Fantasy Baseball Today - Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. Talks News Rules, Gunnar Henderson & More! (3/28 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

Frank and Scott are joined by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. to break down the pitch clock, Gunnar Henderson's position, the Mount Rushmore of shortstops and much more! Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Fantasy Baseball Today is a finalist in the Baseball Category for the Sports Podcast Awards! Quickly create an account and vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Welcome into a bonus edition of Fantasy Baseball today. Frank Stample joined by Scott White, and we have a very special guest to help us get ready for opening day. We're talking a 19-time All-Star, two-time MVP, two-time Gold Glove winner, eight-time Silver Slugger, rookie of the year, World Series champion. Please welcome to the show, MLB Hall of Famer, the Iron Man,

Cal, Ripkin, Jr., Cal. It's an honor to speak with you. Are you ready for open? opening day? Oh, I choked myself up, always ready for opening day. The realization hit me when you were rolling through all those accomplishments in your career. I kept thinking, okay, I played 21 years for the Orioles,

but the realization just hit me that I've been out 22 years. I don't realize that. So I've been out longer than I played. But it was nice to hear all those things. Hey, you know, I could just do a whole 15, 20 minutes just talking about everything that done probably longer. We could do an hour-long podcast, do a whole week's worth. But let's jump right in. We've got some fun questions how we want to ask you. I want to start with one of the new rules being implemented in baseball this season. The pitch clock. Major League Baseball is looking

to speed up the game, and that's exactly what they've done so far here in spring training. What do you think about the pitch clock? Because obviously you didn't really have, you never had to deal with anything like this. Do you think it's a good development for baseball and the way that it's trending? Well, I got to tell you, the first I heard of the shot clock or the pitch clock, I of it at like the shot clock in basketball. And I went, okay, there's no real need to have a clock in baseball. You know, there's a rhythm of the game, there's a pace of the game that kind of develops all its own. But it seemed like there was a lot of downtime, a lot of lag that's been over the year. So when you started seeing it in application in the spring training, I started to

think, okay, it's starting to put the game back to the rhythm that I remember the game at. is, and the pitcher is usually controlled, controls that rhythm. If you get a pitcher that's on the mound, ready to pitch, the hitter's got to be in the box. But I think the shot clock and some of the restrictions now are forcing that action now. And I think people will get used to it. And there'll be less downtime. There'll be more interest. And so I've gone full circle.

I'm an advocate of it now. Yeah, I do think it's the sort of thing where the more people see it and experience it, the more they like it. I've been hearing that a lot. One of the offshoots of this pitch clock rule is the pitchers being limited to two disengagement per at bat, which namely refers to like pickoff attempts, right? Right. I know you weren't much of a base dealer in your career, but what kind of impact do you imagine that having on a base dealer that two pickoff chances and that's it?

So I did have a few bases stolen my career, but normally the pitcher would have to fall asleep. right about here. Happened a few times. I don't like it necessarily because there are times when the game calls for you to hold the runner on. You know, Ricky Henderson, Kenny Lofton, in my day, you got to get on. You've got to have some tools to hold them on, you know, or to try to stop that from stealing second base. Holding the ball, quick pitching to home plate seemed to be the too popular things. but a good pick-off throw over to first base is really effective.

And so I'm a little bit torn on that one. You know, I know that it's to get the game going, it's to get some action, and maybe give an incentive to steal the bases because base stealing has gone, kind of gone away, like the hit and run has gone away and some other things that baseball has gone away. So I'm going to lead judgment on that right now to see how that works out. Generally, I don't like it, though.

I think that the pitcher should have a little bit. more chance to hold a runner on. And maybe that's because I wasn't a base dealer, and that's the perspective. I don't know. Do you imagine stolen bases are going to increase drastically because of that rule? Is that kind of how you're envisioning it playing out or not really? Well, I'd have to watch it a little closer to see what the strategies are for the pitcher. Like if you have two disengagement, then now you can't come over here anymore.

I'm going to go. I'm going to get a bigger lead. You know, you can't come over and pick me off now. I just have to wait and take off. So I don't know how that's going to end up with the success in the end, but it just seems to me that it does give a little bit more advantage to the runner. Yeah, I was actually watching a spring training game here on Monday, and a pitcher tried a third pickoff attempt.

They didn't get it right. Balk, you know, the base runner goes to second base. So it was interesting to see that's the first time I've actually seen it happen in a spring training game. Cal, you played just over 3,000 games with the Orioles in your career, and of course, you hold the Major League record for most consecutive games played at 2,632. I would say you know a thing or two about the Baltimore Orioles, and what an amazing time it is to be a fan.

I mean, they have so much young talent on the roster or close to being on the roster. One of those names is Gunner Henderson, and it's a rookie that we're expecting to break out for fantasy baseball purposes this season. What are your expectations for Henderson in 2023? So I'm not sure exactly. Are they using him at third or short? It looks like he's going to... I think he's going to play shortstop,

but he has third base eligibility, so I think he's going to bounce around a little bit. It kind of reminds me of you a little bit. I know, I'm not really closely, so you have to fill me in a little bit. Mateo, where's Mattail going to play? Mostly short stuff. I think mostly shortstop for Mateo,

mostly third base for Henderson. But, you know, this is something that's a little different from when you're playing, right? How much the lineup changes from day to day, how much players move around. So that brings me into an interesting subject, is that there seems to be a flexibility that teams want where you want to play multiple positions.

There was a couple players that I played, Tony Phillips and Jerry Brown, where they could play center field one day, they could play short, second, or third. And they were really good athletes and they could play those positions. But to me, I want every position to be, instead of having a jack-of-all-trades,

I want somebody to learn that position inside and out and have the execution go up. So I'm much more of an advocate of trying to create nine all-stars or eight all-stars in those positions and develop them. And so I think of it was me, and it's a hard decision. But Gunner, to me, I like his actions at shortstop. And so you almost have to make a choice between Mateo. And now, Mateo's a really good athlete. And I saw in spring training he played in center field at one point. I don't know what they're thinking.

but it almost seems like I'd want to say Gunner, if you're a shortstop and here your shortstop position is yours. Instead of having him go back and forth, Manny Machado was a good example of he was a good shortstop, came to the big

leagues and it was a position to open at third base, and then he turned into Brooks Robinson and playing third base, and he's got a strong arm and he's one of the best third basements to play the game. But I often wondered if he was put in shortstop right away, and then you know, what that difference might have been. And so when I look at Gunner, I'm pulling for him as a shortstop,

but he's an exciting player in a matter where he plays. Cal, let's shift gears a little bit. I'm starting to think we misuse the term unicorn in sports because we really have not seen a player like Shohei Otani ever before. 40 home run power, 20 stolen base speed, throws 100 miles per hour, striking everybody out as a pitcher. What are your thoughts on Otani and what he's accomplished so far as a two-way player in baseball? You know, I just shake my head when you watch because I can't imagine, you know, doing both, pitching, you know, regularly and then playing, you know, regularly when you're not pitching.

That sounds a little bit like it's Little League again, that you're coming there to pitch and then you save the game and maybe it goes up to high school or maybe you do it in college, I think, you know, play. But it seems like it's very difficult to do at the highest level. and Otani is amazing. So he can dominate a game with his arm. As we saw in the WBC, he can come in as a closer, almost like Randy Johnson did a couple of times when they were in the playoffs. They came in, and all of a sudden you could blow it out for one inning. But the big thing about it is he's armed and dangerous at the plate.

And that's a weapon. You know, I shake my head, but I sure like watching him hit, and I like watching a pitch. Yeah, I mean, he really is a unicorn. Showing Otani, what he's done so far in his major league career, what he just did in the WBC, I mean, to create that kind of drama, Otani going up against his teammate, Mike Trout, to end the WBC. It was just so ridiculously fun.

We have a few more fun questions, Cal, though we want to get your way. As much success as you had as a hitter, I'm sure that you had a nemesis at some point. Who was the toughest pitcher that you ever face in your playing career? I think statistically it has to be Dennis Eckersley. although I hit a couple of homeruns off him and I faced him when he was a starter in Boston and I think when he came over to Oakland but in the end he had pinpoint control

and he could mix his breaker ball in any time he wants and he could raise the ball up in the strike zone so statistically I never mind it facing him but I didn't do too well statistically off him I think I did all right against Goose Goose Gossage and Nolan Ryan were two guys that

the intimidation factor was evident. You know, when you came to the plate, Goose was all arms and legs and threw the ball harder than anybody in the league. And when he would miss, he would miss up and into a righty. And so a lot of times I couldn't get that out of my mind, you know, when he was, he was there.

And I think the best thing that happened there was I met him once, and I found out that he was a pretty nice guy. And so it almost took that edge away, and I was able to hit better. Nolan Ryan did that thing, gave you a bow tie. So he threw a ball right here where the bow tie was supposed to be. So you would keep you from diving over to the outside corner. And he had a hook curveball that

started the same place as the bow tie would. And so you had to really stay in there, you know, to hang in on his curveball. So, you know, the intimidation factor can be real. And they do try to push you off the plate a little bit. But you can never hit thinking about being hit. And so you somehow had to play a mind game to get past that. All right. I'm going to ask you a question. that I'm going to make it a little easier for you. So I want to know the Mount Rushmore, your Mount Rushmore at the shortstop position. I'm going to put you on it. You're going to, we're chisling your face on it as we speak. But who are the three that would join you, the Mount Rushmore of short stops? Oh, that's an interesting question. Well, Ozzy Smith, I always wish that I could move like Ozzie. You know, I had a chance to go to Japan and split time with him at shortstop. I think it was 1980. six. And we hit fungos to each other. I don't know whether we were short of coach or whatever else. I don't know. But we actually hit ground balls to each other. And when I was hitting ground balls to him, I tried to get him into a rhythm. Go right, go left. Go right. Go left.

And then I would go right, go right to see what his reaction was. And I couldn't trick him. You know, all of a sudden, if it would have been me, I'd have been halfway moving to the where the ball was supposed to go. And he just turned around and, and picked him all up so clean. He was acrobatic. So anyway, Ozzie would be one on my wall. Who else does, or not on my wall, on the mountain.

Give me some people that I haven't thought up right now. Let's make some examples. Derek Jeter. What are we thinking about Derek Jeter? Is he in the Mount Rushmore, all time short stops? I mean, he'd be in the Mount Rushmore of all of us, or all the short stops if you just played

playoff games. There's nobody more clutch than Derek defensively or offensively in those games. So yeah, Derek would be in there.

Who else did I like? I've got all-time war. Omar Visckel was in when I saw him play a lot and he was a, anybody that can take a two-hopper that was top spin off the turf and catch it bare-handed

in a no-hitter game and throw the guys. got at first base, you know, he was pretty amazing. And what he used to do sometimes when a fly ball would go up with the sun, instead of battling the sun this way, he would turn around like a catcher and look the other way and catch the ball, which I don't know how he did that. So Omar had a super set of skills and he was a wonderful short step too. So do we have enough for a mountain yet? I think so. I think we're about there. What about like maybe a current player who is verging on joining that, maybe a fifth head on the Mount Rushmore.

I'll give you some names and I'll let you pick one. Trey Turner, Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, Corey Seeger. I mean, all those guys are great. I mean, Corey Seeger, to me, was built a little bit like me at shortstop. I mean, I think he's bigger than me, weight-wise and height-wise as a shortstop. And I think his footwork is really great. Lindorne has a great

legs. I was doing work for TBS and we had the playoff games. He was amazing how much lateral range he had and his first step quickness was pretty off the chart. Who's the other one you mentioned? Trey Turner.

Trey Turner has turned out to be one fantastic player. I mean, all the way around, really exciting and he seems to be getting better and better all the time too. So there's some really tough choices, but I gave you my impressions of each and every one. They all could be on the mountain. Yeah, absolutely appreciate it. Cal, before we wrap up here, do you mind if I play a short clip for you?

Sure. All right, here we go. I love baseball. I've just been around in my whole life. Growing up in Orioles fan in the 90s, man, that you worship the ground that Calerpin Jr. walked on. He's the Iron Man, you know, he has the longest street. A consecutive games played, and that's pretty incredible. You know what? I think my colleague is here. I want to introduce Mr. Cow Ripkin Jr.

Hi, guys. Oh, my gosh. No way! So, Tony, what if you didn't have to work on opening day? Well, I would go to opening day. I'm here to tell you that Sage and I are going to supply you with opening day tickets. What? That's awesome.

That would be pretty cool. Oh, my God. That's so cool. I can't wait to tell my dad. He's going to be so excited. I hope you guys have a wonderful time. Thank you, Cal. Cal, that is...

That was a lot of fun to do. You know, it was up at Ripkin Stadium doing that. And Sage is a provider for accounting, financial, HR, and payroll. And they focus on small to mid-sized companies. We use them at Ripkin Baseball. So we're more mid-size. And the idea of me in this campaign is to try to convince people to take a day off, I think it was pretty creative.

and to have the ability to deliver the good news to people that they were going to opening day, I had a great time doing that. So it's a great partnership. MLB is going to enhance the in-game activities with MLB. And I guess I'm an activator of sorts, but my job mainly is to convince people to take days off. Go figure. Yeah, I mean, I love watching the video. I love that interaction as well.

Just tell us a little bit more here. we wrap up, you know, what made Sage the right partner for this type of engagement. Obviously, you talked about enhancing the MLB viewing experience for fans. Talk about how important it is to create an engaging and informative in-game experience for fans looking to watch the game. Yeah, so we live in a world of analytics and whether you like it or not, you know, and I'm a very analytical person and I used analytics a lot and how I play the position. And so any way to bring that to life, you know, in the form of pitching decisions or

understanding what the manager's strategies are in between innings. That's where Sage came to Major League Baseball to kind of break into the market over here and tapping into the analytics, which is really what they're an expert in. It enhances and makes you understand the game a little bit better. And I think the game's always had a little bit of a bad name that it's too long. but if you really know what's going on, if we can make it open or we can create some things that make you think a little bit

and make you understand the game, then you love the game a little bit deeper, and it's not about necessarily all about the pace of play. Although, you know, the shot clock, the pitch clock seems to be, you know, making a difference too. So anyway, I think it's a perfect partnership, you know, with Major League Baseball, And I guess I'm the activator.

I love it. Yeah. I mean, look, you don't have to talk analytics to us. I mean, we're all about it. So we support it 100%. We're always talking a whole bunch of crazy stats here on fantasy baseball today. Cal Ripkin Jr. It's been a ton of fun. Thanks again for your time.

We really do appreciate it, man. Yeah, it's my pleasure, guys. Thank you so much. All right for Scott and Cal. I am Frank. Thanks for watching and listening this bonus edition of Fantasy Baseball today. We'll actually be back in about an hour with a live head-to-ed category draft. We will see you then.

You know,