easy.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Then let me ask you one more thing and then
I'll hang up and let somebody else call. But do
you remember the quote bobcastleen Mate when he bought the TV.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
We will bring championship baseball to Cincinnati.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
Fingo, you nailed it. It's quote unquote dead on. Okay,
So where is any resemblance of that?
Speaker 2 (24:37):
None doesn't exist, doesn't exist.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
And then if that's the case, sell it. I hate
to say that because the Casteleenis are good people in
Cincinnati and they've done a lot for the city. But
come on, don't tell me you can't compete because look
at Tampa Vaando Wolf.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
Yeah, I mean, Bob, I appreciate you calling in, and
then I and I hope this isn't your last time.
I hope you have a great weekend as well. It's
you know, you hear it? All the time. Look at
us versus the Dodgers or the met and the Mets
aren't a great example because they're terrible too. And again,
it's the Brewers, it's the Rays, it's the Cleveland Guardians,
(25:18):
It's teams that find ways to stay relevant and competitive.
And you know it gets thrown back at me all
the time, Well, the Brewers have an advance of the
World Series, even during this long run where they've been
a postseason team every year.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I don't know, dude.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
I'll take what they've had in Milwaukee for the better
part of the last nine years ahead of what we
have here. If you told me the Reds will make
the postseason eight of the next nine seasons, I'll take
it eight of the next nine years. But you have
no idea if they're going to make the World Series,
I'll take it right now.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
I'll take it right now. And my guess is if
they go to the.
Speaker 3 (25:49):
Postseason eight of the next nine years, they will find
themselves in one World Series. But they are so far
away from that that it's staggering. We are way late
twenty four from six ESPN FI eighteen.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.
Speaker 5 (26:05):
From the UC Health Traffic Center.
Speaker 6 (26:09):
Very quickly.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Sports Dlines are a service of Kelsey Chevrolet, Home of
lifetime powertrain protection and guarantee credit approval for their family.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
To Yours for Life, kelseyshow dot Com.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Reds and Cubs. First of three tonight at GABP. Hunter
Green looks to improve upon his first start of the season,
which was gnarly. He gets ball tonight against the Cubbies
seven to ten. Tonight's first pitch seven hundred. Wlw's showta
Amanaga throws for Chicago. Starting line for the Reds Elie
de la Cruz, Al Stewart and Spencer Steer. Steer making
(26:40):
his first big league start in center field, Pladas and
lefts Warrez dhs Stevenson catches Martes and right field a
royal play second base. Kate Ryan Hayes, back off the
inter list, is playing third base and batting ninth. Hayes
up off the DL. Matt McClain to the ie OL
it's the eel now it has been for ten years.
He had to the IL with a CAF issue. Florence
(27:02):
hey All's on the road against Joliet. Spain beats Belgium
to one of the World Cup Quarterfinals. Spain will take
on France in the Semis or Semis on Tuesday, and
FC Cincinnati plays tonight and exhibition a friendly against jj
Watt's Burnley FC. Jj Watt owns part of that team,
(27:23):
went on social media and said he's gonna come eat
at Montgomery in and eat at Greaters, which is awesome,
But then he said he wasn't going to Skyline, so
he lost me. And then Austin tweeted him and asked
him to come on the show, and jj Watt, who's
mister social.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Media friendly like ignort them.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
I would have asked jj Watt, how much were you
laughing at Andy Dalton when you caught that pass from
him in the twenty eleven wildcard game and ran it
back for a touchdown, But we didn't get a chance
because he's too busy And honestly, would you rather call
this radio station and answer questions from us or go
(28:02):
to the Montgomery in pretty simple answer for me? Or Greaters? Now,
I love Greaters is awesome. Greaters refuses to be the
official ice cream of this show. So we have a
lot of folks waiting and we have like how much
time is left in the show, Taren, how are we
doing on time?
Speaker 6 (28:26):
All right?
Speaker 3 (28:26):
Well, apparently an unending amount of time, an infinite amount
of time. We could just go till midnight tonight. Uh,
let's see here, I got a lot of folks waiting.
Let's see who's been waiting the longest? Uh, Nick and Fairfield,
you're on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Speaker 6 (28:41):
Yes, sir, First of all, thank you for the show today.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
I appreciate it. Totally's interesting. Wow. First of all, can
you hear me?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
You sound like a million dollars?
Speaker 6 (28:53):
Okay, just pitching coach that the ha that's not there
on him?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Uh, it's a personal issue that he is dealing with.
Speaker 6 (29:06):
Or he's still at he.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Is still employed as the team's pitching coach and director
of pitching.
Speaker 6 (29:12):
Okay, I'm just curious. I hadn't spoken the whole I
kind of figured it must be a family thing that
they eat or an injury thing that they really can't
talk about.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Now, Yeah, it could be family, could be family, could
be health. I am a big believer in respecting people's
privacy when it comes to a personal issue, and so
I haven't feeled it felt the need to pry I
don't suspect that it's baseball related.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
That is. That's good because there's sometimes the media gets
just a little bit too much in guy, Yeah, what
you're doing this right now? The guy that was on
ahead of he kind of briefly said, this is all Terry. Well,
Harry's been given this pile of chicken feathers to make
chicken salad. That us this was here when he took
(30:02):
over the job. I'm kind of wondering if Terry might
be saying to himself because he he looks a little
ragged these days at these post post game interviews with
Jim Day. I'm wonder I said to himself, why did
I listen to the front of him. He just doesn't
(30:23):
have the people, and I can't kind of see why
because and he said this before. You may have heard
me say, you may have read this. I kind of
think the Red in a position, all things considered, what's
gonna take place in December that may have a little
(30:44):
bit to do with what's going on, But then again,
they turn around here after the break and you know what,
we might not have baseball next year, so let's put
some money in it. Get to work.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
Yeah, maybe I think if they do that. You know,
for this year, it's probably going to be a little
bit too little, too late.
Speaker 6 (31:03):
You know.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
The Francona thing is what I know, how he looks
after games. I it depends on how much enjoyment he's having,
you know, And look, there's a I guess there's two
different ways of looking at it. One would be like,
for a guy whose legacy is secure and Terry Francona's
(31:24):
place in this game is secure, is is this something
he needs? On the flip side of it is, Hey,
I don't want to go out like this. I don't
want my final chapter to be one where I went
to Cincinnati and it ended poorly. And for what it's worth,
like he helped get him to the postseason last year,
I don't know. I do think it's fair to wonder,
(31:45):
given his age he is sixty seven years old, given
the fact that he has had you know, you talk
about personal issues, health issues, and you know, you do wonder.
I wonder when I watch him sometimes where he just
looks a little bit beaten down, is this something that
he's going to want to continue to do long term?
When the Reds hired him, I don't think he was
(32:05):
ever hired with the expectation that he was going to
be the manager of the team for an extraordinarily long time.
But you know, if if he's really getting a lot
of satisfaction and enjoyment out of the job, that I
would imagine he'll stay with it. And and if he says,
you know what, it's uh, it's not worth the time,
effort and energy that I have to put into this,
and I've accomplished everything I want in baseball, and so
(32:27):
I'll move on. Maybe he'll do that. I that I
I have no idea. I listened to and I hear
people speculate on that, and and frankly, I don't know
that any of us necessarily are really prepared or equipped
to be able.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
To do that.
Speaker 6 (32:40):
I hope he's stays. I like the guy. I like
when he played for the Reds, and that flight in
the home plate that looks like that scene out Major
League take a singer and say come here.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
You know I've seen the Yeah, Well.
Speaker 6 (33:00):
Get out of here. The teams are gonna have to
prepare themselves for big changes once this contract is up
in December, because it really looks like there's not gonna
be baseball next year. Or at least it's couldn't start
off off rapid late. That's the issues they're dealing with
financial and also adding the teams and changing the divisions.
(33:26):
No fortila. I think there's a lot that's gonna happen
that's gonna be gonna make us happy or make us
sick or too.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Thanks what well, thank you, Nick, I appreciate the phone call.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
All I'll say about the lockout right now, and I'm
short on time, is this whatever the sport looks like
coming out of the lockout, can we get a long
term CBA. Because there was a lockout at the end
of the twenty twenty one season and spring training got delayed.
The season began, I think on April the fourteenth. They
(33:58):
played a full season, but it mess with the schedule
a little bit. But we had a lockout. No games
were missed. When the lockout ended and they reached a
new collective bargaining agreement, everybody who covers the sport said
almost instantly, cool, the lockout is over. We're going to
have another one in four years. Whatever the sport looks
(34:19):
like economically or otherwise on field rules, division realignment, the
financial structure of the sport, expansion television deal, how they
share money, whatever it looks like. I just want there
to be a long term CBA that this is what
it's going to look like.
Speaker 6 (34:40):
You know.
Speaker 3 (34:40):
The NFL's most recent collective bargaining agreement was struck. I
think after the twenty twenty season. Now there are the
potential for opt outs, but it basically was a decade
long CBA. Can I get something like that so that
we could stop talking about baseball labor for just once.
We'll see music means the show is over. If you're
(35:03):
on hold, my apologies we did not get to you.
What you can do is you could wait on hold
until a week from Monday, and I'll take your call
to start the.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
Show, or call you on teams. Oh yeah, call me
on teams.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
By the way, I don't know what the most bizarre
thing that happened to me in the last hour was
Taran because outside my window is a drone the size
of a helicopter that's cleaning our windows.
Speaker 2 (35:25):
You didn't get that email either.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
No, I thought for a second a helicopter was gonna
come crashing through the window here at the iHeartMedia Building.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
It almost gave his kim Ahart tack. I hope Kim's okay.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
I mean, I'm sitting here and it was when the
second and last caller started talking and I thought there's
a helicopter flying towards the building, and then I realized
it's a large drone.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That's cleaning our windows. So anyway, that was fun.
Speaker 6 (35:51):
We have to go.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
I am off next week, Chadd. Chad's doing the show
next week, right correct?
Speaker 2 (35:58):
All right?
Speaker 3 (35:58):
Chad's here all week next week, All Star Week, so
you can complain about the All Star Game to him.
And then I am back a week from Monday, and
we'll be almost set to Star training camp, so looking
forward to that. My thanks to Taran Bland for producing,
and as always, thanks to you for listening. Have a
great weekend. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic from the UC Health
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