June 13, 2025 • 44 mins
The Dodgers face the surprising Giants beginning tonight. Susan Slusser covers the hated ones for the San Franciso Chronicle and she joins us
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know AM five
seventy LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
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Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of Record, Clipper
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Just go to AM five seventy LA Sports on the
(00:20):
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
All right, let's go on the Big Friday Show, Fred Rogan,
Rodney Pete on A five seventy LA Sports. Big goings
on in town. The Giants are in town tonight. The
other rivalry, the real rivalry in the minds. The Giants
are here, and the Giants are having a hell of
a year.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Rodney, good after they are good afternoon, Fred, Good afternoon.
Sorry missed you yesterday. Was in Miami hanging out doing
some work down there for for for Bravo and it
make sure everybody watches King's Court on Bravo. Coming coming
to your televison on July thirteenth.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Holly and I host the show. So it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But you're right wait wait wait, yes, well you don't
get to do that move on. Yes, So this is
a you shot.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
This what six months ago. Yes, we did. We shot
it actually a little bit more than that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
We shot it in fall, like October November of last year,
and now it's going to premiere on July thirteenth, and
it's very exciting.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
We're very proud of it.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
We've done work for Peacock and Bravo over the last
couple of years, working on a show called Queen's Court,
which is a dating show, but a dating show for
not your you know, twenty to twenty five year olds.
It's more for people that are in their forties and
some in their fifties, and so people at that have
(01:56):
lived life and had a life and had so many
experiences and now they're trying to trying to find love
and trying to settle down. So it was a lot
of fun working on the show. And we've got some great,
great guys. Because Queen's Court was three women. We picked
three you know, not high profile or a list celebrities,
(02:18):
but they were celebrities in their own right and they
had been on TV shows or they were singers or
or whatever, but they they had a following in terms
of in terms of their popularity with their crowd and
their craft and so three women, and then we bring
in twenty one guys, and the twenty one guys compete
(02:38):
for these three women, and they go on dates and
they hang out. They have conversations and some of them
are heated, some of them are not, some of them
are boring, some of them are very very strange, and
we we through the We weeded through the twenty one
guys till the three women found a match and decided
(02:58):
to have a relationship with one of them. So they
flipped the script this year and decided to do King's Court,
and which is three guys and twenty one women and
mind you Fred, So there's a navigation period with the
three with the three fellas and the twenty one women,
(03:18):
because we don't all we don't bring all the twenty
one women in at the same time we brought him in.
Seven come in and spend a couple of days, and
then a new seven group comes in, spend a couple
of days, and then another seven group comes in, spend
a couple of days, and then after the first week
they all move into the house together, so they're all
living together in this big house. We shot it in Atlanta,
(03:41):
and it was crazy. There were a lot of it.
There was some chaos, but it was crazy. The three
the three guys in the show are w W E wrestler.
He goes by the name Titus O'Neill. His real name
is Stadius Bullard. Used to play football at University of Florida.
But six five eighty pounds just rock solid, ripped up
(04:05):
and but a but a Teddy bear inside. And then
we've got, uh, Carlos Boozer. Remember Carlos Boozer basketball player, Yeah,
from Duke and played it, played in Chicago, played played
for Utah Jazz.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
For a number of years.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I think he had a step here with the Lakers
for a minute.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So Carlos Boozer is a is a great guy, great guy,
and which is really cool. His two sons, actually his
twin sons that are going to do next year to
play basketball.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And then our.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Third, our third male king is uh, supermodel Tyson Beckford.
Really yeah, Tyson Beckford came on the show and so
needless to say, when he was revealed to the women
and they all went crazy for it, including my wife.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, but Holly, you're the host of the show. You
don't get the pick.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
No, no, we don't get to pick absolutely not, and
we don't get to pick for the women either. But
it was a lot of fun and Tyson, you know,
obviously you know, been doing it. Was probably the most
famous male supermodel that there has been and it's still
doing it and he's in his fifties now, but he
still looks like he's in his thirties. But it was
(05:24):
a lot of fun shooting the show, and we had
a lot of a lot of good camaraderie.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And there was some very controversial scenes in this show.
So you gotta watch it. You gotta watch it. It
was a lot of fun. I think it'll be very entertaining.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Okay, so you were in Miami, what for sort of
a launch party?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
That a launch Yeah, so it was a big Bravo.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Marketing campaign that there that they took advantage of because
down in Miami right now, for this past week has
been the African American Film Festival and so just like
you know Sundanns or Can or anything like that, they
have a big one in Miami and and so Bravo
decided they wanted to be a part of it and
(06:08):
promote all of their shows that are coming out this
summer and in the fall. And so we were part
of that. It was you know, kind of one of
those needs you to be here. But it was good.
It was good. We got in and out. And I
don't know, have you spent much time in Miami, frit.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Not a ton of time. I've been there. I've been there,
but I haven't spent let's say, two.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Weeks, right, right, I am not either. It's been more
in and out, yeah, more you know, here for a
couple of days, or going down to the super Bowl
for you know, for a couple of days and hanging
out there, but not really you know, going there and
spending like a week and really getting to know the city.
(06:53):
I've not really done that. But Miami it feels like
a foreign country just by just by the vibe, the
vibe of it, the the openness of it, the you know,
you know, topless is ordinary there, right, It's not necessarily
(07:17):
you got to go to a topless beach or anything
like that. It's just people like to show it. And
with the humidity and the temperature, you know, people don't
want like to wear a whole lot of clothing thread.
That makes sense, right, It's only natural, right, right to
be natural, Yes, And so I'm almost glad that I
(07:38):
really didn't spend a whole lot of time in Miami
because I probably I don't know if I would have
been married right now.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Put it that way. Miami is one of those one
of those cities that anything goes.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, that's a fair assessment. Anything goes. You got you're
just in and out.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The best steakhouse I've ever been to is Miami Prime
one twelve, Prime one twelve.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yes, I didn't go, We didn't go this time, but
we I've been there and every time I make it
a point to go there, and to also Joe's Stonecraft.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Yes in Miami. Yeah, yeah, those two places are are it? Yeah?
You know, that's it. That's it. So yeah, we had
a good time though. It was good. A lot of work,
but it was good. Good.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
All right, good, you're back. Uh, so, let's talk about it.
Giants are in town? Is the real rival here or
should we even debate that? I don't you know.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
What I get it that the you know, the Padres
fans feel like they are the up and comers, they're
the new version, they're the new rival of the Dodgers,
and they've competed with the Dodgers, and you got to
give them that because they really have not just you know,
during the year, but they've competed in the postseason and
(08:53):
in fact knocked the Dodgers out of one of one
postseason not too not too long ago. So I get
their sentiment that they are the rival. But you can't
fall into recency bias with this. The Giants have been
the Dodgers' rival for over one hundred years, going way
back to when they were both in New York. They
(09:17):
both have won multiple multiple World Series, and it just
goes back so much further and so much deeper than
the Padres. And no disrespect to the Padres, but you know,
these things don't just happen overnight or you get good
in the last few years and all of a sudden,
now you're the main rival.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
No, it doesn't work that way.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And now we're seeing the Giants and they're surgeons of
the Giants, which I think will just turn up the
intensity of how the both fan bases feel about each other.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, I would agree with you, Ryan. Let's roll the
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Speaker 1 (09:55):
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Speaker 4 (09:58):
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Speaker 1 (10:00):
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Speaker 4 (10:22):
All right, feel like I'm part of the rat pack.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I know, and of course Eric Dickerson referring to himself
in the third person, Yes, the third person part of
the rat pack, and Eric's in it.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Uh okay.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
So the Giants come in and they're having a hell
of a year. I think it's a surprise team in
baseball now, I said yesterday when you weren't here. You know,
I don't buy it. Long term, I don't buy it.
I just don't think they have enough. But so far
that pitching has kept them where they need to be.
So the question becomes, now, do the Dodgers have better
(10:57):
hitting than the Giants pitching? I mean, really, since it's
all pitching for the Giants, very little offense and good defense,
do you think the Dodgers have more hitting? That's the question, Rodney, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I do, well, I don't even think it's a question.
I don't even think it's close. When you look at
the Giants, lade up. They've got some guys that have
had some pretty good years, you know, to date right now,
you know, Flores Ramos. I mean, they're they're they're playing
very well. Your strip Ski's there. But I don't with
(11:27):
all those guys though, I don't believe they have a
three hundred hitter. The Dodgers got two, and they've got
another guy in two ninety something, but they don't have
a three hundred hitter. They don't have a guy with
you know, twenty plus home runs or anything like that.
But they have been steady and they've won as a team,
and that is what I think has has sustained them
(11:50):
thus far. And and so yes, we both were like,
this is not sustainable for the Giants. We didn't believe
that they were you know, after what three weeks a month,
and we didn't think that they were going to be,
you know, in the thicket things going forward. And yet
it turns out as we are coming up on mid June,
they're right there, get back from the Dodgers, and this
(12:12):
is going to be a big, big series. This weekend.
So even now, Fred, what do you think. You don't
think that they still are fool's gold or you think
they are the real deal that's going to be in
the mix with the Dodger and Padres all the way
through September.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I don't think they have enough. I just don't. I
know they're having a good start now to The pitching
has been great, but of course we understand the dangers
of pitching and the injuries that you can't sustain. You
don't want anybody to get hurt. But the Dodgers lead
the league in that, so we know guys can get hurt.
And when a pitcher gets hurt, if you don't have
a lot of depth, you're in trouble.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So it's like what you say, what if you put
the injuries on the Giants that the Dodgers have, would
they be in this position?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
No, not even remotely close. Nobody would be in this position.
So I think they're they're off to a good start.
I think they're playing well. It'll be fun to watch
this weekend and see how the two teams match up.
But I just think overall, the Dodgers have weighed too
much and the Giants is to have any offense. I
don't know. Maybe somebody had seven home runs in one
(13:16):
game now, but they really don't have any offense.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
But who would that be for them, because nobody's shown
signs that they could do that. So maybe Ramos the outfield.
Maybe Ramos. Yeah, Ramos is having the best offensive year
of all of the Giants, but even still he's not
to where the power outages for the Dodgers, you know
they you know, so I agree with you. They are
(13:41):
what probably one one injury or two injuries away from
just falling off a cliff.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, they're not gonna be Colorado. I mean, that won't
happen to them, but yeah, they would be in big
trouble if they suffered a couple of dings and that
in the war of attrition in sports, yeah, yeah, that happens.
You're to talk about injuries, all right. Tony Gonslin, uh
don't know when he'll be back, admitted that his arm
had been bothering him, but he wanted to go out
(14:09):
there and pitch. He wanted to give it the old
I'm not coming out because I know you guys need me.
But uh, there's no timetable for him to return. And
now they just have to give it rest and see
what happens. And just he's added to the list of
Dodger pitchers that are big question marks.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Now did you think when he had you know, he
had that blister injury, Remember that that was the you know,
the beginning of of other things that would would happen
happened to him and and and have him miss miss games.
But at that time I just felt that, Okay, he's
(14:48):
got and and for a picture, let's let's be honest,
for a picture, having a blister on your throwing hand
is you know, it's significant. For anybody else, it's not
a big deal, but for a pitcher and that needs
to grip and spin the baseball, it is very significant.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
So you can't take it lightly.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But I was under the impression that that was going
to be, you know, something that they could deal with.
And then we're hearing later that there is more about
his arm that is a problem. And now we're sitting
up looking where we don't know a timeline for him
coming back. It's just par for the course the way
the Dodgers have been dealing with all this this whole season.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Well, you say to yourself, okay, we don't know when
he's coming back. But how about Sazaki, We don't know
when he's coming back either Mark pryor to gave an
update on that. I think right now we got to
get him in a position where he feels confident in
his ability to throw the baseball. Yes, that would be critical.
You think that that's something that you need to do
(15:51):
if you're sending a guy out there to pitch. But
the reality is they just don't know. It's going to
take more time. And that being said, you know, at
least Yamamoto goes tonight to start the series, so that'll
be good, but uh, it's it's look, it's going to
continue to be dicey, which leads us to the one
thing the Dodgers didn't want to do. And Andrew Friedman
(16:14):
was adamant about this. He did not want to do
anything at the trade deadline. Nothing. We've done all of
our spending. You know what, we got there before they
hiked up the prices. We got in there with like
Black Friday sale. We went in and we spent all
of our money we could. We bought all of our
Christmas gifts in September, so then in December we don't
(16:38):
have to buy them.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
We don't have to stand in line. We not have
to you know, you know, deal with traffic. We got
it all under the way. By the way, are you
our early you know, kids are older now for you
and for me, But it's it's a little bit different.
Are you were you or are you an early Christmas
shopper to get it out of way really early? Or
you are a last minute guy?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So you're asking me Rochelle, correct, I am okay? And
what would constitute early?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Uh, right after Thanksgiving?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Right after Thanksgiving? Yeah, and it's like a month, yeah, month, yeah,
giving yourself a month to go get it all done. Yeah,
that's what she would do. I mean I would here
were my gifts, you know, I would get them gifts.
But it's like, uh, you know somebody sixteen years old,
you know, and I would say this some spud web
(17:36):
and that's what I would put on the card. And
they was like it was like, mister potato head, those
are the kind of gifts I gave.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
So you're a gag gift guy, then, oh yeah, at
some point it turned into a gag gift.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
You're a gag gift guy.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And I always thought my gifts were the best gifts,
to be honest with you, there was one like.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Czar Those are as your kids get older, yes, because
the kid is not gonna want that Mickey Mouse sweater
turn neck. You know that you think is cool, but
they will never ever in their life where right, they
won't even wear it around the house. So you you
gotta read the room and can't you know, thinking, oh
(18:14):
my god, this is gonna be.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Perfect for Haley. Oh she's gonna love this. You you
get it, and nine months later has never really even
been opened.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
No, of course not.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
I got.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I got somebody one year. Uh, I think the Flying
Enchilada and it was like a stuff, that enchilada. You're
through at people. Those are the kind of gifts I
always give. And by the way, every year I thought
my gifts were the best gifts I got. The gifts
I gave every I don't care what they got. I
(18:53):
my gifts.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
So Andrew Freeman has already done his shopping. You know,
he didn't go out and get the Flying Enchilada. He
went on, I got Blake Snell, you know, so that
was his shopping stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, he was an early shopper.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, well, now it looks like he's gonna have to
go back because it's the trade deadline. Approaches the trade deadline.
What are you gonna do? I mean, what if you
want to play? What if all right? What if Sazaki
doesn't come back, What if Klassnell does come back but
has to go out again? I think when Blake Snell
(19:29):
is back, he's back.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I do believe that. I do too. I do too.
I didn't care they're being overly.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And I don't know this for a fact or anything
like that, but I think they are believing that and
being overly cautious with him to the point where he
might have been able to come back, you know, sooner,
but him for the long haul. And so they've kind
of been very patient with him as the Dodgers have
maintained their position in the NL West, because you and
(19:59):
I know Fred, this guy, when he's on and he's healthy,
he's as good as it gets. And he's a gamer.
He's a gamer, which they're gonna need in October when
they start to, you know, face these big time games.
They gotta need a guy with that kind of confidence
and that kind of that kind of dog getting to
take the hill for the Dodgers, and Blake Snell is
(20:19):
that guy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So what are they looking for at the trade deadline? Well,
right now, starting pitching is not number one, but starting
pitching could be on that list if guys don't get back.
We don't know what will happen to Gonsolin, but they
do want to right hand a reliever. Kolbeck is back,
he's got to settle in a little bit. Bruce Star graderole,
we don't know. Evan Philip said, you haven't heard about
(20:42):
Bruce Star.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean, it feels like it almost feels like this
is this season is a watch for for Bruce Starr
because I just you know, the very little updates that
we get about him are just that we don't know.
We don't know the timeline for him coming back.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
We don't.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
They don't talk about progress, They don't talk about anything
else other than we're not sure.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
We're going to keep working on it. But that's for now.
We don't have a timeline.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So they need a right handed reliever, that's one thing.
And we talked about this. They've not been shy about it.
They probably need a left handed power hitter. They need
a left handed stick what that means for Michael Confordo
at this point, we don't know that. I'll say this,
giving them give him a runway, and he's not really
(21:30):
taking it. They're sticking with They're sticking with them.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
They are don't you think they have to at this point?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
And and and then also there is not like they
are seven games back right now and it's a scramble mode.
We got to we got to do something now, We
got to make some change now. No, they're still leading
a division, so they have the luxury of seeing if
Confordo can work himself out of this.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
How long that takes or how long that is.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
I mean, I don't think they really know what that
timetable will be. But it can't be much longer, Fred,
It can't be much longer because they're gonna have to,
like you said, either get a left handed bat in here,
or just make real changes to the lineup to get
somebody playing on a regular basis so they can get
(22:22):
that person prepared going into October.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
So the trade deadline, you know, comes in July, but
it's never too soon to start thinking about it. And
it looks like the Dodgers maybe maybe lining up pretty
close to Christmas, paying double but getting what they need.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
How do you think how do you think they feel
like Andrew Friedman feels you know, and he's been right,
you know, top head of baseball operations and in the
whole in the whole league, and the things that he's done,
and how he's handled the Dodgers and their acquisitions.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
But how do you think he feels bad going to
better night? Going? Damn?
Speaker 6 (23:03):
You know?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
I know we won the World Series and we were
aggressive in the off season to go put a team
together that we didn't have to scramble like we did
last year and have all these bullpen games and pull
our hair out with nervousness because we weren't sure who
the next game starter was going to be.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
You know, we.
Speaker 7 (23:21):
Protected ourselves against that. That's what we did in the
off season. That's where the money went. And here we
are worse than we were a year ago. I mean, what,
how do you think I'd hate to be his wife?
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
All right, let me ask you this. Have you seen
the Osama bin Laden documentary on Netflix?
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I have not, Okay, I had to. It's on my
definitely on my list.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, all right, so there are three it's three episodes
and it's really fascinating. And anyway, in the third episode
to respond to the Andrew Friedman situation, now they decide
they finally found them. It took like ten years, they
kept tracking them, but they found them. And then they
put in the plan what they were going to do.
(24:10):
And it was funny. They had plan A, plan B,
Plan C because there was no way they could let
this thing go south. I mean, if they committed to
doing it, they were going to do it. Plan A,
Plan B, Plan C. They practiced twelve hours a day.
They had everything set, they were organized. If one thing happened,
(24:33):
it would lead to another. But they were prepared. Andrew
Friedman has done all of this. He's ready, He's got
all of these players, he signed these guys, He's prepared.
So as they finally make the move and they go
to the compound, one of the choppers goes down, goes down.
(24:53):
All right, Now, they've got all these plans. I don't
think they planned for that, but yet they were able
to carry out the mission because they were so prepared
for anything.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, and that's kind of what anything's doing, anything meaning
anything anything.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Uh So that's what Andrew Friedman has done here. He's
got a plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Because he's
he's signed these guys, he's got his minor league system.
But it never goes exactly the way it's supposed to go.
And that's why there are so many layers to the
way they plan things with the Dodgers. So even though
(25:37):
it seems they're not prepared, they know what they're going
to do, they just hope the guys they have can
do it because everybody else gets healthy. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I mean you know, you you
plan and then you plan for the worst, right you know.
And and that's the real beauty of the Dodgers organization
because not every organization does that or even has the
resources to do that. Because we're human, we don't We
(26:09):
can't control our bodies or the environment or anything that
happens during the course of a season. You can't tell, Okay,
the gods of baseball, don't allow any of our pitchers
to get hurt this year, or at least don't allow
ninety percent of them to get hurt in the first
(26:31):
two months.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Of the season, and we'll be okay. It doesn't work
that way.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
You've got to deal and roll with the punches as
they come, and they've been able to do that where
guys are stepping up. And I remember you saying this
a few years back when somebody would come either come
out of the pen or.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Maybe starting the game, You're like, who is that guy?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Let me thumb through the damn phone book from back
in the day and figure out who this guy is
because I've never heard of him. And he turns out
he's starting on Sunday. You say, who the hell is
that guy?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
You know? But that has been the Dodgers kind of
mo o for the last what three four years, is
that they they have these.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Guys in the pipeline coming from Oklahoma City or somewhere
else that they just pick up or just bring up,
and all of a sudden they turn into being a
great seat filler for for for the team, you know,
you know Robertleski and and and uh even Landing Knack
and and.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
You know Banda.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
I mean, it's just goes on and on and on
of guys that you didn't even nobody even talked about
being in the mix, in the real mix of a
Dodger rotation or a Dodger bullpen or Robertlesk. I mean,
I mean, it's just a list goes on and on
of these guys that that the Dodgers keep keep recycling
(27:59):
and went on and on, and it's amazing. And you've
gotta believe the other clubs around the league are looking
at the Dodgers going where hell did you find these guys?
Where are you hiding these guys? Where are they coming from?
Here's any other team would be dead in the water
and lose ten out of the less twelve if they
suffered the kind of injuries of Dodgers at But yet
(28:21):
they keep trotting guys out that outside of baseball people never.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Heard of and they become being a force and just
with the doctor ordered, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Outside of baseball, the people never heard of them. Let's
be honest. Yeah, inside of baseball, a lot of people
never heard of them.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
True.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Spot Little Blue presented by Spotlight twenty nine Casino.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
It's my favorite spot.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Check out Spotlight twenty nine dot com for upcoming shows
from world class entertainers.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Spotlight twenty nine Coachella Valley's best bet.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
One o'clock. The Man in the Big Chair Ned Culenny
will join us. He has information on both the Dodgers
and the Giants when we come back. Susan Slusser covers
the Giants for the San Francisco Chronicle. She'll be on
the show.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Why not an Hammer, It's the series that every Dodger Hello,
Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know? Am five seventy
LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
shows like Petros in Money. We are streaming Matt Dodger
Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of Record, Clipper
Talk Without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
(29:36):
Just go to AM five to seventy LA Sports on
the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
AP Oh yeah, Freddy. When you hear that, you know
what time it is?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
We don't care. It's a Friday. It's a Friday Robby Pete,
fred Rogan, come on, let's go, Freddy.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I let's do it. Susan Slusser covers the Giants for
the San Francisco Chronicle. She has done it for years
and she's going to join the show. So Susan, thank
you for coming on today.
Speaker 8 (30:02):
Very happy to be with you guys.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Okay, well we got this. The big rivalry now Some
are saying the Padres are now the Dodgers' current day
rival Does anything surpass the rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants,
The only thing.
Speaker 8 (30:18):
That potentially does is Yankees Red Sox. I mean, I
would say, obviously that's the East Coast equivalent. But you know,
when you've got a rivalry that goes back to New
York days as an included some of the greatest players
in baseball history, I think you still got to say
Giants Dodgers is the top one on the West Coast
for sure. I look, I'm not trying to diminish the
(30:41):
rivalry with Padres's back to ask Bond Melvin about it yesterday,
because he's seen all sides, right, and he's like, that
is legit. That is when he was like in the
Padres beat the Dodgers and the postseason that was like
one of the biggest days in San Diego history. So
it's legit. It's just that it's never going to have
the cachet of a rivalry that goes back, you know,
(31:04):
to New York.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
They're just yeah, yeah, and and and and a rivalry
that both sides have had postseason success and and one
championships and one championships. You know, the century, so uh,
you know, so to me, I get it. You know,
San Diego has been hot. They've been the up and
coming for the last five years, and you know, obviously
(31:28):
challenged the Dodgers and knocked them out of the playoffs
at one point. But still, uh, to me, they can
be a rival, but not the rival like the Giants are.
And like you mentioned going back that many times, but
don't you have to have won maybe a World Series
here and there to kind of put on be put
(31:50):
on the same level as the Dodgers and Giants.
Speaker 8 (31:53):
Well they got one, but yeah, uh you know what
I will it's great to have a regional rival except
kind of how I would describe this, and the Potters
have been very good. When you're the top dogs like
the Dodgers, you have a lot of people saying they're
your rival. If you've got a big traditional rival, that
is never going to change and it's a one. Yeah,
(32:13):
it's a fantastic rivalry. I think the Padre I watched
the Padres Dodgers, you know when I can, because that's
the fun one too. The more the better, Like let's
like a little hype is great, right, that's who would
be listening to us or reading me if they're you know,
they weren't interested. All it's all good, All.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Right, Susan. You've been with the Giants a good period
of time. Is this fool's gold? Are these guys real?
Because it seems to me they're they're out ticking there
covered so far.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
Well, we knew that they were not going to have
the best offense in the division by far. You know,
it's a their offense is not all that dangerous. You
look at around the division, there are certainly better lineups.
But the pitching is very good, the bullpen is outstanding.
The difference maker and you know, everyone this is not
(33:05):
the secret. Going into the season, we said a difference
maker could be a defense buster. Posey has been clear.
If we're going to win, it's going to be with
pitching and defense. That's been the emphasis. Doing the little things.
And when they lose games like last night, and they
very rarely lose one run games, they're, you know there,
that's kind of their bread and butters, winning the low
scoring close games. They made two defensive mistakes in the
(33:26):
ninth inning and that cost them. So they have to
play well like almost there for you to win games.
They have for a large part. They're sticking right in
this with exactly their plan pitching and defense and without
a lot of even some of their bigger names contributing
very much.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Yeah, and when you look at this lineup like you said,
you know they they've done it by committee pretty much.
And Ramos is having a fantastic year. He leads the
team in several categories offensively.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
For you, who has.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Been the biggest surprise for you this year with the Giants?
Speaker 8 (34:07):
Well, you know what, it shouldn't be a surprise because
I'm gonna say Wilmer Flores. And he's been steady and popular,
and you know, the Giants have known for a long
time what they have in Wilmer Flores. He's a team leader.
But he never looked right last year. It was injury,
but you know he was getting in the age range
where you go, you know, he's getting older, he's breaking down,
he is not producing. Maybe this is it. And he
(34:29):
came in to spring in great shape, totally healthy, looks
fantastic and from Spring on he has just been a
machine back to where he is. He has got a
nose for the RBI like no else, and I know
that's not a quantifiable metrics kind of thing, and a
lot of the metrics people don't love RBIs I love
(34:50):
a guy that could drive in rugs not you know what,
not everybody is great in the clutch. Wilmer Flulawers is
great in the plutch. So maybe it's not a surprise,
but he really has been the he and it's really
just nice to see him back where he was a
few years ago, because he is a great fellow and
just beloved in the clubhouse.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
All right, Why the quick turnaround, Susan, I mean Farhans
Zidy guy, we knew very well when he was down
here with the Dodgers, went up there, tried something, they
made a move with him. How so quickly did Buster
Posey get to put this thing together the way he has?
Speaker 8 (35:23):
Well, a lot of it is still far Haun's team,
and I think Buster would say that too. You know,
Buster played under far Hunt, you know, and he did
make some tremendous moves. The one I'm going to point
to that is super obvious is getting in Robbie Ray
while Ray was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, knowing
it was going to take a while to get back
to where he was he's back where he was. He
(35:45):
is one of the top pitchers in the league. And
that was that was Zidy. So you know, Farman's biggest
move has no I mean, Buster's biggest move so far
has not paid off. So I mean Willie domis to
a seven year deal one hundred and eighty two million.
That's the biggest deal in sister. The funny thing we
always love to point out is more than Buster made
it clips it clips Busters, which had been the biggest
(36:07):
and he really hasn't done much. He's starting to turn
it on. There's there's, you know, really no doubt that
he will get back to the player he is. But
the first couple of months he wasn't even playing all
that well defensively, so you know, you can look at
that but that. But what Buster has done is he's
changed a lot of the tone and he's just uh,
(36:29):
he handles sort of transactions in a different way. He
wants stability, He doesn't want a lot of guys coming
in and out. He wants to reward good behavior, good performance,
particularly at the Triple A level, when when meat, when
there's a need. We've seen all of those things. I
think that the players are feeling that the cohesiveness. I
(36:50):
think that's been very important. They went basically all of
April without making a single move. They didn't really make
a move for performance reasons till about six weeks into
the season, because he's very patient and he's continuing to
be patient. So it's really that sort of mindset more
than any sort of transactions that I think has led
(37:11):
to sort of the Giants being who they are. Really
you can feel it in the clubhouse. There's just sort
of a camaraderie and a belief that you get with
a group that you know is together and it's pretty
much going to stay together barring injuries.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Yeah, you can feel that from them, and Fred mentioned
it off the top, and we talk about it often
because we really dive into to the Dodgers and the
nl West, as are.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
They fool's gold? Is this going to last? And they
started off hot and then a lot.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
Of people believe by June they would cool off and
it would go back to being the Dodgers and Padres,
But that hasn't happened. They're one game back and you know,
have been there right in the thicket things all season long.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Is that the way you see it going forward.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
You see this as as a three team race in
the West, and these guys are going to fight it
out all the way through through September.
Speaker 8 (38:09):
Yeah. I mean, you guys know, injuries potentially might play
a role for any of those three teams, But assuming
the general good health for all three, I still think
the Giants need another bats. It's gonna be fascinating to
see what Buster Posey and Zack Manathians do in their
first big trade deadline. There will be bats out there.
(38:30):
They have an awful lot of really good young pitching
that they could deal from. You know that Posey is
not afraid of making a splash. You know, he recently
let go Lamont Wade, who had been a big part
of the team for a few years, and the team,
you know, won its first seven games in a row
after that move, bringing in La native Dominic Smith, who's
(38:50):
been very good both defensively and offensively, another guy that
has done very well in the clutch. But I think
that that would be really what he needs to do.
So I hope we see that it might get rough
because the pitching is not going to be up to
this standard all year. They are going to run into
(39:10):
some struggles the book, in particular, all these one run games,
they are getting used a ton high leverage all the time.
That can take it out of you. They're going to
have to learn to win by scoring a lot of
runs at some point, which is just something that they
don't do. So that is IM to keep for them
to stick in it. I think they need another bat
(39:32):
maybe too.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
Susan Sluster, San Francisco Chronicle with us. All Right, Susan,
as you sit there and we know what people think
of the Dodgers around baseball, they're the evil empire. They
spend all the money, they stack their team is somebody
that covers the Giants and has for years and understands
the NL West. How do you look at the Dodgers.
Speaker 8 (39:53):
Well, they've been kind of the model I think for
what everybody would like to do. They spend money. They
are usually pretty smart about spending money. The players love
that it's within the rules. You know, there was a
lot of kind of flap of it early in the
especially in the off season, about you know, buying titles
and you know, the other teams complaining about how much
money they spend. It's all within the rules. They are
(40:15):
not doing anything illegal, and they're just doing it better
than everybody.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
You know.
Speaker 8 (40:19):
They've been a couple of teams over the last couple
of years that have gone on spending frenzies and it
hasn't really worked out quite as well for them, So
they're doing it, you know, so there's some luck involved
and again things like injuries, but the Dodgers have had
as many injuries, particularly on the pitching side, over the
last few years as anybody and they still managed to
keep winning. And a lot of that is the draft
(40:39):
you know, they have. They have been stocked for years.
They are just excellent when it comes to drafting and developing.
So they're doing everything either extremely well or pretty well,
and that's combined to just make them a force. And
you know, they do have more resources than everybody. You know,
they have an awful lot of money, and that just
(41:02):
tends to build on itself too. They are going to
be tough to contend with for a very long time.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely, they will be.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
You know, we mentioned and talked about Buster Posey a
little bit, and it doesn't always work out where a
superstar goes from the field up to the front office
and starts to run the team. Oftentimes it doesn't work,
and yet it seems to be working up there in
San Francisco. What do you think is the reason for that?
(41:33):
Or you think the fact that he's he stepped back
for a little bit and was able to analyze this
team and then you know, once he got the gig,
was able to put his fine you know, his fingerprints
all over it.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
But what do you.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
The major reason why Buster has been able to make
this work up there?
Speaker 8 (41:51):
Well, I mean the major reason is Buster is very smart.
I mean, he really is. I had thought when he,
you know, he retired, retired, I think a little earlier
from his class certainly could have kept playing. But one
of the things he said was, you know, wants to
spend more time with a young family. I thought, you know,
given maybe five, six, seven years, he'd come back and
be a great manager. He would step right into a
(42:14):
managerial position and be amazing, because you know, he certainly
knows that. Yeah, he's a catcher, right, they make great managers.
And he is so smart and he does you know,
he's very good at fifteen through BS. He just does
not he doesn't care for BS. He's right through it.
He is really fun to cover. Is sometimes a little scary,
(42:34):
because he is he he does not suffer fool But
when he joined the Giants ownership group, I think he
took that very seriously and started looking at all the
business side things, looked at all the moves, and ran
it through the lens of having been a player, and
I think he got more and more interested in, you know,
(42:55):
having a job like this. He has taken to it
so well, and he seems to enjoy it so much,
like maybe even more than when he was playing. He
looks he somehow looks younger. He's very aged. So he's smart.
And the other thing that I will say that I
think will make him a very good, uh gentle manager?
(43:15):
Where were we calling it president of baseball operations. He's
collaborative and in a way in you know, he trusts people,
and he's very good at knowing who to trust and
hiring people who are good at that and then letting
them do their jobs. You know, he will quickly say
this wasn't me, this was X Y or Z who
came to me with this, or you know, the guy
(43:36):
that like everybody he's working with, he is he's leaning on,
he knows what he doesn't know, and I think that
separates probably a lot of good leaders in every area
from from the ones that are not as good.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
All right, sus and great stuff. We really appreciate you
joining us. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (43:53):
Strange.
Speaker 8 (43:55):
Oh absolutely anytime. I love Tuncan Giants Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Anytime, guys, well, we've got someone else who can talk
Giants Dodgers. Those are both very well ned. Colletti, the
man in the big Chair. He will join the show
at one o'clock.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Make Am five' seventy. LA Sports a preset before you
plug in your phone. Presets in the iHeartRadio app now
available with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, just another easy
way to listen to LA's best sports talk.
Hello Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know AM five
seventy LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
shows like Petros in Money. We are streaming Man Dodger
Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of Record, Clipper
Talk Without a Moss, follow us all and many more.
Just go to AM five seventy LA Sports on the
(00:20):
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
All right, let's go on the Big Friday Show, Fred Rogan,
Rodney Pete on A five seventy LA Sports. Big goings
on in town. The Giants are in town tonight. The
other rivalry, the real rivalry in the minds. The Giants
are here, and the Giants are having a hell of
a year.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Rodney, good after they are good afternoon, Fred, Good afternoon.
Sorry missed you yesterday. Was in Miami hanging out doing
some work down there for for for Bravo and it
make sure everybody watches King's Court on Bravo. Coming coming
to your televison on July thirteenth.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Holly and I host the show. So it's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
But you're right wait wait wait, yes, well you don't
get to do that move on. Yes, So this is
a you shot.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
This what six months ago. Yes, we did. We shot
it actually a little bit more than that.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
We shot it in fall, like October November of last year,
and now it's going to premiere on July thirteenth, and
it's very exciting.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
We're very proud of it.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
We've done work for Peacock and Bravo over the last
couple of years, working on a show called Queen's Court,
which is a dating show, but a dating show for
not your you know, twenty to twenty five year olds.
It's more for people that are in their forties and
some in their fifties, and so people at that have
(01:56):
lived life and had a life and had so many
experiences and now they're trying to trying to find love
and trying to settle down. So it was a lot
of fun working on the show. And we've got some great,
great guys. Because Queen's Court was three women. We picked
three you know, not high profile or a list celebrities,
(02:18):
but they were celebrities in their own right and they
had been on TV shows or they were singers or
or whatever, but they they had a following in terms
of in terms of their popularity with their crowd and
their craft and so three women, and then we bring
in twenty one guys, and the twenty one guys compete
(02:38):
for these three women, and they go on dates and
they hang out. They have conversations and some of them
are heated, some of them are not, some of them
are boring, some of them are very very strange, and
we we through the We weeded through the twenty one
guys till the three women found a match and decided
(02:58):
to have a relationship with one of them. So they
flipped the script this year and decided to do King's Court,
and which is three guys and twenty one women and
mind you Fred, So there's a navigation period with the
three with the three fellas and the twenty one women,
(03:18):
because we don't all we don't bring all the twenty
one women in at the same time we brought him in.
Seven come in and spend a couple of days, and
then a new seven group comes in, spend a couple
of days, and then another seven group comes in, spend
a couple of days, and then after the first week
they all move into the house together, so they're all
living together in this big house. We shot it in Atlanta,
(03:41):
and it was crazy. There were a lot of it.
There was some chaos, but it was crazy. The three
the three guys in the show are w W E wrestler.
He goes by the name Titus O'Neill. His real name
is Stadius Bullard. Used to play football at University of Florida.
But six five eighty pounds just rock solid, ripped up
(04:05):
and but a but a Teddy bear inside. And then
we've got, uh, Carlos Boozer. Remember Carlos Boozer basketball player, Yeah,
from Duke and played it, played in Chicago, played played
for Utah Jazz.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
For a number of years.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I think he had a step here with the Lakers
for a minute.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
So Carlos Boozer is a is a great guy, great guy,
and which is really cool. His two sons, actually his
twin sons that are going to do next year to
play basketball.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
And then our.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Third, our third male king is uh, supermodel Tyson Beckford.
Really yeah, Tyson Beckford came on the show and so
needless to say, when he was revealed to the women
and they all went crazy for it, including my wife.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, but Holly, you're the host of the show. You
don't get the pick.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
No, no, we don't get to pick absolutely not, and
we don't get to pick for the women either. But
it was a lot of fun and Tyson, you know,
obviously you know, been doing it. Was probably the most
famous male supermodel that there has been and it's still
doing it and he's in his fifties now, but he
still looks like he's in his thirties. But it was
(05:24):
a lot of fun shooting the show, and we had
a lot of a lot of good camaraderie.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
And there was some very controversial scenes in this show.
So you gotta watch it. You gotta watch it. It
was a lot of fun. I think it'll be very entertaining.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Okay, so you were in Miami, what for sort of
a launch party?
Speaker 4 (05:42):
That a launch Yeah, so it was a big Bravo.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Marketing campaign that there that they took advantage of because
down in Miami right now, for this past week has
been the African American Film Festival and so just like
you know Sundanns or Can or anything like that, they
have a big one in Miami and and so Bravo
decided they wanted to be a part of it and
(06:08):
promote all of their shows that are coming out this
summer and in the fall. And so we were part
of that. It was you know, kind of one of
those needs you to be here. But it was good.
It was good. We got in and out. And I
don't know, have you spent much time in Miami, frit.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Not a ton of time. I've been there. I've been there,
but I haven't spent let's say, two.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Weeks, right, right, I am not either. It's been more
in and out, yeah, more you know, here for a
couple of days, or going down to the super Bowl
for you know, for a couple of days and hanging
out there, but not really you know, going there and
spending like a week and really getting to know the city.
(06:53):
I've not really done that. But Miami it feels like
a foreign country just by just by the vibe, the
vibe of it, the the openness of it, the you know,
you know, topless is ordinary there, right, It's not necessarily
(07:17):
you got to go to a topless beach or anything
like that. It's just people like to show it. And
with the humidity and the temperature, you know, people don't
want like to wear a whole lot of clothing thread.
That makes sense, right, It's only natural, right, right to
be natural, Yes, And so I'm almost glad that I
(07:38):
really didn't spend a whole lot of time in Miami
because I probably I don't know if I would have
been married right now.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Put it that way. Miami is one of those one
of those cities that anything goes.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, that's a fair assessment. Anything goes. You got you're
just in and out.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
The best steakhouse I've ever been to is Miami Prime
one twelve, Prime one twelve.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yes, I didn't go, We didn't go this time, but
we I've been there and every time I make it
a point to go there, and to also Joe's Stonecraft.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
Yes in Miami. Yeah, yeah, those two places are are it? Yeah?
You know, that's it. That's it. So yeah, we had
a good time though. It was good. A lot of work,
but it was good. Good.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
All right, good, you're back. Uh, so, let's talk about it.
Giants are in town? Is the real rival here or
should we even debate that? I don't you know.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
What I get it that the you know, the Padres
fans feel like they are the up and comers, they're
the new version, they're the new rival of the Dodgers,
and they've competed with the Dodgers, and you got to
give them that because they really have not just you know,
during the year, but they've competed in the postseason and
(08:53):
in fact knocked the Dodgers out of one of one
postseason not too not too long ago. So I get
their sentiment that they are the rival. But you can't
fall into recency bias with this. The Giants have been
the Dodgers' rival for over one hundred years, going way
back to when they were both in New York. They
(09:17):
both have won multiple multiple World Series, and it just
goes back so much further and so much deeper than
the Padres. And no disrespect to the Padres, but you know,
these things don't just happen overnight or you get good
in the last few years and all of a sudden,
now you're the main rival.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
No, it doesn't work that way.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
And now we're seeing the Giants and they're surgeons of
the Giants, which I think will just turn up the
intensity of how the both fan bases feel about each other.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, I would agree with you, Ryan. Let's roll the
Spotlight on Blue.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Spotlight on Blue is presented by Spotlight twenty nine casin.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Eric Dickerson's favorite spot in the Coachella.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Valley spot Light on Blue? What did the Boys in Blue?
Luxury is coming to Coachella in twenty twenty six with
the opening of Spotlight twenty nine, So telling resort an
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Speaker 4 (10:22):
All right, feel like I'm part of the rat pack.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
I know, and of course Eric Dickerson referring to himself
in the third person, Yes, the third person part of
the rat pack, and Eric's in it.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Uh okay.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
So the Giants come in and they're having a hell
of a year. I think it's a surprise team in
baseball now, I said yesterday when you weren't here. You know,
I don't buy it. Long term, I don't buy it.
I just don't think they have enough. But so far
that pitching has kept them where they need to be.
So the question becomes, now, do the Dodgers have better
(10:57):
hitting than the Giants pitching? I mean, really, since it's
all pitching for the Giants, very little offense and good defense,
do you think the Dodgers have more hitting? That's the question, Rodney, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
I do, well, I don't even think it's a question.
I don't even think it's close. When you look at
the Giants, lade up. They've got some guys that have
had some pretty good years, you know, to date right now,
you know, Flores Ramos. I mean, they're they're they're playing
very well. Your strip Ski's there. But I don't with
(11:27):
all those guys though, I don't believe they have a
three hundred hitter. The Dodgers got two, and they've got
another guy in two ninety something, but they don't have
a three hundred hitter. They don't have a guy with
you know, twenty plus home runs or anything like that.
But they have been steady and they've won as a team,
and that is what I think has has sustained them
(11:50):
thus far. And and so yes, we both were like,
this is not sustainable for the Giants. We didn't believe
that they were you know, after what three weeks a month,
and we didn't think that they were going to be,
you know, in the thicket things going forward. And yet
it turns out as we are coming up on mid June,
they're right there, get back from the Dodgers, and this
(12:12):
is going to be a big, big series. This weekend.
So even now, Fred, what do you think. You don't
think that they still are fool's gold or you think
they are the real deal that's going to be in
the mix with the Dodger and Padres all the way
through September.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
I don't think they have enough. I just don't. I
know they're having a good start now to The pitching
has been great, but of course we understand the dangers
of pitching and the injuries that you can't sustain. You
don't want anybody to get hurt. But the Dodgers lead
the league in that, so we know guys can get hurt.
And when a pitcher gets hurt, if you don't have
a lot of depth, you're in trouble.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So it's like what you say, what if you put
the injuries on the Giants that the Dodgers have, would
they be in this position?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
No, not even remotely close. Nobody would be in this position.
So I think they're they're off to a good start.
I think they're playing well. It'll be fun to watch
this weekend and see how the two teams match up.
But I just think overall, the Dodgers have weighed too
much and the Giants is to have any offense. I
don't know. Maybe somebody had seven home runs in one
(13:16):
game now, but they really don't have any offense.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
But who would that be for them, because nobody's shown
signs that they could do that. So maybe Ramos the outfield.
Maybe Ramos. Yeah, Ramos is having the best offensive year
of all of the Giants, but even still he's not
to where the power outages for the Dodgers, you know
they you know, so I agree with you. They are
(13:41):
what probably one one injury or two injuries away from
just falling off a cliff.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, they're not gonna be Colorado. I mean, that won't
happen to them, but yeah, they would be in big
trouble if they suffered a couple of dings and that
in the war of attrition in sports, yeah, yeah, that happens.
You're to talk about injuries, all right. Tony Gonslin, uh
don't know when he'll be back, admitted that his arm
had been bothering him, but he wanted to go out
(14:09):
there and pitch. He wanted to give it the old
I'm not coming out because I know you guys need me.
But uh, there's no timetable for him to return. And
now they just have to give it rest and see
what happens. And just he's added to the list of
Dodger pitchers that are big question marks.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Now did you think when he had you know, he
had that blister injury, Remember that that was the you know,
the beginning of of other things that would would happen
happened to him and and and have him miss miss games.
But at that time I just felt that, Okay, he's
(14:48):
got and and for a picture, let's let's be honest,
for a picture, having a blister on your throwing hand
is you know, it's significant. For anybody else, it's not
a big deal, but for a pitcher and that needs
to grip and spin the baseball, it is very significant.
Speaker 4 (15:07):
So you can't take it lightly.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
But I was under the impression that that was going
to be, you know, something that they could deal with.
And then we're hearing later that there is more about
his arm that is a problem. And now we're sitting
up looking where we don't know a timeline for him
coming back. It's just par for the course the way
the Dodgers have been dealing with all this this whole season.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Well, you say to yourself, okay, we don't know when
he's coming back. But how about Sazaki, We don't know
when he's coming back either Mark pryor to gave an
update on that. I think right now we got to
get him in a position where he feels confident in
his ability to throw the baseball. Yes, that would be critical.
You think that that's something that you need to do
(15:51):
if you're sending a guy out there to pitch. But
the reality is they just don't know. It's going to
take more time. And that being said, you know, at
least Yamamoto goes tonight to start the series, so that'll
be good, but uh, it's it's look, it's going to
continue to be dicey, which leads us to the one
thing the Dodgers didn't want to do. And Andrew Friedman
(16:14):
was adamant about this. He did not want to do
anything at the trade deadline. Nothing. We've done all of
our spending. You know what, we got there before they
hiked up the prices. We got in there with like
Black Friday sale. We went in and we spent all
of our money we could. We bought all of our
Christmas gifts in September, so then in December we don't
(16:38):
have to buy them.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
We don't have to stand in line. We not have
to you know, you know, deal with traffic. We got
it all under the way. By the way, are you
our early you know, kids are older now for you
and for me, But it's it's a little bit different.
Are you were you or are you an early Christmas
shopper to get it out of way really early? Or
you are a last minute guy?
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So you're asking me Rochelle, correct, I am okay? And
what would constitute early?
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Uh, right after Thanksgiving?
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Right after Thanksgiving? Yeah, and it's like a month, yeah, month, yeah,
giving yourself a month to go get it all done. Yeah,
that's what she would do. I mean I would here
were my gifts, you know, I would get them gifts.
But it's like, uh, you know somebody sixteen years old,
you know, and I would say this some spud web
(17:36):
and that's what I would put on the card. And
they was like it was like, mister potato head, those
are the kind of gifts I gave.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
So you're a gag gift guy, then, oh yeah, at
some point it turned into a gag gift.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
You're a gag gift guy.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
And I always thought my gifts were the best gifts,
to be honest with you, there was one like.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
Czar Those are as your kids get older, yes, because
the kid is not gonna want that Mickey Mouse sweater
turn neck. You know that you think is cool, but
they will never ever in their life where right, they
won't even wear it around the house. So you you
gotta read the room and can't you know, thinking, oh
(18:14):
my god, this is gonna be.
Speaker 6 (18:15):
Perfect for Haley. Oh she's gonna love this. You you
get it, and nine months later has never really even
been opened.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
No, of course not.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
I got.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I got somebody one year. Uh, I think the Flying
Enchilada and it was like a stuff, that enchilada. You're
through at people. Those are the kind of gifts I
always give. And by the way, every year I thought
my gifts were the best gifts I got. The gifts
I gave every I don't care what they got. I
(18:53):
my gifts.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Oh my god. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
So Andrew Freeman has already done his shopping. You know,
he didn't go out and get the Flying Enchilada. He
went on, I got Blake Snell, you know, so that
was his shopping stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
Yeah, he was an early shopper.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, well, now it looks like he's gonna have to
go back because it's the trade deadline. Approaches the trade deadline.
What are you gonna do? I mean, what if you
want to play? What if all right? What if Sazaki
doesn't come back, What if Klassnell does come back but
has to go out again? I think when Blake Snell
(19:29):
is back, he's back.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
I do believe that. I do too. I do too.
I didn't care they're being overly.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And I don't know this for a fact or anything
like that, but I think they are believing that and
being overly cautious with him to the point where he
might have been able to come back, you know, sooner,
but him for the long haul. And so they've kind
of been very patient with him as the Dodgers have
maintained their position in the NL West, because you and
(19:59):
I know Fred, this guy, when he's on and he's healthy,
he's as good as it gets. And he's a gamer.
He's a gamer, which they're gonna need in October when
they start to, you know, face these big time games.
They gotta need a guy with that kind of confidence
and that kind of that kind of dog getting to
take the hill for the Dodgers, and Blake Snell is
(20:19):
that guy.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
So what are they looking for at the trade deadline? Well,
right now, starting pitching is not number one, but starting
pitching could be on that list if guys don't get back.
We don't know what will happen to Gonsolin, but they
do want to right hand a reliever. Kolbeck is back,
he's got to settle in a little bit. Bruce Star graderole,
we don't know. Evan Philip said, you haven't heard about
(20:42):
Bruce Star.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
I mean, it feels like it almost feels like this
is this season is a watch for for Bruce Starr
because I just you know, the very little updates that
we get about him are just that we don't know.
We don't know the timeline for him coming back.
Speaker 4 (20:59):
We don't.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
They don't talk about progress, They don't talk about anything
else other than we're not sure.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
We're going to keep working on it. But that's for now.
We don't have a timeline.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So they need a right handed reliever, that's one thing.
And we talked about this. They've not been shy about it.
They probably need a left handed power hitter. They need
a left handed stick what that means for Michael Confordo
at this point, we don't know that. I'll say this,
giving them give him a runway, and he's not really
(21:30):
taking it. They're sticking with They're sticking with them.
Speaker 4 (21:35):
They are don't you think they have to at this point?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
And and and then also there is not like they
are seven games back right now and it's a scramble mode.
We got to we got to do something now, We
got to make some change now. No, they're still leading
a division, so they have the luxury of seeing if
Confordo can work himself out of this.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
How long that takes or how long that is.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
I mean, I don't think they really know what that
timetable will be. But it can't be much longer, Fred,
It can't be much longer because they're gonna have to,
like you said, either get a left handed bat in here,
or just make real changes to the lineup to get
somebody playing on a regular basis so they can get
(22:22):
that person prepared going into October.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
So the trade deadline, you know, comes in July, but
it's never too soon to start thinking about it. And
it looks like the Dodgers maybe maybe lining up pretty
close to Christmas, paying double but getting what they need.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
How do you think how do you think they feel
like Andrew Friedman feels you know, and he's been right,
you know, top head of baseball operations and in the
whole in the whole league, and the things that he's done,
and how he's handled the Dodgers and their acquisitions.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
But how do you think he feels bad going to
better night? Going? Damn?
Speaker 6 (23:03):
You know?
Speaker 3 (23:03):
I know we won the World Series and we were
aggressive in the off season to go put a team
together that we didn't have to scramble like we did
last year and have all these bullpen games and pull
our hair out with nervousness because we weren't sure who
the next game starter was going to be.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
You know, we.
Speaker 7 (23:21):
Protected ourselves against that. That's what we did in the
off season. That's where the money went. And here we
are worse than we were a year ago. I mean, what,
how do you think I'd hate to be his wife?
Speaker 8 (23:34):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
All right, let me ask you this. Have you seen
the Osama bin Laden documentary on Netflix?
Speaker 4 (23:41):
I have not, Okay, I had to. It's on my
definitely on my list.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yes, all right, so there are three it's three episodes
and it's really fascinating. And anyway, in the third episode
to respond to the Andrew Friedman situation, now they decide
they finally found them. It took like ten years, they
kept tracking them, but they found them. And then they
put in the plan what they were going to do.
(24:10):
And it was funny. They had plan A, plan B,
Plan C because there was no way they could let
this thing go south. I mean, if they committed to
doing it, they were going to do it. Plan A,
Plan B, Plan C. They practiced twelve hours a day.
They had everything set, they were organized. If one thing happened,
(24:33):
it would lead to another. But they were prepared. Andrew
Friedman has done all of this. He's ready, He's got
all of these players, he signed these guys, He's prepared.
So as they finally make the move and they go
to the compound, one of the choppers goes down, goes down.
(24:53):
All right, Now, they've got all these plans. I don't
think they planned for that, but yet they were able
to carry out the mission because they were so prepared
for anything.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Yeah, and that's kind of what anything's doing, anything meaning
anything anything.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Uh So that's what Andrew Friedman has done here. He's
got a plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Because he's
he's signed these guys, he's got his minor league system.
But it never goes exactly the way it's supposed to go.
And that's why there are so many layers to the
way they plan things with the Dodgers. So even though
(25:37):
it seems they're not prepared, they know what they're going
to do, they just hope the guys they have can
do it because everybody else gets healthy. Does that make sense?
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I mean you know, you you
plan and then you plan for the worst, right you know.
And and that's the real beauty of the Dodgers organization
because not every organization does that or even has the
resources to do that. Because we're human, we don't We
(26:09):
can't control our bodies or the environment or anything that
happens during the course of a season. You can't tell, Okay,
the gods of baseball, don't allow any of our pitchers
to get hurt this year, or at least don't allow
ninety percent of them to get hurt in the first
(26:31):
two months.
Speaker 4 (26:31):
Of the season, and we'll be okay. It doesn't work
that way.
Speaker 3 (26:34):
You've got to deal and roll with the punches as
they come, and they've been able to do that where
guys are stepping up. And I remember you saying this
a few years back when somebody would come either come
out of the pen or.
Speaker 4 (26:47):
Maybe starting the game, You're like, who is that guy?
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Let me thumb through the damn phone book from back
in the day and figure out who this guy is
because I've never heard of him. And he turns out
he's starting on Sunday. You say, who the hell is
that guy?
Speaker 4 (27:06):
You know? But that has been the Dodgers kind of
mo o for the last what three four years, is
that they they have these.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Guys in the pipeline coming from Oklahoma City or somewhere
else that they just pick up or just bring up,
and all of a sudden they turn into being a
great seat filler for for for the team, you know,
you know Robertleski and and and uh even Landing Knack
and and.
Speaker 4 (27:33):
You know Banda.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
I mean, it's just goes on and on and on
of guys that you didn't even nobody even talked about
being in the mix, in the real mix of a
Dodger rotation or a Dodger bullpen or Robertlesk. I mean,
I mean, it's just a list goes on and on
of these guys that that the Dodgers keep keep recycling
(27:59):
and went on and on, and it's amazing. And you've
gotta believe the other clubs around the league are looking
at the Dodgers going where hell did you find these guys?
Where are you hiding these guys? Where are they coming from?
Here's any other team would be dead in the water
and lose ten out of the less twelve if they
suffered the kind of injuries of Dodgers at But yet
(28:21):
they keep trotting guys out that outside of baseball people never.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Heard of and they become being a force and just
with the doctor ordered, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Outside of baseball, the people never heard of them. Let's
be honest. Yeah, inside of baseball, a lot of people
never heard of them.
Speaker 4 (28:40):
True.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Spot Little Blue presented by Spotlight twenty nine Casino.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
It's my favorite spot.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Check out Spotlight twenty nine dot com for upcoming shows
from world class entertainers.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Spotlight twenty nine Coachella Valley's best bet.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
One o'clock. The Man in the Big Chair Ned Culenny
will join us. He has information on both the Dodgers
and the Giants when we come back. Susan Slusser covers
the Giants for the San Francisco Chronicle. She'll be on
the show.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Why not an Hammer, It's the series that every Dodger Hello,
Rogan and Rodney listener. Did you know? Am five seventy
LA Sports has a wide range of LA Sports podcasts,
shows like Petros in Money. We are streaming Matt Dodger
Talk with David Vasse, the Dodger Podcast of Record, Clipper
Talk Without a Musk, follow us all and many more.
(29:36):
Just go to AM five to seventy LA Sports on
the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
AP Oh yeah, Freddy. When you hear that, you know
what time it is?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
We don't care. It's a Friday. It's a Friday Robby Pete,
fred Rogan, come on, let's go, Freddy.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
I let's do it. Susan Slusser covers the Giants for
the San Francisco Chronicle. She has done it for years
and she's going to join the show. So Susan, thank
you for coming on today.
Speaker 8 (30:02):
Very happy to be with you guys.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
Okay, well we got this. The big rivalry now Some
are saying the Padres are now the Dodgers' current day
rival Does anything surpass the rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants,
The only thing.
Speaker 8 (30:18):
That potentially does is Yankees Red Sox. I mean, I
would say, obviously that's the East Coast equivalent. But you know,
when you've got a rivalry that goes back to New
York days as an included some of the greatest players
in baseball history, I think you still got to say
Giants Dodgers is the top one on the West Coast
for sure. I look, I'm not trying to diminish the
(30:41):
rivalry with Padres's back to ask Bond Melvin about it yesterday,
because he's seen all sides, right, and he's like, that
is legit. That is when he was like in the
Padres beat the Dodgers and the postseason that was like
one of the biggest days in San Diego history. So
it's legit. It's just that it's never going to have
the cachet of a rivalry that goes back, you know,
(31:04):
to New York.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
They're just yeah, yeah, and and and and a rivalry
that both sides have had postseason success and and one
championships and one championships. You know, the century, so uh,
you know, so to me, I get it. You know,
San Diego has been hot. They've been the up and
coming for the last five years, and you know, obviously
(31:28):
challenged the Dodgers and knocked them out of the playoffs
at one point. But still, uh, to me, they can
be a rival, but not the rival like the Giants are.
And like you mentioned going back that many times, but
don't you have to have won maybe a World Series
here and there to kind of put on be put
(31:50):
on the same level as the Dodgers and Giants.
Speaker 8 (31:53):
Well they got one, but yeah, uh you know what
I will it's great to have a regional rival except
kind of how I would describe this, and the Potters
have been very good. When you're the top dogs like
the Dodgers, you have a lot of people saying they're
your rival. If you've got a big traditional rival, that
is never going to change and it's a one. Yeah,
(32:13):
it's a fantastic rivalry. I think the Padre I watched
the Padres Dodgers, you know when I can, because that's
the fun one too. The more the better, Like let's
like a little hype is great, right, that's who would
be listening to us or reading me if they're you know,
they weren't interested. All it's all good, All.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Right, Susan. You've been with the Giants a good period
of time. Is this fool's gold? Are these guys real?
Because it seems to me they're they're out ticking there
covered so far.
Speaker 8 (32:43):
Well, we knew that they were not going to have
the best offense in the division by far. You know,
it's a their offense is not all that dangerous. You
look at around the division, there are certainly better lineups.
But the pitching is very good, the bullpen is outstanding.
The difference maker and you know, everyone this is not
(33:05):
the secret. Going into the season, we said a difference
maker could be a defense buster. Posey has been clear.
If we're going to win, it's going to be with
pitching and defense. That's been the emphasis. Doing the little things.
And when they lose games like last night, and they
very rarely lose one run games, they're, you know there,
that's kind of their bread and butters, winning the low
scoring close games. They made two defensive mistakes in the
(33:26):
ninth inning and that cost them. So they have to
play well like almost there for you to win games.
They have for a large part. They're sticking right in
this with exactly their plan pitching and defense and without
a lot of even some of their bigger names contributing
very much.
Speaker 3 (33:43):
Yeah, and when you look at this lineup like you said,
you know they they've done it by committee pretty much.
And Ramos is having a fantastic year. He leads the
team in several categories offensively.
Speaker 4 (33:59):
For you, who has.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Been the biggest surprise for you this year with the Giants?
Speaker 8 (34:07):
Well, you know what, it shouldn't be a surprise because
I'm gonna say Wilmer Flores. And he's been steady and popular,
and you know, the Giants have known for a long
time what they have in Wilmer Flores. He's a team leader.
But he never looked right last year. It was injury,
but you know he was getting in the age range
where you go, you know, he's getting older, he's breaking down,
he is not producing. Maybe this is it. And he
(34:29):
came in to spring in great shape, totally healthy, looks
fantastic and from Spring on he has just been a
machine back to where he is. He has got a
nose for the RBI like no else, and I know
that's not a quantifiable metrics kind of thing, and a
lot of the metrics people don't love RBIs I love
(34:50):
a guy that could drive in rugs not you know what,
not everybody is great in the clutch. Wilmer Flulawers is
great in the plutch. So maybe it's not a surprise,
but he really has been the he and it's really
just nice to see him back where he was a
few years ago, because he is a great fellow and
just beloved in the clubhouse.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
All right, Why the quick turnaround, Susan, I mean Farhans
Zidy guy, we knew very well when he was down
here with the Dodgers, went up there, tried something, they
made a move with him. How so quickly did Buster
Posey get to put this thing together the way he has?
Speaker 8 (35:23):
Well, a lot of it is still far Haun's team,
and I think Buster would say that too. You know,
Buster played under far Hunt, you know, and he did
make some tremendous moves. The one I'm going to point
to that is super obvious is getting in Robbie Ray
while Ray was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, knowing
it was going to take a while to get back
to where he was he's back where he was. He
(35:45):
is one of the top pitchers in the league. And
that was that was Zidy. So you know, Farman's biggest
move has no I mean, Buster's biggest move so far
has not paid off. So I mean Willie domis to
a seven year deal one hundred and eighty two million.
That's the biggest deal in sister. The funny thing we
always love to point out is more than Buster made
it clips it clips Busters, which had been the biggest
(36:07):
and he really hasn't done much. He's starting to turn
it on. There's there's, you know, really no doubt that
he will get back to the player he is. But
the first couple of months he wasn't even playing all
that well defensively, so you know, you can look at
that but that. But what Buster has done is he's
changed a lot of the tone and he's just uh,
(36:29):
he handles sort of transactions in a different way. He
wants stability, He doesn't want a lot of guys coming
in and out. He wants to reward good behavior, good performance,
particularly at the Triple A level, when when meat, when
there's a need. We've seen all of those things. I
think that the players are feeling that the cohesiveness. I
(36:50):
think that's been very important. They went basically all of
April without making a single move. They didn't really make
a move for performance reasons till about six weeks into
the season, because he's very patient and he's continuing to
be patient. So it's really that sort of mindset more
than any sort of transactions that I think has led
(37:11):
to sort of the Giants being who they are. Really
you can feel it in the clubhouse. There's just sort
of a camaraderie and a belief that you get with
a group that you know is together and it's pretty
much going to stay together barring injuries.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
Yeah, you can feel that from them, and Fred mentioned
it off the top, and we talk about it often
because we really dive into to the Dodgers and the
nl West, as are.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
They fool's gold? Is this going to last? And they
started off hot and then a lot.
Speaker 3 (37:43):
Of people believe by June they would cool off and
it would go back to being the Dodgers and Padres,
But that hasn't happened. They're one game back and you know,
have been there right in the thicket things all season long.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Is that the way you see it going forward.
Speaker 3 (38:00):
You see this as as a three team race in
the West, and these guys are going to fight it
out all the way through through September.
Speaker 8 (38:09):
Yeah. I mean, you guys know, injuries potentially might play
a role for any of those three teams, But assuming
the general good health for all three, I still think
the Giants need another bats. It's gonna be fascinating to
see what Buster Posey and Zack Manathians do in their
first big trade deadline. There will be bats out there.
(38:30):
They have an awful lot of really good young pitching
that they could deal from. You know that Posey is
not afraid of making a splash. You know, he recently
let go Lamont Wade, who had been a big part
of the team for a few years, and the team,
you know, won its first seven games in a row
after that move, bringing in La native Dominic Smith, who's
(38:50):
been very good both defensively and offensively, another guy that
has done very well in the clutch. But I think
that that would be really what he needs to do.
So I hope we see that it might get rough
because the pitching is not going to be up to
this standard all year. They are going to run into
(39:10):
some struggles the book, in particular, all these one run games,
they are getting used a ton high leverage all the time.
That can take it out of you. They're going to
have to learn to win by scoring a lot of
runs at some point, which is just something that they
don't do. So that is IM to keep for them
to stick in it. I think they need another bat
(39:32):
maybe too.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
Susan Sluster, San Francisco Chronicle with us. All Right, Susan,
as you sit there and we know what people think
of the Dodgers around baseball, they're the evil empire. They
spend all the money, they stack their team is somebody
that covers the Giants and has for years and understands
the NL West. How do you look at the Dodgers.
Speaker 8 (39:53):
Well, they've been kind of the model I think for
what everybody would like to do. They spend money. They
are usually pretty smart about spending money. The players love
that it's within the rules. You know, there was a
lot of kind of flap of it early in the
especially in the off season, about you know, buying titles
and you know, the other teams complaining about how much
money they spend. It's all within the rules. They are
(40:15):
not doing anything illegal, and they're just doing it better
than everybody.
Speaker 4 (40:19):
You know.
Speaker 8 (40:19):
They've been a couple of teams over the last couple
of years that have gone on spending frenzies and it
hasn't really worked out quite as well for them, So
they're doing it, you know, so there's some luck involved
and again things like injuries, but the Dodgers have had
as many injuries, particularly on the pitching side, over the
last few years as anybody and they still managed to
keep winning. And a lot of that is the draft
(40:39):
you know, they have. They have been stocked for years.
They are just excellent when it comes to drafting and developing.
So they're doing everything either extremely well or pretty well,
and that's combined to just make them a force. And
you know, they do have more resources than everybody. You know,
they have an awful lot of money, and that just
(41:02):
tends to build on itself too. They are going to
be tough to contend with for a very long time.
Speaker 4 (41:07):
Yeah, absolutely, they will be.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
You know, we mentioned and talked about Buster Posey a
little bit, and it doesn't always work out where a
superstar goes from the field up to the front office
and starts to run the team. Oftentimes it doesn't work,
and yet it seems to be working up there in
San Francisco. What do you think is the reason for that?
(41:33):
Or you think the fact that he's he stepped back
for a little bit and was able to analyze this
team and then you know, once he got the gig,
was able to put his fine you know, his fingerprints
all over it.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
But what do you.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
The major reason why Buster has been able to make
this work up there?
Speaker 8 (41:51):
Well, I mean the major reason is Buster is very smart.
I mean, he really is. I had thought when he,
you know, he retired, retired, I think a little earlier
from his class certainly could have kept playing. But one
of the things he said was, you know, wants to
spend more time with a young family. I thought, you know,
given maybe five, six, seven years, he'd come back and
be a great manager. He would step right into a
(42:14):
managerial position and be amazing, because you know, he certainly
knows that. Yeah, he's a catcher, right, they make great managers.
And he is so smart and he does you know,
he's very good at fifteen through BS. He just does
not he doesn't care for BS. He's right through it.
He is really fun to cover. Is sometimes a little scary,
(42:34):
because he is he he does not suffer fool But
when he joined the Giants ownership group, I think he
took that very seriously and started looking at all the
business side things, looked at all the moves, and ran
it through the lens of having been a player, and
I think he got more and more interested in, you know,
(42:55):
having a job like this. He has taken to it
so well, and he seems to enjoy it so much,
like maybe even more than when he was playing. He
looks he somehow looks younger. He's very aged. So he's smart.
And the other thing that I will say that I
think will make him a very good, uh gentle manager?
(43:15):
Where were we calling it president of baseball operations. He's
collaborative and in a way in you know, he trusts people,
and he's very good at knowing who to trust and
hiring people who are good at that and then letting
them do their jobs. You know, he will quickly say
this wasn't me, this was X Y or Z who
came to me with this, or you know, the guy
(43:36):
that like everybody he's working with, he is he's leaning on,
he knows what he doesn't know, and I think that
separates probably a lot of good leaders in every area
from from the ones that are not as good.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
All right, sus and great stuff. We really appreciate you
joining us. Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (43:53):
Strange.
Speaker 8 (43:55):
Oh absolutely anytime. I love Tuncan Giants Dodgers.
Speaker 2 (43:58):
Anytime, guys, well, we've got someone else who can talk
Giants Dodgers. Those are both very well ned. Colletti, the
man in the big Chair. He will join the show
at one o'clock.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Make Am five' seventy. LA Sports a preset before you
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