July 17, 2025 • 41 mins
Scottie Sheffler says he isnt defined by winning in golf and that the joy of winning tournaments is fleeting. We talk more about the Dodgers' start to the 2nd half of the season and take a look at some of the top prospects theyve traded away at the deadline.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Oh yes, and we keep it moving. Keep it moving.
On a throwback Thursday, Rodney Pete Fred Rogan and what
a beautiful throwback Thursday it is. We've, you know, to
button up the All Star Game in which we talked
about last hour. I just wanted to say that I
(00:23):
thought it was probably one of the best ones that
we've had in a long time. That people are engaged,
and I don't remember an All Star Game where people
were talking about it days after like they are now.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
No, I agree that other was great. I thought it
was great. I thought major League Baseball represented itself well.
The event was well produced. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.
And that's another thing. And you can't force people into this.
If you're watching this, you want to think that people
doing it are having fun. It's the All Star Game. Absolutely,
(01:00):
you want to see them having fun. That's fun for you,
that's entertaining for you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
The player's reaction to Schwarber hitting the three home runs
and then went in it at the end was is
everything you need to know because it went back to
Little league, it went back to high school, and the
excitement that guys had it wasn't You didn't feel like
it was all about money. It was about excitement for
(01:27):
your fellow player. And regardless, at that moment they were
all teammates, even though they play on different teams, they
were all rooting for Schwarber and all excited for him. Yeah,
that was great.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
All right, let's get into this for a little bit.
See if you've ever experienced it in your life. And
we all come up from different places. Scotty Scheffler, who's
the best golfer right now?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
By far? By far? He won a lot.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You know what he said? Often times it's kind of empty.
It's kind of an empty feeling. It's not really as
fulfilling as you think it might be. So now you say,
what are you talking about. You're the best golfer in
the world, you're winning, you're doing exactly what people dream
of doing, and you're saying it's not fulfilling. What in
(02:22):
the world are you talking about. I gotta be honest
with you. I see that. I can see what he means. Now, Rodney,
what does he mean? What does he mean? Tell me
what he means? What he means when he said that. Okay,
I was gonna ask you, but I'll tell you what
I think yeah. First, as people, whenever we achieve something,
(02:44):
it's important to remember we're not defined by what we do.
We're defined by who we are. He is a man
with a family that plays golf and he's really good
at golf.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But I think he.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Wins so much, and he's made the comment, I've won,
this is great. Okay, it's Monday. I have to get
ready for next week. He's not even getting to savor
it anymore. It's sort of it's expected, and he's not
even putting pressure on himself, and he's saying it's not fulfilling,
(03:17):
Perhaps because he can't really enjoy the moment because the
next one is coming so quickly, Perhaps because his priorities
as a person have changed with a family and little kids.
Perhaps because at the end of the day, when you
do something so incredibly well, you could even be bored.
(03:41):
There are all these reasons, but I think it's we're
not defined by what we do. We're defined by who
we are. And that's hard, I think for fans to understand.
But if you're one of the people doing it, it
makes complete sense to me. Rodney, you played in the NFL,
(04:03):
you will never be able to lose the hashtag NFL quarterback.
You played at USC, you will never be able to
lose the moniker USC quarterback right now as we sit here.
Are you an NFL quarterback? Are you a USC quarterback?
(04:26):
Or are you Rodney Pete who played football?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I'm just Rodney Pete who happened to play football, happened
to have four kids and their father, happened to be
a husband of thirty years. There's a lot of things,
a lot of things, a lot of aspects to it.
I absolutely get what he's saying. You know, and I
know fans and out there and people that are fanatical
(04:53):
about sports want you to feel every moment, every day
of the week. Look, I play it in that city
of Philadelphia, where you were supposed to hurt, like the
fans hurt when you lose a game, and you're supposed
to feel it for a week. And we used to
(05:14):
get criticized because we went out to dinner on a
Wednesday and people would say, why were you Why are
you out to dinner? You should be practicing, or why
are you out the dinner? You just lost last week.
How can you be out there having laughing and you
guys lost last week. That's just a fanatical nature of
of fans. But but I actually get it. But I
(05:43):
also understand that, Look, it is incredible. You have to
be a tremendous talent to do what he does, and
he is the best in the in the game right now.
He's best golfer out there right now. And I think
that's more of a personal thing Fred of how you
(06:04):
savor the moment, how you deal with the moment, and
one of the things just listening to him, it doesn't
seem like he's gonna be and he's gonna be golfing
for very long. He's gonna get in, he's gonna he's
gonna make his money, he's gonna, you know, do a
few more years, and he's gonna be out because this
is not something that he feels like. It just doesn't
(06:26):
feel like he wants to do long term. You know,
Tiger Woods was different. Tiger Woods eight slept, drink golf,
you know, as he played, and not everybody's like that.
Roy macilroy, I think, is that way he is committed.
He thinks about golf twenty four to seven, whereas think Scotti,
(06:46):
Scheffler doesn't. It's not as important to him. He goes
out he's great, but it's not as important to him,
and that rubs people the wrong way when they don't
feel you have the passion that they think you should
have as a professional ant. That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It rubs people the wrong way, but it doesn't mean
the athlete feels that way. As a fan, you look
at somebody competing and you think you better eat, sleep,
you better get up in the morning, you better think
about it. You better work out, you better train, you
better practice. If you're hurt, you better get healthy. You
better get out there as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We need you.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, but you're not a machine. You're a human being.
You're a human being like the fan is a human being.
You have a life too. Just because they are tied
up in the professional portion of your life doesn't mean
that you're going to conduct yourself in a manner in
which makes them happy. Imagine if there was an accountant
(07:44):
and we talked about accountants, and somehow the accountant got
carpal tunnel syndrome for holding his pen or typing the
wrong way, and he couldn't really move his arm. Therefore
he couldn't get the calculator, and there were problems figuring
out your taxes. Now, using this, we'd go, what the
hell's wrong with you? Get your arm fixed? Get ready?
(08:05):
Aren't you thinking about this? Don't you want to be
at work every day? My god, you should work till midnight.
It's tax season. You don't get a day off, you
don't get a break. You need to return this person's
call immediately. That's what it would be like if everybody
was then focused on the accountant. The accountant would turn
around and go, I got it. But I got a
(08:25):
job too. I mean, I got a family, I got
a life. So it's not different for the athlete. You
know what, I got a life. I love what I do,
don't get me wrong. That's where Anthony Rendon kind of
stepped in it a couple of years back. If you
remember when they asked him about his health and wanting
(08:46):
to come back. He said, Hey, I'm good. I got
my family, I know my priorities, and that's what matters
to me.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Easy to say if.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You are on top of the world, probably not what
fans want to hear.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Fans don't want to hear that. And you've got there's
a fine line of I've of what you say publicly
and then what you actually do behind closed doors. And yes,
you you know, the fans, they support you and they
help pay that big time salary that you're getting, so
you gotta there's there's a way to play the game
(09:21):
where you got to cater to it a little bit
and give them what they want and say, yeah, I'm
dying to get back. I can't wait to get back.
I just every day, I just can't wait to get back. Now,
behind closed door, you say, you know, I care more
of my family. If I if I got to choose
between you know, hanging out with my kids or going
to the stadium when I don't have to, I'm I'm
(09:42):
I'm gonna hang out with my kids, right And and
fans don't understand that. But that's not something you really
say out loud. You don't say that to the fans,
you know. And and because fans will hold you accountable
because they sometimes eat, sleep, and breathe whether you win
or lose a particular game. Where is Scotty Scheffler, who
(10:05):
is the best at what he does and it's an
individual sport for him, And that's true too, that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
But let me put it like this, Let's apply Anthony Rendon.
But make him Scotty Scheffler of baseball. So he's that good.
He is that good, and he is playing all the time.
It's not like he's been out for two years. He's
playing and he's that good. And if somebody asks that
(10:34):
guy the question and he goes, I have to tell you.
I love what I do and there's no denying it.
But sometimes for me, I think more about my family.
I'm not saying I don't want to win every day,
don't get me wrong, but you know, sometimes it's even
hard winning. I think fans are going, oh, that's interesting,
(10:54):
let me think about that, because he's the best at
what he does.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
A team sport. But but put it to take take
Rendome but just stays Otani. Otani said, yeah, baseball's great.
I love it, and I make a good living and
I'm the best in the game right now. But my
family is more important than baseball. You know, I love
the Dodgers. I love playing for the Dodgers, but you know,
(11:23):
I'd much rather be with my family than you know,
playing baseball. How do you think fans would react Dodger
fans die, Our Dodger fans would react to that. It's like, yeah,
if we win, we win, but you know, at the
same time, my family's more important.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Well, I don't think they'd react very well to that.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah, but that's what he's saying, Like, I, you know,
I win, I'm excited for two minutes, but then it's over.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think as long as he's producing, they're fine with it. Well,
that's what it is. If he's gonna hit thirty three
home runs or thirty two home runs before the breaks,
the RBI win, the MVP pitch and do all that stuff,
they won't care. He's like, you know what, he's right.
You know, that's a level headed guy right there. But
if he's Anthony rin Doon, right, no, playing less than
(12:11):
three quarters of the season for the last four years
and making thirty eight million dollars a year, they're.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Like, when the hell I resent him? Yeah, they got
to resent him. Now.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
That's probably not fair, but that's what it is. You
can both guys can have the same healthy perspective, but
your performance dictates how people react.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
To it, which is why the Otani comparison is better.
If Otani were to say that it's supposed to redone
saying that because Scheffler's at the top of his game,
and Scheffler is the best in the world right now
and he's winning, and you know, people want him to
be obsessed with it and he's not.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
But see the thing in your point about Otani. If
he says, look, I want to win every day. I
show up to win. But I'll be honest with you.
I think about my family more now too. Mm hm,
you know that's really important to me.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Winning, Yes, we want to win the Division of the
World Series every year. That's what I want to do.
I want to be the best player in baseball every year.
But I'd be less than honest if I didn't say
I'm thinking about my family. I like spending time with
my family too.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Yeah. And Kevin's right.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
If he's hitting thirty three homers and he's going out
and you know, pitching seven plus innings and throwing the
ball one hundred miles an hour and the Dodgers are winning,
people would say, I see, that's why Otani is.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
The way he is.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, he's got that balance, he's got the balance, he's
got the perspective. Whereas Anthony Rendon says it and they go,
oh god, this guy, he doesn't get it. He doesn't
care he doesn't care. In essence, they would both be
saying the same thing. Scotty Scheffler, he kind of said that,
(13:50):
and athletes go through that kind of thing, so much
of it is psychological, and he was just voicing how
he felt about that. But as long as you're the
best at what you do, everybody else that is introspective.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Oh yeah, See, that's a guy wants you to be.
They want you to eat, sleep, and drink that profession
when it comes to sports. Nobody says that about accountants
or or a lawyer or any other business. But when
it comes to your sports team that you go out
there and you work all week and you're like, oh,
(14:26):
I'm gonna spend my money to go to this game
to take my mind off everything else. They want you
to eat, sleep, and drink that sport. And not everybody's
like that. No, in fact, you can't be you can't
be like that. Guys that are like that don't last
very long, to be honest with you, But.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You catch a break if you're really good to what
you do and offer perspective. Right, you don't get a
break if you're a loser. If you're on the PGA
tour and you're struggling to make the cut and on
the year you've earned I don't know, forty five thousand dollars,
(15:05):
and you've got a wife and a child, and you
come out and go, I gotta be honest with you.
What's important to me is my wife and my child.
And you can barely make the cut. It's like you
don't even care. But Scotty Scheffler can say the exact
same thing as the best.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Player in the game. Yeah, and you go, if more
people were just like Scheffler, this would be a different
place exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Isn't it interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
How you do.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Determines and how your message is received really successful?
Speaker 1 (15:37):
You say that, Yeah, somebody's got it together.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Someone who can't overcome can't win, a journeyman at best. See,
that's why that guy stinks. All right, second half of
the baseball season starts tomorrow. Let's start getting into that.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
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 Musk.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Follow us all and many more.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Just go to AM five to seventy LA Sports on
the iHeartRadio wip.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Oh yeah, they say ring my bell on a throwback Thursday,
Ridney Pete, Fred Rogan.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Come on, got an update here, an NBA update before
we get to the Dodgers. Just came down Sham's reporting.
Damian Lilliard is finalizing a three year, forty two million
dollar deal to return to the Trailblazers. So there you go,
David Lollard back in Portland, three years, forty two million.
(16:52):
Uh not gonna play this year now out with the
Achilles injury. Interesting day.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
He's gonna return to UH, to where he made his mark.
The experiment in Milwaukee didn't quite work out the way
they wanted it to. It's unfortunate he got hurt. I
love I love Dame Lillard, but I do like that
that that he's going back to Portland as opposed to
going somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, he'll wrap it up where he started. Yeah, that'll
be the final chapter for him. He'll finish where he started.
And there's nothing wrong with that, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
With you, No, nothing wrong with that at all, you know,
And I know he went there to try to win
a title and and partner with Jannis, and it just
didn't work out. And you know this this day and
age of free agency and guys, and you get to
a point where he carried Portland for so many years
and they couldn't get over the hump. And I mean
they you know, made it to the second round and
(17:51):
and got sometimes got deep in the playoffs, but could
never really they didn't really have the talent to get
over that hump. And he felt that he needed to,
you know, and guys feel that way that they you know,
I need to get a rain, I need to validate
my career. I've been carrying this team forever. I need
to go to a place where I feel like I
can really win. And it didn't work out. Now he's
(18:13):
going back home.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
It's great for him and it's really cool. Nice way
to wrap it up. He gave it a shot, didn't
work And as you point out in the NBA, you know,
there's here's the thing in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You're on a team, and let's say you're really good.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
If that team doesn't really have a shot at a
point where you can go and get paid, you're gonna
go just the way it works. Rarely do somebody stay
in a situation where they're not getting better, where they
don't have a chance to win, because ultimately, even though
they talk about the money and what they want and
they want to get paid and everybody does, they.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Want to win.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
If you don't win, you feel like you missed something,
no matter how much money you made. Is that fair Rodney, Yeah, absolutely,
because ultimately you're you know, you play from the time
you start playing competitive competitive sports, you want to win
the title. You want to win a championship. I don't
(19:13):
care if it's little league, I don't care if it's
high school, wherever it is. You want to win a championship.
And yes, the money is fantastic. Money is great and
you can earn a lot of money and make a living.
And now nowadays in professional sports is generational money. You know,
it's different than it was in the seventy eighties and
nineties and even early two thousand. Now it's generational, So money,
(19:37):
money's not the thing. It is still that burning desire
to win a title, and that never goes away from
the time you're eight years old, so it's always going
to be there.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
But this does tie into what We were talking about
last segment too, because I remember when JJ Redick had
his podcast a couple of years ago, Damian Lillard went
on there and kind of went on a rant about
how he doesn't like the NBA's culture, and I guess
specifically the fans, who you know, if you don't win
a championship, your career is meaningless and ad meant nothing.
And it ties in because he said, like, I mean,
(20:09):
I have a family that I love, and my friend
flies up to Portland and spends time with me, and
all that winning is important, sure, but it's not everything,
and it doesn't define me personally and doesn't define my career.
And Sham's also sent a tweet a couple of sects
and ago saying that it was important for him to
return to Portland because his family has been there, even
though he's been in Milwaukee the last couple of seasons,
that's where his family is and he's really tied to
(20:29):
his family. So it goes back to he could have
signed somewhere. He could have come to the Lakers or
gone to the Celtics or somewhere else if you want
to chase the ring, but he clearly prioritizes being near
his family.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, that was important for him. He took a shot
with Milwaukee and then you know, it didn't really work out.
But at the end of the day, he built his base,
his family, everything that he did for how however, many
years he was in Portland, which I think was double digits,
(21:00):
and he's a kid from Oakland, which is like an
hour flight away, right, so everybody can get back and
forth from Oakland to Portland easy, and sometimes that becomes
more important. Now again, he took a shot. It didn't work,
so go back home. You get to that point.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I think you get to that point when you know
it's a hail Mary for you to win it. He
took a shot, Yeah, all right, he did it. Now
the priority changed when he took the shot. The priority became,
I want to win a title. I've always wanted to.
This is my best shot. I'm taking it right now. Yeah, okay.
(21:41):
When that suddenly evaporated, he went back to what he
is really comfortable with and what his priority is. All right,
second half starts tomorrow. Dodgers are going to get a
crack at Milwaukee. That is a good ball club.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
It is on a roll. Before they all start break
they probably were the only team or one of the
few teams that wish the All Star Break didn't happen
because they were rolling and they are rolling. And again
you mentioned it earlier, Fred, they got that young phenom pitcher,
miss Rowski, who's taken the whole league by storm and
(22:20):
went crazy because with five starts made the All Star
team and everybody, you know, created that controversy around him.
But they have a really, really good team. So you know,
when you start to look, you know, at the National
League and we focus on our division out here with
(22:40):
the Padres and the Giants, and even from a distance
of Diamondbacks, because they can beat they can beat anybody
at any time. They you know, even though they're there
are ways back, there's still, i think people believe, still
a formidable opponent. We focus on the West, but around
baseball in the National League, there are some really good teams,
(23:05):
really good teams, and we you know, we can look
at it and go, oh, yeah, the Phillies. Philly's gonna
be there in the end. You know, Atlantas have a
tough had a tough go. You know, the Mets. You
feel like the Mets are gonna be there at some point.
And end the Cubs have taken the league by storm
as well. They're they're they're rolling. And then Milwaukee is
(23:28):
another team that you got to be. It's gonna be
you know, it's gonna be a gauntlet and a dog
fight in these playoffs as we get ready for it
in October. Thread Oh yeah, here, here's this. It's gonna
be some great matchups.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, one hundred percent. I think you're
completely right. And here's the thing for baseball. Everybody better
watch out now, everybody in Major League Baseball better watch
out because you should have kicked the Dodgers while you could.
You should have got them when you could. This last
(24:03):
stretch here ending the first half of the season. All right,
a couple of people got their licks in. Good, you
got your licks in, But you all should have got
them when you could. Because now it's going to get real.
Now guys are going to come back. Does it get
Does it get real?
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Does it get real in August fifteenth? When does it
get real for teams that say, oh, we had our
shot and we didn't take advantage of it. Because I
think it's just right after the All Star break and
let a lot of people believe, and I know what
you're saying, but they still don't have everybody coming back
right now. They're still waiting on guys. So how long
is that that time frame before people can say, oh,
(24:44):
you had your shot, now you don't have it anymore.
That's a great question. I would say it's already passed. Really, yeah,
I would. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Now, now it's real. After the All Star break, it's real. Yeah,
we get into September, it's very real. But now it's true.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
But the Dodgers are still not at full strength and
they don't get they don't have guys back right now.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
But I'm saying, even without guys back, they win, right.
So these other teams when the pitching was and shambles,
should have got them, like Snelliby back soon, Glassnew's back.
It's a question of O Tany's going to start to
go longer. Now I see what they're doing. Maybe the
(25:27):
next out and he goes three or four. They're just
building them up.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Start looking at the pitching staff and these guys are healthy,
hitting wise, they cannot hit the way they have all year.
They can't. I mean, what do you say, Kevin? They're
scoring five and a half runs a game, but they're
not hitting. They're not hitting the Look what they're.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Doing scoring five runs and not hitting.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, I mean if Mookie sticks is bet out and
the ball hits it, they could score six runs a game.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah. How many teams would take that though, fred would
You just said every team would take that. Every team
would take that. And that's my point. You should have
got him when you could, because Freddie Freeman is not
going to struggle. Betts is not going to hit the
way he's been hitting.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
There.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Now they're coming, Yeah, now they're coming.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Now everybody's going to start firing it up a little bit,
picking it up a little bit more, and all of
a sudden it's going to be oh god, now what
do we do?
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I mean, look at him now. Yeah, they're not the
same team we saw in June. There's a different team now, right.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
The only thing that has to be considered We kind
of kicked it around earlier because now I think it
is real and very important. Your closer's got to close games.
You got to start closing games. There can't be any.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh oops, well who knew?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Oh no, make sure he didn't throw it right over
the middle of the plate and nobody's saying Tanner Scott
doesn't want to pitch. Well, nobody's saying Tanner Scott isn't
dealing with this and it's upsetting to him. I'm sure
it is. The guy's a competitor. He wants to win.
But Dave Roberts said it a hundred times, this is
a performance based business. If it's a performance based business,
(27:10):
they got to perform. Let's put it like this, and
we'll see if this plays out. They're given Michael Conforto
an awful lot of time to try to figure it out,
to try to get it to try to come around.
Now the trade deadline is looming, and it really would
(27:31):
be interesting to determine if they think he can do it.
He's been better this month. You gotta give him credit,
but that has been a gaping hole in the lineup
if you really want to be serious, and you would
think that either he's going to improve dramatically in two
(27:52):
weeks or they're going to find somebody who's better. And
the Dodgers have been winning basically without his production. So
what will they do with him? We'll find out what
will they do with Tanner Scott? A He's not going anywhere.
He's not going anywhere. He's here for three years. Yeah,
(28:13):
and they want to give him the confidence, they want
him to work through it. That's their way, and it's
probably the best thing for the player. But then it
comes down to what point does it affect the team?
And if running him out there is sort of like
an adventure land ride, there's going to be a time
(28:33):
where they can't do that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
They can't do it, they can't do it anymore. Yeah,
there will be a time. I just don't think it's
right now. I think it's somewhere in early mid August
where they figured it out after he he has you know,
four or five more outings and they'll figure it out.
But going back to Conforto, that's a more serious situation
(28:56):
because I think he's they brought him in for a reason, right,
And it's a left handed bat. And if you understand baseball,
you know there are matchups in baseball that favor you
and and that are not in your favor. And you
can't just put a lineup out there with all right
(29:16):
handed hitters. You have to have a mixture of guys
that hit from both sides, and he was going to
be a key component from the left side for the Dodgers,
and he has not delivered, and that is that is
a major major issue. And I don't know. I think
(29:39):
the button or the lever gets pulled on him Fred
faster than it does on Tanner Scott. All you do, Yeah, Hey,
I do, Yeah, I do, because I think Tanner Scott
there's still time to trot him out there and still
see what he's got. Whereas Confordo, because he's a guy
(30:03):
that's going to come up three four times a game
as a left handed hitter, that they got to really
address it or what are we going to do now
going forward? Can we count on him? And if we do,
if we can't, If we figure out that we can't,
then who do we get in here as a left
handed bat that we can play every single day? That's
(30:25):
going to be the concern.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, So I do think that'll be really interesting to
see what they do. And again with the Dodgers, and
we've mentioned it, however they do these things. They figure
out and I don't know how they do it. They
figure out somebody ceiling they are very good at that.
They missed Jordan Alvarez, right, they traded him away, so
(30:50):
they missed on him, And I'm sure, and no one
else comes to mind right now, And I'm sure if
we open the phone lines, it'd be like thirty people.
Everybody would start yelling names out. But what are they
really missed in making these decisions letting guys go? Remember
the great Willy Calhoun? Oh yes, who can forget that
(31:13):
Willie Calhoun? Everybody wanted Willie Calhoun. He was a great player,
best prospect that they had for a while, they let
him go. I think he's an Anaheim now I'm not sure.
Remember Mitch White the picture, Oh yeah, they put him in,
they let him go, They let him work, and you think,
my god, he's in the rotation, he's pitching all the time.
(31:33):
Next thing you know, he's gone, gone. And even even
you know, in this month might sting a little bit.
Gavin Lucks. Gavin Lucks, a fan favored, finally came up here, untouchable,
don't even bring him up, went through his problem, seemed
to be okay, then suffered that horrific injury in spring
(31:54):
training when it really was going to be his turn. Yeah,
and prior to that he did have more moments of brilliance,
and last year he did come up with some big hits,
home grown. Everybody knew him, everybody loved him. Gavin Lux Gone,
Here comes Kim. They know guy's ceilings and they know
(32:18):
when to move them. It's this really unique ability they have.
It's got to be some analytic formula they use because
they don't miss very often. Okay, maybe did they miss
on Pepio to Tampa Bay. He's a solid starter. He
(32:38):
is a solid starter. He is not the ace of
their staff because I watch him pitch. He's solid, not
the ace Miguel Vargas. They gave him more than a look.
I mean, they thought he was really going to be
something gone out, no problem, a fresh start somewhere else
(33:02):
and maybe.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
A genuine number of those guys right that are out there.
Michael Bush is killing it now. See now that might
have been a whiff. But Zach mckinsrey, you're having a
nice year.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
The argument for against Bush, I guess because Dodger fans
have brought this up over the last couple of years,
especially you know, early this year, is that there was
nowhere to put them right. There was just what there
was a roster squeeze. Unfortunately, so in a perfect world,
they keep them. There is nowhere to put it.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
But but you're got to keep them as a pittor, right,
a guy that plays every fifth day because Freddy takes
a break. I mean, it's just it's just nowhere to
put him.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
So, if anything, you did right by him. And this
is a certain degree about trading.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, Cody Bellinger, I.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Will say before we move on you, Bellinger's one. But
in that trade for Bush, that's how they got their
top prospect. Now that just won the MVP of the
Futures Game, I believe. So not only they turned some
of these guys out, they flip them for other guys
who potentially could be part of their future.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
And they know they know internally, they know who they
got in the pipeline, like they know better than we
do that this guy's gonna be a star. And we're
we're okay with letting Michael Bush go. We're okay with
letting Willie Cajun go.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
You know they were okay letting Corey Singer go. Yeah,
they were okay letting Cody Bellinger go. Cody Bellinger's not
signed that twelve.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Year deal anywhere, I.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Might add, Yeah, yeah, of course he's a nice player.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Cory Seger did, though Corey didn't.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But he you know, and as painful as it is
to have seen him leave, he has had a series
of a history of injuries. A play every game.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I'll bring up a couple of mo by the way, uh,
Cabert Ruiz, Josiah Gray. That was their number one, of
their number two prospects in their system who they flipped
for Max Schurz or and Trade Turner, and neither of
those guys have turned into you know, really pretub.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Ra was the guy, right, that was he was another
one like Willie Calhoune. Oh my god, this guy is
gonna be a superstar and he's just starting catcher in Washington. Yeah,
he is a starter, but he's not.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
I got I got forty seven two home runs.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Right, I mean, but that's what he is. So they
knew that too. It's it's really interesting and I fould
like to ask Andrew Friedman how they determined this kind
of thing, and he would never tell us what the
formula is.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Yeah, because they you said it back in the day
where they knew, they knew Yassi Helpwig had a ceiling
and that was they were gonna get. They got the
best out of the day they could ever get from him,
which you know, Dodger fans went crazy when he was
gone because he was a fan favorite and he you know,
(36:05):
he was a lightning rod because he lit it up
on so many different levels. But there was only so
far he could go, and the Dodgers knew that.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Okay, there's only far, so far we can go today too,
We're almost out of time, so we'll wrap it up.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
We've made it even easier to take LA Sports with
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Speaker 1 (36:51):
Huh huh oh yeah. Jazz it up, Ronnie, jazz it up, Ronnie.
Go ahead, I feel you. Throw Back Thursday, winding it down,
Rogan and Rodney, let's go before we get out of here.
Kevin Gers. Kevin just sent this.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I'm sorry, but it's in viral all day long. And
then the c.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Yeah, because I'm behind the times, and the CEO just
released a statement.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
If you don't know CEO Andy Byron of the company.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
It's called Astronomer it's like a data analytics company of
some sort.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
All right, he's at a Coldplay concert and they've got
the end stadium in arena cameras and they're panning the
crowd and they just happened to see Andy Byron. Now
they don't know who Andy is, but they thought Andy
was with his wife, the CEO of this company, and
he's got his arms around her and he's behind her
(37:55):
and they're kind of rocking to the music. Well, what
happens is they look up and they see themselves on
the jumbo trot. She turns her head and puts it
down immediately, and he gets out of the picture.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
Almost ducks as if he fail to a trapdoor on
the floor or something.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Yeah. Well, but I mean you could see them both,
and you know, you think that's lovely.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
It's a great moment for a couple to share. Unless
the couple isn't married to each other, unless the guy
is the CEO of the company and the woman is
in charge of HR.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh, hr right, I mean any other department, but hr right,
she's in charge of HR.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
So now, once this clip goes viral, people start talking
about it, and Andy Byron, the CEO, does have to
release a statement, obviously the chief executive office sort of
the company, and he's got his arms around the HR
person and he does, you know, talk about the situation.
(39:07):
He said, I want to acknowledge the moment that has
been circulating online and the disappointment it's caused. You deserve
better than me from a partner or father and as
a leader. But then he adds this at the end,
and this is the great part. He said, I want
to express how troubling it is that what should have
been a private moment became public without my consent. I
(39:29):
respect artists and entertainers, but I hope we can all
think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else's
life into a spectacle. He's mad because the camera caught
him in the arena.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Nothing more private than a concert with thousands of people.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
You know. Yeah, they didn't go on a secret camping
trip in the middle of Yosemite where nobody can track
you or find you or whatever. They were at a
public event, at a concert, where that's what they do
sporting event concerts. They panned the crowd, you know. And
(40:07):
nowadays with AI and technology, they've got so many face
recognition software out there that they can. They can know
who's in the building. As soon as you walk in,
they know who's there. I'm sure somebody's sitting in the
control booth, going okay, so and so just walked in,
(40:27):
and let's find out where he's sitting. So and so
just walked in. Let's find because they do that right
to figure out where guys that people are sitting. And
then they want to get candid shots. And I'm sure
that was it. It's like, oh, he's sitting here. Okay,
here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I don't even know if they knew who he was.
I think they took the shot because it was the
two of them together kind of mud into the music.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Yeah, could beat Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
I think it was just they just thought it was
a sweet moment between a couple who was enjoying the razer.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, very well, and it was probably was.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, it was a very sweet moment between a couple
and only a concert, just not married to each other.
But it was a sweet moment. And the problem was
they should have never put them on camera.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
That was invaded my privacy in this arena full of
thirty thousand people.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
It's wrong with you, right, Blame the others
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Ronnie, thank you, Kevin, good work and Rodney will rop
up the week tomorrow right
Oh yes, and we keep it moving. Keep it moving.
On a throwback Thursday, Rodney Pete Fred Rogan and what
a beautiful throwback Thursday it is. We've, you know, to
button up the All Star Game in which we talked
about last hour. I just wanted to say that I
(00:23):
thought it was probably one of the best ones that
we've had in a long time. That people are engaged,
and I don't remember an All Star Game where people
were talking about it days after like they are now.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
No, I agree that other was great. I thought it
was great. I thought major League Baseball represented itself well.
The event was well produced. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.
And that's another thing. And you can't force people into this.
If you're watching this, you want to think that people
doing it are having fun. It's the All Star Game. Absolutely,
(01:00):
you want to see them having fun. That's fun for you,
that's entertaining for you.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
The player's reaction to Schwarber hitting the three home runs
and then went in it at the end was is
everything you need to know because it went back to
Little league, it went back to high school, and the
excitement that guys had it wasn't You didn't feel like
it was all about money. It was about excitement for
(01:27):
your fellow player. And regardless, at that moment they were
all teammates, even though they play on different teams, they
were all rooting for Schwarber and all excited for him. Yeah,
that was great.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
All right, let's get into this for a little bit.
See if you've ever experienced it in your life. And
we all come up from different places. Scotty Scheffler, who's
the best golfer right now?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
By far? By far? He won a lot.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
You know what he said? Often times it's kind of empty.
It's kind of an empty feeling. It's not really as
fulfilling as you think it might be. So now you say,
what are you talking about. You're the best golfer in
the world, you're winning, you're doing exactly what people dream
of doing, and you're saying it's not fulfilling. What in
(02:22):
the world are you talking about. I gotta be honest
with you. I see that. I can see what he means. Now, Rodney,
what does he mean? What does he mean? Tell me
what he means? What he means when he said that. Okay,
I was gonna ask you, but I'll tell you what
I think yeah. First, as people, whenever we achieve something,
(02:44):
it's important to remember we're not defined by what we do.
We're defined by who we are. He is a man
with a family that plays golf and he's really good
at golf.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
But I think he.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Wins so much, and he's made the comment, I've won,
this is great. Okay, it's Monday. I have to get
ready for next week. He's not even getting to savor
it anymore. It's sort of it's expected, and he's not
even putting pressure on himself, and he's saying it's not fulfilling,
(03:17):
Perhaps because he can't really enjoy the moment because the
next one is coming so quickly, Perhaps because his priorities
as a person have changed with a family and little kids.
Perhaps because at the end of the day, when you
do something so incredibly well, you could even be bored.
(03:41):
There are all these reasons, but I think it's we're
not defined by what we do. We're defined by who
we are. And that's hard, I think for fans to understand.
But if you're one of the people doing it, it
makes complete sense to me. Rodney, you played in the NFL,
(04:03):
you will never be able to lose the hashtag NFL quarterback.
You played at USC, you will never be able to
lose the moniker USC quarterback right now as we sit here.
Are you an NFL quarterback? Are you a USC quarterback?
(04:26):
Or are you Rodney Pete who played football?
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I'm just Rodney Pete who happened to play football, happened
to have four kids and their father, happened to be
a husband of thirty years. There's a lot of things,
a lot of things, a lot of aspects to it.
I absolutely get what he's saying. You know, and I
know fans and out there and people that are fanatical
(04:53):
about sports want you to feel every moment, every day
of the week. Look, I play it in that city
of Philadelphia, where you were supposed to hurt, like the
fans hurt when you lose a game, and you're supposed
to feel it for a week. And we used to
(05:14):
get criticized because we went out to dinner on a
Wednesday and people would say, why were you Why are
you out to dinner? You should be practicing, or why
are you out the dinner? You just lost last week.
How can you be out there having laughing and you
guys lost last week. That's just a fanatical nature of
of fans. But but I actually get it. But I
(05:43):
also understand that, Look, it is incredible. You have to
be a tremendous talent to do what he does, and
he is the best in the in the game right now.
He's best golfer out there right now. And I think
that's more of a personal thing Fred of how you
(06:04):
savor the moment, how you deal with the moment, and
one of the things just listening to him, it doesn't
seem like he's gonna be and he's gonna be golfing
for very long. He's gonna get in, he's gonna he's
gonna make his money, he's gonna, you know, do a
few more years, and he's gonna be out because this
is not something that he feels like. It just doesn't
(06:26):
feel like he wants to do long term. You know,
Tiger Woods was different. Tiger Woods eight slept, drink golf,
you know, as he played, and not everybody's like that.
Roy macilroy, I think, is that way he is committed.
He thinks about golf twenty four to seven, whereas think Scotti,
(06:46):
Scheffler doesn't. It's not as important to him. He goes
out he's great, but it's not as important to him,
and that rubs people the wrong way when they don't
feel you have the passion that they think you should
have as a professional ant. That's right.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It rubs people the wrong way, but it doesn't mean
the athlete feels that way. As a fan, you look
at somebody competing and you think you better eat, sleep,
you better get up in the morning, you better think
about it. You better work out, you better train, you
better practice. If you're hurt, you better get healthy. You
better get out there as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
We need you.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Yeah, but you're not a machine. You're a human being.
You're a human being like the fan is a human being.
You have a life too. Just because they are tied
up in the professional portion of your life doesn't mean
that you're going to conduct yourself in a manner in
which makes them happy. Imagine if there was an accountant
(07:44):
and we talked about accountants, and somehow the accountant got
carpal tunnel syndrome for holding his pen or typing the
wrong way, and he couldn't really move his arm. Therefore
he couldn't get the calculator, and there were problems figuring
out your taxes. Now, using this, we'd go, what the
hell's wrong with you? Get your arm fixed? Get ready?
(08:05):
Aren't you thinking about this? Don't you want to be
at work every day? My god, you should work till midnight.
It's tax season. You don't get a day off, you
don't get a break. You need to return this person's
call immediately. That's what it would be like if everybody
was then focused on the accountant. The accountant would turn
around and go, I got it. But I got a
(08:25):
job too. I mean, I got a family, I got
a life. So it's not different for the athlete. You
know what, I got a life. I love what I do,
don't get me wrong. That's where Anthony Rendon kind of
stepped in it a couple of years back. If you
remember when they asked him about his health and wanting
(08:46):
to come back. He said, Hey, I'm good. I got
my family, I know my priorities, and that's what matters
to me.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Easy to say if.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
You are on top of the world, probably not what
fans want to hear.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Fans don't want to hear that. And you've got there's
a fine line of I've of what you say publicly
and then what you actually do behind closed doors. And yes,
you you know, the fans, they support you and they
help pay that big time salary that you're getting, so
you gotta there's there's a way to play the game
(09:21):
where you got to cater to it a little bit
and give them what they want and say, yeah, I'm
dying to get back. I can't wait to get back.
I just every day, I just can't wait to get back. Now,
behind closed door, you say, you know, I care more
of my family. If I if I got to choose
between you know, hanging out with my kids or going
to the stadium when I don't have to, I'm I'm
(09:42):
I'm gonna hang out with my kids, right And and
fans don't understand that. But that's not something you really
say out loud. You don't say that to the fans,
you know. And and because fans will hold you accountable
because they sometimes eat, sleep, and breathe whether you win
or lose a particular game. Where is Scotty Scheffler, who
(10:05):
is the best at what he does and it's an
individual sport for him, And that's true too, that's true.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
But let me put it like this, Let's apply Anthony Rendon.
But make him Scotty Scheffler of baseball. So he's that good.
He is that good, and he is playing all the time.
It's not like he's been out for two years. He's
playing and he's that good. And if somebody asks that
(10:34):
guy the question and he goes, I have to tell you.
I love what I do and there's no denying it.
But sometimes for me, I think more about my family.
I'm not saying I don't want to win every day,
don't get me wrong, but you know, sometimes it's even
hard winning. I think fans are going, oh, that's interesting,
(10:54):
let me think about that, because he's the best at
what he does.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
A team sport. But but put it to take take
Rendome but just stays Otani. Otani said, yeah, baseball's great.
I love it, and I make a good living and
I'm the best in the game right now. But my
family is more important than baseball. You know, I love
the Dodgers. I love playing for the Dodgers, but you know,
(11:23):
I'd much rather be with my family than you know,
playing baseball. How do you think fans would react Dodger
fans die, Our Dodger fans would react to that. It's like, yeah,
if we win, we win, but you know, at the
same time, my family's more important.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Well, I don't think they'd react very well to that.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Yeah, but that's what he's saying, Like, I, you know,
I win, I'm excited for two minutes, but then it's over.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think as long as he's producing, they're fine with it. Well,
that's what it is. If he's gonna hit thirty three
home runs or thirty two home runs before the breaks,
the RBI win, the MVP pitch and do all that stuff,
they won't care. He's like, you know what, he's right.
You know, that's a level headed guy right there. But
if he's Anthony rin Doon, right, no, playing less than
(12:11):
three quarters of the season for the last four years
and making thirty eight million dollars a year, they're.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Like, when the hell I resent him? Yeah, they got
to resent him. Now.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
That's probably not fair, but that's what it is. You
can both guys can have the same healthy perspective, but
your performance dictates how people react.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
To it, which is why the Otani comparison is better.
If Otani were to say that it's supposed to redone
saying that because Scheffler's at the top of his game,
and Scheffler is the best in the world right now
and he's winning, and you know, people want him to
be obsessed with it and he's not.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
But see the thing in your point about Otani. If
he says, look, I want to win every day. I
show up to win. But I'll be honest with you.
I think about my family more now too. Mm hm,
you know that's really important to me.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Winning, Yes, we want to win the Division of the
World Series every year. That's what I want to do.
I want to be the best player in baseball every year.
But I'd be less than honest if I didn't say
I'm thinking about my family. I like spending time with
my family too.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Yeah. And Kevin's right.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
If he's hitting thirty three homers and he's going out
and you know, pitching seven plus innings and throwing the
ball one hundred miles an hour and the Dodgers are winning,
people would say, I see, that's why Otani is.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
The way he is.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Yeah, he's got that balance, he's got the balance, he's
got the perspective. Whereas Anthony Rendon says it and they go,
oh god, this guy, he doesn't get it. He doesn't
care he doesn't care. In essence, they would both be
saying the same thing. Scotty Scheffler, he kind of said that,
(13:50):
and athletes go through that kind of thing, so much
of it is psychological, and he was just voicing how
he felt about that. But as long as you're the
best at what you do, everybody else that is introspective.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Oh yeah, See, that's a guy wants you to be.
They want you to eat, sleep, and drink that profession
when it comes to sports. Nobody says that about accountants
or or a lawyer or any other business. But when
it comes to your sports team that you go out
there and you work all week and you're like, oh,
(14:26):
I'm gonna spend my money to go to this game
to take my mind off everything else. They want you
to eat, sleep, and drink that sport. And not everybody's
like that. No, in fact, you can't be you can't
be like that. Guys that are like that don't last
very long, to be honest with you, But.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You catch a break if you're really good to what
you do and offer perspective. Right, you don't get a
break if you're a loser. If you're on the PGA
tour and you're struggling to make the cut and on
the year you've earned I don't know, forty five thousand dollars,
(15:05):
and you've got a wife and a child, and you
come out and go, I gotta be honest with you.
What's important to me is my wife and my child.
And you can barely make the cut. It's like you
don't even care. But Scotty Scheffler can say the exact
same thing as the best.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Player in the game. Yeah, and you go, if more
people were just like Scheffler, this would be a different
place exactly.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Isn't it interesting.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
How you do.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Determines and how your message is received really successful?
Speaker 1 (15:37):
You say that, Yeah, somebody's got it together.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Someone who can't overcome can't win, a journeyman at best. See,
that's why that guy stinks. All right, second half of
the baseball season starts tomorrow. Let's start getting into that.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
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 Musk.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Follow us all and many more.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
Just go to AM five to seventy LA Sports on
the iHeartRadio wip.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Oh yeah, they say ring my bell on a throwback Thursday,
Ridney Pete, Fred Rogan.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Come on, got an update here, an NBA update before
we get to the Dodgers. Just came down Sham's reporting.
Damian Lilliard is finalizing a three year, forty two million
dollar deal to return to the Trailblazers. So there you go,
David Lollard back in Portland, three years, forty two million.
(16:52):
Uh not gonna play this year now out with the
Achilles injury. Interesting day.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
He's gonna return to UH, to where he made his mark.
The experiment in Milwaukee didn't quite work out the way
they wanted it to. It's unfortunate he got hurt. I
love I love Dame Lillard, but I do like that
that that he's going back to Portland as opposed to
going somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Yeah, he'll wrap it up where he started. Yeah, that'll
be the final chapter for him. He'll finish where he started.
And there's nothing wrong with that, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
With you, No, nothing wrong with that at all, you know,
And I know he went there to try to win
a title and and partner with Jannis, and it just
didn't work out. And you know this this day and
age of free agency and guys, and you get to
a point where he carried Portland for so many years
and they couldn't get over the hump. And I mean
they you know, made it to the second round and
(17:51):
and got sometimes got deep in the playoffs, but could
never really they didn't really have the talent to get
over that hump. And he felt that he needed to,
you know, and guys feel that way that they you know,
I need to get a rain, I need to validate
my career. I've been carrying this team forever. I need
to go to a place where I feel like I
can really win. And it didn't work out. Now he's
(18:13):
going back home.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
It's great for him and it's really cool. Nice way
to wrap it up. He gave it a shot, didn't
work And as you point out in the NBA, you know,
there's here's the thing in the NBA.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
You're on a team, and let's say you're really good.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
If that team doesn't really have a shot at a
point where you can go and get paid, you're gonna
go just the way it works. Rarely do somebody stay
in a situation where they're not getting better, where they
don't have a chance to win, because ultimately, even though
they talk about the money and what they want and
they want to get paid and everybody does, they.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Want to win.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
If you don't win, you feel like you missed something,
no matter how much money you made. Is that fair Rodney, Yeah, absolutely,
because ultimately you're you know, you play from the time
you start playing competitive competitive sports, you want to win
the title. You want to win a championship. I don't
(19:13):
care if it's little league, I don't care if it's
high school, wherever it is. You want to win a championship.
And yes, the money is fantastic. Money is great and
you can earn a lot of money and make a living.
And now nowadays in professional sports is generational money. You know,
it's different than it was in the seventy eighties and
nineties and even early two thousand. Now it's generational, So money,
(19:37):
money's not the thing. It is still that burning desire
to win a title, and that never goes away from
the time you're eight years old, so it's always going
to be there.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
But this does tie into what We were talking about
last segment too, because I remember when JJ Redick had
his podcast a couple of years ago, Damian Lillard went
on there and kind of went on a rant about
how he doesn't like the NBA's culture, and I guess
specifically the fans, who you know, if you don't win
a championship, your career is meaningless and ad meant nothing.
And it ties in because he said, like, I mean,
(20:09):
I have a family that I love, and my friend
flies up to Portland and spends time with me, and
all that winning is important, sure, but it's not everything,
and it doesn't define me personally and doesn't define my career.
And Sham's also sent a tweet a couple of sects
and ago saying that it was important for him to
return to Portland because his family has been there, even
though he's been in Milwaukee the last couple of seasons,
that's where his family is and he's really tied to
(20:29):
his family. So it goes back to he could have
signed somewhere. He could have come to the Lakers or
gone to the Celtics or somewhere else if you want
to chase the ring, but he clearly prioritizes being near
his family.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Yeah, that was important for him. He took a shot
with Milwaukee and then you know, it didn't really work out.
But at the end of the day, he built his base,
his family, everything that he did for how however, many
years he was in Portland, which I think was double digits,
(21:00):
and he's a kid from Oakland, which is like an
hour flight away, right, so everybody can get back and
forth from Oakland to Portland easy, and sometimes that becomes
more important. Now again, he took a shot. It didn't work,
so go back home. You get to that point.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I think you get to that point when you know
it's a hail Mary for you to win it. He
took a shot, Yeah, all right, he did it. Now
the priority changed when he took the shot. The priority became,
I want to win a title. I've always wanted to.
This is my best shot. I'm taking it right now. Yeah, okay.
(21:41):
When that suddenly evaporated, he went back to what he
is really comfortable with and what his priority is. All right,
second half starts tomorrow. Dodgers are going to get a
crack at Milwaukee. That is a good ball club.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
It is on a roll. Before they all start break
they probably were the only team or one of the
few teams that wish the All Star Break didn't happen
because they were rolling and they are rolling. And again
you mentioned it earlier, Fred, they got that young phenom pitcher,
miss Rowski, who's taken the whole league by storm and
(22:20):
went crazy because with five starts made the All Star
team and everybody, you know, created that controversy around him.
But they have a really, really good team. So you know,
when you start to look, you know, at the National
League and we focus on our division out here with
(22:40):
the Padres and the Giants, and even from a distance
of Diamondbacks, because they can beat they can beat anybody
at any time. They you know, even though they're there
are ways back, there's still, i think people believe, still
a formidable opponent. We focus on the West, but around
baseball in the National League, there are some really good teams,
(23:05):
really good teams, and we you know, we can look
at it and go, oh, yeah, the Phillies. Philly's gonna
be there in the end. You know, Atlantas have a
tough had a tough go. You know, the Mets. You
feel like the Mets are gonna be there at some point.
And end the Cubs have taken the league by storm
as well. They're they're they're rolling. And then Milwaukee is
(23:28):
another team that you got to be. It's gonna be
you know, it's gonna be a gauntlet and a dog
fight in these playoffs as we get ready for it
in October. Thread Oh yeah, here, here's this. It's gonna
be some great matchups.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, yeah, I agree, one hundred percent. I think you're
completely right. And here's the thing for baseball. Everybody better
watch out now, everybody in Major League Baseball better watch
out because you should have kicked the Dodgers while you could.
You should have got them when you could. This last
(24:03):
stretch here ending the first half of the season. All right,
a couple of people got their licks in. Good, you
got your licks in, But you all should have got
them when you could. Because now it's going to get real.
Now guys are going to come back. Does it get
Does it get real?
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Now?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Does it get real in August fifteenth? When does it
get real for teams that say, oh, we had our
shot and we didn't take advantage of it. Because I
think it's just right after the All Star break and
let a lot of people believe, and I know what
you're saying, but they still don't have everybody coming back
right now. They're still waiting on guys. So how long
is that that time frame before people can say, oh,
(24:44):
you had your shot, now you don't have it anymore.
That's a great question. I would say it's already passed. Really, yeah,
I would. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Now, now it's real. After the All Star break, it's real. Yeah,
we get into September, it's very real. But now it's true.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
But the Dodgers are still not at full strength and
they don't get they don't have guys back right now.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
But I'm saying, even without guys back, they win, right.
So these other teams when the pitching was and shambles,
should have got them, like Snelliby back soon, Glassnew's back.
It's a question of O Tany's going to start to
go longer. Now I see what they're doing. Maybe the
(25:27):
next out and he goes three or four. They're just
building them up.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Now.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Start looking at the pitching staff and these guys are healthy,
hitting wise, they cannot hit the way they have all year.
They can't. I mean, what do you say, Kevin? They're
scoring five and a half runs a game, but they're
not hitting. They're not hitting the Look what they're.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
Doing scoring five runs and not hitting.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Yeah, I mean if Mookie sticks is bet out and
the ball hits it, they could score six runs a game.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah. How many teams would take that though, fred would
You just said every team would take that. Every team
would take that. And that's my point. You should have
got him when you could, because Freddie Freeman is not
going to struggle. Betts is not going to hit the
way he's been hitting.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
There.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Now they're coming, Yeah, now they're coming.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Now everybody's going to start firing it up a little bit,
picking it up a little bit more, and all of
a sudden it's going to be oh god, now what
do we do?
Speaker 1 (26:25):
I mean, look at him now. Yeah, they're not the
same team we saw in June. There's a different team now, right.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
The only thing that has to be considered We kind
of kicked it around earlier because now I think it
is real and very important. Your closer's got to close games.
You got to start closing games. There can't be any.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh oops, well who knew?
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Oh no, make sure he didn't throw it right over
the middle of the plate and nobody's saying Tanner Scott
doesn't want to pitch. Well, nobody's saying Tanner Scott isn't
dealing with this and it's upsetting to him. I'm sure
it is. The guy's a competitor. He wants to win.
But Dave Roberts said it a hundred times, this is
a performance based business. If it's a performance based business,
(27:10):
they got to perform. Let's put it like this, and
we'll see if this plays out. They're given Michael Conforto
an awful lot of time to try to figure it out,
to try to get it to try to come around.
Now the trade deadline is looming, and it really would
(27:31):
be interesting to determine if they think he can do it.
He's been better this month. You gotta give him credit,
but that has been a gaping hole in the lineup
if you really want to be serious, and you would
think that either he's going to improve dramatically in two
(27:52):
weeks or they're going to find somebody who's better. And
the Dodgers have been winning basically without his production. So
what will they do with him? We'll find out what
will they do with Tanner Scott? A He's not going anywhere.
He's not going anywhere. He's here for three years. Yeah,
(28:13):
and they want to give him the confidence, they want
him to work through it. That's their way, and it's
probably the best thing for the player. But then it
comes down to what point does it affect the team?
And if running him out there is sort of like
an adventure land ride, there's going to be a time
(28:33):
where they can't do that.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
They can't do it, they can't do it anymore. Yeah,
there will be a time. I just don't think it's
right now. I think it's somewhere in early mid August
where they figured it out after he he has you know,
four or five more outings and they'll figure it out.
But going back to Conforto, that's a more serious situation
(28:56):
because I think he's they brought him in for a reason, right,
And it's a left handed bat. And if you understand baseball,
you know there are matchups in baseball that favor you
and and that are not in your favor. And you
can't just put a lineup out there with all right
(29:16):
handed hitters. You have to have a mixture of guys
that hit from both sides, and he was going to
be a key component from the left side for the Dodgers,
and he has not delivered, and that is that is
a major major issue. And I don't know. I think
(29:39):
the button or the lever gets pulled on him Fred
faster than it does on Tanner Scott. All you do, Yeah, Hey,
I do, Yeah, I do, because I think Tanner Scott
there's still time to trot him out there and still
see what he's got. Whereas Confordo, because he's a guy
(30:03):
that's going to come up three four times a game
as a left handed hitter, that they got to really
address it or what are we going to do now
going forward? Can we count on him? And if we do,
if we can't, If we figure out that we can't,
then who do we get in here as a left
handed bat that we can play every single day? That's
(30:25):
going to be the concern.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Yeah, So I do think that'll be really interesting to
see what they do. And again with the Dodgers, and
we've mentioned it, however they do these things. They figure
out and I don't know how they do it. They
figure out somebody ceiling they are very good at that.
They missed Jordan Alvarez, right, they traded him away, so
(30:50):
they missed on him, And I'm sure, and no one
else comes to mind right now, And I'm sure if
we open the phone lines, it'd be like thirty people.
Everybody would start yelling names out. But what are they
really missed in making these decisions letting guys go? Remember
the great Willy Calhoun? Oh yes, who can forget that
(31:13):
Willie Calhoun? Everybody wanted Willie Calhoun. He was a great player,
best prospect that they had for a while, they let
him go. I think he's an Anaheim now I'm not sure.
Remember Mitch White the picture, Oh yeah, they put him in,
they let him go, They let him work, and you think,
my god, he's in the rotation, he's pitching all the time.
(31:33):
Next thing you know, he's gone, gone. And even even
you know, in this month might sting a little bit.
Gavin Lucks. Gavin Lucks, a fan favored, finally came up here, untouchable,
don't even bring him up, went through his problem, seemed
to be okay, then suffered that horrific injury in spring
(31:54):
training when it really was going to be his turn. Yeah,
and prior to that he did have more moments of brilliance,
and last year he did come up with some big hits,
home grown. Everybody knew him, everybody loved him. Gavin Lux Gone,
Here comes Kim. They know guy's ceilings and they know
(32:18):
when to move them. It's this really unique ability they have.
It's got to be some analytic formula they use because
they don't miss very often. Okay, maybe did they miss
on Pepio to Tampa Bay. He's a solid starter. He
(32:38):
is a solid starter. He is not the ace of
their staff because I watch him pitch. He's solid, not
the ace Miguel Vargas. They gave him more than a look.
I mean, they thought he was really going to be
something gone out, no problem, a fresh start somewhere else
(33:02):
and maybe.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
A genuine number of those guys right that are out there.
Michael Bush is killing it now. See now that might
have been a whiff. But Zach mckinsrey, you're having a
nice year.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
The argument for against Bush, I guess because Dodger fans
have brought this up over the last couple of years,
especially you know, early this year, is that there was
nowhere to put them right. There was just what there
was a roster squeeze. Unfortunately, so in a perfect world,
they keep them. There is nowhere to put it.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
But but you're got to keep them as a pittor, right,
a guy that plays every fifth day because Freddy takes
a break. I mean, it's just it's just nowhere to
put him.
Speaker 3 (33:45):
So, if anything, you did right by him. And this
is a certain degree about trading.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah, Cody Bellinger, I.
Speaker 3 (33:51):
Will say before we move on you, Bellinger's one. But
in that trade for Bush, that's how they got their
top prospect. Now that just won the MVP of the
Futures Game, I believe. So not only they turned some
of these guys out, they flip them for other guys
who potentially could be part of their future.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
And they know they know internally, they know who they
got in the pipeline, like they know better than we
do that this guy's gonna be a star. And we're
we're okay with letting Michael Bush go. We're okay with
letting Willie Cajun go.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
You know they were okay letting Corey Singer go. Yeah,
they were okay letting Cody Bellinger go. Cody Bellinger's not
signed that twelve.
Speaker 1 (34:35):
Year deal anywhere, I.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Might add, Yeah, yeah, of course he's a nice player.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Cory Seger did, though Corey didn't.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
But he you know, and as painful as it is
to have seen him leave, he has had a series
of a history of injuries. A play every game.
Speaker 3 (34:58):
I'll bring up a couple of mo by the way, uh,
Cabert Ruiz, Josiah Gray. That was their number one, of
their number two prospects in their system who they flipped
for Max Schurz or and Trade Turner, and neither of
those guys have turned into you know, really pretub.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Ra was the guy, right, that was he was another
one like Willie Calhoune. Oh my god, this guy is
gonna be a superstar and he's just starting catcher in Washington. Yeah,
he is a starter, but he's not.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
I got I got forty seven two home runs.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Right, I mean, but that's what he is. So they
knew that too. It's it's really interesting and I fould
like to ask Andrew Friedman how they determined this kind
of thing, and he would never tell us what the
formula is.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Yeah, because they you said it back in the day
where they knew, they knew Yassi Helpwig had a ceiling
and that was they were gonna get. They got the
best out of the day they could ever get from him,
which you know, Dodger fans went crazy when he was
gone because he was a fan favorite and he you know,
(36:05):
he was a lightning rod because he lit it up
on so many different levels. But there was only so
far he could go, and the Dodgers knew that.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Okay, there's only far, so far we can go today too,
We're almost out of time, so we'll wrap it up.
Speaker 4 (36:28):
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Speaker 1 (36:51):
Huh huh oh yeah. Jazz it up, Ronnie, jazz it up, Ronnie.
Go ahead, I feel you. Throw Back Thursday, winding it down,
Rogan and Rodney, let's go before we get out of here.
Kevin Gers. Kevin just sent this.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
I'm sorry, but it's in viral all day long. And
then the c.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Yeah, because I'm behind the times, and the CEO just
released a statement.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
If you don't know CEO Andy Byron of the company.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
It's called Astronomer it's like a data analytics company of
some sort.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
All right, he's at a Coldplay concert and they've got
the end stadium in arena cameras and they're panning the
crowd and they just happened to see Andy Byron. Now
they don't know who Andy is, but they thought Andy
was with his wife, the CEO of this company, and
he's got his arms around her and he's behind her
(37:55):
and they're kind of rocking to the music. Well, what
happens is they look up and they see themselves on
the jumbo trot. She turns her head and puts it
down immediately, and he gets out of the picture.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
Almost ducks as if he fail to a trapdoor on
the floor or something.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
Yeah. Well, but I mean you could see them both,
and you know, you think that's lovely.
Speaker 2 (38:20):
It's a great moment for a couple to share. Unless
the couple isn't married to each other, unless the guy
is the CEO of the company and the woman is
in charge of HR.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
Oh, hr right, I mean any other department, but hr right,
she's in charge of HR.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
So now, once this clip goes viral, people start talking
about it, and Andy Byron, the CEO, does have to
release a statement, obviously the chief executive office sort of
the company, and he's got his arms around the HR
person and he does, you know, talk about the situation.
(39:07):
He said, I want to acknowledge the moment that has
been circulating online and the disappointment it's caused. You deserve
better than me from a partner or father and as
a leader. But then he adds this at the end,
and this is the great part. He said, I want
to express how troubling it is that what should have
been a private moment became public without my consent. I
(39:29):
respect artists and entertainers, but I hope we can all
think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else's
life into a spectacle. He's mad because the camera caught
him in the arena.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
Nothing more private than a concert with thousands of people.
Speaker 1 (39:46):
You know. Yeah, they didn't go on a secret camping
trip in the middle of Yosemite where nobody can track
you or find you or whatever. They were at a
public event, at a concert, where that's what they do
sporting event concerts. They panned the crowd, you know. And
(40:07):
nowadays with AI and technology, they've got so many face
recognition software out there that they can. They can know
who's in the building. As soon as you walk in,
they know who's there. I'm sure somebody's sitting in the
control booth, going okay, so and so just walked in,
(40:27):
and let's find out where he's sitting. So and so
just walked in. Let's find because they do that right
to figure out where guys that people are sitting. And
then they want to get candid shots. And I'm sure
that was it. It's like, oh, he's sitting here. Okay,
here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
I don't even know if they knew who he was.
I think they took the shot because it was the
two of them together kind of mud into the music.
Speaker 1 (40:49):
Yeah, could beat Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
I think it was just they just thought it was
a sweet moment between a couple who was enjoying the razer.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, very well, and it was probably was.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah, it was a very sweet moment between a couple
and only a concert, just not married to each other.
But it was a sweet moment. And the problem was
they should have never put them on camera.
Speaker 3 (41:10):
That was invaded my privacy in this arena full of
thirty thousand people.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
It's wrong with you, right, Blame the others
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Ronnie, thank you, Kevin, good work and Rodney will rop
up the week tomorrow right
Roggin And Rodney News
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