May 13, 2025 • 20 mins
Legendary writer Larry Stone joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to talk about Pete Rose now being eligible for the Hall of Fame, why this change came now, if he is going to vote for Rose, the M’s going through a rough stretch, and Julio Rodriguez’s struggles.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time for our weekly conversation with legendary sports writer
Larry Stone, brought to you by the Ram Restaurant and Brewery, Bigger, Better,
and fresher since nineteen seventy one, with eight Fugit Sound
locations from Marysville to Lacey and everywhere in between. There's
a rim near you Now with Softy and Dick, here's
Larry Stone.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wow, what a.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Treat this is. You're looking to see Larry Stone very
often in person? But is it coincidence? By the way
that he'll always show up and see us in person
when there's a bar five feet behind him.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
By the way, that's a lively atmosphere.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
He likes that we're right across the street from where
he's going to be heading here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Shortly are you Are you working the night or hanging
out in the stane?
Speaker 5 (00:38):
What are you doing neither? I'm not working, but I'm
going to hang out in the press box.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
I kind of come to one game a homestand and
Simsy was here. I want to say hi to him.
There you go, good friend of mine. So that's why
I chose this one. And then just by happy coincidence,
you guys, happened to be right, I love it, and
so I wandered over. There's always that one, right, that
just keeps hanging around, right.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I don't know what's cool. I don't know what's cooler.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Dave the Lifetime Honorary Baseball Writers Association of America lapel
that he's wearing right now to get him into every
stadium in baseball or the what circa.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Picture of Larry Stone on that on that card right there?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What year was that taking? You know?
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I think it was the first year I came to Seattle,
which was ninety six.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I think that was it.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Your bar Mitchell, By the way, can I get a
picture of that right away?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
That is amazing. Look at that Holy crap.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
And it's kind of distorted like it was taken through
a doorknob. So yeah, they just keep using it.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
I have no say in that.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, good for you that basically, I mean, in all honesty,
like that gives you the ability to get into any
baseball game you want for.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
The rest of your life, is that right?
Speaker 6 (01:51):
Yeah? Into the press box anyway. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
That is very very what you're in the gates. You
can go where you want. That's true.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I think my favorite cdential all time that I still
have is in ninety eight. You may remember this when Maguire,
Sosa and Griffy were going after Maris.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
They handed out a pass.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, and it was good to follow any of those
guys all over the country.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Did you get one of those?
Speaker 6 (02:13):
I do.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
As a matter of fact, last week I went I
have a habit of just throwing my credentials into a box,
so I have them dating back to the nineteen eighties,
and I went through them all and found some amazing
things in there.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
But I found that one. And I was there in
Saint Louis.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I know you were too, Yes, I was there that
night that night, and you know, that was probably the
most exciting event I ever covered because we had sort
of pushed aside the fact the steroids. Yeah right, I
mean it was a huge deal in sports.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Was there a bigger I can't think of a bigger
single day in baseball since then? It doesn't it eclipse
every World Series Game seven that's happened since then.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
I don't think a lot of younger people may not
realize what a big deal that was.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Huge. I mean, this was the most sacred record in baseball.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
You know, you know who the first player was that
congratulated McGuire when he crossed home play.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
I do ill our old friend, Scott's Service, that the
catcher for the I interviewed Scott.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
He was like I got.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
McGuire was not really.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Wanting to do many interviews then because he was just overwhelmed,
and Service became kind of like a go to guy
to talk about, you know a little knowing that in
thirty years he was going to be the manager of
the marriage.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
So I interviewed him a lot back in those days.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
While yeah, hey, Scott, did you enjoy that night, by
the way, that question with you back then?
Speaker 6 (03:43):
No, he wasn't. He wasn't. He never was really too
synarchy with me. He saved that for Dave.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Right, well, you're right about how big it was, and
I'll never forget it. That was the weekend that brock
Heward hit Reggie Davis on the hand of God game,
first game of the year against Arizona State. I went
and saw that game, flew to Saint Louis Sunday morning,
Saw sixty one. Yeah, did my show from KMOX radio
on Monday, SAW sixty two on Tuesday, and went home.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It was just incredible.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
And the other thing was that there was no guarantee
that he was going to hold the record. At the
end of the year, Sammy had like fifty nine or sixty.
I mean he was right behind him, So I mean
Sammy could have gone on a surge and ended up
being the single seed as there a record holder.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Well, now we got some bigger news in baseball today
with Pete Rose being reinstated shoeless Joe Jackson reinstated. So
we're all wondering do you have a Hall of Fame
vote and would you use it on Pete Rose? But
you brought up a point off the air that we
haven't even talked about yet to explain to people how
this process will not work.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
Well, I do have a vote.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
You haven't for ten years after you retire, and this
is my first year. I kept an active card last year.
This is my first year with the honorary card, so
I got ten more years of voting. But you're only
on the Hall of Fame Baseball Writer's ballot for fifteen
years after you retired, and that's long gone for Pete Rose.
So never had a ballot with Pete Rose on it.
(05:02):
And never will unless they change the rules or make
some sort of exception.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
So what it does.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
There was a I got a press release from the
Hall of Fame today explaining what the situation is because
I'm still on their mailing list. And there is a
historical committee that considers players who are no longer on
the ballot, and so all the sixteen players who are
(05:29):
reinstated today, and that includes all the black socks from
you know, shoeless Joe Jackson and all his teammates and
Pete Rose will be.
Speaker 6 (05:36):
Considered by this committee.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
And then you can guarantee that Joe Jackson and p
Rose are going to be passed forward.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
And then it goes to a golden era.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
I think they call it committee of sixteen people who
will vote on those the eligibility, the Hall of Fame
status of those players.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
And it's sixteen people on the committee.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
It's former players, former executives, current executives, historians, and I
think a couple of baseball writers. And you need that's
the same committee that Lou Penella is is probably considered
for Hall of Fame, and you need twelve votes.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Lou has gotten eleven twice, so.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
He's gonna have to get Pete's gonna have to get
twelve votes from this committee to go into the Hall
of Fame. And then that committee will meet in December
of twenty twenty seven. Will be the next time they wow, okay,
they vote. It's during the Winter meetings, and they announced it.
They always announced it on the first day of the
Winter meetings, and they alternate. There's there's various committees. There's
modern players, there's old time players. So they alternate years,
(06:40):
and I think the next year is going to be
a different committee. But the Pete Rose Joe Jackson Committee
will be twenty seven, So the earliest you could go
in the Hall of Fame is twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So everything I said about this being the most anticipated
Hall of Fame vote ever, forget it post right, you know, talk.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
About the timing, like why now?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
And why is Shulis Jackson in the Black Sox lumped in.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
With Pete Rose in this decision?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Why wasn't Juliss Jackson If they're gonna do this to
Pete Rose? Now, what did they do with the Black
Socks fifty years ago?
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Well, I mean yeah, I mean Pete Rose when he
died that which was nine months ago that sort of
put a new focus on this. And then I mean,
I think a cynical person would say Donald Trump entered
the fray about a month ago when he put out
(07:34):
this blistering tweet or whatever it is, social, whatever his
thing is, truth social, blasting Baseball for for not having
Rose in the Hall of Fame. And and and then
Manfred met with Trump two weeks ago.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
Oh interesting, Okay, And I mean it seems like it's
and then suddenly you know Baseball has an anti Trump's.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
Exemption that they don't want to lose. So I mean,
I think that's got something to do with the timing
of this. And I think if you're going to do
it for Pete Rose, you got to throw shoeless Joe.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
And right as well. Well.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, so if you're on that committee, then you have
one of those votes.
Speaker 6 (08:17):
Are you voting for him?
Speaker 5 (08:20):
You know, to me, it's not an easy decision. I'm
not a hard liner. I vote for the steroids, guys.
I've voted for Bonds ten times. You know, he was
on the ballot ten years. I voted for him every year.
I voted for Clemens every year. So but to me,
this is a worse offense than that. This is the
cardinal sin of baseball. It's there's a sign on every
(08:41):
clubhouse and there always has been. It's called Rule twenty one.
It came into being because of the black Sauce scandal.
This rule has been there since nineteen twenty one that
if you bet on baseball in any game that you're
involved in, it's a permanent band. I mean, every player
who's ever played knows that rule. And Pete Rose violated that.
(09:04):
It's the I mean, the integrity.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
Of the game.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
If fans need to know that the games are are
you know, fair and square and then and this cuts
into that.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
However, I think ultimately I would vote for him because
you know his.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
You can you can put it on the plaque that
he was suspended for betting on baseball. But his h
his feet, the all time hit record was as a player.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
Now he was a player manager. This this is more
complicating factor.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
He was a player manager his last two years, so
while he was managing. You know, people say, oh he
was he was a manager not a player.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
But they're suppose right, yeah, uh so there was an overlap.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
But you know, he may have bet on games. I
think he did bet on games where he was playing
and managing.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
So and the fact that he always bet for the
Reds to win.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
To me, that's not that that doesn't clear him, because
you know, as a manager, he could if he has
a bet on a game, he could leave his clothes,
he could have his closer and you know, pitch for
the fourth straight day or something which is to the
detriment of the team, or he could you know, you
manage the game differently if even if you're even if
you're playing to win. I think so, I think there's
(10:23):
integrity of the game issues even though he only bet
on the team to win. But uh, the largest portion
of his career was before all this happened, So I
think I would grudgingly vote for it.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Well, I guess there's just I mean, there's a separation between,
you know, getting kicked out of baseball and just saying, hey,
you cannot attend a game, you can't be at any
functioning j But the Hall of Fame, for me, at
least Larry, is as much for the fans and the
history of a game as it is to reward the player.
And I think what we've done the last thirty years
is take that away from the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Game itself and from the fans.
Speaker 6 (11:03):
Yeah, you look.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
I mean the all time hits leader is not in.
The all time home runs leader is not in. The
guy who has the most cy Young Awards, and Roger
Clemens is not in, uh you know, a seven one
hundred home run guy, and Alex Rodriguez is not. I mean, yeah,
I tend to lean towards that viewpoint as well. It's
the Hall of Fame. These players, everyone knows what they did.
(11:27):
You could judge yourself whether right, and you know how
to hold it against them.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I just don't want to cherry pick what history I
want to see recognized and what we don't. I mean,
this is baseball, whether we like it or not. This
is baseball's history. And I love the Hall of Fame.
And I've been there twice at a great time. Both
times I was there, and I think they that that
that the history of the game is what the Hall
of Fame should be about and reflected in the Hall
of Fame, and we leave guys out, Like I agree
(11:51):
with you on Clemens and Bonds.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Hey, I mean you if you read the reports.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean, by all accounts, Clemens and Bonds were already
Hall of famers when they started taking steroids time. It
was amazing what they did. But Larry Stone is with
us on the radio show, and I mean, just interesting
stuff on how this is gonna work. So twenty twenty
seven would be the first time that we could vote
on this for Hall of Fame. Twenty twenty eight ceremony
then would be when he would be inducted, which will
(12:14):
be three years obviously from this summer. But what about
the team across the street.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Hey, we did a good job of ignoring him for
fifteen minutes. We did. We did well.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
It took a day for Baseball to say Pete Rose
is eligible for the Hall of Fame, to ignore the Mariners.
But what the hell's going on?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Is there is there a leak in the voters? There
are a crack of the boats.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Well, there's definitely a leak, and we were talking off
the air, and they're facing the guy who right now
is the cy young favorite, Max Freed tonight. Then you
got Logan Evans, who's been shaky going tomorrow. And then
you got three with the Padres, one of the three
best teams in baseball. So you know, this losing streak
could really accelerate and then you got the White Sox.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
I think after that where you can maybe get well
in a series.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
But uh, you know, I think that the loss of
Kirby and Gilbert is finally sort of hitting home. You
know that those guys are so essential to uh the
blueprint for them winning.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And when they with.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Miller's struggling and Castillo struggling, you don't have that great
pitching every night like you you were counting on. And
then the lineup, I think it was inevitable that they
were gonna hit some bumps too. And you know, you
look at you look at that lineup and there's a
lot of dead spots in that line up there where
they were getting production way over their head from guys
(13:38):
like Revas and and Williamson for a week or you know,
for his first two weeks, but he's he's hit reality
and first base is still a problem area.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
So there's there's a lot of holes in that lineup.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
And when they're both working together, you have what what's.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
Happened in the last four days? What are you saying
with Bryce Miller?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And and how do you think they're going to handle him?
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Yeah, it's a it's an issue. Uh, it's a big problem.
I'm seeing a guy who.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Has no confidence, who's lost his command, which was his
big thing. Uh, and you have to wonder about his health.
Usually poor command follows poor health, and he's complained about
various things. And but the Mirrors are very cautious organization
when it comes to players health. So I if there
(14:22):
was real concerns about Miller, they would not hesitate to
put him on the I L I'm pretty sure about that.
So they must feel confident that he's okay physically. He
just he needs a game where he goes out and
throws seven shut out innings to get his confidence back.
You know, each of the last three games, the Mirrors
starters have looked really good for four innings, including Miller.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Yep. Then that also happened with.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Who else Emerson Hancock last night for four innings he
was holding down the Yankees and then they fell apart
from him in the fifth.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
And it happened then that with Ogan Evans too his start.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
They need to figure out a way to get these
guys deep into games because the bullpen is suffering as.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Well, no doubt. Yeah, Well, Larry Stones with us, and
Larry was last night.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
It was one of those nights where you see kind
of the good and bad of Julio had the home run, obviously,
and then misplays a ball in centerfield that went off
his glove, and I think he should have caught that ball.
I mean, catches the top of his glove and then
hits the back of the wall. So if it doesn't
touch the glove, it's probably gonna hit the wall or
maybe the.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Top of the wall and come back in.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But he looks a little off to me, defensively, slightly,
And maybe it's because of T Mobile Park. I have
no idea, but just look at the numbers. He's one
hundredth in baseball and ops right now, one hundredth. That's
not why you signed Julio Rodriguez, right. So Bill Kruever
has been on the show and he's gone on record.
He says the Mariners jumped the gun too early on
giving him that contract. We looked up Tatisse, we looked
(15:47):
up Pacunya. Both those guys had more abs and more
games than Julio did. Do you think privately, in a
private moment, the Mariners would say we shouldn't have done that,
or do you think they still think they made the
rock cut right called locking him up.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
I think they still may think they made the right call.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
He may be one hundredth in OPS, but he's also
twenty eighth in war If you check that out, which I.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
Looked at, I'm more of an OPS.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
I mean that means he's the twenty eighth most valuable
player in baseball by the stat that everybody uses just
to judge value. And that's even and that's with a
poor offensive start. He helps you out in a lot
of different ways, right And you know, I'm encouraged by
the way he is playing right now compared to April
and Mays of other years.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
I think he's way ahead. And that's I mean, if
you look at.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
This last two weeks, he's hitting three over three hundred
with with pop. So I think he's trending in the
right direction. You know, I think you can make the
case that they jumped the gun. But he was coming
off to top ten MVP seasons, finishing in the top ten.
You know, if you had waited to sign him and
(16:57):
he continued along that trajectory, he was going to price
himself out of the market. So and if you look
at his yearly salaries.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It's eighteen million.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yeah, it's not prohibitive. It's for a long time, but
he's not you know, he's not being overpaid compared to
other stars at all.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
And by the time that contract's over, Larry, the last
two or three years, that contract, eighteen.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Million is going to be the average salary in baseball.
The average salary in baseball. That sounds like something I've
been saying for the past ten seasons. By the way,
thank you, Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
No, I agree with with what Dick just said.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
That you throw the total out there with, you know,
the three hundred four hundred million, it sounds absurd, but
when you break it down, he's not hamstringing them right now,
and he's not overpaid.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Right Hey, Larry, before you go, I don't want to
get an NBA thought from you, because Adam Silver was
on Serious XM today and kind of for the first time,
I think, went on record and said, yes, we will
be discussing expansion in July. He's mentioned Seattle now by
name numerous times. He's mentioned Vegas by name numerous times.
Is it getting to a point now where you think
(18:06):
this is all just about dotting the eyes and crossing
the T's.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Probably the timing, though, remains a mystery. I mean, he's
been teasing it for so long, but I'm I remain
really hopeful that it's gonna happen, and it happened here.
A lot of my hope is based on the Liwikis
and their connection right in the NBA. I think, I
think they know the right people, and I think they
(18:31):
know how to get this done. And I mean, I
don't see how the NBA can expand and not expand
to Seattle. And you know when exactly that's going to happen,
I don't know. But if I were a betting man
like Pete Rose, I would say that.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
I would bet on Seattle getting a team.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Hey, how many people in town I have that passed
by the way that you have that life ten years
past to go to any baseball stadium in the country.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Jim Street, Okay, Bob Sherwin. I think those are the
only two that many.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It's a lifetime pass, not a ten year pass. He's
a ten year voting, but he's got a lifetime.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
This is the real life version of Charlie Bucket from
Willie Walker. He's got the golden ticket. Hey, tuck that
thing in your shirt. Somebody may try to rip it
off when you walk down the street, or more likely
I'll lose it because I lose them.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
You asked me about or union asomy, but you were
talking about things that you emulate your father.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We have both had a tendency to misplace things. Hey,
you're the man. Appreciate this, Larry. We're talking a week
by all right?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (19:38):
All right, Larry Stone the absolute best with us on
the radio show. That is so freaking cool that he's
got that pass and he deserves it. Man, I hope
he's hanging around forever at the park. All Right, we're
gonna break. We're gonna hear from Dan Wilson. I believe
Chris Daniels is gonna join us as well at five
forty five and talk about with today's announcement of the
Blazer sale means. And by the way, did you forget
(19:59):
something new? We need some pg A picks out of you.
Well that's tomorrow, That is tomorrow. I'm getting old. I
thought today was Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
What I talk about what we take weekay? Today? How
about doing is what I'm taking from my day?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
All Right, we're here on a busy Friday and Jimmy's
on first on ninety three three kJ A r f
M
It's time for our weekly conversation with legendary sports writer
Larry Stone, brought to you by the Ram Restaurant and Brewery, Bigger, Better,
and fresher since nineteen seventy one, with eight Fugit Sound
locations from Marysville to Lacey and everywhere in between. There's
a rim near you Now with Softy and Dick, here's
Larry Stone.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Wow, what a.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Treat this is. You're looking to see Larry Stone very
often in person? But is it coincidence? By the way
that he'll always show up and see us in person
when there's a bar five feet behind him.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
By the way, that's a lively atmosphere.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
He likes that we're right across the street from where
he's going to be heading here.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Shortly are you Are you working the night or hanging
out in the stane?
Speaker 5 (00:38):
What are you doing neither? I'm not working, but I'm
going to hang out in the press box.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Okay.
Speaker 5 (00:44):
I kind of come to one game a homestand and
Simsy was here. I want to say hi to him.
There you go, good friend of mine. So that's why
I chose this one. And then just by happy coincidence,
you guys, happened to be right, I love it, and
so I wandered over. There's always that one, right, that
just keeps hanging around, right.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I don't know what's cool. I don't know what's cooler.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Dave the Lifetime Honorary Baseball Writers Association of America lapel
that he's wearing right now to get him into every
stadium in baseball or the what circa.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Nineteen ninety four.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
Picture of Larry Stone on that on that card right there?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
What year was that taking? You know?
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I think it was the first year I came to Seattle,
which was ninety six.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
I think that was it.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Your bar Mitchell, By the way, can I get a
picture of that right away?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
That is amazing. Look at that Holy crap.
Speaker 5 (01:34):
And it's kind of distorted like it was taken through
a doorknob. So yeah, they just keep using it.
Speaker 6 (01:42):
I have no say in that.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Well, good for you that basically, I mean, in all honesty,
like that gives you the ability to get into any
baseball game you want for.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
The rest of your life, is that right?
Speaker 6 (01:51):
Yeah? Into the press box anyway. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
That is very very what you're in the gates. You
can go where you want. That's true.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
I think my favorite cdential all time that I still
have is in ninety eight. You may remember this when Maguire,
Sosa and Griffy were going after Maris.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
They handed out a pass.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Yeah, and it was good to follow any of those
guys all over the country.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Did you get one of those?
Speaker 6 (02:13):
I do.
Speaker 5 (02:14):
As a matter of fact, last week I went I
have a habit of just throwing my credentials into a box,
so I have them dating back to the nineteen eighties,
and I went through them all and found some amazing
things in there.
Speaker 6 (02:27):
But I found that one. And I was there in
Saint Louis.
Speaker 5 (02:31):
I know you were too, Yes, I was there that
night that night, and you know, that was probably the
most exciting event I ever covered because we had sort
of pushed aside the fact the steroids. Yeah right, I
mean it was a huge deal in sports.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Was there a bigger I can't think of a bigger
single day in baseball since then? It doesn't it eclipse
every World Series Game seven that's happened since then.
Speaker 6 (02:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
I don't think a lot of younger people may not
realize what a big deal that was.
Speaker 6 (03:02):
Huge. I mean, this was the most sacred record in baseball.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
You know, you know who the first player was that
congratulated McGuire when he crossed home play.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
I do ill our old friend, Scott's Service, that the
catcher for the I interviewed Scott.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
He was like I got.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
McGuire was not really.
Speaker 5 (03:23):
Wanting to do many interviews then because he was just overwhelmed,
and Service became kind of like a go to guy
to talk about, you know a little knowing that in
thirty years he was going to be the manager of
the marriage.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
So I interviewed him a lot back in those days.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
While yeah, hey, Scott, did you enjoy that night, by
the way, that question with you back then?
Speaker 6 (03:43):
No, he wasn't. He wasn't. He never was really too
synarchy with me. He saved that for Dave.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Right, well, you're right about how big it was, and
I'll never forget it. That was the weekend that brock
Heward hit Reggie Davis on the hand of God game,
first game of the year against Arizona State. I went
and saw that game, flew to Saint Louis Sunday morning,
Saw sixty one. Yeah, did my show from KMOX radio
on Monday, SAW sixty two on Tuesday, and went home.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It was just incredible.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
And the other thing was that there was no guarantee
that he was going to hold the record. At the
end of the year, Sammy had like fifty nine or sixty.
I mean he was right behind him, So I mean
Sammy could have gone on a surge and ended up
being the single seed as there a record holder.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Well, now we got some bigger news in baseball today
with Pete Rose being reinstated shoeless Joe Jackson reinstated. So
we're all wondering do you have a Hall of Fame
vote and would you use it on Pete Rose? But
you brought up a point off the air that we
haven't even talked about yet to explain to people how
this process will not work.
Speaker 6 (04:40):
Well, I do have a vote.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
You haven't for ten years after you retire, and this
is my first year. I kept an active card last year.
This is my first year with the honorary card, so
I got ten more years of voting. But you're only
on the Hall of Fame Baseball Writer's ballot for fifteen
years after you retired, and that's long gone for Pete Rose.
So never had a ballot with Pete Rose on it.
(05:02):
And never will unless they change the rules or make
some sort of exception.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
So what it does.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
There was a I got a press release from the
Hall of Fame today explaining what the situation is because
I'm still on their mailing list. And there is a
historical committee that considers players who are no longer on
the ballot, and so all the sixteen players who are
(05:29):
reinstated today, and that includes all the black socks from
you know, shoeless Joe Jackson and all his teammates and
Pete Rose will be.
Speaker 6 (05:36):
Considered by this committee.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
And then you can guarantee that Joe Jackson and p
Rose are going to be passed forward.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
And then it goes to a golden era.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
I think they call it committee of sixteen people who
will vote on those the eligibility, the Hall of Fame
status of those players.
Speaker 6 (05:58):
And it's sixteen people on the committee.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
It's former players, former executives, current executives, historians, and I
think a couple of baseball writers. And you need that's
the same committee that Lou Penella is is probably considered
for Hall of Fame, and you need twelve votes.
Speaker 6 (06:16):
Lou has gotten eleven twice, so.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
He's gonna have to get Pete's gonna have to get
twelve votes from this committee to go into the Hall
of Fame. And then that committee will meet in December
of twenty twenty seven. Will be the next time they wow, okay,
they vote. It's during the Winter meetings, and they announced it.
They always announced it on the first day of the
Winter meetings, and they alternate. There's there's various committees. There's
modern players, there's old time players. So they alternate years,
(06:40):
and I think the next year is going to be
a different committee. But the Pete Rose Joe Jackson Committee
will be twenty seven, So the earliest you could go
in the Hall of Fame is twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So everything I said about this being the most anticipated
Hall of Fame vote ever, forget it post right, you know, talk.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
About the timing, like why now?
Speaker 4 (07:02):
And why is Shulis Jackson in the Black Sox lumped in.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
With Pete Rose in this decision?
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Why wasn't Juliss Jackson If they're gonna do this to
Pete Rose? Now, what did they do with the Black
Socks fifty years ago?
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Well, I mean yeah, I mean Pete Rose when he
died that which was nine months ago that sort of
put a new focus on this. And then I mean,
I think a cynical person would say Donald Trump entered
the fray about a month ago when he put out
(07:34):
this blistering tweet or whatever it is, social, whatever his
thing is, truth social, blasting Baseball for for not having
Rose in the Hall of Fame. And and and then
Manfred met with Trump two weeks ago.
Speaker 7 (07:48):
Oh interesting, Okay, And I mean it seems like it's
and then suddenly you know Baseball has an anti Trump's.
Speaker 5 (08:00):
Exemption that they don't want to lose. So I mean,
I think that's got something to do with the timing
of this. And I think if you're going to do
it for Pete Rose, you got to throw shoeless Joe.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
And right as well. Well.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Okay, so if you're on that committee, then you have
one of those votes.
Speaker 6 (08:17):
Are you voting for him?
Speaker 5 (08:20):
You know, to me, it's not an easy decision. I'm
not a hard liner. I vote for the steroids, guys.
I've voted for Bonds ten times. You know, he was
on the ballot ten years. I voted for him every year.
I voted for Clemens every year. So but to me,
this is a worse offense than that. This is the
cardinal sin of baseball. It's there's a sign on every
(08:41):
clubhouse and there always has been. It's called Rule twenty one.
It came into being because of the black Sauce scandal.
This rule has been there since nineteen twenty one that
if you bet on baseball in any game that you're
involved in, it's a permanent band. I mean, every player
who's ever played knows that rule. And Pete Rose violated that.
(09:04):
It's the I mean, the integrity.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
Of the game.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
If fans need to know that the games are are
you know, fair and square and then and this cuts
into that.
Speaker 6 (09:14):
However, I think ultimately I would vote for him because
you know his.
Speaker 5 (09:23):
You can you can put it on the plaque that
he was suspended for betting on baseball. But his h
his feet, the all time hit record was as a player.
Speaker 6 (09:35):
Now he was a player manager. This this is more
complicating factor.
Speaker 5 (09:39):
He was a player manager his last two years, so
while he was managing. You know, people say, oh he
was he was a manager not a player.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
But they're suppose right, yeah, uh so there was an overlap.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
But you know, he may have bet on games. I
think he did bet on games where he was playing
and managing.
Speaker 6 (09:58):
So and the fact that he always bet for the
Reds to win.
Speaker 5 (10:01):
To me, that's not that that doesn't clear him, because
you know, as a manager, he could if he has
a bet on a game, he could leave his clothes,
he could have his closer and you know, pitch for
the fourth straight day or something which is to the
detriment of the team, or he could you know, you
manage the game differently if even if you're even if
you're playing to win. I think so, I think there's
(10:23):
integrity of the game issues even though he only bet
on the team to win. But uh, the largest portion
of his career was before all this happened, So I
think I would grudgingly vote for it.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Well, I guess there's just I mean, there's a separation between,
you know, getting kicked out of baseball and just saying, hey,
you cannot attend a game, you can't be at any
functioning j But the Hall of Fame, for me, at
least Larry, is as much for the fans and the
history of a game as it is to reward the player.
And I think what we've done the last thirty years
is take that away from the.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Game itself and from the fans.
Speaker 6 (11:03):
Yeah, you look.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
I mean the all time hits leader is not in.
The all time home runs leader is not in. The
guy who has the most cy Young Awards, and Roger
Clemens is not in, uh you know, a seven one
hundred home run guy, and Alex Rodriguez is not. I mean, yeah,
I tend to lean towards that viewpoint as well. It's
the Hall of Fame. These players, everyone knows what they did.
(11:27):
You could judge yourself whether right, and you know how
to hold it against them.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
I just don't want to cherry pick what history I
want to see recognized and what we don't. I mean,
this is baseball, whether we like it or not. This
is baseball's history. And I love the Hall of Fame.
And I've been there twice at a great time. Both
times I was there, and I think they that that
that the history of the game is what the Hall
of Fame should be about and reflected in the Hall
of Fame, and we leave guys out, Like I agree
(11:51):
with you on Clemens and Bonds.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Hey, I mean you if you read the reports.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
I mean, by all accounts, Clemens and Bonds were already
Hall of famers when they started taking steroids time. It
was amazing what they did. But Larry Stone is with
us on the radio show, and I mean, just interesting
stuff on how this is gonna work. So twenty twenty
seven would be the first time that we could vote
on this for Hall of Fame. Twenty twenty eight ceremony
then would be when he would be inducted, which will
(12:14):
be three years obviously from this summer. But what about
the team across the street.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Hey, we did a good job of ignoring him for
fifteen minutes. We did. We did well.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
It took a day for Baseball to say Pete Rose
is eligible for the Hall of Fame, to ignore the Mariners.
But what the hell's going on?
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Is there is there a leak in the voters? There
are a crack of the boats.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
Well, there's definitely a leak, and we were talking off
the air, and they're facing the guy who right now
is the cy young favorite, Max Freed tonight. Then you
got Logan Evans, who's been shaky going tomorrow. And then
you got three with the Padres, one of the three
best teams in baseball. So you know, this losing streak
could really accelerate and then you got the White Sox.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
I think after that where you can maybe get well
in a series.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
But uh, you know, I think that the loss of
Kirby and Gilbert is finally sort of hitting home. You
know that those guys are so essential to uh the
blueprint for them winning.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
And when they with.
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Miller's struggling and Castillo struggling, you don't have that great
pitching every night like you you were counting on. And
then the lineup, I think it was inevitable that they
were gonna hit some bumps too. And you know, you
look at you look at that lineup and there's a
lot of dead spots in that line up there where
they were getting production way over their head from guys
(13:38):
like Revas and and Williamson for a week or you know,
for his first two weeks, but he's he's hit reality
and first base is still a problem area.
Speaker 6 (13:47):
So there's there's a lot of holes in that lineup.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
And when they're both working together, you have what what's.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
Happened in the last four days? What are you saying
with Bryce Miller?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And and how do you think they're going to handle him?
Speaker 6 (13:57):
Yeah, it's a it's an issue. Uh, it's a big problem.
I'm seeing a guy who.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
Has no confidence, who's lost his command, which was his
big thing. Uh, and you have to wonder about his health.
Usually poor command follows poor health, and he's complained about
various things. And but the Mirrors are very cautious organization
when it comes to players health. So I if there
(14:22):
was real concerns about Miller, they would not hesitate to
put him on the I L I'm pretty sure about that.
So they must feel confident that he's okay physically. He
just he needs a game where he goes out and
throws seven shut out innings to get his confidence back.
You know, each of the last three games, the Mirrors
starters have looked really good for four innings, including Miller.
Speaker 6 (14:42):
Yep. Then that also happened with.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
Who else Emerson Hancock last night for four innings he
was holding down the Yankees and then they fell apart
from him in the fifth.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
And it happened then that with Ogan Evans too his start.
Speaker 5 (15:01):
They need to figure out a way to get these
guys deep into games because the bullpen is suffering as.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Well, no doubt. Yeah, Well, Larry Stones with us, and
Larry was last night.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
It was one of those nights where you see kind
of the good and bad of Julio had the home run, obviously,
and then misplays a ball in centerfield that went off
his glove, and I think he should have caught that ball.
I mean, catches the top of his glove and then
hits the back of the wall. So if it doesn't
touch the glove, it's probably gonna hit the wall or
maybe the.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Top of the wall and come back in.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
But he looks a little off to me, defensively, slightly,
And maybe it's because of T Mobile Park. I have
no idea, but just look at the numbers. He's one
hundredth in baseball and ops right now, one hundredth. That's
not why you signed Julio Rodriguez, right. So Bill Kruever
has been on the show and he's gone on record.
He says the Mariners jumped the gun too early on
giving him that contract. We looked up Tatisse, we looked
(15:47):
up Pacunya. Both those guys had more abs and more
games than Julio did. Do you think privately, in a
private moment, the Mariners would say we shouldn't have done that,
or do you think they still think they made the
rock cut right called locking him up.
Speaker 6 (16:01):
I think they still may think they made the right call.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
He may be one hundredth in OPS, but he's also
twenty eighth in war If you check that out, which I.
Speaker 6 (16:08):
Looked at, I'm more of an OPS.
Speaker 5 (16:11):
I mean that means he's the twenty eighth most valuable
player in baseball by the stat that everybody uses just
to judge value. And that's even and that's with a
poor offensive start. He helps you out in a lot
of different ways, right And you know, I'm encouraged by
the way he is playing right now compared to April
and Mays of other years.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
I think he's way ahead. And that's I mean, if
you look at.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
This last two weeks, he's hitting three over three hundred
with with pop. So I think he's trending in the
right direction. You know, I think you can make the
case that they jumped the gun. But he was coming
off to top ten MVP seasons, finishing in the top ten.
You know, if you had waited to sign him and
(16:57):
he continued along that trajectory, he was going to price
himself out of the market. So and if you look
at his yearly salaries.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
It's eighteen million.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
Yeah, it's not prohibitive. It's for a long time, but
he's not you know, he's not being overpaid compared to
other stars at all.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
And by the time that contract's over, Larry, the last
two or three years, that contract, eighteen.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Million is going to be the average salary in baseball.
The average salary in baseball. That sounds like something I've
been saying for the past ten seasons. By the way,
thank you, Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
No, I agree with with what Dick just said.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
That you throw the total out there with, you know,
the three hundred four hundred million, it sounds absurd, but
when you break it down, he's not hamstringing them right now,
and he's not overpaid.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Right Hey, Larry, before you go, I don't want to
get an NBA thought from you, because Adam Silver was
on Serious XM today and kind of for the first time,
I think, went on record and said, yes, we will
be discussing expansion in July. He's mentioned Seattle now by
name numerous times. He's mentioned Vegas by name numerous times.
Is it getting to a point now where you think
(18:06):
this is all just about dotting the eyes and crossing
the T's.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Probably the timing, though, remains a mystery. I mean, he's
been teasing it for so long, but I'm I remain
really hopeful that it's gonna happen, and it happened here.
A lot of my hope is based on the Liwikis
and their connection right in the NBA. I think, I
think they know the right people, and I think they
(18:31):
know how to get this done. And I mean, I
don't see how the NBA can expand and not expand
to Seattle. And you know when exactly that's going to happen,
I don't know. But if I were a betting man
like Pete Rose, I would say that.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
I would bet on Seattle getting a team.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
Hey, how many people in town I have that passed
by the way that you have that life ten years
past to go to any baseball stadium in the country.
Speaker 5 (19:02):
Jim Street, Okay, Bob Sherwin. I think those are the
only two that many.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
It's a lifetime pass, not a ten year pass. He's
a ten year voting, but he's got a lifetime.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
This is the real life version of Charlie Bucket from
Willie Walker. He's got the golden ticket. Hey, tuck that
thing in your shirt. Somebody may try to rip it
off when you walk down the street, or more likely
I'll lose it because I lose them.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
You asked me about or union asomy, but you were
talking about things that you emulate your father.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
We have both had a tendency to misplace things. Hey,
you're the man. Appreciate this, Larry. We're talking a week
by all right?
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Thanks?
Speaker 3 (19:38):
All right, Larry Stone the absolute best with us on
the radio show. That is so freaking cool that he's
got that pass and he deserves it. Man, I hope
he's hanging around forever at the park. All Right, we're
gonna break. We're gonna hear from Dan Wilson. I believe
Chris Daniels is gonna join us as well at five
forty five and talk about with today's announcement of the
Blazer sale means. And by the way, did you forget
(19:59):
something new? We need some pg A picks out of you.
Well that's tomorrow, That is tomorrow. I'm getting old. I
thought today was Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
What I talk about what we take weekay? Today? How
about doing is what I'm taking from my day?
Speaker 3 (20:15):
All Right, we're here on a busy Friday and Jimmy's
on first on ninety three three kJ A r f
M
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