October 3, 2025 • 36 mins
In the first hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain look ahead to the Mariners series in the ALDS against the Tigers starting tomorrow, sit down with M’s Owner John Stanton for a long chat, share their final Fact or Fiction pick of the day, then talk to Lee Sterling.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Where we going?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I got.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
That's part of our relentless coverage of the NFL. It's
a Football Friday sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka, proud sponsor
of the Seahawks. The Stillden moddeled by fifth Generation Ain't
coostin Texas forty percent alcohol Mulu Saber Responsibly, this clown
is going Football Friday is on with Saftie and Dick
(00:27):
on Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Alright, three h four on a Friday afternoon, right here
on ninety three to three KJRFM. I like to call
this the colm before the storm boys. This is the
calm before the storm that we'll be moving in here tomorrow.
By the way, we got the Mariners and Tigers at
what five o eight or five thirty eight tomorrow? I
always lose track of which games are five oh eight
and which games are five thirty eight?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
You know, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I think it's finally, no, it's five thirty eight on Saturday,
five oh three on Sunday.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Oh that's right. How about we just do this for
the I'm low crowd, which is me five o'clock.
Speaker 6 (01:02):
Just say games you miss one, bitch, As long as
you're in the banking at five o'clock exactly.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
You know what, enough of this five thirty eight and
fifteen seconds nonsense? Okay, it drives me freaking nuts five
o'clock tomorrow, five o'clock on Sunday, Sounders seven thirty is
a right Jackson this Saturday night, Yes, at Loomin Field.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
So it's gonna be absolute chaos. Man.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know what we should do, actually, Dick, we should
get a picture of this street right now. Take your phone,
get a picture of Oxidental right now, and then get
another picture on Sunday at around five o'clock. All right,
get a picture of the street going north, going south,
and let me know what it looks like when you
come back here on Sunday for the postgame show. I
just imagine, like what Bourbon Street looks like after Marty
(01:43):
grass before and after, and this place will look exactly
like Bourbon Street before and after Marty Gras. It's gonna
be gnarly this weekend. So look, if you're lucky enough
to go to both games, and here's the deal, our
friends at Venue Kings are giving us a pair of
tickets for the Seahawk game on Sunday and the Mariner
game on Sunday night.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
You're gonna come down.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
You're gonna go to both games, the Seahawks Buck game,
the Mariner Tiger game.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
You're gonna get here.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
When you get here, you'll hang out all day long
and watch two hopefully epic sporting events on Sunday at
Team Mobile and Looman hit my Twitter account at STOFDKJR
like it, retweeted the whole thing. Jackson's gonna pull some
names at five o'clock tonight. We're gonna read one name
on the air for a pair of tickets for both
games on Sunday. That person will have five minutes to
call back at two eight six ninety five ninety five.
(02:28):
If they don't, well reset and call somebody else until
we find a winner at five pm tonight.
Speaker 7 (02:33):
You know what's fun is both.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
I mean, obviously one team's good or they wouldn't be
in the playoffs, but both teams are good.
Speaker 7 (02:38):
Like the Seahawks don't have to be three in one
right now.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
The Seahawks could have been one in three and it
would just kind of been an afterthought.
Speaker 7 (02:45):
But you've got a Seahawks team with an.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Opportunity to go four and one to beat a conference
rival who you will be battling against, maybe for a
wild card spot's right, get a tiebreaker on that team.
Speaker 7 (02:57):
I mean, it's just it's a huge seven eight hours
of sports on Sunday. I cannot wait.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
No, I mean, the only thing to make it bigger
is if the Seahawk Game was in like November. But
obviously you're not playing baseball if that happens. But it
just yeah, I mean, you got, you know, four playoff
caliber teams. I mean two of them are in the
playoffs obviously, so four playoff caliber teams coming down here,
and you know the Seahawk Game is I mean, it's
kind of been pushed to the back burner, right, I mean,
it really has. I mean, you know, I put a
poll out the other day on social media, just kind
(03:23):
of asking people if you could watch one or the
other on Sunday, which one would you pick? And look,
I mean it was eighty five percent Mariners. And that's
the way it should be obviously. But we're not gonna
have to choose because both games are being played at
different times. And I think you brought this up, somebody,
they brought this up in the air. I wonder if
this is the day on Sunday where the Mariners TV
ratings wise locally finally outdraw the Seahawks, I don't know
(03:48):
if they will. I would still put money on the Seahawks,
by the way, but if you gave me plus one forty,
I'm a Mariners whatever one fifty, I might take him
to finally do it on Sunday.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Yeah, I would have given the Mariners up better shot
had the games been simultaneous, right, but since there you
will get to watch every one of the game, both
of the games in their entirety.
Speaker 7 (04:09):
I still think the Seahawks probably will.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Now, I think you're right because the NFL is just
I mean again, it's the second round of the playoffs.
If this is the World Series, then different animal, I
think right at that point.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
But look, man, I.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Just think you're right about the Hawkspit game being gigantic.
If you lose the game, you're essentially two games back
of San Francisco in the division. With the tipebreaker, you've
lost another NFC game, right, which you can't afford to
do that. I mean, this is a huge, huge day
for the Mariners and for the Seahawks. So I'll tell
you what our next guest. We like it when these
guys get hurt early. Can we get a quick break in?
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Is that all right? We'll take a short break.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
We're gonna come back and talk to the CEO of
the Mariners, which is great because that means we get
them for extra time. Right, we got all these questions,
all these hard hitting questions we want to grill you
on when you come on the radio show. John Stanton,
Mariner CEO, is going to join us next to live
from jim He's on ninety three three KJRFM.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Now back to football Frontage sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka
on your home for the NFL Sports Radio ninety three
point three jr FL.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
All right, we are back here on a Friday afternoon
from Jimmy's on first where again we thought game one
was today.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
We got here early.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
It's like what and nobody's in the bar. We were like,
what's going on?
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We're just gonna go camp out outside the left field
gate and just get ready for tomorrow. I can honestly
say I've never camped out for a sporting event.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
I might do it tonight and just stay here for tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Man, But we got husky duties up at Tom's Watch Bar,
eight thirty doors, twelve thirty kickoff, and then I might
jump on a line bike and just scoot right down
here for first pitch tomorrow around five o'clock. But joining
us on the radio program, the CEO of the Seattle Mariners,
John Stanton, is with us here from Jimmy's on first
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Doing great? What a wonderful time in the city. And
obviously I'm excited about all the things going on with
the Mariners. But it's Husky football season. It's cracking getting going. Obviously,
the Seahawks are doing their thing. It's a great time
to be a sports fan.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Well, we'd like to remind you a conversation we had
about a year and a half ago. You might forget this, Adam,
I know will remember it from your pr staff that
you came on our show and you said, okay, next
time we make the playoffs game one, you would get
diamond club seats.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So thank you very much for that.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Oh yeah, yeah, we're looking forward to that. John, This
is very nice, very generous of you'd offer that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
All I remember that conversation is you giving me advice
and what free agency is.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Yeah, well, I think, well, actually, you know, you signed
none of them.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
To be honest with you, you didn't get any of them,
but you made some moves of the deadline, which we'll
talk about in a second.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
So let's just backtrack for a second.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So here we are in the playoffs, first time since
twenty two, second time since two thousand and one, and
we feel like we got a shot to maybe do
something that's never been done in this city.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
What is this.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Moment like for you?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
And we were kind of joking off the air that
you've got an opportunity here to really kind of influence
your legacy in Seattle right as the CEO of this team,
and also you're kind of responsible and directly it's kind
of a heavy burden for people's mental states and the
next maybe week and a have So what does this
entire moment mean for you?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Man?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I have to confess, I don't think I have a legacy.
I don't especially care about my legacy. I'm all about
winning for the fans. And you know, these players are hungry,
they're excited, they're frankly in many cases at the peak
of their playing ability, and I think it's a it's
(07:41):
a time for us to bring it all together. We've
got eleven players that have been All Stars in the
last three years, you know, I think that's more than
any other team in baseball. We have a group of
guys that believe in each other, the culture that Dan's
created in the clubhouse, and along with Manny and Own
and Woody and you know, the whole gang, are doing
(08:05):
just such a great job of supporting the players. I mean,
the legacy, if there is one, is for the team,
the players to see. You know, Cal Rawly, Julio Rodriguez,
the starting pitchers, Mooney, you know, all those guys achieved
their dream since they were playing Little League, of winning
(08:29):
a World Series, and that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
I saw you down there on the field after you
guys won the division title, and you were shaking hands
and you were hugging, and I was wondering.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
I was like, what's the emotion going through John right now?
I mean it was a relief, was it? Elation? Was
a little bit of vindication. I mean what was going
through your mind and your heart at that time.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, I got a chance to thank a lot of
people that, you know, as much as they're twenty six
guys who played between the lines. There are probably a
thousand people that were working that night, and I get
it to is to thank those folks as well as
the folks that you know work here every day and
in accounting and HR and all. We had a celebration
(09:09):
out in the pen. We were going back and forth,
got a lot of steps that day. We were in
the clubhouse on the field taking a photo. Uh, then
out in the pen, celebrating with the with the employees,
with the front office staff. And then the cool thing
was a bunch of the players came out. You know,
wo I think is the one who said what's going
(09:30):
on on out in the pen? And I said, well,
that's where the employees are, and he said I want
to go out there. I'm sure that drove some people nuts,
but you know the meaning security and all that. But
a bunch of the players went out and partied with
the staff because you know, they they live it every
single day, you know, and when we lose a game,
(09:55):
you know, they get a hard time from their friends
and their family. And when we went again, they celebrate.
And you know it's where we have a wall up
on the fifth floor up in the offices that says
at the top one Mariners, imprinted language with the logo
and then signatures. You know, I've signed it. All the
(10:15):
owners have signed it, most of the players have signed it,
and everyone in the front office has signed it. And
we're trying to be live up to that motto of
one Mariners and be one organization that succeeds.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
So we've been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think they can combine like sixty years in this business,
right And I think it's important to Obviously there's room
for criticism and then there's room for compliments and praise,
and right now is the time where there's a lot
of good stuff going on, and you and the ball
club deserve some compliments and praise, there's no doubt. But
when that criticism comes, and you mentioned that, sometimes the
(10:49):
guys and the gals that work for you hear that
and they feel that. How much do you feel that,
how much do you live with it? And how much
does it bother you and drive you?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, let's start with I'm old, right, you know, I
hit that I've run a bunch of public companies. I've
started a bunch of businesses, some of which worked and
some of which didn't. And you know, I've gotten criticized
in what I do and maybe I've just you know,
got thicker skin now than I used to. But when
someone gives one of our young people a hard time
(11:22):
for something they had nothing to do with, that really
pisses me off. And you know, that's the only thing
that bothers me. And when you know, I know how
hard those players are working. I know, if somebody strikes
out three or four times, you know it's it's not
because they wanted to right it. You know it it's
a it's a dynamic. I think that, you know, this
(11:45):
sport requires patience. You got a one hundred and sixty
two games in the regular season. You know, you've got
a month of playoffs, You've got you know, you know
that's after six weeks of spring training. I mean, it's
a long season, you know. I joke with my friends
at the Seahawks, and when we get to the second
week of September, we've got the equivalent of one of
(12:07):
their seasons left, right, we got another fifteen games. And
I think that that, you know, you have to have patients.
You have to have patients with the criticism too. You
know the fact that we you know, got swept by someone,
you know, in the middle of the season. It may
have had to do with the pitching matchups. That may
have had to do with a flu bug going through
(12:28):
the clubhouse. It may just had to do with a
sequence of uh, you know, players not not having their
best games. But you know, when we conversely, when we
sweep a series, you know, the way we swept Detroit,
you know, it's an exciting time. You know, we had
some amazing times. I was with the team in Boston,
(12:53):
New York and Williamsport in Atlanta, god of three different
trips during the season, and I saw, you know, a
resilience and and a commitment that they all had, you know,
and and a and a great attitude about you know,
what they're trying to accomplish. I mean, if you remember,
the Atlanta series came right after the uh, the Tampa
(13:16):
series that they they got swept in Tampa, they came
back and that Saturday game they came back and won,
scored a bunch of runs on the Saturday and the
Sunday games, and and left that road trip. You know,
that was still three and six. I think, uh, with
a with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of
energy and came back and I think they swept the
(13:37):
home stand after that. So you know, it's it's it's
an up and down game.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
You use the word dynamic there, and this team has
got that dynamic, and a lot of talented baseball teams don't.
Why do you think this one does? And where did
it come from? Were whom did it come from? I
think it's been grown over time. I mean, I look
at the uh, the players you know that that have
been with us. You know, I think JP has got
(14:04):
the longest tenure now, you know, I think they've built
it over time. I look at those pictures and you know,
in addition to the time that that that Logan and
George and Emerson have have spent, WU have spent in
the major leagues, they spent time together in the minor leagues.
I think that the you know, I've heard you guys
(14:25):
talk about it, the relationship that that cal built with
those guys moving from single A to long A to
double A, triple A and then eventually making it here.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And I think that that dynamic. A lot of those
guys have been together almost ten years now, and you
know that I think creates a camaraderie and you know
it's you know, frankly, it's like the two of you, right,
I mean you finish each other's sentences in much the
same way.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Well you mentioned sometimes rudely, yeah, exactly how much how
much of this show do you here? I mean I
gotta ask you how much of that? How much talk?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Ready?
Speaker 5 (14:59):
Do you listen to? You flip on kJ R when
you're sitting in the park.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I do flip on KGr some. I have to confess
I probably listened to music more than I listen. I
have the ability to download and listen to the things
that are particularly interesting, okay, and I do that some.
And you know I even listened to your competitor every.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Wow there you go.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, I mean because we got passion, right, I mean,
this is something that we want very badly. And I've
mentioned on the ear John Stanton with us Marin or
chairman by the way from Jimmy's ye mentioned many times
that you know, and you use there patients there, right.
I think people Mariner fans have been just about his
patient as a fan base in sports waiting for a
world series, and there's people that have come and gone,
(15:42):
you know, Dick's dads in his nineties. My dad passed
away a couple of years ago. You know, he's not
going to get that chance. But there's people out there
that deserve that opportunity. How much do you feel like
you need to deliver that for them?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Oh? I absolutely. I think about a couple of three
people when I think about his and my mom was
passionate fan. My dad died, you know, fifty years ago now,
and my mom was a widow for a long time.
She listened to it or watched every game, and she
was passionate, and she she'd have questions after every game.
(16:16):
She wasn't she wasn't a particularly knowledgeable fan, but she
she had opinions nonetheless like us right. And then in
two political you know icons in this community that that
I had the good fortune to know for for four
or five decades, Slave Gorton and Dan Evans. I was
with Dan at the last Apple Cup. Sadly, the last
(16:38):
Apple Cup he saw was a year ago, and he
passed a few days after that. Dan used to say
to me, now, you got to promise me we're going
to win a World Series. And I said, absolutely, Dan,
I can't tell you when, but we're going to win
a World Series, and unfortunately he won't be there for that,
at least not in person. I think I'll be looking
down on us and Slagh Gorton every time I walk
(16:59):
into the lobby and see the display we've got with
the shovel from the first shovel of dirt for for
this ballpark, and you know the photos from from his
growing up period, and you know he was an enormous fan.
Any saved baseball in Seattle three different times that we
(17:20):
wouldn't have that stadium, We wouldn't have this team, you know,
if we had not, if it had not been for
a number of people, and and slights on on the
Mount rushmore of that list. But folks like Gary Locke
and and Slade and excuse me, Dan and and other
political leaders you know, stepped up at a time. You know,
(17:43):
it's it's hard to appreciate that the political leaders came together,
you know, to make this happen. Wes Holman, you know,
and you know they wanted a team. They wanted the
team to stay here. They didn't want it to move
to Tampa in nineteen ninety. You know, all of those
folks came together and most of them sadly are gone.
(18:04):
And but yeah, I guess I'm not particularly religious, but
I'm religious enough to think that they're probably looking down
on us and smiling.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Mariner Chairman John Stanton joining us. And you know, Softie
and I were at Believe it or Not, the U
District QFC when we got word that Dan Wilson was
going to be the manager of the Seattle Mariners, and.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
We thought, oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Well, we just assumed it was going to be an
interim situation, right, like a trial basis, And then we
found out a little bit later that afternoon, this isn't
an interim thing.
Speaker 7 (18:32):
He's the guy. Why was he made the guy right away?
Speaker 6 (18:36):
And how much of that was a John stand decision
and how much was a Jerry Depoter decision.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It was a Jerry Depoto decision. But Jerry and I
talked about it long and hard, and I supported it.
And my office across the street is bookended by Kevin
Martinez on one side and Jerry Depoto on the other side,
and I'm talking to the three of the three of
(19:02):
us are talking along with Trevor and and Justin every
day and so but ultimately it was Jerry's decision, and
I know it was an incredibly hard decision for him
to make. You know, he and Scott were very close
and Scott, you know, did some tremendous things for this organization.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
But ultimately, the.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Question I asked Jerry is do you believe we can
win a World Series with Scott as the leader? And
he said no, And he believed that, uh, And he
still believes, he believes today that we can with Dan.
And that's you know, you got to be guided by something.
We have a mission at the Mariners. We talk about
(19:42):
all the time when our mission is to win championships,
create unforgettable experiences for our fans, and serve our communities.
And you know, the things that go on the field
on the field, you know, are primarily related to championships,
but they also create unforgettable experiences. How many how many
kids have posters of how of Cal hitting the break
(20:04):
the streak home run in twenty two? How many think
about Julio and you know, we're number forty four when
they're going out, when they're going to bed, or they're
going out to play in the in the yard. And
I think that, you know, serving the communities is also
very important to us. It's something that I was taught
by my parents and my predecessors, you know, John Ellis
(20:29):
and Howard Lincoln all committed as our entire ownership is,
you know, to doing things to try to make us
a better community. And I think you know, right now
you can say the best thing we can do for
the community is to win that World Series. So there's
a virtual circle there, but you know we've done you know,
our home Base program is designed to eliminate reduce homelessness
(20:53):
by eliminating evictions. Our Hometown nine program where we help
kids that can't afford to play travel baseball and travel softball,
we make it possible for them and we have mentors
for them that you know, make a difference in their lines.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, John Stanton as well as Mariner chairman from the
Jimmy's On first And first of all, I love the
fact that.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
You hear this radio show. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
And then number two, if you've heard this show, then
you've probably heard me say on many many occasions, I
think the Mariners weren't in the World Series would be
the greatest sporting accomplishment this town has ever seen. You've
you've heard me say that maybe a couple times over
the years, and I mean that it'd be bigger than
the Super Bowl, bigger than anything that this team town
has ever done. And to me, I get tired, as
(21:41):
I know I think you do, of being on a
list that says never when it comes to the World Series.
You So let me ask you real quick, because Dick
asked about this ball club. So why why do you
think that is that we haven't gotten there yet? Why
do you think this time feels different for this franchise?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I want to I want to address the predicate at first,
you know the it's a deep, dark secret. But you
and I know we grew up in the same neighborhood.
I know we did, right, I know we did, you know,
maybe twenty years apart, but neighborhood hasn't changed that much.
And we played pick up ball and Little League on
(22:23):
Woodridge Elementary's fields and all that. And anyone who's been here,
you know, spent their life here, you know, particularly a
baseball fan. You know you don't remember, I do the
departure of the pilots in sixty nine or actually in
March of seventy. You know, this community deserves a championship.
(22:43):
I also remember June first, nineteen seventy nine, you know,
the championship that the Sonics won after losing in seventy eight.
You know, those are those are memories that are are
so vivid for me. You know, I can I can
practically tell you exactly what I was doing and drinking
at the same at that time. For us to win
(23:08):
a World Series, I think culminates, you know, if you
include the pilots over sixty years of efforts to bring
a championship to this community in baseball, and baseball has
the ability to bring this community together in a way.
You know, it's an election year and you know, I'm
(23:29):
I'm not going to get into politics, but you know,
wouldn't it be nice if everybody was holding hands at
a parade celebrating Mariners winning the championship?
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Yeah, whether they'd like to hold your hand? Would you
hold my hand if we win? Well, you hold my
hand wood Brothers.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yes, it may not last long. Exactly exactly we'll do
the secret Woodridge handshake. But the dynamic for this community
is they deserve it.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
We deserve it.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And you know, everyone who's been here their whole lives.
You know, I think you know has that. And you
know the great thing about this community is we've also
brought you know, huge numbers of people who moved into
Seattle for to go to work for Microsoft or Costco
or Team Mobile or Starbucks or Amazon.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
You know those.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Folks you know have come here to this community and
fall in love with his team. You know, it's a
fun time. I can't go to Starbucks right now without
someone saying go Mariners. The guys said it. Guy I've
never seen before said it to me in the elevator today.
You know, people are excited and it it has the
ability to have a long lasting effect.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
John, you had the fifteenth, twentieth, twenty third, twenty fifth,
and twenty eighth rank payroll make the playoffs this year,
so some could argue.
Speaker 7 (24:47):
That doesn't matter that much.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
But you also had six of the top eleven payrolls
make the playoffs this year, so some could argue that
it is that important. How tightly linked do you think
payroll is to making the playoffs and winning a championship?
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well, you can't argue that it's not correlated. You know,
your your numbers suggest that I think that the key
is to have a coherent strategy and to be in
a position where you can execute on that strategy to succeed.
And you know, more power to the to the folks
(25:21):
that sign the huge contracts. But at least one of
those teams didn't make the playoffs at all. And you know,
the the dynamic is that, you know, payroll alone will
not make a difference. You've had, we've had plenty of
evidence of that. We were willing to step up. You know.
The commitment we made at the at the deadline, uh,
(25:43):
to Geno and to to nailor Uh, I think what
and Ferguson, you know, was an important statement by our
ownership group that we believe that this is the right time.
You know, people want us to win every year, and
and we want to win every year, but there's some
(26:04):
years where you see the opportunity and you can see
the path. Uh and I see the path, think, I know,
Jerry and Justin see the path. And this is a
year where we believe we can make a difference. And
so we made it. We made a commitment.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Uh, it's like it's like anyone's purchase of any goods,
you know, kind of the ouch factor, you know, it
was it was a. It was an expensive commitment on
our part, but it's a commitment that we think will result, Yeah,
taking this team all the way.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Well, you mentioned It'suarez and Naylor. You think those guys
are back next year.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I think we'll look at those kinds of issues after
the season's over. And you know, it's ultimately on Justin
and Jerry to to make those decisions. I would say
not not. In juxtaposition to your question, we have some
unbelievable talent. You know, I don't know if you saw,
you know, the the irony of colt Amer's sent out
(27:00):
there at second base yesterday at the scrimmage, at the
scrimmage and each hero in the outfield, you know, the
you know whatever that is thirty two years apart in age.
I think that we've got, you know, I look at
Las Montes, who was our best hitter in the minors
this year. I think, you know, the the addition we
(27:23):
made with Anderson at the in the I mean, I
think we got the best player in the draft. I mean,
how in the world did we end up with a
number three pick? You know, I was there when it
happened and still can't believe it. And then you know,
the teams that had the number one and two pick
pass on what I think everyone believed was the best
(27:43):
player in the draft. I mean, the the opportunity for
us to actually have a tremendous left handed starter, you know,
for his his career, you know, I think is you know,
is phenomenal. And he comes out of LSU where he's
got a comes from winning tradition. I think the future
(28:03):
is very bright for us.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
Yeah, well, let's start by getting to win tomorrow. How's
that game one?
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I love to hold your handring a parade by the way,
that's making to happen. Thanks for coming over, appreciate it.
John Stanton with us on the radio show. Well let's
get the Factor fiction right now.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Where's that to go?
Speaker 7 (28:17):
Glad you're with us.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
It's your shot at our weekly.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Thousand bucks and the ten thousand dollars grand prize. It's
Fact Door Fiction, probably presented by Lucky Eagle Casino and
hotel where every day Feels Lucky. Fact Door Fiction is
on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
All right, we're back real quick. We gotta fly through this.
We're late.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Thanks to John Stanton for swinging by, so Dick I'm
just gonna go ahead and take a team that I
think is really, really good and might have a real
shot to play for the national title this year if
not win it. And I see a Florida State team
that gave up forty six points to Virginia in their
last game. Miami is on the road in Tallahassee. They're
given four and a half over FS. You give me
the Hurricanes, all right. Give me to Miami Hurricanes minus
(29:03):
four and a half over Florida State. Fact if you
like it, to four nine, four to five to one, fiction,
if you hate it to four nine, four to five
to one. All courtesy of our friends at the Lucky
Eagle Casino and Hotel, where every day feels lucky. We'll
see what Lee Sterling thinks. Our handicapper joins, and then
a special round table with everybody starting at four o'clock.
Coming up on ninety three three KJRFF.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
It's time for our weekly visit with gambling expert Lee Sterling.
No Paramount Sports brought to you by bail Breaker Brewing,
wherevery hop has grown in the Yakama Valley. Family owned
bold and proudly Pacific Northwest grab their flagship Top cutter
Ipa a citrusy. Find Forward Classic at your local grocery store,
or visit Death Rooms in Seattle and Yekamon. Now with
(29:47):
Lee Sterling, here's Suffi and Dial.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
We're gonna to our special Mariner round table coming up
at four o'clock.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
Half the crew here, Jimmy's half the crew. It's Lakwami Casino.
So what the heck?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Man, We're apparently all six of us cannot be in
the same room at the same time, so we're splitting
us all up.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Man.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
But here he is our friend from South Florida, Paramut
Sports every Friday, our handicaper extraordinaire twelve and three and
it's last fifteen. He's on a heater. Baby, he's on
a heater, our friendly Sterling, how are you?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Man?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Don't tell too many people.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah you don't want that kick? Yeah, lazy, they don't
want to work anymore, your lazy bastard.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
I get it. Well, let's start.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Let's start in the ACC and let's start with your
freaking Hurricanes, all right, Miami Hurricanes in Tallahassee, given four
and a half on the road at Florida State. I
just picked the Hurricanes. In Factor Fiction to cover. Am
I right or am I wrong about that?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Tell us?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I think the only way that Florida State has a
chance if they win a coin toss take the ball.
They got to put some pressure on Miami. No one
has made them feel uncomfortable. They have not trailed in
any game so far. And what concerns me with Florida
State Virginia was missing two starting offensive linemen. It ran
for two hundred and eleven yards here. I think Miami's
(31:08):
just too much. They were favored by twenty one last year,
won by twenty two. I think Florida State's cut the gap,
but not enough under a touchdown Miamis to call Kin's
thirty one to twenty three.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Got it in the Big ten at the Big House,
Michigan given a lot of points to Wisconsin seventeen and
a half.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Are those too many points?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well? Wisconsin looked terrible this year, Let's be honest. They
looked like one of the worst teams we've seen in
a long time. This might be their last stand, but
there is hope if they can start and Billy Edwards
has taken some snaps. Two years ago when he was
at Maryland, they only lost thirty one to twenty four.
He was the best player on the field. Wisconsin is
(31:48):
six and two against the spread the last eight against Michigan.
Wisconsin can stop the run, just can't stop the pass year,
but Michigan more of a running team here. I'm calling
for the back door cover. Michigan wins this game to eighteen. Okay,
Wisconsin Badgers cover.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
I take take the Badgers and the points. All right.
You dubbed Maryland tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Maryland's got an eighteen year old quarterback named Malik Washington.
That's six five, two thirty and he's freaking eighteen years old.
What's he gonna look like when he's twenty or twenty one?
For God's sake? So Maryland four and I really haven't
played Anyboddy yet though, and they're getting five and a
half at home against the Dogs.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Well, they ran off. Billy Edwards said he wasn't the
guy because of this kid. Now he hasn't been tested. Uh,
their defense hasn't been tested. But top ten right now
an EPA. So I think they're underrated. This is a
tough trip for Washington. They did not win a game
on the road last year. Maryland can hit on big
(32:44):
plays here, they've got speed. I just think there's a
tough match up here. Unless Washington scores first, can apply
some pressure, they're in trouble. Also, run team's favored purps
outright twenty eight twenty five.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's so good? All right too?
Speaker 6 (32:59):
The the NFL Cardinals given more than a touchdown at
home against the Titans. Soud the Cardinals be giving more
than a touchdown against anybody?
Speaker 2 (33:08):
I don't think so. I think that the Titans have
been closed here, just not hanging on the balls here.
I mean it was bad last year. Will Levis when
he was quarterback in twelve games, did not do the job.
But it's been worse lately. Ward has mostly avoided throwing
the interceptions and fumbling the ball, but he's taken too
many keysacks here. So they're throwing the ball sixty one
(33:32):
percent of the time. They got to get the running
game going here. But I mean, something's wrong with this
Arizona team. I think this is a back and forth
game here. I'm going for the upset. Tennessee wins their
first game here twenty to seventeen.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
Yeah, it went out right, Wow, I take the Titans
to the points. How about the Hawks and Tampa. Tampa's down,
Bucky Irving, They're down, Mike Evans, Seahawks are down, Julian Love,
Devin Witherspoon, a lot of guys out for this game
on Sunday. They're wearing the old nineteen seventy throwback uniforms
when they first joined the NFL, and the Hawks are
given three and a half at home.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
What happens on Sunday, Well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I mean the three extra days to prepare for this game,
I think is huge, so that gives him an advantage. Also,
Tampa is going to lose a day cross country here,
so you know, I like Seattle's defense. I think they're
gonna be all show.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
Tampa.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Baysman has some tough games. They had to come from
behind to win the first three games. Last week, a
furious comeback fell short at home against Philadelphia. So, uh,
this is a perfect match up here for Seattle. I
think Walker is gonna have a big game, maybe one
hundred and twenty five hundred and thirty yards here. Jam
Darnold already h seventy percent of his passes. Is he
(34:42):
completing over a nine point one yards per passing tempt?
Top three quarterback in Pro Football Focus here Hawk twenty
eight twenty.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
All right, game of the week Notre Dame and they're
at home and they're given a lot twenty and a
half to Boise State.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
It's your game of the week.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Is it a blowout or is this trap game? You
want to find out? Just call that number eight hundred
four hundred nine seven four to one. First five callers,
We're gonna give it to him for free. Eight hundred
four hundred nine seven four one. We've won I loving
straight NFL games. We won our forty unit max wager
last weekend, and college football in South Carolina might have
(35:21):
another one waiting on the injury report to come out
tomorrow morning for another NFL game. So you want to
hop on board just for your station only, I do
fifty three shows softy special normally five ninety seven for
not October, we call it October if they use coupon code,
save two hundred, three hundred and ninety seven dollars through
(35:42):
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Speaker 5 (35:45):
All right, Lee, you're the man, great stuff.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
We're talking to wats thanks bud Okay, take Gord Lee
starting with us. He likes Miami to win and cover
against Florida State. He likes Wisconsin to cover against Michigan,
Maryland to upset the Huskies and win outright. Titans get
a win against the Cardinals as a seven and a
half point underdog on the road, and the Seahawks cover
and win versus Tampa. He's twelve and three in the
(36:07):
last three weeks. Give him a call eight four hundred
ninety seven, four to one, and get on board. We're
gonna break a special roundtable. The entire crew is gonna
be with us talking Mariners for the next two hours.
What do we make of the decision by Dan Wilson
to go with George Kirby in game number one? Who
concerns us on this Tiger baseball team? Is making this
(36:28):
point enough for this franchise? Or do they have to
go further? Those questions and more will be answered next
right here on ninety three three KJARFM.
Where we going?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I got.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
That's part of our relentless coverage of the NFL. It's
a Football Friday sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka, proud sponsor
of the Seahawks. The Stillden moddeled by fifth Generation Ain't
coostin Texas forty percent alcohol Mulu Saber Responsibly, this clown
is going Football Friday is on with Saftie and Dick
(00:27):
on Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ r FM.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
Alright, three h four on a Friday afternoon, right here
on ninety three to three KJRFM. I like to call
this the colm before the storm boys. This is the
calm before the storm that we'll be moving in here tomorrow.
By the way, we got the Mariners and Tigers at
what five o eight or five thirty eight tomorrow? I
always lose track of which games are five oh eight
and which games are five thirty eight?
Speaker 5 (00:52):
You know, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I think it's finally, no, it's five thirty eight on Saturday,
five oh three on Sunday.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Oh that's right. How about we just do this for
the I'm low crowd, which is me five o'clock.
Speaker 6 (01:02):
Just say games you miss one, bitch, As long as
you're in the banking at five o'clock exactly.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
You know what, enough of this five thirty eight and
fifteen seconds nonsense? Okay, it drives me freaking nuts five
o'clock tomorrow, five o'clock on Sunday, Sounders seven thirty is
a right Jackson this Saturday night, Yes, at Loomin Field.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
So it's gonna be absolute chaos. Man.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know what we should do, actually, Dick, we should
get a picture of this street right now. Take your phone,
get a picture of Oxidental right now, and then get
another picture on Sunday at around five o'clock. All right,
get a picture of the street going north, going south,
and let me know what it looks like when you
come back here on Sunday for the postgame show. I
just imagine, like what Bourbon Street looks like after Marty
(01:43):
grass before and after, and this place will look exactly
like Bourbon Street before and after Marty Gras. It's gonna
be gnarly this weekend. So look, if you're lucky enough
to go to both games, and here's the deal, our
friends at Venue Kings are giving us a pair of
tickets for the Seahawk game on Sunday and the Mariner
game on Sunday night.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
You're gonna come down.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
You're gonna go to both games, the Seahawks Buck game,
the Mariner Tiger game.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
You're gonna get here.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
When you get here, you'll hang out all day long
and watch two hopefully epic sporting events on Sunday at
Team Mobile and Looman hit my Twitter account at STOFDKJR
like it, retweeted the whole thing. Jackson's gonna pull some
names at five o'clock tonight. We're gonna read one name
on the air for a pair of tickets for both
games on Sunday. That person will have five minutes to
call back at two eight six ninety five ninety five.
(02:28):
If they don't, well reset and call somebody else until
we find a winner at five pm tonight.
Speaker 7 (02:33):
You know what's fun is both.
Speaker 6 (02:34):
I mean, obviously one team's good or they wouldn't be
in the playoffs, but both teams are good.
Speaker 7 (02:38):
Like the Seahawks don't have to be three in one
right now.
Speaker 6 (02:41):
The Seahawks could have been one in three and it
would just kind of been an afterthought.
Speaker 7 (02:45):
But you've got a Seahawks team with an.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
Opportunity to go four and one to beat a conference
rival who you will be battling against, maybe for a
wild card spot's right, get a tiebreaker on that team.
Speaker 7 (02:57):
I mean, it's just it's a huge seven eight hours
of sports on Sunday. I cannot wait.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
No, I mean, the only thing to make it bigger
is if the Seahawk Game was in like November. But
obviously you're not playing baseball if that happens. But it
just yeah, I mean, you got, you know, four playoff
caliber teams. I mean two of them are in the
playoffs obviously, so four playoff caliber teams coming down here,
and you know the Seahawk Game is I mean, it's
kind of been pushed to the back burner, right, I mean,
it really has. I mean, you know, I put a
poll out the other day on social media, just kind
(03:23):
of asking people if you could watch one or the
other on Sunday, which one would you pick? And look,
I mean it was eighty five percent Mariners. And that's
the way it should be obviously. But we're not gonna
have to choose because both games are being played at
different times. And I think you brought this up, somebody,
they brought this up in the air. I wonder if
this is the day on Sunday where the Mariners TV
ratings wise locally finally outdraw the Seahawks, I don't know
(03:48):
if they will. I would still put money on the Seahawks,
by the way, but if you gave me plus one forty,
I'm a Mariners whatever one fifty, I might take him
to finally do it on Sunday.
Speaker 6 (03:58):
Yeah, I would have given the Mariners up better shot
had the games been simultaneous, right, but since there you
will get to watch every one of the game, both
of the games in their entirety.
Speaker 7 (04:09):
I still think the Seahawks probably will.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Now, I think you're right because the NFL is just
I mean again, it's the second round of the playoffs.
If this is the World Series, then different animal, I
think right at that point.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
But look, man, I.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Just think you're right about the Hawkspit game being gigantic.
If you lose the game, you're essentially two games back
of San Francisco in the division. With the tipebreaker, you've
lost another NFC game, right, which you can't afford to
do that. I mean, this is a huge, huge day
for the Mariners and for the Seahawks. So I'll tell
you what our next guest. We like it when these
guys get hurt early. Can we get a quick break in?
Speaker 5 (04:42):
Is that all right? We'll take a short break.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
We're gonna come back and talk to the CEO of
the Mariners, which is great because that means we get
them for extra time. Right, we got all these questions,
all these hard hitting questions we want to grill you
on when you come on the radio show. John Stanton,
Mariner CEO, is going to join us next to live
from jim He's on ninety three three KJRFM.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Now back to football Frontage sponsored by Tito's Handmade Vodka
on your home for the NFL Sports Radio ninety three
point three jr FL.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
All right, we are back here on a Friday afternoon
from Jimmy's on first where again we thought game one
was today.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
We got here early.
Speaker 7 (05:27):
It's like what and nobody's in the bar. We were like,
what's going on?
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We're just gonna go camp out outside the left field
gate and just get ready for tomorrow. I can honestly
say I've never camped out for a sporting event.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
I might do it tonight and just stay here for tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
Man, But we got husky duties up at Tom's Watch Bar,
eight thirty doors, twelve thirty kickoff, and then I might
jump on a line bike and just scoot right down
here for first pitch tomorrow around five o'clock. But joining
us on the radio program, the CEO of the Seattle Mariners,
John Stanton, is with us here from Jimmy's on first
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Doing great? What a wonderful time in the city. And
obviously I'm excited about all the things going on with
the Mariners. But it's Husky football season. It's cracking getting going. Obviously,
the Seahawks are doing their thing. It's a great time
to be a sports fan.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Well, we'd like to remind you a conversation we had
about a year and a half ago. You might forget this, Adam,
I know will remember it from your pr staff that
you came on our show and you said, okay, next
time we make the playoffs game one, you would get
diamond club seats.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So thank you very much for that.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
Oh yeah, yeah, we're looking forward to that. John, This
is very nice, very generous of you'd offer that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
All I remember that conversation is you giving me advice
and what free agency is.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Yeah, well, I think, well, actually, you know, you signed
none of them.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
To be honest with you, you didn't get any of them,
but you made some moves of the deadline, which we'll
talk about in a second.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
So let's just backtrack for a second.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So here we are in the playoffs, first time since
twenty two, second time since two thousand and one, and
we feel like we got a shot to maybe do
something that's never been done in this city.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
What is this.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Moment like for you?
Speaker 4 (06:58):
And we were kind of joking off the air that
you've got an opportunity here to really kind of influence
your legacy in Seattle right as the CEO of this team,
and also you're kind of responsible and directly it's kind
of a heavy burden for people's mental states and the
next maybe week and a have So what does this
entire moment mean for you?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Man?
Speaker 1 (07:19):
I have to confess, I don't think I have a legacy.
I don't especially care about my legacy. I'm all about
winning for the fans. And you know, these players are hungry,
they're excited, they're frankly in many cases at the peak
of their playing ability, and I think it's a it's
(07:41):
a time for us to bring it all together. We've
got eleven players that have been All Stars in the
last three years, you know, I think that's more than
any other team in baseball. We have a group of
guys that believe in each other, the culture that Dan's
created in the clubhouse, and along with Manny and Own
and Woody and you know, the whole gang, are doing
(08:05):
just such a great job of supporting the players. I mean,
the legacy, if there is one, is for the team,
the players to see. You know, Cal Rawly, Julio Rodriguez,
the starting pitchers, Mooney, you know, all those guys achieved
their dream since they were playing Little League, of winning
(08:29):
a World Series, and that's what we're here to do.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
I saw you down there on the field after you
guys won the division title, and you were shaking hands
and you were hugging, and I was wondering.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
I was like, what's the emotion going through John right now?
I mean it was a relief, was it? Elation? Was
a little bit of vindication. I mean what was going
through your mind and your heart at that time.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Well, I got a chance to thank a lot of
people that, you know, as much as they're twenty six
guys who played between the lines. There are probably a
thousand people that were working that night, and I get
it to is to thank those folks as well as
the folks that you know work here every day and
in accounting and HR and all. We had a celebration
(09:09):
out in the pen. We were going back and forth,
got a lot of steps that day. We were in
the clubhouse on the field taking a photo. Uh, then
out in the pen, celebrating with the with the employees,
with the front office staff. And then the cool thing
was a bunch of the players came out. You know,
wo I think is the one who said what's going
(09:30):
on on out in the pen? And I said, well,
that's where the employees are, and he said I want
to go out there. I'm sure that drove some people nuts,
but you know the meaning security and all that. But
a bunch of the players went out and partied with
the staff because you know, they they live it every
single day, you know, and when we lose a game,
(09:55):
you know, they get a hard time from their friends
and their family. And when we went again, they celebrate.
And you know it's where we have a wall up
on the fifth floor up in the offices that says
at the top one Mariners, imprinted language with the logo
and then signatures. You know, I've signed it. All the
(10:15):
owners have signed it, most of the players have signed it,
and everyone in the front office has signed it. And
we're trying to be live up to that motto of
one Mariners and be one organization that succeeds.
Speaker 5 (10:27):
So we've been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think they can combine like sixty years in this business,
right And I think it's important to Obviously there's room
for criticism and then there's room for compliments and praise,
and right now is the time where there's a lot
of good stuff going on, and you and the ball
club deserve some compliments and praise, there's no doubt. But
when that criticism comes, and you mentioned that, sometimes the
(10:49):
guys and the gals that work for you hear that
and they feel that. How much do you feel that,
how much do you live with it? And how much
does it bother you and drive you?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Well, let's start with I'm old, right, you know, I
hit that I've run a bunch of public companies. I've
started a bunch of businesses, some of which worked and
some of which didn't. And you know, I've gotten criticized
in what I do and maybe I've just you know,
got thicker skin now than I used to. But when
someone gives one of our young people a hard time
(11:22):
for something they had nothing to do with, that really
pisses me off. And you know, that's the only thing
that bothers me. And when you know, I know how
hard those players are working. I know, if somebody strikes
out three or four times, you know it's it's not
because they wanted to right it. You know it it's
a it's a dynamic. I think that, you know, this
(11:45):
sport requires patience. You got a one hundred and sixty
two games in the regular season. You know, you've got
a month of playoffs, You've got you know, you know
that's after six weeks of spring training. I mean, it's
a long season, you know. I joke with my friends
at the Seahawks, and when we get to the second
week of September, we've got the equivalent of one of
(12:07):
their seasons left, right, we got another fifteen games. And
I think that that, you know, you have to have patients.
You have to have patients with the criticism too. You
know the fact that we you know, got swept by someone,
you know, in the middle of the season. It may
have had to do with the pitching matchups. That may
have had to do with a flu bug going through
(12:28):
the clubhouse. It may just had to do with a
sequence of uh, you know, players not not having their
best games. But you know, when we conversely, when we
sweep a series, you know, the way we swept Detroit,
you know, it's an exciting time. You know, we had
some amazing times. I was with the team in Boston,
(12:53):
New York and Williamsport in Atlanta, god of three different
trips during the season, and I saw, you know, a
resilience and and a commitment that they all had, you know,
and and a and a great attitude about you know,
what they're trying to accomplish. I mean, if you remember,
the Atlanta series came right after the uh, the Tampa
(13:16):
series that they they got swept in Tampa, they came
back and that Saturday game they came back and won,
scored a bunch of runs on the Saturday and the
Sunday games, and and left that road trip. You know,
that was still three and six. I think, uh, with
a with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of
energy and came back and I think they swept the
(13:37):
home stand after that. So you know, it's it's it's
an up and down game.
Speaker 6 (13:43):
You use the word dynamic there, and this team has
got that dynamic, and a lot of talented baseball teams don't.
Why do you think this one does? And where did
it come from? Were whom did it come from? I
think it's been grown over time. I mean, I look
at the uh, the players you know that that have
been with us. You know, I think JP has got
(14:04):
the longest tenure now, you know, I think they've built
it over time. I look at those pictures and you know,
in addition to the time that that that Logan and
George and Emerson have have spent, WU have spent in
the major leagues, they spent time together in the minor leagues.
I think that the you know, I've heard you guys
(14:25):
talk about it, the relationship that that cal built with
those guys moving from single A to long A to
double A, triple A and then eventually making it here.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And I think that that dynamic. A lot of those
guys have been together almost ten years now, and you
know that I think creates a camaraderie and you know
it's you know, frankly, it's like the two of you, right,
I mean you finish each other's sentences in much the
same way.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Well you mentioned sometimes rudely, yeah, exactly how much how
much of this show do you here? I mean I
gotta ask you how much of that? How much talk?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Ready?
Speaker 5 (14:59):
Do you listen to? You flip on kJ R when
you're sitting in the park.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
I do flip on KGr some. I have to confess
I probably listened to music more than I listen. I
have the ability to download and listen to the things
that are particularly interesting, okay, and I do that some.
And you know I even listened to your competitor every.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
Wow there you go.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Well, I mean because we got passion, right, I mean,
this is something that we want very badly. And I've
mentioned on the ear John Stanton with us Marin or
chairman by the way from Jimmy's ye mentioned many times
that you know, and you use there patients there, right.
I think people Mariner fans have been just about his
patient as a fan base in sports waiting for a
world series, and there's people that have come and gone,
(15:42):
you know, Dick's dads in his nineties. My dad passed
away a couple of years ago. You know, he's not
going to get that chance. But there's people out there
that deserve that opportunity. How much do you feel like
you need to deliver that for them?
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Oh? I absolutely. I think about a couple of three
people when I think about his and my mom was
passionate fan. My dad died, you know, fifty years ago now,
and my mom was a widow for a long time.
She listened to it or watched every game, and she
was passionate, and she she'd have questions after every game.
(16:16):
She wasn't she wasn't a particularly knowledgeable fan, but she
she had opinions nonetheless like us right. And then in
two political you know icons in this community that that
I had the good fortune to know for for four
or five decades, Slave Gorton and Dan Evans. I was
with Dan at the last Apple Cup. Sadly, the last
(16:38):
Apple Cup he saw was a year ago, and he
passed a few days after that. Dan used to say
to me, now, you got to promise me we're going
to win a World Series. And I said, absolutely, Dan,
I can't tell you when, but we're going to win
a World Series, and unfortunately he won't be there for that,
at least not in person. I think I'll be looking
down on us and Slagh Gorton every time I walk
(16:59):
into the lobby and see the display we've got with
the shovel from the first shovel of dirt for for
this ballpark, and you know the photos from from his
growing up period, and you know he was an enormous fan.
Any saved baseball in Seattle three different times that we
(17:20):
wouldn't have that stadium, We wouldn't have this team, you know,
if we had not, if it had not been for
a number of people, and and slights on on the
Mount rushmore of that list. But folks like Gary Locke
and and Slade and excuse me, Dan and and other
political leaders you know, stepped up at a time. You know,
(17:43):
it's it's hard to appreciate that the political leaders came together,
you know, to make this happen. Wes Holman, you know,
and you know they wanted a team. They wanted the
team to stay here. They didn't want it to move
to Tampa in nineteen ninety. You know, all of those
folks came together and most of them sadly are gone.
(18:04):
And but yeah, I guess I'm not particularly religious, but
I'm religious enough to think that they're probably looking down
on us and smiling.
Speaker 6 (18:11):
Mariner Chairman John Stanton joining us. And you know, Softie
and I were at Believe it or Not, the U
District QFC when we got word that Dan Wilson was
going to be the manager of the Seattle Mariners, and.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
We thought, oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 6 (18:24):
Well, we just assumed it was going to be an
interim situation, right, like a trial basis, And then we
found out a little bit later that afternoon, this isn't
an interim thing.
Speaker 7 (18:32):
He's the guy. Why was he made the guy right away?
Speaker 6 (18:36):
And how much of that was a John stand decision
and how much was a Jerry Depoter decision.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
It was a Jerry Depoto decision. But Jerry and I
talked about it long and hard, and I supported it.
And my office across the street is bookended by Kevin
Martinez on one side and Jerry Depoto on the other side,
and I'm talking to the three of the three of
(19:02):
us are talking along with Trevor and and Justin every
day and so but ultimately it was Jerry's decision, and
I know it was an incredibly hard decision for him
to make. You know, he and Scott were very close
and Scott, you know, did some tremendous things for this organization.
Speaker 5 (19:19):
But ultimately, the.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Question I asked Jerry is do you believe we can
win a World Series with Scott as the leader? And
he said no, And he believed that, uh, And he
still believes, he believes today that we can with Dan.
And that's you know, you got to be guided by something.
We have a mission at the Mariners. We talk about
(19:42):
all the time when our mission is to win championships,
create unforgettable experiences for our fans, and serve our communities.
And you know, the things that go on the field
on the field, you know, are primarily related to championships,
but they also create unforgettable experiences. How many how many
kids have posters of how of Cal hitting the break
(20:04):
the streak home run in twenty two? How many think
about Julio and you know, we're number forty four when
they're going out, when they're going to bed, or they're
going out to play in the in the yard. And
I think that, you know, serving the communities is also
very important to us. It's something that I was taught
by my parents and my predecessors, you know, John Ellis
(20:29):
and Howard Lincoln all committed as our entire ownership is,
you know, to doing things to try to make us
a better community. And I think you know, right now
you can say the best thing we can do for
the community is to win that World Series. So there's
a virtual circle there, but you know we've done you know,
our home Base program is designed to eliminate reduce homelessness
(20:53):
by eliminating evictions. Our Hometown nine program where we help
kids that can't afford to play travel baseball and travel softball,
we make it possible for them and we have mentors
for them that you know, make a difference in their lines.
Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Well, John Stanton as well as Mariner chairman from the
Jimmy's On first And first of all, I love the
fact that.
Speaker 5 (21:17):
You hear this radio show. That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:19):
And then number two, if you've heard this show, then
you've probably heard me say on many many occasions, I
think the Mariners weren't in the World Series would be
the greatest sporting accomplishment this town has ever seen. You've
you've heard me say that maybe a couple times over
the years, and I mean that it'd be bigger than
the Super Bowl, bigger than anything that this team town
has ever done. And to me, I get tired, as
(21:41):
I know I think you do, of being on a
list that says never when it comes to the World Series.
You So let me ask you real quick, because Dick
asked about this ball club. So why why do you
think that is that we haven't gotten there yet? Why
do you think this time feels different for this franchise?
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I want to I want to address the predicate at first,
you know the it's a deep, dark secret. But you
and I know we grew up in the same neighborhood.
I know we did, right, I know we did, you know,
maybe twenty years apart, but neighborhood hasn't changed that much.
And we played pick up ball and Little League on
(22:23):
Woodridge Elementary's fields and all that. And anyone who's been here,
you know, spent their life here, you know, particularly a
baseball fan. You know you don't remember, I do the
departure of the pilots in sixty nine or actually in
March of seventy. You know, this community deserves a championship.
(22:43):
I also remember June first, nineteen seventy nine, you know,
the championship that the Sonics won after losing in seventy eight.
You know, those are those are memories that are are
so vivid for me. You know, I can I can
practically tell you exactly what I was doing and drinking
at the same at that time. For us to win
(23:08):
a World Series, I think culminates, you know, if you
include the pilots over sixty years of efforts to bring
a championship to this community in baseball, and baseball has
the ability to bring this community together in a way.
You know, it's an election year and you know, I'm
(23:29):
I'm not going to get into politics, but you know,
wouldn't it be nice if everybody was holding hands at
a parade celebrating Mariners winning the championship?
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Yeah, whether they'd like to hold your hand? Would you
hold my hand if we win? Well, you hold my
hand wood Brothers.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Yes, it may not last long. Exactly exactly we'll do
the secret Woodridge handshake. But the dynamic for this community
is they deserve it.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
We deserve it.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And you know, everyone who's been here their whole lives.
You know, I think you know has that. And you
know the great thing about this community is we've also
brought you know, huge numbers of people who moved into
Seattle for to go to work for Microsoft or Costco
or Team Mobile or Starbucks or Amazon.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
You know those.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Folks you know have come here to this community and
fall in love with his team. You know, it's a
fun time. I can't go to Starbucks right now without
someone saying go Mariners. The guys said it. Guy I've
never seen before said it to me in the elevator today.
You know, people are excited and it it has the
ability to have a long lasting effect.
Speaker 6 (24:39):
John, you had the fifteenth, twentieth, twenty third, twenty fifth,
and twenty eighth rank payroll make the playoffs this year,
so some could argue.
Speaker 7 (24:47):
That doesn't matter that much.
Speaker 6 (24:48):
But you also had six of the top eleven payrolls
make the playoffs this year, so some could argue that
it is that important. How tightly linked do you think
payroll is to making the playoffs and winning a championship?
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Well, you can't argue that it's not correlated. You know,
your your numbers suggest that I think that the key
is to have a coherent strategy and to be in
a position where you can execute on that strategy to succeed.
And you know, more power to the to the folks
(25:21):
that sign the huge contracts. But at least one of
those teams didn't make the playoffs at all. And you know,
the the dynamic is that, you know, payroll alone will
not make a difference. You've had, we've had plenty of
evidence of that. We were willing to step up. You know.
The commitment we made at the at the deadline, uh,
(25:43):
to Geno and to to nailor Uh, I think what
and Ferguson, you know, was an important statement by our
ownership group that we believe that this is the right time.
You know, people want us to win every year, and
and we want to win every year, but there's some
(26:04):
years where you see the opportunity and you can see
the path. Uh and I see the path, think, I know,
Jerry and Justin see the path. And this is a
year where we believe we can make a difference. And
so we made it. We made a commitment.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
You know.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Uh, it's like it's like anyone's purchase of any goods,
you know, kind of the ouch factor, you know, it
was it was a. It was an expensive commitment on
our part, but it's a commitment that we think will result, Yeah,
taking this team all the way.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
Well, you mentioned It'suarez and Naylor. You think those guys
are back next year.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I think we'll look at those kinds of issues after
the season's over. And you know, it's ultimately on Justin
and Jerry to to make those decisions. I would say
not not. In juxtaposition to your question, we have some
unbelievable talent. You know, I don't know if you saw,
you know, the the irony of colt Amer's sent out
(27:00):
there at second base yesterday at the scrimmage, at the
scrimmage and each hero in the outfield, you know, the
you know whatever that is thirty two years apart in age.
I think that we've got, you know, I look at
Las Montes, who was our best hitter in the minors
this year. I think, you know, the the addition we
(27:23):
made with Anderson at the in the I mean, I
think we got the best player in the draft. I mean,
how in the world did we end up with a
number three pick? You know, I was there when it
happened and still can't believe it. And then you know,
the teams that had the number one and two pick
pass on what I think everyone believed was the best
(27:43):
player in the draft. I mean, the the opportunity for
us to actually have a tremendous left handed starter, you know,
for his his career, you know, I think is you know,
is phenomenal. And he comes out of LSU where he's
got a comes from winning tradition. I think the future
(28:03):
is very bright for us.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
Yeah, well, let's start by getting to win tomorrow. How's
that game one?
Speaker 4 (28:07):
I love to hold your handring a parade by the way,
that's making to happen. Thanks for coming over, appreciate it.
John Stanton with us on the radio show. Well let's
get the Factor fiction right now.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Where's that to go?
Speaker 7 (28:17):
Glad you're with us.
Speaker 5 (28:18):
It's your shot at our weekly.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Thousand bucks and the ten thousand dollars grand prize. It's
Fact Door Fiction, probably presented by Lucky Eagle Casino and
hotel where every day Feels Lucky. Fact Door Fiction is
on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
Speaker 5 (28:38):
All right, we're back real quick. We gotta fly through this.
We're late.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Thanks to John Stanton for swinging by, so Dick I'm
just gonna go ahead and take a team that I
think is really, really good and might have a real
shot to play for the national title this year if
not win it. And I see a Florida State team
that gave up forty six points to Virginia in their
last game. Miami is on the road in Tallahassee. They're
given four and a half over FS. You give me
the Hurricanes, all right. Give me to Miami Hurricanes minus
(29:03):
four and a half over Florida State. Fact if you
like it, to four nine, four to five to one, fiction,
if you hate it to four nine, four to five
to one. All courtesy of our friends at the Lucky
Eagle Casino and Hotel, where every day feels lucky. We'll
see what Lee Sterling thinks. Our handicapper joins, and then
a special round table with everybody starting at four o'clock.
Coming up on ninety three three KJRFF.
Speaker 3 (29:24):
It's time for our weekly visit with gambling expert Lee Sterling.
No Paramount Sports brought to you by bail Breaker Brewing,
wherevery hop has grown in the Yakama Valley. Family owned
bold and proudly Pacific Northwest grab their flagship Top cutter
Ipa a citrusy. Find Forward Classic at your local grocery store,
or visit Death Rooms in Seattle and Yekamon. Now with
(29:47):
Lee Sterling, here's Suffi and Dial.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
We're gonna to our special Mariner round table coming up
at four o'clock.
Speaker 5 (29:54):
Half the crew here, Jimmy's half the crew. It's Lakwami Casino.
So what the heck?
Speaker 4 (29:58):
Man, We're apparently all six of us cannot be in
the same room at the same time, so we're splitting
us all up.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Man.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
But here he is our friend from South Florida, Paramut
Sports every Friday, our handicaper extraordinaire twelve and three and
it's last fifteen. He's on a heater. Baby, he's on
a heater, our friendly Sterling, how are you?
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Man?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Don't tell too many people.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Yeah you don't want that kick? Yeah, lazy, they don't
want to work anymore, your lazy bastard.
Speaker 5 (30:26):
I get it. Well, let's start.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Let's start in the ACC and let's start with your
freaking Hurricanes, all right, Miami Hurricanes in Tallahassee, given four
and a half on the road at Florida State. I
just picked the Hurricanes. In Factor Fiction to cover. Am
I right or am I wrong about that?
Speaker 5 (30:43):
Tell us?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I think the only way that Florida State has a
chance if they win a coin toss take the ball.
They got to put some pressure on Miami. No one
has made them feel uncomfortable. They have not trailed in
any game so far. And what concerns me with Florida
State Virginia was missing two starting offensive linemen. It ran
for two hundred and eleven yards here. I think Miami's
(31:08):
just too much. They were favored by twenty one last year,
won by twenty two. I think Florida State's cut the gap,
but not enough under a touchdown Miamis to call Kin's
thirty one to twenty three.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Got it in the Big ten at the Big House,
Michigan given a lot of points to Wisconsin seventeen and
a half.
Speaker 7 (31:24):
Are those too many points?
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Well? Wisconsin looked terrible this year, Let's be honest. They
looked like one of the worst teams we've seen in
a long time. This might be their last stand, but
there is hope if they can start and Billy Edwards
has taken some snaps. Two years ago when he was
at Maryland, they only lost thirty one to twenty four.
He was the best player on the field. Wisconsin is
(31:48):
six and two against the spread the last eight against Michigan.
Wisconsin can stop the run, just can't stop the pass year,
but Michigan more of a running team here. I'm calling
for the back door cover. Michigan wins this game to eighteen. Okay,
Wisconsin Badgers cover.
Speaker 5 (32:03):
I take take the Badgers and the points. All right.
You dubbed Maryland tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (32:07):
Maryland's got an eighteen year old quarterback named Malik Washington.
That's six five, two thirty and he's freaking eighteen years old.
What's he gonna look like when he's twenty or twenty one?
For God's sake? So Maryland four and I really haven't
played Anyboddy yet though, and they're getting five and a
half at home against the Dogs.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Well, they ran off. Billy Edwards said he wasn't the
guy because of this kid. Now he hasn't been tested. Uh,
their defense hasn't been tested. But top ten right now
an EPA. So I think they're underrated. This is a
tough trip for Washington. They did not win a game
on the road last year. Maryland can hit on big
(32:44):
plays here, they've got speed. I just think there's a
tough match up here. Unless Washington scores first, can apply
some pressure, they're in trouble. Also, run team's favored purps
outright twenty eight twenty five.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
That's so good? All right too?
Speaker 6 (32:59):
The the NFL Cardinals given more than a touchdown at
home against the Titans. Soud the Cardinals be giving more
than a touchdown against anybody?
Speaker 2 (33:08):
I don't think so. I think that the Titans have
been closed here, just not hanging on the balls here.
I mean it was bad last year. Will Levis when
he was quarterback in twelve games, did not do the job.
But it's been worse lately. Ward has mostly avoided throwing
the interceptions and fumbling the ball, but he's taken too
many keysacks here. So they're throwing the ball sixty one
(33:32):
percent of the time. They got to get the running
game going here. But I mean, something's wrong with this
Arizona team. I think this is a back and forth
game here. I'm going for the upset. Tennessee wins their
first game here twenty to seventeen.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
Yeah, it went out right, Wow, I take the Titans
to the points. How about the Hawks and Tampa. Tampa's down,
Bucky Irving, They're down, Mike Evans, Seahawks are down, Julian Love,
Devin Witherspoon, a lot of guys out for this game
on Sunday. They're wearing the old nineteen seventy throwback uniforms
when they first joined the NFL, and the Hawks are
given three and a half at home.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
What happens on Sunday, Well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
I mean the three extra days to prepare for this game,
I think is huge, so that gives him an advantage. Also,
Tampa is going to lose a day cross country here,
so you know, I like Seattle's defense. I think they're
gonna be all show.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
Tampa.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Baysman has some tough games. They had to come from
behind to win the first three games. Last week, a
furious comeback fell short at home against Philadelphia. So, uh,
this is a perfect match up here for Seattle. I
think Walker is gonna have a big game, maybe one
hundred and twenty five hundred and thirty yards here. Jam
Darnold already h seventy percent of his passes. Is he
(34:42):
completing over a nine point one yards per passing tempt?
Top three quarterback in Pro Football Focus here Hawk twenty
eight twenty.
Speaker 4 (34:50):
All right, game of the week Notre Dame and they're
at home and they're given a lot twenty and a
half to Boise State.
Speaker 5 (34:55):
It's your game of the week.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Is it a blowout or is this trap game? You
want to find out? Just call that number eight hundred
four hundred nine seven four to one. First five callers,
We're gonna give it to him for free. Eight hundred
four hundred nine seven four one. We've won I loving
straight NFL games. We won our forty unit max wager
last weekend, and college football in South Carolina might have
(35:21):
another one waiting on the injury report to come out
tomorrow morning for another NFL game. So you want to
hop on board just for your station only, I do
fifty three shows softy special normally five ninety seven for
not October, we call it October if they use coupon code,
save two hundred, three hundred and ninety seven dollars through
(35:42):
October thirty first just one place Paramount sports dot Com.
Speaker 5 (35:45):
All right, Lee, you're the man, great stuff.
Speaker 4 (35:47):
We're talking to wats thanks bud Okay, take Gord Lee
starting with us. He likes Miami to win and cover
against Florida State. He likes Wisconsin to cover against Michigan,
Maryland to upset the Huskies and win outright. Titans get
a win against the Cardinals as a seven and a
half point underdog on the road, and the Seahawks cover
and win versus Tampa. He's twelve and three in the
(36:07):
last three weeks. Give him a call eight four hundred
ninety seven, four to one, and get on board. We're
gonna break a special roundtable. The entire crew is gonna
be with us talking Mariners for the next two hours.
What do we make of the decision by Dan Wilson
to go with George Kirby in game number one? Who
concerns us on this Tiger baseball team? Is making this
(36:28):
point enough for this franchise? Or do they have to
go further? Those questions and more will be answered next
right here on ninety three three KJARFM.
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