October 3, 2025 • 12 mins
The ESPN College Football & MLB broadcaster on the calling the Yankees-Red Sox wildcard series, The depth of the Big 12 conference in college football + more
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're two to the Shan O'Connell Show, the Chevrolet Studio
of ESPN and one half.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Inch back at it. On the Shan O'Connell Show. It's
Bryce Larson and Jordan's Bianucci filling in for one Shan
O'Connell on a Friday edition of the program. He'll be
back on Monday. Let's take you through a Utah game
week leading up to that game against Arizona State and more.
We appreciate you joining us. You can normally find us
(00:37):
on the brother station on one O three nine ninety
eight three ESPN the Fan. Right now, let's talk some
Major League Baseball in college football with the one and
the only Roxy Bernstein from ESPN. Roxy. Glad to have
you back on the last time we spoke was in
Eugene for that regional between Oregon and Utah Valley. Have
things been since?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Busy but good busy. You know, just got done working
the Americanly Wild Caught series last night here in New
York and on my way to Seattle for an American
League Division series now ready for the Mariners and Tigers.
After just in a lot of ways at Historic Night
at Yankee Stadium last.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Night, Rockie I wanted to ask you about that right
off the bat. First of all, two parter, what was
Cam and or Cam Schlitzler doing that made him so dominant?
And then second, just what was it like to be
in the Bronx last night? That crowd was insane, that
atmosphere was incredible.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, okay, let's start with Cam Schlitzler first, and you
know it's funny like last night. I had to be
very deliberate the way I said his name, just to
make sure he screwed up, because if he screwed up,
that's a pretty bad lane to go down. His stuff
was electric last night. He was phenomenal, pounding the zone consistently.
(01:53):
The Red Sox got one guy to second base all night.
He was continuously getting ahead of hitters. The Red Sox
just didn't have an answer. His stuff was phenomenal, and
what we saw last night was historic. It had never
been done before ever, necessarily by Yankee or by a rookie.
That has never happened in the postseason in a major
(02:14):
league game where a pitcher struck out as well with
no walks and no runs, and it was in a
winner take all Game three. You're wondering how rookie will
handle that situation, and he wasn't phased by the big
stage of the atmosphere there last night. He was so
dialed in from the opening pitch. He was blowing low
hundreds with his fastball, and it was really exciting to
(02:38):
watch something like that because you could see instantly that
he had something special working for him last night. And
it really is a great story because he grew up
a huge Red Sox fan. We were talking about this
last night. When he was three, his dad took him
to the two thousand and four Red Sox World Series
Championship parade. Grew up a huge Reds fan about twenty
(03:01):
minutes from Fenway Park. His dad is a chief of
police in Needham, Massachusetts, and then one of their own
comes back to haunt the Red Sox last night. For
that atmosphere, you could get a sense for the adrenaline,
the rush, the electricity in the crowd. What was at stake,
winner take all playoff game, Red Sox Yankees, the atmosphere,
(03:23):
It doesn't get any better than we had last night.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
What's the feeling around Aaron Boone in New York? Is
it a World Series or bust? He's gone if he
doesn't get there, what's yeah, what's the vibelike with the
skipper In New York.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
There's some frustration, I think with the fans, But I
think it also I don't want to say a sense
of entitlement for Yankee fans that they expect World Series
or bust every year. But he went to the World
Series last year, and they dealt with some injuries last
year and navigated through a tough stretch ninety four wins,
tied for the division lead with Toronto the Blue Jays,
(03:58):
and the tiebreaker they had the better seed in the postseason.
But there's always pressure and you're always going to be
under the microscope when you're the manager of the New
York Yankees. It's a different New York Yankee establishment now
with George Steinbrenner having passed away and his family's still
running it. How Steinbrenner's got a different outlook than George did. George,
(04:21):
if you didn't win, he considered the season of failure,
or how looks at it with more the glass half full,
that realizes, hey, look you're not going to win it
every year. And Aaron Boone's been in the playoffs every year,
but one and I think it's unfair in a lot
of ways, but it also comes with the territory when
you're the manager of the Yankees. So let's say they
(04:43):
don't get past the Blue Jays. I'd be pretty surprised
if Aaron Boone got let go. He's had a lot
of success here, and I get it there's a frustration
and people were criticizing him after they lost Game one
to the Red Sox and some of the managerial decisions
that he made. They want the series and now they're
moving on.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Roxy. Bernstein's here with us for a couple more minutes
on the Sean O'Connell Show ESPN seven hundred and ninety
two to one FM ROXY. There's currently a conversation going
on about the expanded playoffs and whether or not it
devalues the regular season of Major League Baseball, specifically with
the Cleveland Guardians and the Tigers matchup that we saw
with the Guardians having to face the Tigers. What are
(05:23):
your thoughts on division winners not getting a bye and
having a fight in this three game series with the
wild card and does it devalue the regular season and
what happened there at all.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I don't think it does, and I'm okay with this format.
Initially I was hesitant with bring in the third wildcard in,
but I think it rewards you for the one hundred
and sixty two games. Like you look at the American
League and the Blue Jays and the Mariners had earned
those top two seeds by winning their divisions, and that
puts everybody else in the wildcard in the best of three.
(05:56):
The Guardians did have the advantage that series being played
in Cleveland. They didn't win it, obviously, so the Tigers
are moving on to face the Mariners and heading out
West for Game one tomorrow. But it's yes, I understand
some of the frustration from people that, Okay, it's the
best of three, but I think it's a fair format
(06:16):
and give the Guardians a lot of credit. My goodness,
this team came what the middle of July, they were
fifteen and a half games back and they won the division.
That's incredible what Stephen Vogue did with that team. Considering
that they lose Emmanuel Classe, their lights out closer because
of the off field gambling issue that he's currently suspended.
(06:37):
They gave up with the deadline. They traded Shane Bieber,
former cy Young Award winner, thinking they were out of it,
and here they are in the playoffs. It's really a
remarkable story and the greatest comeback we've seen in Major
League history for a team to come from fifteen and
a half back. This format works, and it was crazy
last Sunday. Every game that involved a playoff team had importance.
(07:00):
Meetings basically were still up for grabs, and this format
I think plays more favorably than the previous formats. I
like the best two out of three in the wildcard
situation instead of just a one game playoff to see
who gets in roxy.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I thought it was impressive how the Tigers bounced back
after that epic collapse in September to take two of
three and win that series in Cleveland. We all know
about cal Rawly. Who else are the Tigers encountering when
they head to Seattle.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
The Seattle to meet could be the best team in
American League, even I know with performance we saw from
Schlitler last night, and certainly Max Free the way he's
pitched and what the Yankees have. The big question with
Seattle is the help of Brian wu their all star starter,
who had to leave the second to last weekend of
the season with a strained pack muscle when he was
(07:51):
facing the Houston Astros. But when Seattle was aggressive of
the deadline, made the moves to go get Josh Naylor,
to go get au Haney Suarez, it really bolstered their lineup.
They already had cal Rawley, who was having a season
for the Ages. We haven't seen a catcher ever do
this before. So to me, with the bullpen as tough
(08:12):
as it is for Seattle and if Wu is healthy,
to me, even though they're the two seed, the Mariners
could be the team to beat in the Americanly.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
All right, Roxy, Before we let you go, we got
to get your your thoughts on some college football here.
We're here in Big twelve Country, of course, the home
of the uth What are your thoughts on the Big
twelve right now? Of course, Utah loses to Texas Tech.
There's a couple of really good football teams in this conference.
How do you see the rest of the season playing
out here in Big twelve Country?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
It's kind of a free for all. Right, Just when
you think you figure things out, you really haven't figured
anything out. And like, for example, I was thinking, Okay, TCU,
here's a team that could maybe take a run at
the Big Twelve title. I'm not saying that they can't,
but they blow that seventeen to nothing lead last Friday
night at Arizona State and all of a sudden now
(09:01):
and Josh Hoover had a couple of bad mistakes in
that game, and so TCU takes a step back. Texas
Tech is really good, and I like the way Utah
rebounded against West Virginia last week. I think that was
really important for them. But from week to week, it
really is tough to figure out the Big Twelve, maybe
(09:22):
more so than any other league in college football, just
because I think there's so many good teams. There's no
dominant team in the Big Twelve, but a lot of
really good football's being played, so that makes it more
challenging and leaves the race wide open. For example, we
saw Arizona State come out of nowhere and went it
last year. I think this year for Kenny Dillingham's team,
(09:43):
it's the feelings a little bit different because the targets
on their back as opposed to last year, and nobody
expected them to do what they did, and from week
to week, you really have to be dialed in and
it to me it's the most wide open power conference
in college football.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
All right, Roxey, we appreciate your time. Thanks jumping on
with us here. Before we do, let you go though.
One last thing. The last time I mentioned the last
time we saw you was in Eugene for that regional
Utah Valley in Oregon. Where does that rank with Ansonnaro's
getting thrown out, him running over the catcher, the plate
and Mason Strong and then of course Utah Valley's upset
(10:18):
of Oregon, where does that rank on the craziest or
regionals that you've called in your career?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And that was bizarre. And I've had a lot of
dramatic regionals. I've seen a walk off to win a
regional from Stanford when they beat Texas State a few
years ago at Sunk and Diamond on the Farm. But
that one has to be right there, just because the controversy,
And still I think to this day, I don't think
(10:46):
the umpire and crew got that call correct. Now, I
do believe that some of the call was correct, but
I don't think they viewed it totally correctly. And it
was still it created a lot of dialogue discussion clearly
around the landscape of college baseball, the significance of it
because it's a four seed. Utah Vlley goes in and
(11:06):
beats the top seed and the home team and Oregon
went to and out, which is pretty shocking considering how
good they were in the season. But it was more
early in that regional, for example, the craziness that we saw,
and then as the regional went on, the power of Arizona,
all the home runs that they hit to win that
regional and move on.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
How did the atmosphere compare to other atmospheres that you've seen,
because that was one of the craziest college baseball atmospheres
we've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
It was really good. It was really good those two,
especially that Utah Valley Oregon game, because so much for
at steak. When the home team gets eliminated, it kind
of creates this dug feeling because the energy, I mean,
if the acid is not going to be there in
the ballpark. So we're there on Sunday right where there's
three teams left and not one of them is Oregon.
(11:56):
It kind of took away from the atmosphere in the
rush that you they get. But it was for those
two games at Oregon played, and especially the game against
Utah Valley on the Friday night that was just a
tremendous atmosphere for college baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yes it was. Hey, Roxy, thanks again for jumping on
with us. Safe travels, my friend, good luck on the call.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
All right, Thanks guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That is Roxy Bernstein of ESPN.
You're two to the Shan O'Connell Show, the Chevrolet Studio
of ESPN and one half.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Inch back at it. On the Shan O'Connell Show. It's
Bryce Larson and Jordan's Bianucci filling in for one Shan
O'Connell on a Friday edition of the program. He'll be
back on Monday. Let's take you through a Utah game
week leading up to that game against Arizona State and more.
We appreciate you joining us. You can normally find us
(00:37):
on the brother station on one O three nine ninety
eight three ESPN the Fan. Right now, let's talk some
Major League Baseball in college football with the one and
the only Roxy Bernstein from ESPN. Roxy. Glad to have
you back on the last time we spoke was in
Eugene for that regional between Oregon and Utah Valley. Have
things been since?
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Busy but good busy. You know, just got done working
the Americanly Wild Caught series last night here in New
York and on my way to Seattle for an American
League Division series now ready for the Mariners and Tigers.
After just in a lot of ways at Historic Night
at Yankee Stadium last.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Night, Rockie I wanted to ask you about that right
off the bat. First of all, two parter, what was
Cam and or Cam Schlitzler doing that made him so dominant?
And then second, just what was it like to be
in the Bronx last night? That crowd was insane, that
atmosphere was incredible.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well, okay, let's start with Cam Schlitzler first, and you
know it's funny like last night. I had to be
very deliberate the way I said his name, just to
make sure he screwed up, because if he screwed up,
that's a pretty bad lane to go down. His stuff
was electric last night. He was phenomenal, pounding the zone consistently.
(01:53):
The Red Sox got one guy to second base all night.
He was continuously getting ahead of hitters. The Red Sox
just didn't have an answer. His stuff was phenomenal, and
what we saw last night was historic. It had never
been done before ever, necessarily by Yankee or by a rookie.
That has never happened in the postseason in a major
(02:14):
league game where a pitcher struck out as well with
no walks and no runs, and it was in a
winner take all Game three. You're wondering how rookie will
handle that situation, and he wasn't phased by the big
stage of the atmosphere there last night. He was so
dialed in from the opening pitch. He was blowing low
hundreds with his fastball, and it was really exciting to
(02:38):
watch something like that because you could see instantly that
he had something special working for him last night. And
it really is a great story because he grew up
a huge Red Sox fan. We were talking about this
last night. When he was three, his dad took him
to the two thousand and four Red Sox World Series
Championship parade. Grew up a huge Reds fan about twenty
(03:01):
minutes from Fenway Park. His dad is a chief of
police in Needham, Massachusetts, and then one of their own
comes back to haunt the Red Sox last night. For
that atmosphere, you could get a sense for the adrenaline,
the rush, the electricity in the crowd. What was at stake,
winner take all playoff game, Red Sox Yankees, the atmosphere,
(03:23):
It doesn't get any better than we had last night.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
What's the feeling around Aaron Boone in New York? Is
it a World Series or bust? He's gone if he
doesn't get there, what's yeah, what's the vibelike with the
skipper In New York.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
There's some frustration, I think with the fans, But I
think it also I don't want to say a sense
of entitlement for Yankee fans that they expect World Series
or bust every year. But he went to the World
Series last year, and they dealt with some injuries last
year and navigated through a tough stretch ninety four wins,
tied for the division lead with Toronto the Blue Jays,
(03:58):
and the tiebreaker they had the better seed in the postseason.
But there's always pressure and you're always going to be
under the microscope when you're the manager of the New
York Yankees. It's a different New York Yankee establishment now
with George Steinbrenner having passed away and his family's still
running it. How Steinbrenner's got a different outlook than George did. George,
(04:21):
if you didn't win, he considered the season of failure,
or how looks at it with more the glass half full,
that realizes, hey, look you're not going to win it
every year. And Aaron Boone's been in the playoffs every year,
but one and I think it's unfair in a lot
of ways, but it also comes with the territory when
you're the manager of the Yankees. So let's say they
(04:43):
don't get past the Blue Jays. I'd be pretty surprised
if Aaron Boone got let go. He's had a lot
of success here, and I get it there's a frustration
and people were criticizing him after they lost Game one
to the Red Sox and some of the managerial decisions
that he made. They want the series and now they're
moving on.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Roxy. Bernstein's here with us for a couple more minutes
on the Sean O'Connell Show ESPN seven hundred and ninety
two to one FM ROXY. There's currently a conversation going
on about the expanded playoffs and whether or not it
devalues the regular season of Major League Baseball, specifically with
the Cleveland Guardians and the Tigers matchup that we saw
with the Guardians having to face the Tigers. What are
(05:23):
your thoughts on division winners not getting a bye and
having a fight in this three game series with the
wild card and does it devalue the regular season and
what happened there at all.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I don't think it does, and I'm okay with this format.
Initially I was hesitant with bring in the third wildcard in,
but I think it rewards you for the one hundred
and sixty two games. Like you look at the American
League and the Blue Jays and the Mariners had earned
those top two seeds by winning their divisions, and that
puts everybody else in the wildcard in the best of three.
(05:56):
The Guardians did have the advantage that series being played
in Cleveland. They didn't win it, obviously, so the Tigers
are moving on to face the Mariners and heading out
West for Game one tomorrow. But it's yes, I understand
some of the frustration from people that, Okay, it's the
best of three, but I think it's a fair format
(06:16):
and give the Guardians a lot of credit. My goodness,
this team came what the middle of July, they were
fifteen and a half games back and they won the division.
That's incredible what Stephen Vogue did with that team. Considering
that they lose Emmanuel Classe, their lights out closer because
of the off field gambling issue that he's currently suspended.
(06:37):
They gave up with the deadline. They traded Shane Bieber,
former cy Young Award winner, thinking they were out of it,
and here they are in the playoffs. It's really a
remarkable story and the greatest comeback we've seen in Major
League history for a team to come from fifteen and
a half back. This format works, and it was crazy
last Sunday. Every game that involved a playoff team had importance.
(07:00):
Meetings basically were still up for grabs, and this format
I think plays more favorably than the previous formats. I
like the best two out of three in the wildcard
situation instead of just a one game playoff to see
who gets in roxy.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
I thought it was impressive how the Tigers bounced back
after that epic collapse in September to take two of
three and win that series in Cleveland. We all know
about cal Rawly. Who else are the Tigers encountering when
they head to Seattle.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
The Seattle to meet could be the best team in
American League, even I know with performance we saw from
Schlitler last night, and certainly Max Free the way he's
pitched and what the Yankees have. The big question with
Seattle is the help of Brian wu their all star starter,
who had to leave the second to last weekend of
the season with a strained pack muscle when he was
(07:51):
facing the Houston Astros. But when Seattle was aggressive of
the deadline, made the moves to go get Josh Naylor,
to go get au Haney Suarez, it really bolstered their lineup.
They already had cal Rawley, who was having a season
for the Ages. We haven't seen a catcher ever do
this before. So to me, with the bullpen as tough
(08:12):
as it is for Seattle and if Wu is healthy,
to me, even though they're the two seed, the Mariners
could be the team to beat in the Americanly.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
All right, Roxy, Before we let you go, we got
to get your your thoughts on some college football here.
We're here in Big twelve Country, of course, the home
of the uth What are your thoughts on the Big
twelve right now? Of course, Utah loses to Texas Tech.
There's a couple of really good football teams in this conference.
How do you see the rest of the season playing
out here in Big twelve Country?
Speaker 1 (08:40):
It's kind of a free for all. Right, Just when
you think you figure things out, you really haven't figured
anything out. And like, for example, I was thinking, Okay, TCU,
here's a team that could maybe take a run at
the Big Twelve title. I'm not saying that they can't,
but they blow that seventeen to nothing lead last Friday
night at Arizona State and all of a sudden now
(09:01):
and Josh Hoover had a couple of bad mistakes in
that game, and so TCU takes a step back. Texas
Tech is really good, and I like the way Utah
rebounded against West Virginia last week. I think that was
really important for them. But from week to week, it
really is tough to figure out the Big Twelve, maybe
(09:22):
more so than any other league in college football, just
because I think there's so many good teams. There's no
dominant team in the Big Twelve, but a lot of
really good football's being played, so that makes it more
challenging and leaves the race wide open. For example, we
saw Arizona State come out of nowhere and went it
last year. I think this year for Kenny Dillingham's team,
(09:43):
it's the feelings a little bit different because the targets
on their back as opposed to last year, and nobody
expected them to do what they did, and from week
to week, you really have to be dialed in and
it to me it's the most wide open power conference
in college football.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
All right, Roxey, we appreciate your time. Thanks jumping on
with us here. Before we do, let you go though.
One last thing. The last time I mentioned the last
time we saw you was in Eugene for that regional
Utah Valley in Oregon. Where does that rank with Ansonnaro's
getting thrown out, him running over the catcher, the plate
and Mason Strong and then of course Utah Valley's upset
(10:18):
of Oregon, where does that rank on the craziest or
regionals that you've called in your career?
Speaker 1 (10:24):
And that was bizarre. And I've had a lot of
dramatic regionals. I've seen a walk off to win a
regional from Stanford when they beat Texas State a few
years ago at Sunk and Diamond on the Farm. But
that one has to be right there, just because the controversy,
And still I think to this day, I don't think
(10:46):
the umpire and crew got that call correct. Now, I
do believe that some of the call was correct, but
I don't think they viewed it totally correctly. And it
was still it created a lot of dialogue discussion clearly
around the landscape of college baseball, the significance of it
because it's a four seed. Utah Vlley goes in and
(11:06):
beats the top seed and the home team and Oregon
went to and out, which is pretty shocking considering how
good they were in the season. But it was more
early in that regional, for example, the craziness that we saw,
and then as the regional went on, the power of Arizona,
all the home runs that they hit to win that
regional and move on.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
How did the atmosphere compare to other atmospheres that you've seen,
because that was one of the craziest college baseball atmospheres
we've ever seen.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
It was really good. It was really good those two,
especially that Utah Valley Oregon game, because so much for
at steak. When the home team gets eliminated, it kind
of creates this dug feeling because the energy, I mean,
if the acid is not going to be there in
the ballpark. So we're there on Sunday right where there's
three teams left and not one of them is Oregon.
(11:56):
It kind of took away from the atmosphere in the
rush that you they get. But it was for those
two games at Oregon played, and especially the game against
Utah Valley on the Friday night that was just a
tremendous atmosphere for college baseball.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yes it was. Hey, Roxy, thanks again for jumping on
with us. Safe travels, my friend, good luck on the call.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
All right, Thanks guys, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That is Roxy Bernstein of ESPN.
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