May 4, 2026 • 9 mins
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo joins Softy and Dick Fain from T-Mobile Park before tonight’s game to talk about Emerson Hancock’s impressive 14 strikeout outing, meeting Randy Johnson before his number retirement, his memories of seeing Randy pitch, getting out of slumps in his career, and Steve Kerr’s future in basketball.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get over to T Mobile Park right now, because
joining us on the radio show one of our favorites,
and we appreciate this guy. We call him one of
our favorites because he just agrees to come on the
radio show all the time. If he said no, we
wouldn't like him. But we love him because he always
says yes when so many other players, probably smartly by
the way, say no. Brian Wu Mariner All Star starter,
(00:20):
is joining us right now on the radio program from
T Mobile Park.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Brian, how are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
We're good. We're across the street at Jimmy's. You want
to beer or something?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
By the way, oh Man, with this weather, no.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
No, you know what, maybe one of these days will
convince the skipper to let you come over and hang
out with us before a game. But Brian, before we
get into what's going on with you and talk about
your game as of late, you were once a young
guy right in this rotation. You were once in Emerson
Hancock's shoes trying to kind of earn your place in
the major leagues. Can you give us a take what
(00:58):
it was like from your perspective and the dugout on
Saturday night watching that young kid strike out fourteen hitters
on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Man, oh man, it was it was so much fun.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I think, you know, we've a lot of us came
up together and you know, we've we've all been playing
or hanging out and known each other since, you know,
we've been drafted. So coming up and getting to know
Emerson as a person and just how good of a
guy is and how hard he works, and you know,
to watch all that kind of come to fruition and
(01:31):
into a night like like the other night was just
it was incredible. Everybody's so stoked and excited to you know,
see him have success like this, and then just to
have a game like that is you know, it's just
one of those really really special nights.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Well let's go for a young strikeout artist like Emerson
on Saturday to an old strikeout artist. Did you bump
into Randy Johnson on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, yeah, we've we got to talk a little bit,
talked him a little bit on Sunday, caught up with
him obviously. Is uh, he's kind of you know, he's
he's just such a you know, giant stature that every
time you see him, you're you're blown away by helping
(02:18):
he is even Logan standing next to him, Like Logan
looks small next to him, and it's Logan towers over
all of us.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So now he's a great dude.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
He's given us, you know, some really good advice and
talks over the years and the few times that we've
gotten to to see him, And no, it.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Was it was special to be able to to take
in all.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
That stuff on Saturday, you know, the ceremony and kind
of the ovation and and the love that you know
that he has here and such a short amount of time.
But the impact that he had on on the organization
and the fans and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Man, it's it's really really cool to see.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, I was gonna say you were negative too, is
last time he pitched his You were nine when he retired,
for God's sake, So for you, it'd be like meeting
Sandy Kofax or you know somebody like that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So, I mean, do you remember much about him.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
As all when when he threw as a kid or
is it just way before your time?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Honestly, No, I mean I got to watch him a
little bit. He had a short time in San Francisco,
so I don't I didn't get to watch him a
ton like in his prime or remember watching him a
bunch of his prime. But I mean, I've seen obviously
countless videos of his games and like the little amount
(03:37):
of like information there is on uh, you know, ideas
and stuff coming up. And obviously the the talks with
Nolan Ryan are kind of pretty well known within the
pitching community and like what went on there, and we
asked him and talked to him about those.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So no, it's it.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He's just kind of one of those names where whether
you've seen him or not, like it's it's a figure
in the game, that's a figure in pitching, right, So
just one that you try to sit back and appreciate.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Well, Brian Will was with us, and Brian is the
problem with talking to you, man? You keep giving us
all these great questions we want to ask you with
with all these great answers you're giving us. And we
got to ask you, man because you mentioned Randy's talks
with Nolan Ryan, which you're right, you know, kind of
pretty well known famous by now. Have you had any
conversations like that with a veteran you know, maybe it
was Randy, was there a veteran guy coming up, or
(04:33):
maybe a guy that you still lean on now that
you go to for advice.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I wouldn't say one conversation in particular. I think, you know,
our staff as a whole, starters, relievers, everybody. You know,
it's a pretty tight knit group. So it's I would
say it's a lot more just kind of day to
day casual conversations. Either we're having them in the dugout
or or you know, we're reviewing games or outings or
(05:03):
kind of you know, how guys are feeling. It's it's uh,
it's it's an everyday process. I would say, you know,
I've had a ton of great conversations with people throughout
the years, but within our staff, it's kind of an
everyday thing. I think whether you're going well, you know,
like I'm I'm talking to to Emerson about what he's
feeling right now, you know, he's on his own and
(05:28):
coming and then you talk to you know, Bryce about
things that he's working on and coming back from rehab.
And you know, we're talking to Louis about whatever it
is things he's working on, how he's you know, tweaking
this or committing you know, staying kind of committed to
the same things that he always does, so it's it's
just a constant communication between between all of us.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Yeah, Brian, we're joining us. Brian, I know the last
couple of starts havn't gone the way you wanted. But
I was looking back at your game log, and you
had a couple of game bumping the road in late
July at twenty twenty three, and you pitched unbelievable in August.
You did the same last year. You had a couple
of game bump in July last year, and you pitched
unbelievable in August. So what is it about your process
(06:13):
for getting out of that rough patches because you've been
really good at it before.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I think it's a balance between, you know, trying to
learn and adjust from those bad ones, but also not
putting too much stock into it. You know, it's such
a long season. Like you said, you're gonna the best
in the game have bad starts, you know, in their
best seasons, And I think the worst thing that you
(06:40):
can do is have about outing and think about all
the things that you need to fix and change, and
you know, I think most of the time you're much
better off just getting right back to what you do.
You know, you might have some bad starts or some
bad luck in a row, and it makes it tough.
You know, you want to question the things that you're
doing and what you need to change and whatnot. But
(07:02):
more often than not, the best answer that I've found
is just staying committed to to who I am and
what I do, and you know, not trying to change
or put too much talk into the bad ones. Just
get right back to work and you know things will
be a right.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Well, I gotta ask maybe the most important question of all,
Brian before you go. Brian wu with us on the
radio show. He grew up in Oakland in the Bay Area.
Were you a Warrior fan growing up?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
By the way, I was a Warrior fan.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
If Steve Kerr is truly done coaching the Golden State Warriors,
do we want him as the first head coach of
the Sonic reboot in a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
If he's oh wow, I mean, if he is available, Man,
it's it's hard to find. I think you know someone
who is more experienced and has been through, you know,
more than he has. I think it's always difficult with
the rebuild and then obviously with the Warriors, as you've
had so many good years and then kind of you know,
(08:05):
a fading dynasty, so to speak. I think he would
be an incredible choice. Obviously, I'd like to keep him
as long as we can.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I don't know what's going.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
To happen with with the Warriors here in the next
couple of years and and what direction they want to take.
But I've always been obviously a fan of his just
what he's been able to do, uh with the Warriors,
and I don't know the way that he carries himself
and a lot of the lessons that he speaks on,
and you know, the things that he he accomplished as
(08:37):
a player and someone who you know, wasn't the most
talented and and made it work on a really a
lot of good teams and has held a lot of
positions in basketball. And you know, guys like that are
are you know, they're hard to come by. So obviously
i'd love to see Seattle have some basketball back in town.
(08:57):
And if I think Steve would be a pretty good start.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, we'll see when the Soups come back and they
play Golden State.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh, maybe you'll root for Seattle.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Maybe possibball. Oh geez, see here I am telling people
how much we like you.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
For God's sakes.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, Brian, listen, good luck in your next start
on Wednesday against this Braves team code get him.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Thanks for doing this and we'll talk soon. Man.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Thanks, yeah, absolutely, thanks guys.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
All right, Brian Wiu with us on the radio show.
Uh again, Just at Jim. Love talking to him, Love
having him on. Kind of guy you can talk baseball
with right for hours, Dick. I mean, he is awesome,
So no doubt he's gonna bounce back. But to bounce back,
he's gonna have to do it against a pretty damn
good team on Wednesday in Atlanta. All Right, we're gonna
break a little fun with audio and then Hugh mellan
gonna join a little more for with Hugh coming up
(09:49):
on ninety three three kJ RFM.
Let's get over to T Mobile Park right now, because
joining us on the radio show one of our favorites,
and we appreciate this guy. We call him one of
our favorites because he just agrees to come on the
radio show all the time. If he said no, we
wouldn't like him. But we love him because he always
says yes when so many other players, probably smartly by
the way, say no. Brian Wu Mariner All Star starter,
(00:20):
is joining us right now on the radio program from
T Mobile Park.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Brian, how are you man?
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
We're good. We're across the street at Jimmy's. You want
to beer or something?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
By the way, oh Man, with this weather, no.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
No, you know what, maybe one of these days will
convince the skipper to let you come over and hang
out with us before a game. But Brian, before we
get into what's going on with you and talk about
your game as of late, you were once a young
guy right in this rotation. You were once in Emerson
Hancock's shoes trying to kind of earn your place in
the major leagues. Can you give us a take what
(00:58):
it was like from your perspective and the dugout on
Saturday night watching that young kid strike out fourteen hitters
on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Man, oh man, it was it was so much fun.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I think, you know, we've a lot of us came
up together and you know, we've we've all been playing
or hanging out and known each other since, you know,
we've been drafted. So coming up and getting to know
Emerson as a person and just how good of a
guy is and how hard he works, and you know,
to watch all that kind of come to fruition and
(01:31):
into a night like like the other night was just
it was incredible. Everybody's so stoked and excited to you know,
see him have success like this, and then just to
have a game like that is you know, it's just
one of those really really special nights.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
Well let's go for a young strikeout artist like Emerson
on Saturday to an old strikeout artist. Did you bump
into Randy Johnson on Saturday?
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, yeah, we've we got to talk a little bit,
talked him a little bit on Sunday, caught up with
him obviously. Is uh, he's kind of you know, he's
he's just such a you know, giant stature that every
time you see him, you're you're blown away by helping
(02:18):
he is even Logan standing next to him, Like Logan
looks small next to him, and it's Logan towers over
all of us.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So now he's a great dude.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
He's given us, you know, some really good advice and
talks over the years and the few times that we've
gotten to to see him, And no, it.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Was it was special to be able to to take
in all.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
That stuff on Saturday, you know, the ceremony and kind
of the ovation and and the love that you know
that he has here and such a short amount of time.
But the impact that he had on on the organization
and the fans and all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Man, it's it's really really cool to see.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well, I was gonna say you were negative too, is
last time he pitched his You were nine when he retired,
for God's sake, So for you, it'd be like meeting
Sandy Kofax or you know somebody like that.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So, I mean, do you remember much about him.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
As all when when he threw as a kid or
is it just way before your time?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Honestly, No, I mean I got to watch him a
little bit. He had a short time in San Francisco,
so I don't I didn't get to watch him a
ton like in his prime or remember watching him a
bunch of his prime. But I mean, I've seen obviously
countless videos of his games and like the little amount
(03:37):
of like information there is on uh, you know, ideas
and stuff coming up. And obviously the the talks with
Nolan Ryan are kind of pretty well known within the
pitching community and like what went on there, and we
asked him and talked to him about those.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
So no, it's it.
Speaker 4 (04:00):
He's just kind of one of those names where whether
you've seen him or not, like it's it's a figure
in the game, that's a figure in pitching, right, So
just one that you try to sit back and appreciate.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Well, Brian Will was with us, and Brian is the
problem with talking to you, man? You keep giving us
all these great questions we want to ask you with
with all these great answers you're giving us. And we
got to ask you, man because you mentioned Randy's talks
with Nolan Ryan, which you're right, you know, kind of
pretty well known famous by now. Have you had any
conversations like that with a veteran you know, maybe it
was Randy, was there a veteran guy coming up, or
(04:33):
maybe a guy that you still lean on now that
you go to for advice.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I wouldn't say one conversation in particular. I think, you know,
our staff as a whole, starters, relievers, everybody. You know,
it's a pretty tight knit group. So it's I would
say it's a lot more just kind of day to
day casual conversations. Either we're having them in the dugout
or or you know, we're reviewing games or outings or
(05:03):
kind of you know, how guys are feeling. It's it's uh,
it's it's an everyday process. I would say, you know,
I've had a ton of great conversations with people throughout
the years, but within our staff, it's kind of an
everyday thing. I think whether you're going well, you know,
like I'm I'm talking to to Emerson about what he's
feeling right now, you know, he's on his own and
(05:28):
coming and then you talk to you know, Bryce about
things that he's working on and coming back from rehab.
And you know, we're talking to Louis about whatever it
is things he's working on, how he's you know, tweaking
this or committing you know, staying kind of committed to
the same things that he always does, so it's it's
just a constant communication between between all of us.
Speaker 5 (05:53):
Yeah, Brian, we're joining us. Brian, I know the last
couple of starts havn't gone the way you wanted. But
I was looking back at your game log, and you
had a couple of game bumping the road in late
July at twenty twenty three, and you pitched unbelievable in August.
You did the same last year. You had a couple
of game bump in July last year, and you pitched
unbelievable in August. So what is it about your process
(06:13):
for getting out of that rough patches because you've been
really good at it before.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
I think it's a balance between, you know, trying to
learn and adjust from those bad ones, but also not
putting too much stock into it. You know, it's such
a long season. Like you said, you're gonna the best
in the game have bad starts, you know, in their
best seasons, And I think the worst thing that you
(06:40):
can do is have about outing and think about all
the things that you need to fix and change, and
you know, I think most of the time you're much
better off just getting right back to what you do.
You know, you might have some bad starts or some
bad luck in a row, and it makes it tough.
You know, you want to question the things that you're
doing and what you need to change and whatnot. But
(07:02):
more often than not, the best answer that I've found
is just staying committed to to who I am and
what I do, and you know, not trying to change
or put too much talk into the bad ones. Just
get right back to work and you know things will
be a right.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Well, I gotta ask maybe the most important question of all,
Brian before you go. Brian wu with us on the
radio show. He grew up in Oakland in the Bay Area.
Were you a Warrior fan growing up?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
By the way, I was a Warrior fan.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
If Steve Kerr is truly done coaching the Golden State Warriors,
do we want him as the first head coach of
the Sonic reboot in a couple of years.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
If he's oh wow, I mean, if he is available, Man,
it's it's hard to find. I think you know someone
who is more experienced and has been through, you know,
more than he has. I think it's always difficult with
the rebuild and then obviously with the Warriors, as you've
had so many good years and then kind of you know,
(08:05):
a fading dynasty, so to speak. I think he would
be an incredible choice. Obviously, I'd like to keep him
as long as we can.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I don't know what's going.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
To happen with with the Warriors here in the next
couple of years and and what direction they want to take.
But I've always been obviously a fan of his just
what he's been able to do, uh with the Warriors,
and I don't know the way that he carries himself
and a lot of the lessons that he speaks on,
and you know, the things that he he accomplished as
(08:37):
a player and someone who you know, wasn't the most
talented and and made it work on a really a
lot of good teams and has held a lot of
positions in basketball. And you know, guys like that are
are you know, they're hard to come by. So obviously
i'd love to see Seattle have some basketball back in town.
(08:57):
And if I think Steve would be a pretty good start.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Well, we'll see when the Soups come back and they
play Golden State.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh, maybe you'll root for Seattle.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Maybe possibball. Oh geez, see here I am telling people
how much we like you.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
For God's sakes.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
All right, Brian, listen, good luck in your next start
on Wednesday against this Braves team code get him.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Thanks for doing this and we'll talk soon. Man.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Thanks, yeah, absolutely, thanks guys.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
All right, Brian Wiu with us on the radio show.
Uh again, Just at Jim. Love talking to him, Love
having him on. Kind of guy you can talk baseball
with right for hours, Dick. I mean, he is awesome,
So no doubt he's gonna bounce back. But to bounce back,
he's gonna have to do it against a pretty damn
good team on Wednesday in Atlanta. All Right, we're gonna
break a little fun with audio and then Hugh mellan
gonna join a little more for with Hugh coming up
(09:49):
on ninety three three kJ RFM.
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