We give our final thoughts on Shoehi Ohtani making his Dodger pitching debut tonight. What can we reasonably expect him to look like? Why does there seem to be a lack of buzz around the NBA Finals and what can be done about it?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
We continue on Fred Rogan and Rodney Pete on a
five seventy LA Sports. All right, one more pair of
Dodger Podrey tickets the games for tomorrow night, Tomorrow night,
and we'll give those away this hour. Can I tell
you a quick story? Yeah, I saw the funniest thing
over the weekend. Saturday night, my son Jack and his
girlfriend Jules, they go out to dinner in Beverly Hills.
(00:27):
All right, now, they're seated outside at whatever this restaurant was.
So about ten thirty Saturday night, Jack texts into the
family chat. He's sitting at a table. You can see
him right up against the railing outside next to the sidewalk,
and he's holding a horse. Wait what exactly he is
(00:51):
holding a horse? So we look at this and think,
where the hell are you? Why do you have a horse?
So the story is I see him yesterday. The story
is he's sitting there and there having dinner, and a
guy walks down the street. He's wearing a cowboy hat
(01:12):
and he's got a horse.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And he's walking down the Street's got a horse too.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
The guy walking down the street has this horse, he's
got a cowboy hat on and he's got the horse.
It's like on rodeo drive in Beverly Hills. So he
walks down the street, stops right where they're eating, and says,
you hold my horse please, And Jack said, come on, dude,
(01:40):
what do you mean? He goes hold the horse. So
Jack now has the reins of the horse and he's
leaning over the rim from his table.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Before you keep going, I just got to ask the
question because this is feeling like a fascinating story right now. Okay,
if you're in Beverly Hill having dinner with your girlfriend
and if somebody walks by you say, can you hold
my horse? I got to run around a corner real quick.
Do you hold the horse? Well? Okay, that's fair me,
(02:14):
I would be apt to say, is this can't be
something crazy. We're in Beverly Hills, in a nice place
and having dinner, so you know what's the worst conn happen?
It's odd? But sure, oh oh yeah, give me a horse.
All right. I would probably done the same thing. I
probably held the horse. Okay, but go ahead. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
No, that's what he did, and he was confused, and
I thought this was very odd. So anyway, he's holding
the horse. So now he's got the horse with one
hand and he's eating with the other, but he can't
let the reins of the horse go because the horse
will run away. Maybe the guy who says hold the
(02:52):
horse is gone. He goes somewhere, he's out set up.
People are looking at Jack going, why do you have
a horse in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive? And he's
sitting there, and now people are taking pictures and he's
(03:13):
sitting there. I don't know. The guy just told me
hold the horse, so he's holding the horse. The guy
has gone for like thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Ooh, oh man, oh I was I thought you were
gonna say, like ten minutes, fifteen minutes. But thirty minutes
that's like in real time, that's like two hours. The
guy's gone, right, because you're every minute feels like twenty minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So then the guy comes back and he goes, thanks man,
and he takes the horse and he walks away. Why
is there a horse on rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
Saturday night? Why is there a man walking down the
street with a horse. I didn't even know you were
allowed to do that?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
What is it like the old Glenn? I didn't know
there were horse privileges in Beverly Hills, like there are
you know, certain communities have horse privileges where you can,
you know, ride horses and walk horses and and do
those things, but not not in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Can you have a horse walking around? Wow? So okay,
(04:18):
So the guy came back, said the.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Horse and left. That was that. It's the whole story.
And I wondered, wait a minute, Can could you and
I saddle up and ride down benor a boulevard on
a horse? Can you have a horse on rodeo drive
in Beverly Hills? Can you have a horse walking around
on the streets of Santa Monica? Is that even legal?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I don't think so. I don't think so. That's your
law enforcement right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
But this guy wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
If anybody knows the rules calls, I'd like to know.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Well, I just found it says it's generally permitted to
keep horses in Beverly Hills within certain zoning and property
size restrictions. They do allow horses on residential these owned properties,
but there are specific regulations depending on lots size and
other factors. Now, so ride down our Dale Drive, I
would guess not. But to answer that the just the
general question, can you have a horse in Beverly Hills?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
The answer is yes, Wow, legally you can have a horse.
You can walk down the street with a horse in
Beverly Hills, no different than a dog.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, that makes no sense. Could you ride a horse
down the Beverly Hills with horse?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is an animal? It's not you know, why wouldn't you be.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Able to have a So you could walk down the
street with a hippopotamus and that'd be a giraffe.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
No, I think those are considered exotic and they're they're
not legal to own.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Different, that's completely different.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, So what could you walk walk down the street
with a horse or a dog?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
A pig, horse, dog, rhino?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I think a rhino might fall into the same category
as a hippo there, but I'll check on that.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You can probably walk a pig. Probably gonna have a pig,
a pet pig. There have been people known to have
pet pigs. Yeah, so the horse was saddled up and
had to saddle and everything nice nicely, and you know,
as if somebody was riding it at some point and
wasn't just a wild stallion was it They had no
(06:19):
uh no reins or no uh no saddle on it.
I'm sure it had something to legitimize why this horse
was in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I mean, if you're down by Manhattan Beach or you're
gonna have a horse walking around near the strand there
up the streets by the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
No, no, in the world you would get yeah, no, yeah, horses,
you know they they when they gotta go, they gotta go.
They don't match to the bathroom, they don't go to
the porta partty for it. They're going where they stand,
they are going. And it is, uh, it's a sight,
(07:03):
to say the least. It was the weirdest thing. I
could not believe. I heard that photos and pictures and
stuff like him holding the horse. Yeah, I'm gonna send
it to you. I'm gonna send to you right now.
That's amazing. You guys can see it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
God, I just looked at it again. Just look at this.
You'll see him sitting there. Just check your text look
at it and you'll see him sitting there with a horse.
And it was like, what, how does that happen? How
could that possibly be on rodeo drive. You get it yet,
(07:44):
I'll see it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Is he holding the horse's reins?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He's holding the horse. Yeah, he's holding fully saddled horse,
just standing there. I mean, I will say, in defense
of the horse, not causing any ruckus standing there. Mine
is business is.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Very well trained. Cose.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So you're walking down the street, Kevin with your horse,
not your dog, and you go, hey, do me a salad,
hold my horse for a half hour.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, I got to run in a seven leve right quick,
just to hold a horse for a little bit. Jack
ed ed jack by, I'll be back in a minute.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Wait, I don't know. That just struck me. I didn't
tell you guys. I thought that was the weirdest thing.
Jack just looking up going with hell, I do this horse?
Oh god, Okay, it's just very weird.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
All right.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So we talked about this. Otani goes tonight. At first
he was going after the All Star break. Then the
decision was maybe a little sooner than that. Then the
decision was tonight, and we took calls last hour. We
talked about the fact and by the way, it's truly funny.
You know, are they rushing them? Well, the only way
but he would consider them rushing him is because they
said he was on sort of this plan. Right, if
(09:07):
you're a fan, you're thinking well spring training. He's coming
out there and gonna be rifle in the ball. But
because the Dodger said we don't want to rush him,
the question becomes when they put him out of their
rushing him. No, he's ready to go. Rodney made a
great point. Normally you'd go down to OKC or maybe
double a right, stretch it out, get your work in,
(09:29):
build your arm up, and then get back to the bigs.
But they can't send him down to the minors.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Then he never would.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So he is going to do his rehab pitching, his
minor league assignment pitching here because there's no they can't
send him anywhere, and they can't continue just to let
him throw these simulated games. So he goes tonight. How
long will he go? An inning? Maybe two, depending on
(09:59):
how many pitch he throws, Rodney, I think it'll be
more pitch count than anything.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, yeah, I would imagine it's gonna be pitch count,
because you're right. If he goes through that first inning
and he gets three outs and five pitches, I think
they're gonna they're gonna send him back out there for
the second inning, and vice versa. I think if it.
(10:24):
But here's the flip side of that. If he is
into his twentieth pitch and there's still less than two outs,
does does Dave Roberts, you know, let him finish the inning?
Or does he does he keep going even if it's
a prolonged pitch count situation in the first inning. So
(10:44):
here's what I think.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I think, once he starts, unless he gives up eight runs, yeah,
he's pitching the first inning, no matter what. I don't
think he's gonna throw twenty pitches and they're gonna say, well,
that's it, you're out. I can't believe they would do that.
First guy files off five, he gets some six pitches.
(11:07):
Next guy files off four. That's ten. Give him three
more in the count. That's thirteen. Then he walks, all right. Yeah,
Now if it goes three and two, that almost takes
you to twenty and he can't get out of the inning.
I can't believe they would do that. I can't believe
(11:30):
he walks somebody, he's the twenty pitches, he's out. I
think they'd let him finish the inning. I don't think
Otani would want to come out.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh, he's certainly not gonna want to come out. That's
the thing you gotta worry about. That's going to be
the hard and tough question. Is he's not going to
want to come out of the game, especially if he's
either way right, If he's going good, he's like, I
feel it, I'm pretty good right now. I'm feeling good.
Maron feels sharp and crisp, and let me go another one.
And you know, converse to that, if if he gets
(12:03):
you know, walks two guys and a guy gets a
cheapy hit or whatever, and he's at seventeen pitches with
nobody out, is he gonna want to come out of
the game at that point. I mean, it's gonna be
a pride thing at some point, you know that situation.
And he's probably gonna look at Dave Robertson, don't you
f and dare take me out of this game right now?
(12:26):
I'm gonna finish this inning no matter what. Oh, I mean,
you hope it don't come to that where he's struggling
and he's got fifteen pitches in and there's only one
out or there's nobody out, you know, because you're you're
caught into regardless of this means nothing when it comes
(12:47):
to October. But you don't want him to have one
of those ugly kind of starts or ugly innings. You know,
that would be the I guess, the worst thing in
his first in his first game back, and you got
to try to protect yourself from around that. But I
don't know if you can. If there's you know, say
there's an error and then a bloop single, you know,
(13:08):
after a guy goes, you know, fouls off four or
five pitches like you say, and all of a sudden
there's a guy him first and second, nobody out and
he's fifteen pitches in.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
What are you going to do? I don't see how
Tony you know what. I don't see him glare at
people very often. You know, he's always got kind of
a calm it's sort of pleasant demeanor, right, yeah, respectful
calm demeanor.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
What kind of look would he give Dave Roberts if
he saw Dave Roberts two steps up and looks like
he's coming, what would be the look he would give him?
Would he have this very respectful, pleasant I understand look
on his face, or would Dave take two steps and
(13:55):
then start moving and just try to run and walk
back to the duckout what that happen? Maybe we'll get
to see the fullow Tony experience if they come out
to get him before he's ready to go. Yeah, and
even if they tell him ahead of time, you're going
one inning, that's it, you get one inning. Yes, he
(14:17):
will be thrilled, especially if it goes well, he'll be thrilled.
You don't think he won't go to them and go, Okay,
you know what, Okay, I'm good, let me go again.
Do you think that could happen? Where you gonna? I
know the plan? I heard you, but I'm good, I'm good,
let me go again. Do you think that could happen
if if it goes well?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You're saying yeah, Like if he goes in there he's
got nine pitches in or seven eight, nine pitches and
he gets out of that inning like that, and he
goes to him say, then me get another win for that. Yeah.
I think they are prepared for that. I think they
certainly are prepared for him or it being a quick
inning and possibility of going well. Absolutely, Now on the
(15:04):
On the other side of that, are they prepared to
leave him in if it doesn't go so well? If
it is a fifteen fifteen pitch at you know, fifteen
pitch and one out right and the but the fourth
fifth inner is up at the plate in the inning,
(15:27):
are you prepared to let him go finish it up?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Don't you have to let him go?
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You do, don't you. And it's not like he's going
in the seventh or eighth or ninth inning. He's starting
the game. I mean, how much can the game get
out of hand? You know, in the first with him
on the mouth, now, you know, you know there's so
many scenarios, obviously, but if he can't find a strike
zone he walks the first two, you know that's going
(15:55):
to be the dilemma. He walks the first two guys
because if he hadn't been out there in a while, right,
And not only does he walk him, but they both
take it to a eight nine pitch at bat to
get the walk. It's not just straight four pitches and
they take him to a nine pitch at bat. All
(16:17):
of a sudden, you're at eighteen pitches, nobody out runners
at first and second. What are you doing, are you?
I mean, can you take him out? No? Well you
talk about Theclaire, you talk about the glare.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, like you could do anything not allow.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Him to get to the glare after he throws it
at his second hitter hit comes up and he walks
him before he gets the ball back from the catcher.
He will have a look at don't you even think
about coming up on that step. He might even put
a seat belt on the seat that, Dave Roberts says
next to Bob garn so he can't leave and take
it off when he gets out of the game.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
What was the old Rick Suckcliffe story? Think when Don
zimmer was the manager of the Cubs, and I guess
Suckler gave up a couple of home runs and Zimber
stepped like took two steps out of the dugout, and
he yelled across and said, get your ass back in
the dugout. He goes, Tony would do that, Todave Roberts, Oh,
my god, No, probably not.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
He would. He wouldn't do that, but his mind would
be thinking it. His mind certainly would be thinking it.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
He hear's the bottom line, they're not coming to get him.
They will not come out and get him. Now, when
you really talk it through, I don't care what they
tell him ahead of time. Hey, if twenty five pitches,
that's it for you. They will not come out and
get him. He will finish the first inning. Yeah, they
cannot take him.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Out, even if he gives up two runs.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, they can't. They've got to let him work through it.
And if they came and got him, he would not
be happy, even though he be respectful and pleasant.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
And would understand that. Hey, any other situation, you know,
the picture's getting yanked. At this situation, he would understand that.
But hey, this is not an ordinary situation. I am Otani,
And don't you dare dare get up on that top
step take me out of this game. He may say
(18:21):
it in Japanese. Oh, that would be crazy, right, he might.
He might. You know, we see him being respectful all
this time. He's just a very respectful guy. Pats the
catcher on the back and says, the lord of the umpire,
And that moment they come to try to take him,
get your ass back in that dugout. He might say
(18:42):
it in perfect English, Fred, don't you say much English?
He'll say it in perfect English. Get your ass back
in the dugout and it'll be loud enough for the
whole stadium to hear.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I am Otani, my favorite, I am Otani. Do you
understand who I am here?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
It's like the skin with Dave Zappelle. I'm i'm otani, bitch.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
You know his interpreter went to jail today.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Interpreter, by the way, yes.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
He started his sentence, huh yeah, I think it's five
but six years five years almost six years? Yeah, mm hmm, yep,
went to jail. Remember that story came out, and be honest,
when you first heard about it, back to your mind,
everybody thought, oh Tani was a little dirty. Yeah, everybody
(19:46):
thought that, Ohtani's got this enormous gambling problem, and everybody
and don't lie, you know you did, and somebody you
still think mays think he does. But everybody thought that.
Nobody wanted to say it, but everybod but he thought
it because it made zero sense. It made no.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Sense, and because he's one of ours, you were not
going to allow yourself to think too negatively, right.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
But then the story even became more bizarre when Epey
was like impersonating him on the phone and stuff, had
access to all of his personal accounts and then he's
gone now almost six years in prison for that and
(20:33):
he owes them seventeen million dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
How about that? And this is this happened Remember it
happened right before when they were in Korea. Yep, they're
in Korea and the getting ready to start the season.
It's amazing he had the season he had.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Yeah, when you think about it, it was mindfull of.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
That looming over him to start the season with a
new team. Yeah. God, he imagine you're old Tani and
this is the distraction that you get to start the season.
You just signed a seven hundred million dollar deal with
a new club. Man. It's the Dodgers. They're about to
(21:15):
piggyback you all the way to the bank, marketing everything,
and this comes out who you talk about just having
to be focused and having the wherewithal and the surrounding
to be laser circuits focused in your approach to the season.
(21:42):
By that would look at that distraction and be it'd
be very difficult on them. I mean that that we
sorry with Vic say fay I, I don't know if
I could have did it. Yeah, well he did take
a leave of absence. He did it.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Uh, all right, don't forget this hour, not now, but
this hour somebody else went in Dodger Podrey tickets. Let's
talk the presentation of the NBA Finals next.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
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Speaker 2 (22:31):
Oh yes, come on down to Home Stretch on a Monday.
Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan good stuff. By the way, he
had all this talk about o'tan He's gonna go one, two,
three and only throw nine pitches for it. Let's just
throw all what we just talked about out the window.
He'll definitely get to the first inning. I think unscathed. Well,
(22:53):
one of two things are gonna happen, folks. He's gonna
mow him down or they gonna just tattoo him one
of the other. I don't think there's gonna be any between.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
The guy isn't pitched, so he'll go out there, he'll
be ready, he'll look great, blow him down, or he'll
give up a couple of runs. I don't think there's
anything between tonight and I don't know who's more excited
for this, him or the fans.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Oh the fans, Oh, the fans. Fans. The fans have
this game. Now that it was that it was announced.
You know, Otani's gonna get through this first inning, Fred
with every fan I would say ninety percent of them
thinking it's going to be one, two three with him
only throwing nine pitches tops. Yeah. Yeah, he's a god.
(23:43):
He's a god, and so if there's no getting around it,
there's no option of him having a bad inning. Thread
in the minds of the fans, Yeah, it doesn't matter.
It will be great.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
If he gave up four runs, it would be great. No,
I'm saying in the in the fans mind, it'd be great.
Just to see him out there, it's great.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It doesn't make it a bit of difference. It's gonna
be great for the fans.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So, uh, NBA Finals, who's in? Who's watching?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Seriously?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Where are we at on this, folks? Because the truth
of the matter is, uh, there doesn't seem to be
the kind of excitement that a finals would provide. You
can make the argument, why not Indiana and Oklahoma City
with a series tied to two. It's a good series,
(24:39):
it's a good series, but it's not a lot of buzz.
Nobody transcends. That's one of the reasons why in sports,
it's someone who transcends the sport of Michael Jordan, of
Magic Johnson, a Tiger Woods. People that transcend Otani, right,
(25:00):
They transcend their sport and the events become bigger. Nobody
transcendent on these two teams, and they're from smaller markets.
It just doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz.
Piece in the athletic written. You know, somebody said it
looks like a NASCAR. Everything sponsored, Every single thing is sponsored.
Wherever you turn something sponsored, it doesn't look special, it
(25:24):
doesn't feel special.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Do you feel that way? Do you feel like it's
a NASCAR even though you know the NBA is going
that direction where there're you know, more and more things
are sponsored. I noticed how they kind of subtly putting
things in on you know, more things on the court
at the UH you know, announcer's desk, there's there's other
ads and things like that, and you know, players and
(25:47):
teams have more and more little logos on their jerseys.
You know that they're represented by Suddenly they're they're they're
starting to be open to all of this advertisement that
on the jerseys.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Now, Yeah, because it's money in Do I think that's
the problem. I don't. I really don't think they'll see
issue at all. I think the issue is the product
is what it is. You have two teams from smaller markets,
no transcendent player on either that doesn't cross over in
the mainstream. And I think the NBA at times can
(26:21):
be a tough watch. The NBA is star driven. These
teams have stars, but no one he knows who they are.
You go, well, SGA, you know who he is. We
know who he is. Trust me. The average person has
no clue.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
No they don't, No, they don't. And what do you
think it is more about the smaller market or the
or the lack of true quote superstars that we've seen
before Steph Curry, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
It's equal market. I'll put it like this. If Caitlin
Clark was playing for the Indiana Pacers, there would be
an enormous audience for this. Yeah, there would be an
enormous audience.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Lebron played in Cleveland and those are pretty highly rated
finals because it was Lebron.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Right, there's just nobody big enough now to be fair.
The way they're doing it is probably the way you
want to build NBA teams, and they won't be able
to remain that way long because the guys are gonna
have to get paid and then they're gonna have to
leave and they'll run into the same thing every other
team does. You pay so many people a lot of
money and the rest not so much. But they'll get there.
(27:33):
But because they built the way they did at least
the Thunder now it all works. You need stars. The
NBA star driven one thing, NBC said, the new TV
partner for the league, And NBC always thinks like this,
by the way, little things that means something, But you
don't really think they do what they're gonna do next
(27:54):
year in their games. They're gonna take the announcement of
the starting lineups. If you think about that, you don't
see that on TV, No you don't, You really don't.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You used to. Yep, and now from North Carolina, remember
that you always hear that m hm.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
They're gonna take that, maybe give it a little more authenticity.
There's also some thought about the courts and maybe they'd
put v Larry O'Brien trophy back on the court. That's
what Adam Silver was saying, the big image. I look
at it like this, you know, the NBA Cup games.
I think they should change the courts to NBA Cup.
(28:39):
That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
The NBA is a video game, don't kid yourself. That's
what it is. It's it's built for social media. That's
where their coverage comes from. Those that's their real fan base.
I think the court should be more colorful. I think
maybe in the in the finals, you should have the
same court you did as the NBA Cup. Really mix
(29:04):
it up, make it look different.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Really, why not?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
What do they have to lose? Seriously, what do you
have to lose.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
They don't have anything to lose right now, because, like
you said, it's just it feels bla bah whatever. I
will say.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
It felt different.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
I remember the finals in the Lakers and the Celtics
in twenty ten, and that's right in the middle of
when they had the Larry O'Brien trophy on the court,
and it felt different, it felt big. So I'm kind
of with you. You you can say that it's all you know,
window dressing. But to your point, Fred, if the product
isn't doing it for you, then you got to try
to find something else to like make it look different
(29:42):
or feel different, or feel bigger. So it wouldn't hurt.
I think it would actually bring something to the game
if it actually looks a little different.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I always use this as an example of something. You guys,
tell me what you think when you talk about how
you distinguish one thing from another. So let's say we
sat down and you were sitting there, and I put
five cups of water on the table. There's five cups
of water. You don't know where they came from, but
you can drink all of them. I'm not fooling around
with you guys or doing anything. So I got five
(30:10):
cups of water on the table. Rodney, you take five.
You know, you taste them, Kevin, you taste them, Ronnie,
you taste them. Five cups of water. They're all in
the exact same kind of cup. When it's all said
and done, I would say to you, tell me what
water is better. You might have a preference. You may,
(30:33):
but at the end of the day, it's all water. Now,
if I showed you the Santi or Arrowhead or whatever
your image, your mind could have been altered by going,
wait a minute, da, Santi is the best. Yeah, I
knew that all along. It's all how things are marketed
(30:54):
and packaged. At the end of the day, it's all water.
But how do you market at vodka? Why is Gray
Goose better than Smirnoff. Well, I don't drink vodka, but
I know why. Initially it was because they charged more
for Gray Goose. It became a higher, higher elevated brand.
(31:16):
People won't know that's got to be better. That's got
to be better. Yeah, it's better.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
I don't know the.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Difference, but I'm saying that was how they did it
to give you.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But also the packaging, like you mentioned, packeting was better.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Right, it looked better, so you bought that. So now
if you compare that or or you you apply that
to this NBA situation, it's basketball. It's basketball that has
obviously an ending. Now, unlike any regular season game, this
is going to conclude the season, all right, so that
(31:53):
makes it more special. Someone after all of these months
is finally going to win the ultimate prize. Great, but
it's still basketball played the exact same way. So what
makes it special aside from well, somebody's gonna win it all, Well,
it's got to be what surrounds it. It's got to
(32:17):
be how you package it. That's what will make it special.
And I think the NBA missed here and that's the problem.
And they know it. They get it, they get it.
They missed a little bit here. They're not making it
seem special.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
The league, would you say it would be would you
say the same thing if the Lakers and Knicks were
in it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Right, And that could be an entirely different situation, But
that's not what we're facing now. So you have to
build for worst case scenario, right, if the Lakers and
Knicks were in it, but the league did all of
these other things as well. Wow, But you always have
to build for worst case scenario, not best case. Yeah,
(33:03):
because that doesn't happen all the time.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yeah. And if you're in a bubble and you live in Indiana,
you live in Oklahoma, it's the best thing in the world, right, well, state,
it's both states are buzzing about it. Those they were
people you know, bring and all those guys announcing the game,
they're talking about they've never seen atmosphere like this, and
and how special it is to be there. But you
(33:28):
got to be there. We watch it on TV. Can't
feel what they're feeling because they're there. But they've all said,
this is the most incredible atmosphere they've seen.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Uh in the finals, right, But again we're watching on TV,
and what is the game made for all sports television streaming?
So yeah, the NBA has an issue, and certainly i'm
the league is gonna look into it. Here we go,
(34:01):
Final ticket winner eight six six nine eighty seven two
five seventy. You are winning tickets for the Dodgers and
Padres tomorrow night, Rodney, what'll call a number?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I like number five?
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Fred make am five seventy. LA Sports a preset before
you plug in your phone. Presets in the iHeartRadio app
now available with Apple car Play and Android Auto. Just
another easy way to listen to LA's best sports talk.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah, hime on Freddie tickets Home, Roddy Pete, Fred Rogan
kicking off on Monday.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
All right, Henry Lake Balboa, good news for you, my friend.
You're going to the game. Tomorrow. Congratulations rights, that's all
it takes. It's all it takes. You're going to the game.
If you didn't win. On our show, Good News, PMS
will give tickets away every hour, the pregame show will
give tickets away every hour. Well there's one hour, and
(34:56):
then on Dodger Talk they'll give tickets away. So you
just stay right here. We got you covered. We got
you covered. You'll be going to that game tomorrow night
to see the Dodgers and the pod the Padres.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
So this one means a little more tonight, don't you think, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, I think so. I think so. We said it
what a week and a half ago when they went
down there they got to win that series and they did,
which was a big series with the Padres. I think
this was this one is equally as important. I mean,
they're all gonna be important, but I think if they
can take two out of well it's four games, if
they can at the worst split with the Padres, it'll
(35:36):
be big for the Dodgers because that means you know
that the Padres are still chasing. So, uh, this is
this is what it's gonna look like down the stretch.
And these these teams that the Dodgers are playing right
now are gonna be there in the end. The Giants,
the Padres are going to be there. Just get get
ready for it. But we can take their heart and
soul for it. That's what we want to do, and
(35:57):
we can do that. Imagine if they take three out
of four from the Padres. Wouldn't surprise me by the way,
you know, but that's a blow. That's a that would
be a huge blow to the little brother down south.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yeah, I'm telling you the Giants probably didn't feel very
good losing to its.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Ring, No, especially when in the first right, Yeah, and
they had they had this, you know, they had the
hole on the series and they you know, playing the
big bad Dodgers in their stadium, were gonna We're coming
in and gonna put it on them. They win the
first one, but yet lose the X two and the
Dodgers posed their will. Just goes to show you know,
(36:33):
these guys I went to I'm sure they walked away gone.
They got a lot of depth on that team. We
don't know who's gonna beat us, Is it gonna be Pies,
who is it gonna beat Who's gonna beat us? Today?
So yeah, this is a big Big four gamer against
the Padres.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
All right, Well, appreciate you listening tickets the rest of
the way, so stay with the radio station, Ronnie, thank you, Kevin,
good work and Rodney we will dissect Otani's first appear
Prent's on the Mound tomorrow right home.
We continue on Fred Rogan and Rodney Pete on a
five seventy LA Sports. All right, one more pair of
Dodger Podrey tickets the games for tomorrow night, Tomorrow night,
and we'll give those away this hour. Can I tell
you a quick story? Yeah, I saw the funniest thing
over the weekend. Saturday night, my son Jack and his
girlfriend Jules, they go out to dinner in Beverly Hills.
(00:27):
All right, now, they're seated outside at whatever this restaurant was.
So about ten thirty Saturday night, Jack texts into the
family chat. He's sitting at a table. You can see
him right up against the railing outside next to the sidewalk,
and he's holding a horse. Wait what exactly he is
(00:51):
holding a horse? So we look at this and think,
where the hell are you? Why do you have a horse?
So the story is I see him yesterday. The story
is he's sitting there and there having dinner, and a
guy walks down the street. He's wearing a cowboy hat
(01:12):
and he's got a horse.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
And he's walking down the Street's got a horse too.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
The guy walking down the street has this horse, he's
got a cowboy hat on and he's got the horse.
It's like on rodeo drive in Beverly Hills. So he
walks down the street, stops right where they're eating, and says,
you hold my horse please, And Jack said, come on, dude,
(01:40):
what do you mean? He goes hold the horse. So
Jack now has the reins of the horse and he's
leaning over the rim from his table.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Before you keep going, I just got to ask the
question because this is feeling like a fascinating story right now. Okay,
if you're in Beverly Hill having dinner with your girlfriend
and if somebody walks by you say, can you hold
my horse? I got to run around a corner real quick.
Do you hold the horse? Well? Okay, that's fair me,
(02:14):
I would be apt to say, is this can't be
something crazy. We're in Beverly Hills, in a nice place
and having dinner, so you know what's the worst conn happen?
It's odd? But sure, oh oh yeah, give me a horse.
All right. I would probably done the same thing. I
probably held the horse. Okay, but go ahead. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
No, that's what he did, and he was confused, and
I thought this was very odd. So anyway, he's holding
the horse. So now he's got the horse with one
hand and he's eating with the other, but he can't
let the reins of the horse go because the horse
will run away. Maybe the guy who says hold the
(02:52):
horse is gone. He goes somewhere, he's out set up.
People are looking at Jack going, why do you have
a horse in Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive? And he's
sitting there, and now people are taking pictures and he's
(03:13):
sitting there. I don't know. The guy just told me
hold the horse, so he's holding the horse. The guy
has gone for like thirty minutes.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Ooh, oh man, oh I was I thought you were
gonna say, like ten minutes, fifteen minutes. But thirty minutes
that's like in real time, that's like two hours. The
guy's gone, right, because you're every minute feels like twenty minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So then the guy comes back and he goes, thanks man,
and he takes the horse and he walks away. Why
is there a horse on rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills
Saturday night? Why is there a man walking down the
street with a horse. I didn't even know you were
allowed to do that?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
What is it like the old Glenn? I didn't know
there were horse privileges in Beverly Hills, like there are
you know, certain communities have horse privileges where you can,
you know, ride horses and walk horses and and do
those things, but not not in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Can you have a horse walking around? Wow? So okay,
(04:18):
So the guy came back, said the.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Horse and left. That was that. It's the whole story.
And I wondered, wait a minute, Can could you and
I saddle up and ride down benor a boulevard on
a horse? Can you have a horse on rodeo drive
in Beverly Hills? Can you have a horse walking around
on the streets of Santa Monica? Is that even legal?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
I don't think so. I don't think so. That's your
law enforcement right.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
But this guy wasn't.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
If anybody knows the rules calls, I'd like to know.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Well, I just found it says it's generally permitted to
keep horses in Beverly Hills within certain zoning and property
size restrictions. They do allow horses on residential these owned properties,
but there are specific regulations depending on lots size and
other factors. Now, so ride down our Dale Drive, I
would guess not. But to answer that the just the
general question, can you have a horse in Beverly Hills?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
The answer is yes, Wow, legally you can have a horse.
You can walk down the street with a horse in
Beverly Hills, no different than a dog.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Well, that makes no sense. Could you ride a horse
down the Beverly Hills with horse?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Is an animal? It's not you know, why wouldn't you be.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Able to have a So you could walk down the
street with a hippopotamus and that'd be a giraffe.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
No, I think those are considered exotic and they're they're
not legal to own.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Different, that's completely different.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, So what could you walk walk down the street
with a horse or a dog?
Speaker 2 (05:47):
A pig, horse, dog, rhino?
Speaker 3 (05:52):
I think a rhino might fall into the same category
as a hippo there, but I'll check on that.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You can probably walk a pig. Probably gonna have a pig,
a pet pig. There have been people known to have
pet pigs. Yeah, so the horse was saddled up and
had to saddle and everything nice nicely, and you know,
as if somebody was riding it at some point and
wasn't just a wild stallion was it They had no
(06:19):
uh no reins or no uh no saddle on it.
I'm sure it had something to legitimize why this horse
was in the heart of Beverly Hills.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I mean, if you're down by Manhattan Beach or you're
gonna have a horse walking around near the strand there
up the streets by the restaurant.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
No, no, in the world you would get yeah, no, yeah, horses,
you know they they when they gotta go, they gotta go.
They don't match to the bathroom, they don't go to
the porta partty for it. They're going where they stand,
they are going. And it is, uh, it's a sight,
(07:03):
to say the least. It was the weirdest thing. I
could not believe. I heard that photos and pictures and
stuff like him holding the horse. Yeah, I'm gonna send
it to you. I'm gonna send to you right now.
That's amazing. You guys can see it.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
God, I just looked at it again. Just look at this.
You'll see him sitting there. Just check your text look
at it and you'll see him sitting there with a horse.
And it was like, what, how does that happen? How
could that possibly be on rodeo drive. You get it yet,
(07:44):
I'll see it.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Is he holding the horse's reins?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
He's holding the horse. Yeah, he's holding fully saddled horse,
just standing there. I mean, I will say, in defense
of the horse, not causing any ruckus standing there. Mine
is business is.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Very well trained. Cose.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So you're walking down the street, Kevin with your horse,
not your dog, and you go, hey, do me a salad,
hold my horse for a half hour.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, I got to run in a seven leve right quick,
just to hold a horse for a little bit. Jack
ed ed jack by, I'll be back in a minute.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Wait, I don't know. That just struck me. I didn't
tell you guys. I thought that was the weirdest thing.
Jack just looking up going with hell, I do this horse?
Oh god, Okay, it's just very weird.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
All right.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
So we talked about this. Otani goes tonight. At first
he was going after the All Star break. Then the
decision was maybe a little sooner than that. Then the
decision was tonight, and we took calls last hour. We
talked about the fact and by the way, it's truly funny.
You know, are they rushing them? Well, the only way
but he would consider them rushing him is because they
said he was on sort of this plan. Right, if
(09:07):
you're a fan, you're thinking well spring training. He's coming
out there and gonna be rifle in the ball. But
because the Dodger said we don't want to rush him,
the question becomes when they put him out of their
rushing him. No, he's ready to go. Rodney made a
great point. Normally you'd go down to OKC or maybe
double a right, stretch it out, get your work in,
(09:29):
build your arm up, and then get back to the bigs.
But they can't send him down to the minors.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Then he never would.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So he is going to do his rehab pitching, his
minor league assignment pitching here because there's no they can't
send him anywhere, and they can't continue just to let
him throw these simulated games. So he goes tonight. How
long will he go? An inning? Maybe two, depending on
(09:59):
how many pitch he throws, Rodney, I think it'll be
more pitch count than anything.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, yeah, I would imagine it's gonna be pitch count,
because you're right. If he goes through that first inning
and he gets three outs and five pitches, I think
they're gonna they're gonna send him back out there for
the second inning, and vice versa. I think if it.
(10:24):
But here's the flip side of that. If he is
into his twentieth pitch and there's still less than two outs,
does does Dave Roberts, you know, let him finish the inning?
Or does he does he keep going even if it's
a prolonged pitch count situation in the first inning. So
(10:44):
here's what I think.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I think, once he starts, unless he gives up eight runs, yeah,
he's pitching the first inning, no matter what. I don't
think he's gonna throw twenty pitches and they're gonna say, well,
that's it, you're out. I can't believe they would do that.
First guy files off five, he gets some six pitches.
(11:07):
Next guy files off four. That's ten. Give him three
more in the count. That's thirteen. Then he walks, all right. Yeah,
Now if it goes three and two, that almost takes
you to twenty and he can't get out of the inning.
I can't believe they would do that. I can't believe
(11:30):
he walks somebody, he's the twenty pitches, he's out. I
think they'd let him finish the inning. I don't think
Otani would want to come out.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Oh, he's certainly not gonna want to come out. That's
the thing you gotta worry about. That's going to be
the hard and tough question. Is he's not going to
want to come out of the game, especially if he's
either way right, If he's going good, he's like, I
feel it, I'm pretty good right now. I'm feeling good.
Maron feels sharp and crisp, and let me go another one.
And you know, converse to that, if if he gets
(12:03):
you know, walks two guys and a guy gets a
cheapy hit or whatever, and he's at seventeen pitches with
nobody out, is he gonna want to come out of
the game at that point. I mean, it's gonna be
a pride thing at some point, you know that situation.
And he's probably gonna look at Dave Robertson, don't you
f and dare take me out of this game right now?
(12:26):
I'm gonna finish this inning no matter what. Oh, I mean,
you hope it don't come to that where he's struggling
and he's got fifteen pitches in and there's only one
out or there's nobody out, you know, because you're you're
caught into regardless of this means nothing when it comes
(12:47):
to October. But you don't want him to have one
of those ugly kind of starts or ugly innings. You know,
that would be the I guess, the worst thing in
his first in his first game back, and you got
to try to protect yourself from around that. But I
don't know if you can. If there's you know, say
there's an error and then a bloop single, you know,
(13:08):
after a guy goes, you know, fouls off four or
five pitches like you say, and all of a sudden
there's a guy him first and second, nobody out and
he's fifteen pitches in.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
What are you going to do? I don't see how
Tony you know what. I don't see him glare at
people very often. You know, he's always got kind of
a calm it's sort of pleasant demeanor, right, yeah, respectful
calm demeanor.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
What kind of look would he give Dave Roberts if
he saw Dave Roberts two steps up and looks like
he's coming, what would be the look he would give him?
Would he have this very respectful, pleasant I understand look
on his face, or would Dave take two steps and
(13:55):
then start moving and just try to run and walk
back to the duckout what that happen? Maybe we'll get
to see the fullow Tony experience if they come out
to get him before he's ready to go. Yeah, and
even if they tell him ahead of time, you're going
one inning, that's it, you get one inning. Yes, he
(14:17):
will be thrilled, especially if it goes well, he'll be thrilled.
You don't think he won't go to them and go, Okay,
you know what, Okay, I'm good, let me go again.
Do you think that could happen? Where you gonna? I
know the plan? I heard you, but I'm good, I'm good,
let me go again. Do you think that could happen
if if it goes well?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
You're saying yeah, Like if he goes in there he's
got nine pitches in or seven eight, nine pitches and
he gets out of that inning like that, and he
goes to him say, then me get another win for that. Yeah.
I think they are prepared for that. I think they
certainly are prepared for him or it being a quick
inning and possibility of going well. Absolutely, Now on the
(15:04):
On the other side of that, are they prepared to
leave him in if it doesn't go so well? If
it is a fifteen fifteen pitch at you know, fifteen
pitch and one out right and the but the fourth
fifth inner is up at the plate in the inning,
(15:27):
are you prepared to let him go finish it up?
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Don't you have to let him go?
Speaker 2 (15:31):
You do, don't you. And it's not like he's going
in the seventh or eighth or ninth inning. He's starting
the game. I mean, how much can the game get
out of hand? You know, in the first with him
on the mouth, now, you know, you know there's so
many scenarios, obviously, but if he can't find a strike
zone he walks the first two, you know that's going
(15:55):
to be the dilemma. He walks the first two guys
because if he hadn't been out there in a while, right,
And not only does he walk him, but they both
take it to a eight nine pitch at bat to
get the walk. It's not just straight four pitches and
they take him to a nine pitch at bat. All
(16:17):
of a sudden, you're at eighteen pitches, nobody out runners
at first and second. What are you doing, are you?
I mean, can you take him out? No? Well you
talk about Theclaire, you talk about the glare.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
No, like you could do anything not allow.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Him to get to the glare after he throws it
at his second hitter hit comes up and he walks
him before he gets the ball back from the catcher.
He will have a look at don't you even think
about coming up on that step. He might even put
a seat belt on the seat that, Dave Roberts says
next to Bob garn so he can't leave and take
it off when he gets out of the game.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
What was the old Rick Suckcliffe story? Think when Don
zimmer was the manager of the Cubs, and I guess
Suckler gave up a couple of home runs and Zimber
stepped like took two steps out of the dugout, and
he yelled across and said, get your ass back in
the dugout. He goes, Tony would do that, Todave Roberts, Oh,
my god, No, probably not.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
He would. He wouldn't do that, but his mind would
be thinking it. His mind certainly would be thinking it.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
He hear's the bottom line, they're not coming to get him.
They will not come out and get him. Now, when
you really talk it through, I don't care what they
tell him ahead of time. Hey, if twenty five pitches,
that's it for you. They will not come out and
get him. He will finish the first inning. Yeah, they
cannot take him.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Out, even if he gives up two runs.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, they can't. They've got to let him work through it.
And if they came and got him, he would not
be happy, even though he be respectful and pleasant.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
And would understand that. Hey, any other situation, you know,
the picture's getting yanked. At this situation, he would understand that.
But hey, this is not an ordinary situation. I am Otani,
And don't you dare dare get up on that top
step take me out of this game. He may say
(18:21):
it in Japanese. Oh, that would be crazy, right, he might.
He might. You know, we see him being respectful all
this time. He's just a very respectful guy. Pats the
catcher on the back and says, the lord of the umpire,
And that moment they come to try to take him,
get your ass back in that dugout. He might say
(18:42):
it in perfect English, Fred, don't you say much English?
He'll say it in perfect English. Get your ass back
in the dugout and it'll be loud enough for the
whole stadium to hear.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I am Otani, my favorite, I am Otani. Do you
understand who I am here?
Speaker 2 (19:05):
It's like the skin with Dave Zappelle. I'm i'm otani, bitch.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
You know his interpreter went to jail today.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Interpreter, by the way, yes.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
He started his sentence, huh yeah, I think it's five
but six years five years almost six years? Yeah, mm hmm, yep,
went to jail. Remember that story came out, and be honest,
when you first heard about it, back to your mind,
everybody thought, oh Tani was a little dirty. Yeah, everybody
(19:46):
thought that, Ohtani's got this enormous gambling problem, and everybody
and don't lie, you know you did, and somebody you
still think mays think he does. But everybody thought that.
Nobody wanted to say it, but everybod but he thought
it because it made zero sense. It made no.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Sense, and because he's one of ours, you were not
going to allow yourself to think too negatively, right.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
But then the story even became more bizarre when Epey
was like impersonating him on the phone and stuff, had
access to all of his personal accounts and then he's
gone now almost six years in prison for that and
(20:33):
he owes them seventeen million dollars.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
How about that? And this is this happened Remember it
happened right before when they were in Korea. Yep, they're
in Korea and the getting ready to start the season.
It's amazing he had the season he had.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Yeah, when you think about it, it was mindfull of.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
That looming over him to start the season with a
new team. Yeah. God, he imagine you're old Tani and
this is the distraction that you get to start the season.
You just signed a seven hundred million dollar deal with
a new club. Man. It's the Dodgers. They're about to
(21:15):
piggyback you all the way to the bank, marketing everything,
and this comes out who you talk about just having
to be focused and having the wherewithal and the surrounding
to be laser circuits focused in your approach to the season.
(21:42):
By that would look at that distraction and be it'd
be very difficult on them. I mean that that we
sorry with Vic say fay I, I don't know if
I could have did it. Yeah, well he did take
a leave of absence. He did it.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Uh, all right, don't forget this hour, not now, but
this hour somebody else went in Dodger Podrey tickets. Let's
talk the presentation of the NBA Finals next.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
We've made it even easier to take LA Sports with
you this summer. Make AM five to seventy or your
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Speaker 2 (22:31):
Oh yes, come on down to Home Stretch on a Monday.
Rodney Pete, Fred Rogan good stuff. By the way, he
had all this talk about o'tan He's gonna go one, two,
three and only throw nine pitches for it. Let's just
throw all what we just talked about out the window.
He'll definitely get to the first inning. I think unscathed. Well,
(22:53):
one of two things are gonna happen, folks. He's gonna
mow him down or they gonna just tattoo him one
of the other. I don't think there's gonna be any between.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
The guy isn't pitched, so he'll go out there, he'll
be ready, he'll look great, blow him down, or he'll
give up a couple of runs. I don't think there's
anything between tonight and I don't know who's more excited
for this, him or the fans.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Oh the fans, Oh, the fans. Fans. The fans have
this game. Now that it was that it was announced.
You know, Otani's gonna get through this first inning, Fred
with every fan I would say ninety percent of them
thinking it's going to be one, two three with him
only throwing nine pitches tops. Yeah. Yeah, he's a god.
(23:43):
He's a god, and so if there's no getting around it,
there's no option of him having a bad inning. Thread
in the minds of the fans, Yeah, it doesn't matter.
It will be great.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
If he gave up four runs, it would be great. No,
I'm saying in the in the fans mind, it'd be great.
Just to see him out there, it's great.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
It doesn't make it a bit of difference. It's gonna
be great for the fans.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
All right.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
So, uh, NBA Finals, who's in? Who's watching?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Seriously?
Speaker 1 (24:19):
Where are we at on this, folks? Because the truth
of the matter is, uh, there doesn't seem to be
the kind of excitement that a finals would provide. You
can make the argument, why not Indiana and Oklahoma City
with a series tied to two. It's a good series,
(24:39):
it's a good series, but it's not a lot of buzz.
Nobody transcends. That's one of the reasons why in sports,
it's someone who transcends the sport of Michael Jordan, of
Magic Johnson, a Tiger Woods. People that transcend Otani, right,
(25:00):
They transcend their sport and the events become bigger. Nobody
transcendent on these two teams, and they're from smaller markets.
It just doesn't seem to be a lot of buzz.
Piece in the athletic written. You know, somebody said it
looks like a NASCAR. Everything sponsored, Every single thing is sponsored.
Wherever you turn something sponsored, it doesn't look special, it
(25:24):
doesn't feel special.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Do you feel that way? Do you feel like it's
a NASCAR even though you know the NBA is going
that direction where there're you know, more and more things
are sponsored. I noticed how they kind of subtly putting
things in on you know, more things on the court
at the UH you know, announcer's desk, there's there's other
ads and things like that, and you know, players and
(25:47):
teams have more and more little logos on their jerseys.
You know that they're represented by Suddenly they're they're they're
starting to be open to all of this advertisement that
on the jerseys.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Now, Yeah, because it's money in Do I think that's
the problem. I don't. I really don't think they'll see
issue at all. I think the issue is the product
is what it is. You have two teams from smaller markets,
no transcendent player on either that doesn't cross over in
the mainstream. And I think the NBA at times can
(26:21):
be a tough watch. The NBA is star driven. These
teams have stars, but no one he knows who they are.
You go, well, SGA, you know who he is. We
know who he is. Trust me. The average person has
no clue.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
No they don't, No, they don't. And what do you
think it is more about the smaller market or the
or the lack of true quote superstars that we've seen
before Steph Curry, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, something like that.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
It's equal market. I'll put it like this. If Caitlin
Clark was playing for the Indiana Pacers, there would be
an enormous audience for this. Yeah, there would be an
enormous audience.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
Lebron played in Cleveland and those are pretty highly rated
finals because it was Lebron.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Right, there's just nobody big enough now to be fair.
The way they're doing it is probably the way you
want to build NBA teams, and they won't be able
to remain that way long because the guys are gonna
have to get paid and then they're gonna have to
leave and they'll run into the same thing every other
team does. You pay so many people a lot of
money and the rest not so much. But they'll get there.
(27:33):
But because they built the way they did at least
the Thunder now it all works. You need stars. The
NBA star driven one thing, NBC said, the new TV
partner for the league, And NBC always thinks like this,
by the way, little things that means something, But you
don't really think they do what they're gonna do next
(27:54):
year in their games. They're gonna take the announcement of
the starting lineups. If you think about that, you don't
see that on TV, No you don't, You really don't.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You used to. Yep, and now from North Carolina, remember
that you always hear that m hm.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
They're gonna take that, maybe give it a little more authenticity.
There's also some thought about the courts and maybe they'd
put v Larry O'Brien trophy back on the court. That's
what Adam Silver was saying, the big image. I look
at it like this, you know, the NBA Cup games.
I think they should change the courts to NBA Cup.
(28:39):
That's what I think.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
I mean.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
The NBA is a video game, don't kid yourself. That's
what it is. It's it's built for social media. That's
where their coverage comes from. Those that's their real fan base.
I think the court should be more colorful. I think
maybe in the in the finals, you should have the
same court you did as the NBA Cup. Really mix
(29:04):
it up, make it look different.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Really, why not?
Speaker 1 (29:08):
What do they have to lose? Seriously, what do you
have to lose.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
They don't have anything to lose right now, because, like
you said, it's just it feels bla bah whatever. I
will say.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
It felt different.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
You know.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
I remember the finals in the Lakers and the Celtics
in twenty ten, and that's right in the middle of
when they had the Larry O'Brien trophy on the court,
and it felt different, it felt big. So I'm kind
of with you. You you can say that it's all you know,
window dressing. But to your point, Fred, if the product
isn't doing it for you, then you got to try
to find something else to like make it look different
(29:42):
or feel different, or feel bigger. So it wouldn't hurt.
I think it would actually bring something to the game
if it actually looks a little different.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
You know.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I always use this as an example of something. You guys,
tell me what you think when you talk about how
you distinguish one thing from another. So let's say we
sat down and you were sitting there, and I put
five cups of water on the table. There's five cups
of water. You don't know where they came from, but
you can drink all of them. I'm not fooling around
with you guys or doing anything. So I got five
(30:10):
cups of water on the table. Rodney, you take five.
You know, you taste them, Kevin, you taste them, Ronnie,
you taste them. Five cups of water. They're all in
the exact same kind of cup. When it's all said
and done, I would say to you, tell me what
water is better. You might have a preference. You may,
(30:33):
but at the end of the day, it's all water. Now,
if I showed you the Santi or Arrowhead or whatever
your image, your mind could have been altered by going,
wait a minute, da, Santi is the best. Yeah, I
knew that all along. It's all how things are marketed
(30:54):
and packaged. At the end of the day, it's all water.
But how do you market at vodka? Why is Gray
Goose better than Smirnoff. Well, I don't drink vodka, but
I know why. Initially it was because they charged more
for Gray Goose. It became a higher, higher elevated brand.
(31:16):
People won't know that's got to be better. That's got
to be better. Yeah, it's better.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
I don't know the.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Difference, but I'm saying that was how they did it
to give you.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
But also the packaging, like you mentioned, packeting was better.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Right, it looked better, so you bought that. So now
if you compare that or or you you apply that
to this NBA situation, it's basketball. It's basketball that has
obviously an ending. Now, unlike any regular season game, this
is going to conclude the season, all right, so that
(31:53):
makes it more special. Someone after all of these months
is finally going to win the ultimate prize. Great, but
it's still basketball played the exact same way. So what
makes it special aside from well, somebody's gonna win it all, Well,
it's got to be what surrounds it. It's got to
(32:17):
be how you package it. That's what will make it special.
And I think the NBA missed here and that's the problem.
And they know it. They get it, they get it.
They missed a little bit here. They're not making it
seem special.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
The league, would you say it would be would you
say the same thing if the Lakers and Knicks were
in it.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
Right, And that could be an entirely different situation, But
that's not what we're facing now. So you have to
build for worst case scenario, right, if the Lakers and
Knicks were in it, but the league did all of
these other things as well. Wow, But you always have
to build for worst case scenario, not best case. Yeah,
(33:03):
because that doesn't happen all the time.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yeah. And if you're in a bubble and you live in Indiana,
you live in Oklahoma, it's the best thing in the world, right, well, state,
it's both states are buzzing about it. Those they were
people you know, bring and all those guys announcing the game,
they're talking about they've never seen atmosphere like this, and
and how special it is to be there. But you
(33:28):
got to be there. We watch it on TV. Can't
feel what they're feeling because they're there. But they've all said,
this is the most incredible atmosphere they've seen.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Uh in the finals, right, But again we're watching on TV,
and what is the game made for all sports television streaming?
So yeah, the NBA has an issue, and certainly i'm
the league is gonna look into it. Here we go,
(34:01):
Final ticket winner eight six six nine eighty seven two
five seventy. You are winning tickets for the Dodgers and
Padres tomorrow night, Rodney, what'll call a number?
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I like number five?
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Fred make am five seventy. LA Sports a preset before
you plug in your phone. Presets in the iHeartRadio app
now available with Apple car Play and Android Auto. Just
another easy way to listen to LA's best sports talk.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Yeah, hime on Freddie tickets Home, Roddy Pete, Fred Rogan
kicking off on Monday.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
All right, Henry Lake Balboa, good news for you, my friend.
You're going to the game. Tomorrow. Congratulations rights, that's all
it takes. It's all it takes. You're going to the game.
If you didn't win. On our show, Good News, PMS
will give tickets away every hour, the pregame show will
give tickets away every hour. Well there's one hour, and
(34:56):
then on Dodger Talk they'll give tickets away. So you
just stay right here. We got you covered. We got
you covered. You'll be going to that game tomorrow night
to see the Dodgers and the pod the Padres.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
So this one means a little more tonight, don't you think, Rodney.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, I think so. I think so. We said it
what a week and a half ago when they went
down there they got to win that series and they did,
which was a big series with the Padres. I think
this was this one is equally as important. I mean,
they're all gonna be important, but I think if they
can take two out of well it's four games, if
they can at the worst split with the Padres, it'll
(35:36):
be big for the Dodgers because that means you know
that the Padres are still chasing. So, uh, this is
this is what it's gonna look like down the stretch.
And these these teams that the Dodgers are playing right
now are gonna be there in the end. The Giants,
the Padres are going to be there. Just get get
ready for it. But we can take their heart and
soul for it. That's what we want to do, and
(35:57):
we can do that. Imagine if they take three out
of four from the Padres. Wouldn't surprise me by the way,
you know, but that's a blow. That's a that would
be a huge blow to the little brother down south.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yeah, I'm telling you the Giants probably didn't feel very
good losing to its.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Ring, No, especially when in the first right, Yeah, and
they had they had this, you know, they had the
hole on the series and they you know, playing the
big bad Dodgers in their stadium, were gonna We're coming
in and gonna put it on them. They win the
first one, but yet lose the X two and the
Dodgers posed their will. Just goes to show you know,
(36:33):
these guys I went to I'm sure they walked away gone.
They got a lot of depth on that team. We
don't know who's gonna beat us, Is it gonna be Pies,
who is it gonna beat Who's gonna beat us? Today?
So yeah, this is a big Big four gamer against
the Padres.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
All right, Well, appreciate you listening tickets the rest of
the way, so stay with the radio station, Ronnie, thank you, Kevin,
good work and Rodney we will dissect Otani's first appear
Prent's on the Mound tomorrow right home.
Roggin And Rodney News
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