High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Explaining the Law of Gravity

Episode Date: October 21, 2020

James Seltzer and Jack Fritz are back with a new edition of High Hopes. The guys discuss the first batch of rumored Phillies general manager candidates, what Jack ultimately expects the team to do, Bryan Pryce's surprising retirement, the Law of Gravity (seriously), and much more. 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

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fan duel casino where winning is undefeated 19 plus and physically located in ontario gambling problem call 1-866-531-2600 or visit connectsontario.ca please play responsibly this is the high hopes podcast Or visit connectsontario.ca. Please play responsibly. This is the High Hopes Podcast. It's a bunch of baseball nerds talking about the Phillies. On radio.com and Sports Radio 94 WIP. Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. Jack, as I sit here talking to you, watching two smart baseball teams play in Game 1 of the World Series,

I'm in a familiar spot as a Phillies fan Nowhere close to these two teams How you doing buddy Well At least Jim Hendry is probably on the way Yeah End this podcast now Shut it down If they hire Jim Hendry

Yeah not seriously Strongest of nos I mean Jesus What are we doing John John you've strayed far Seriously. Strongest of nose. I mean, Jesus, what are we doing? John, John, what are we doing, pal? John, you've strayed far from the pod. Come back. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Come back. Have you not been listening, John? Like, come on, buddy. I swear, I promise that you and I could, we would be good consultants for this baseball team. Oh, man. Absolutely. The way they've been going, we'd be the star consultants in there.

And guess what? Their people are way better than us. Wow. Speak for yourself. Get Andy McPhail the hell... Lose his number. Please. Just lose his number please just lose his number i don't want to hear it anymore does he even have a cell phone i feel like he's got one of those like

home wireless phones that he's like thinks is super high tech dude you know andy mcphail's a flip phone he's got like a dude a razor dude can't, can't you see him being like, listen, this worked for me in 2003 when Steve Bartman ruined my third World Series run. I don't know if we've talked about this, but I would have a third World Series title if it weren't for Steve Bartman. That man is the reason I don't have it. I guess it's fair. That's it.

I'd also like to say, as I'm doing this podcast, I'm sipping on a fine McCall Collective Brewing Company beer, which is from the Lehigh Valley. They were nice enough to send me some beers last week. Big fans of the podcast. Oh, look at you. I mean, they could have sent me some beers. I mean, I'm just saying.

That might have been the plan, but I might have taken all eight of them. Oh, man. And not have told you about it. Wow. No. Wow. That is some dark, dark stuff, Jack. Well, you know, one for you, nine for me.

Oh, man. Oh. Well, at least the Phillies are close to these teams. Oh, man. We're having fun. This is fun. I'm happy we're doing this. This is good.

You didn't know what we were going to talk about. Well, guess what? Guess what? We're not talking about anything. No. Well, that's what I figured. I was like, it can just be a look into the twisted mind of jack fritz for 40 minutes well what what what weird baseball thoughts is jack fritz having these days so so just a little tease uh i have a i have a i have

a science thought in my mail oh i can't wait your last one i think was about the theory of relativity. So hopefully this lives up to that illustrious bar, I suppose. Honestly, the second I thought of it, I immediately started feeling bad for my future children. They're just going to be questioning everything they've ever thought. They're going to go to school and they're going to come home and they're going to be questioning everything they've ever thought. They're going to go to school, and they're going to come home, and they're going to say, hey, Dad, they taught me this. And I'm going to say, you sure? You sure that happened? Oh, man.

Let me tell you why I don't think that's real or whatever. Oh, God. Poor kids is the takeaway. Listen, as long as they have an open mind and think opposite of what the mainstream is thinking, that's all I care about. So Jim Hendry, are you excited? We're not even going to acknowledge this. I refuse to take this seriously.

I refuse to take the idea that they would bring in old man Hendry. No, I'm not in on this. I can't. This is. What are we doing here? Honestly, honestly, I think it's I think it's just agent. Like, hey, let's throw his name out there. Let everyone know he's very available.

He's in. Yeah. You want Jim? You can get him. Yeah. But also Spinzone He was the guy hired before 3-0 And if so facto

We could have Jim Hendry for a year And then Theo could take his job again So he was the guy after McPhail? Terrific He can follow McPhail again And then Theo a year later Is that what we're saying here? I mean if you're talking about Theo in like five years,

I'm not as in on that. Well, the way that me and Andy would spin that is that Jim Hendry was in the front office that was a Steve Bartman misplay away from winning another World Series. I just, I can't do this. I can't. I'm already trying to. Maybe what they're doing here is they're putting that out there.

So when they hire JJ Piccolo, people are like, all right. Not too bad. Sure. Not too bad. You know what? It could be way worse. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. They're lowering our expectations, Jack. As we get done wrapping up a World Series with the freaking Rays and Dodgers. I know. We're going to hire JJ freaking Piccolo as like a, well, not that bad. He's from here, guys. He's from here. He gets us.

And look, I know that JJ Piccolo was a big part in building a World Series winning team. It's just like this is a random baseball thought, but I've thought about it a lot because this is the kind of stuff we diseased baseball fans and Phillies fans do. of the last 20 years or whatever like for the vast majority of them i can kind of figure out like how they were built why they won you know whatever like that royals team's like an enigma to me i know they went to backpack world series but like in the moment i didn't like it was like they play hard like i just didn't like i i i was always consistently surprised by how good they were and it never i know it was a lot of homegrown talent which you like to see and all that but I was always consistently surprised by how good they were. And I know it was a lot of homegrown talent, which you like to see and all that. But they were just weird teams.

You know what I mean? I know they won the World Series and credit. But I don't know. I don't know if that's a philosophy to build long-term sustainable success. You know what I mean? In a big market. Well, it's like you have to suck for like at least five years like that's part of the the royals plan is that you have to absolutely be terrible and then and then be at the top of the drafts and then for like you got to hit on what four

straight draft picks i mean and they went with like defense and you know running the bases. You know, playing baseball. I know, I know, I know. It sounds stupid. No, no, no. I love that. But at the same time, like, in terms of, like, I want a guy who's going to come in and load my team up with a bunch of talent so that I don't have to worry about that type of stuff. Oh, yeah. I mean, they basically won a World Series, like, 1989.

Yeah. Even in 1989, it was, likecguire and conseco so like i don't know like the mid 90s i don't like 80s maybe 85 like the the 2015 royals were like a 1985 baseball team yeah they totally were yeah i mean like yeah it's not like a you know it's not like i look at the Royals and say, mm, man, I want that. And, like, of all the small market teams, why is it kind of like – I know. I love how, like, one of our qualifications was they have to work for a small market team and have success.

And, like, there's a lot of small market teams that have success. Like, why do we have to choose the Royals? Well, again, like, we talk about i mean like obviously the rays are what everyone's thinking about right now as you're saying that but like again there are others like the indians we talk about all the time with the indians i mean they've been a gm factory for years like why not go to those guys why not be like hey you're really good at pumping out highly successful front office executives for years like Like since the nineties, the Indians have been pumping out GM after GM.

Like it makes no sense to me. Why not like go to these types of teams? Well, you're talking to the team that picked the angels and Orioles guy over. No, I know. You would hope you would learn from that mistake. No,

we've got to get back to scouting and you know building a team that way but yeah no it's ridiculous and but not even not even like those team the a's have done it for a hundred years yeah absolutely absolutely uh i mean you're saying good i mean like honestly with with piccolo like it wouldn't be i think it's piccolo is it's like i think it's piccolo yeah that's what i thought it wouldn't be i think it's piccolo is it's like i think it's piccolo yeah that's what i thought it was anyway yeah i think it's piccolo whatever i mean he's from here so everyone so it's more so you're saying it's more like piccolo no no no it would be it would be yay piccolos is gonna get us back yay piccolos i i will say the JJ, not super popular right now in Philadelphia as a first name, though, I will say.

Why? JJ, are you thinking Whiteside? Oh, okay. I love how far away your mind is from the Eagles. I love that. That's just, I love you for that. Like, who cares about the Eagles? You weren't even thinking about it.

Well, I was just confused as to where you were going. But, um. I mean, look, I mean, am I not wrong? Like the last athlete to come here and be named JJ, it wasn't great. And I know it's an athlete and not a whatever, but. What about Redick? I mean, Redick was pretty good. Yeah, but he was, he was before him stop stop

ruining my point okay my meaningless point about a name that has nothing to do with anything i would say that's your best point you've ever made on this podcast seriously dynamite stuff as always um so god so with piccolo like and it's so funny because they're trying to sell that he's been, like, doing player development stuff for the last year. Like, oh, JJ's put on the uniform and gone down and worked in player performance and he's learning all the technologies. They're kind of, it feels like Dayton Moore's pretty much him for uh for a 21st century general manner position like my thing about piccolo is that it's fine like honestly like given the names that have been freaking thrown out there like jim hendry like ned colletti i know no i saw that i mean ned colletti is a freaking disaster i mean what are we i. I mean, what are we doing here?

What is happening if we're talking about Ned Colletti? Dude, what could possibly be happening? Honestly, so the names that have been thrown out there by Nightingale and Heyman the last couple of days, Dombrowski, Piccolo, Duquette, Dave Duquette, okay? And Ned Coletti. James, I mean this in all sincerity. Outside of Nicolo, I would rather have just kept Matt Klintak. I actually agree with you. I agree.

Everyone knows how we felt about Matt Klintak on this podcast. Matt Klintak is not as bad as those guys. Nope. Literally could not be worse. I know. It's a horror show. It's a nightmare of a list. Honestly, though, honestly, though, honestly, though, I just think this is like agent get their names out there.

And I agree. I agree. I totally agree, especially because those are names that not because they're good, because they've been around for a while. And obviously Dombrowski's won titles and stuff that I think people know. And thus, you know, you kind of get those names out there. I think that does make sense. And look, for, you know, if one team,

you know, if it's out there that a team is considering one GM, then maybe another team wants to consider him. It's all that type of stuff. Oh, yeah. I'm sure people are knocking on the door i mean ned colletti ned colletti like what are we doing i can't get over it yeah ned colletti do you think ned colletti saw that report and said really i just can't i like i can't even i mean i can't even i can't that i mean it would be just the all-time disaster i mean just fold up the franchise at that point i would yeah we would become we would find a new

podcast we wait right we'll hop on the neanderthal we'll we'll be it we'll be neanderthals one way or the other yes just let us be neanderthals. It's just so. I'm so mad. This just makes me mad. It makes me mad, Jack. I try not to think about it. I literally, for as excited as I am about the GM search, I'm equally as terrified. I'm way more terrified than excited.

Because I just. I'm way more terrified. Especially now. Like, after hearing these names. Like, again, like like i think they've set it up so jj piccolo is like thank god thank god i'll take it and and look i will say that of those names i would guess piccolo yeah if i had to pick one i think it's the most logical one um but obviously as we've talked about many times on this podcast, that is far from our top choice.

So, you know, and far from exciting. It would just be like, all right, at least it's not Ned Coletti or Dave Dombrowski. And what the hell? Like what? What the hell? Yeah. Like how long have we been saying? We were saying don't hire Dave Dombrowski with a year left in Matt Klintak's contract. Like the whole last year when we were talking about getting rid of Matt Klintak, we were still saying, but not Dave Dabrowski, no matter what, not Dave Dabrowski. I mean, that's just been like a, uh, uh, constant that like, it was so obvious that that name was going to show up. It was so bleeping obvious. We knew it was coming and yet here it is and and i just i can't i can't i can't i can't i can't no my only hope is that like obviously there's gonna be like no one will be hired until i think at least or not at least but um until the first week of november that's the that's around when clint

sack was hired and all that stuff so like we got a little bit of time here and it definitely won't be after until after the world series i my hope is that you know they're they're at least waiting for the world series to be over i mean so they can like josh burns seems like a guy that at least talk to these people like at, you know what I mean? Yeah. And look, there is you don't want them to rush the decision too much because you want to make sure you talk to every smart person. But again, this is all presupposed on having any faith in the person talking to these people and their ability to ascertain who the right person for the job is. That's obviously the core issue with all of it. But there is my point where I was going is that there is a bit of a rush i mean like you do have an off season

coming up like you would think at least obviously middleton might not see it that way and and he might want to take as long as you know he's a meticulous thinker jack or meticulous decision no one no one thinks harder than John Middleton. No one thinks harder, so I don't know. What's your take on it? Like, if you had to guess, do you think it'll be, like, do you think that the impending offseason is a concern for John? I think trying to save as much money as possible is John's main concern.

save as much money as possible i do too main concern let me honestly in and you can write this down 8 47 october 20th uh i'm gonna tell you exactly what i think is gonna happen oh buddy i like this bring this on me yeah i i think i think ned rice is gonna be the gm for a year and then i think he's gonna hire theo and think he's going to do whatever it takes to hire Theo because I think Theo is like the classic John Middleton like oh this guy the big president you know could come in and he's he's over he's you know erased two curses and he's widely considered the best GM in the sport for a long time there even though he hasn't really been that and I don't know three years um and he's probably past his prime and the sport might be passing him by but he's a big name and people tell me he's smart like Joe Girardi and like I could just I just think he's gonna push all his chips in and Theo like Theo's my guy we're gonna spend stupid money on another guy like Theo and he's gonna be

I think he's gonna be the president next year okay if I had to make one bet I think Theo Epstein is gonna be this team's president next year and I think like honestly considering where we're at right now with you know freaking Ned Coletti being thrown out there and Jim Andrew, like I'll, I will, I will do jumping jacks down broad street, but, um, I, I just, I don't think, I, I, I think, I think he, I think he's all in on trying to get Theo here. And I think that he views that as the one move that would like really, really excite the fan base and kind of get everyone back on board.

Like he loves making that one move that, that makes it like, you'll start seeing, I feel like you'll start seeing leaks around like february like january february from like salisbury where it's like yeah john has his eyes on on one big prize the uep scene um and yeah so yeah that's exactly what i think is gonna happen so okay i have a lot of thoughts about this uh first and foremost as much as i hate the idea of just giving up a year of bryce harper's career you know i admit year of his athletic prime all that stuff and just kind of pushing the can down the road i would absolutely be ecstatic if theo epsine is the president of this team you know I like Theo more than you do. And especially considering the situation where I just have no –

we all want him to go hand a blank check to Eric Neander. It doesn't seem like John Middleton is going to do that. So in the case of if we're talking about Ned Coletti, Dave Dombrowski, even J.J. Piccolo, like I'd rather wait and get Theo personally. And I think that Theo, yes, maybe he hasn't been quite as good the last few years, but he is attractive. Eric DeAnder's on TV right now, though. I mean, look at him. Oh, but you're like five minutes behind on your stream, so you won't see.

I'm watching Ken Rosenthal reporting. All right, well, Ken Rosenthal and Eric DeAnder are on the same guy. I know. I'm telling you where I'm at in the broadcast, guy. All right well well obviously when you get to it i'm waiting i'm so excited this is very exciting for me jack waiting our guy our guy this is uh blake snell just put his mask on good to see you know blake snell how about that blake snell in the world series after the start of the season his twitch we're here i'm watching that's pretty

funny to think about and now they're showing andrew friedman i'm waiting show it i'm so far behind you this is how far behind i am when i watch these games yeah so when james when james is tweeting about a home run that happened six pitches before i know this is why this is why i know this is it's so bad i'm streaming it i still really still not seen eric neander yet i still have not seen eric neander honestly so i just saw eric neander just saw eric friedman or andrew friedman and just thinking about what ned colletti could bring to this ball club and just you know the all the modernization i got him i got him oh he's so good like checkered shirt looking good i actually have that exact same shirt in green.

It's a great shirt. Love you, Eric. What a good looking man. What does he look like now? Would you say when you just saw Eric Nander on a television screen, would you say that he looks like he's ready to get a blank check from the Phillies? I hope so. He looks handsome.

He looks together. Yeah. He looks like he's just got command of everything around him. He doesn't look like he looks like he looks like Neo in the Matrix when he figures it out. And he just sees numbers and stuff. He doesn't even see anything else. He's just he knows he knows what to do. Haven't seen a Matrix, but.

Oh, God. Oh, oh. God. I know. Boo! Were you kind of terrified that Eric Nander didn't look deathly tired like Matt Klintzak always looked? Oh, my God. Like he actually looked like he— Matt Klintzak looked like he aged 30 years in his time as General Manager.

Do you think Matt Klintzak, when he got—when he, quote-unquote, stepped down, was, like, kind of excited? Like, he felt like he'd go back to living a little bit? Well, I mean, he's making $ six million for doing nothing for two years. So I think that part probably was was pretty cool. I mean, who wouldn't want to do that? Right. That sounds pretty awesome to me. Yeah.

Well, you know, so maybe I'll make a small part of him was like, F this. F all these fans calling me an asshole all the time saying fire me every day. Like, you know what? I'm going to take my six million to be happy about it. I mean, that is possible. I doubt it. People in this industry, as you know, are competitive and all that. So I doubt it.

But, you know, I bet a small part of him was. But. I'm not sure Matt Glintak was competitive. uh competitive now now as i said it's possible i mean you're right he certainly never came off as competitive yeah i mean very chill very chillaxed this podcast had personally been calling for him to be fired for a year and a half i know jesus he still never got fired um still here so back to theo um the one thing i will say is that theo is is accomplished enough and smart enough about the game and the way the game works that a new place a new challenge could reinvigorate him you know i mean it could and again it's not like he'd be the president it's's not like he's, you know, he'd have a GM working under him. So he wouldn't be

as involved in the day-to-day stuff. Like, I don't know. I would be down to try out Theo 3.0, 301.0 and Theo 2.0 worked out pretty damn good. So yeah, I would, I would be very, very in on that. But again, it's also a big risk to take too. I mean, if you're going to be willing to kick the can down the road with Ned Rice for a year, you have to be pretty damn sure that you're getting Theo. Yeah, no, I totally agree. But at the same time, if you're Theo and you see that Manny Middleton has been willing to spend the past, there's not going to be another position that opens up like this, you would think. I mean, next offseason, what realistic position could you see opening up as as good as the phillies i mean

the mets are probably hiring a gm this year they just hired sandy alderson they're out yankees no way red sox no way cubs are moving on from theo um the angels are hiring dombrowski it seems like dodgers no way um are the angels really hiring dombrowski, it seems like. Dodgers, no way. Are the Angels really hiring Dombrowski? That would be amazing. No, no, no. I'm like 90% sure they're going to sign him. Oh, please.

It's a classic. Please. That would be a classic Artie Moreno move. Well, also, let's not get too ahead of ourselves. It's also a classic Middleton move. Well, that's my point. That's why I want him to sign him. Please, please.

I mean, we are building Angels East over here. So, meanwhile, we could have Dodgers East if we just, you know. This is – Yeah. Honestly, I would – I think Theo is a lock. And you want to know why I think Theo is a lock? It's because I have slandered him in the past. And everyone that I have slandered in the past has come back, and I have talked myself into them being like the saviors here.

Like Bryce, I hated Bryce forever. And then Harperland happened uh gerardi i always told people i thought gerardi sucked and then he's my he's my uh general manager or he's my manager and theo i was the first one to say eh he's all right guess what i thought it's a it's the lock of the century this is what I'm talking about right here. It is. Get on board, baby. Get on the Theo bus.

Zach Wheeler. Zach Wheeler. I said, oh, whoever pays him $100 million is going to regret it. We pay him $100 million, and he was great. Oh, this is very you. I mean, this is what you do. You are the easiest Phillies fan. You are just ready to buy in.

Listen, prediction, prediction. No one's going to be going harder after Theo next offseason than this guy. You have, like, battled me on Theo. Like, you and I have, like, we don't yell at each other, but we've definitely, like, argued about Theo before. It's not as big as our uh jerry garcia or john mayer well that's because you're you're an ass hat when you say that listen all i'm saying is that fish is so good why aren't you on the radio

it's not gonna work on me this time oh we're off the rails yeah whatever you know i'm already thinking about what the ufc is going to do this team in a year like so because i because i read the cubs way and now i'm just thinking about like what's the phillies way gonna be you know you get just how they're going to develop players and honestly i wish it could happen this offseason like well me too me too i hate the that's my one reservation with it is just the idea of kicking the can down the road a year. Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, I am very much there with you.

And, of course, we still maintain the ultimate position of give Eric Neander a blank check. I mean, whatever it takes. Yes, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. Yeah, I mean, that is by far the official platform of that podcast. And I saw today Destiny Legardo for Phillies Nation joined in on the air. Oh! Yeah.

Welcome aboard, Destiny. Yeah, it's great stuff. Fan of your work. She totally, like, she saw the light, you know? Like, it's the perfect time to go and get this guy. Like, the Phillies have a freaking president open. And this is what sucks, James, is that the Phillies have a freaking president open. And we're joking around about freaking Ned Coletti dave dombrowski um and who the hell who the hell's

the last guy that we were messing around about earlier jim hendry jim have jim freaking hendry i know in 2020 i mean are you serious like they're in they they literally they're the only way they could screw this up would be by doing exactly what they're leaking out. I can't. I won't let it happen. I promise the Iowa listeners I will do anything in my power. It's a lot riding on your shoulders, Jack. Dude, I will not let this team hire any of those three.

JJ Bacolo will let them hire won't be thrilled about it there is no way I am sitting idly by and letting them hire Jim Hendry or Ned Coletti or Dave Tombrowski oh god just oh god I can't I can't even talk about it. Don't F this up, John. All right? Seriously. This is a turning point moment for your franchise. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning.

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Please play responsibly. All right. What else you got? You got some other stuff to talk about. Oh, we got to get into the pitching coach. Oh, yeah. How about that? Brian Price just out of nowhere says, nope, can't do it, won't do it. Look, it looks like it was a family-related decision.

Obviously, I don't besmirch anyone who wants to lay him down and spend more time with family. But what were your thoughts on it? I saw you tweet that. It doesn't seem like you're as upset about it as I think some people are. Yeah, no, I'm good. I'm very good. I mean, it's fine. It's cool. Listen, I liked what he did,

and I think having a trusted pitching coach helps you know when you're a pitcher and you go through what you had to go through with chris young it's you know you have to get a guy that's gonna establish good relationships and all that and um i i legitimately think he like watched the phillies bullpen this year and was like no nope not doing this again like every night gerardi turns to brian price and he's like i don't know man oh man like you choose like the phillies bullpen broke brian price like like brian price just started closing his eyes and and pointing you know and i was like, JoJo for the fourth night in a row. I don't know. I don't know if that's the best idea, but everyone else sucks.

Everyone else is literally awful. So, yeah, no, I think Price helped. I think he definitely helped Eflin. I think he helped Nola. I think he helped Wheeler. Like, I think all helped. I think he definitely helped Eflin. I think he helped Nola. I think he helped Wheeler. I think all that stuff was good. Bullpen was just dreadful. The guys that came up and made a huge difference were the Brogdens

and JoJo Ramirez, and those guys were all developed by the driveline guys and Travis Hergert down there in the minor leagues and stuff so you know those guys got the most out of them not anything Brian Price did so I think I think he helped a little bit with the starters but like it's so it's so bad because um like my mind is honestly my mind is going more analytical than ever like when we're talking about like pitch philosophy and stuff like that so I want to see like i want to get like a real super nerdy guy in here and like i just i just know they won't do it so it's not even worth getting my hopes up about um but like brian price was kind of like a dinosaur and um you know i think i think he

did some good mechanical stuff with guys but when it comes down to like sequencing and titling and stuff like that, you know, I just, I thought Eflin did a good job of it this year. I thought Noel did a decent job of it this year. Um, Wheeler was just stupid good, but yeah,

I'm not, I'm not losing sleep over Brian price and I would like to see them. Um, you know, listen, if you're not going to invest in players, let's listen, let's invest in, in player development a little bit.

So there are some names out there that would be really, really exciting. Yeah, like here's my question. Do you think that Bryce Harper tweeted out Scott's Instagram, Scott Brown named because of you, or is it just that you two are on the same wavelength? What, like, what do you think the sequencing was there?

Speak speaking of sequencing. So, you know, I was, it was, did one beget the other or was it just a mind meld? So I appreciate the question. I appreciate the question because I don't know.

I could totally see, I could totally see Bryce saying, what does Jack think for a future pitching coach? But I could also see him being like, you know what? I'm just sitting there like constantly refreshing your Twitter, being like, God, where is it? I know, I know. I know. I know. And honestly, like, I felt the pressure, too, because he, like, resigned and is in the middle of an Eagles game.

Or, like, in the middle of the pregame show. And obviously, I'm working during the pregame show. So, I was, like, thinking of names, but also, like, trying to do my job. And I just, I felt like there's a lot of pressure around me that i probably put on myself i would say definitely put on yourself to get a tweet out about who i want for pitching coach um but i do jack you know what i never ever ever feel pressure to do get a tweet out yeah well listen one of us is built for Twitter and one of us is not built for Twitter. I am totally okay with that. And since we never lie to the High Hopes listeners,

I feel like I need to get this out there because it's bothered me for a while. I can't believe you have more Twitter followers than me. Like, you don't even tweet. You're going to pass me soon me soon i mean you've been gaining on me for a really long time yeah i haven't checked in a long time but like i you definitely have been gaining on me for a really you'll pass me so this won't matter i've i've been pretty stagnant for a while oh if i don't pass you soon i'm gonna lose it but again things that i don't care about that you clearly care about um but yeah i don't know what

you i don't know what it was i don't know i've been thinking about this for a long time everyone follow jack he should have more twitter followers than i do thank you about time you said it um so so i don't know i don't know if bryce follows me on Twitter or has a Secret Burner account and saw the Scott Brown love. But I genuinely just think Bryce is such a baseball nerd that he knows how good Scott Brown is. And he's seen what Van Aerville has produced the last couple of years and said, yeah, that'd be great to have. yeah that'd be great to have um but i just i just you know i usually hate gm bryce but just the fact that he's all in on trying to like build this team through player development and stuff yeah it was very cool yeah it's like hilarious to me like bryce is just tweeting out like what he would do to fix a baseball team he's such a nerd he's like a true blue

baseball nerd like he that's why it sucks that, that they've put him in this position. Like, cause like he really loves baseball. Like that guy loves baseball and just wants to win and just wants to play. And like, I mean, you know,

it's kind of messed up that John Middleton sold him the bag of goods. He did. Yeah. And he's going to deliver deliver him ned colletti this offseason oh man so like do you think bryce is like do you think bryce is the same thing that we're doing like oh blank check eric neander he must i mean he's instagramming about scott brown like yeah bryce clearly knows baseball cares about this stuff like i'm sure he has thoughts on this like i'm sure he's interested in what's happening for sure yeah and then he sees the the reports and it's like are you guys kidding me what is happening those guys were were good when I was a child like what are we doing here when I was hitting uh 500 home runs at the trap

Ned Coletti was destroying the Dodgers so i mean jesus um but yeah no it was it was interesting so scott i mean let me let's just get out i mean scott brown scott brown would be unbelievable um like you see what a guy like west johnson who is the pitching coach with the twins like what he's done with those guys up there um just kind of taking the the the college pitching philosophy and taking to to the big leagues. Especially when you see the guys that Scott Brown has worked with. Kamar Rocker in high school, I would say before his senior year, he was a top five pick. And he kind of fell off a little bit.

If he was a slam dunk home run pick, he would have gone top five. And now two years later, he's like a lock to go number one overall. And that's because of the work that Scott Brown has done with his mechanics. And I watched Jack lighter in high school. I was like, yeah, he has a pretty good curveball. But, you know, I don't see this next level stud and he goes to vanderbilt and scott brown turns him into jack freaking lighter so like scott brown scott brown is such a good pitching coach that lock first round picks are turning down a couple million to go pitch at

vanderbilt like that says something that, that's the main selling point I can give everyone out there that lock first rounders are saying, you know what, I'm going to risk two more years or three more years, um, on my pitching arm to go work with this guy to improve my draft stock. Yeah. I want that guy to be my pitching coach. He would be an absolute home run hire, the perfect mix of mechanics and player development and technology and knowing how to use it and knowing how to not only use it but translate it to the player. I mean, Walker, Bueller, just guys and dudes every single year that Vanderbilt is just turning out.

I mean, if they hired Scott Brown, I would just be so excited. Just thinking about what he could do with what we have here. Well, it's not unbelievable, but just seeing how he's turned the talent that he's gotten into Vanderbilt into a superstar in the draft every year when it comes to pitching. So very in on Scott Brown, I think you'd be a home run higher. You're such a nerd. Oh, yeah. Contained in there was the sentence, I watched Jack Leiter in high school.

Jack Leiter was a first rounder for a little bit there. I had to do some research to see if he was going to be. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right. Who else? Any other names out there that just,

you know, kind of like, you know, it doesn't have to be as in depth, but some of the other names you're, you're at least interested. So you don't want me to go as in depth. I got you.

You can, you can break them down. I actually, I actually have no, you don't want me to go as in depth i got you um you can you can break them down if you actually i actually have no i have other people but not as in depth just just names of guys that i know aren't good pitching coaches and i think we do a good job here uh matt hobbs is the pitching coach down in arkansas arkansas is a bit of a pitching factory um and you know uh west johnson came from arkansas Arkansas kind of followed the Wes Johnson plan love of Wes Johnson is done with the twins Ruben Nebula is like the pitching coordinator with the

with the Indians so like a lot of those guys like Shane Bieber and all the guys that brought up Zach Plisak have credited Ruben Nebula for unleashing more of their stuff so obviously he's a guy that would be unbelievable but guys that brought up Zach, please Zach have, have credited Ruben Nebula, um, for, um, unleashing more of their stuff. So obviously he's a guy that would be unbelievable, but he's kind of had opportunities to leave in the past and he's always just

loved being with Cleveland and kind of like turn off. Wouldn't it be nice to have an organization where, Oh man, loves being there. Ah, what a thought. Yeah. Yep. Nope. Don't want being there. Ah, what a thought. Yeah. Yep.

Nope. Don't want that here. And the last one's kind of just a little bit of a name, but Brian Conger. No one's going to know that. But he's basically like Lance Lynn, Mike Miner. Like those guys go to Texas and everyone's like, oh, they suck. And then they turn out to be really good. Well, that's because of Brian Conger.

So he's like a minor league pitching guy guy he's not the major league pitching coach but he has he's pretty instrumental in getting the most out of those guys so he's a name to watch but again scott brown would be an absolute home run hire and i'm fully anticipating them to hire some yankees guy so whatever yep i think that is out that or like some Don Cooper just got fired in Chicago. Oh, Ray Searidge. Yeah, some old school guy like that. You know what I mean? Brian Price 2.0.

Oh, it would be great. It would be so awesome. Let's get more sinkers. What you got in the take bag? What do I have in the take bag? What don't you have in the take bag? Am I right? Who are you rooting for in the take back? Um, what don't you have in the take back? Am I right? Who you're rooting for in the world series.

So, okay. So I've really, really, really, really gone back and forth with this. Like I've kind of actually been struggling with it. Um,

so generally I root for like, I want to root for the rays in any situation, the Dodgers. I feel bad. This group of Dodgers, I feel bad this group of Dodgers. Like Clayton Kershaw, like if there's one athlete in sports right now who I think deserves a title the most, it might be Clayton Kershaw. He's certainly on the short list, like Larry Fitzgerald. Maybe there are a couple other guys.

Carson Wentz. But, um, so, you know, and I, and this Dodgers group has been there and lost and lost and lost and lost that, like, I almost feel bad rooting against them. So my gut, like I want to root for the Rays cause I want to support what they do. I think, you know, it's 108 million to 28 million payroll like neander doing neander things but i feel kind of bad for this group of dodgers guys so i think ultimately as i'm watching it i feel like i'm probably playing for the dodgers but i'm really close that's fair i'm i'm rooting for the dodgers um i couldn't agree more about kershaw like the guys who I want to see win rings the most in sports right now are Kershaw Chris Paul I want to see Rogers win another one um yeah but no one who more than the people who don't have one like for me like you know yeah agree yeah so I I

am running hard for them and plus I just want Eric Nander to see like what he could build here with a 200 million dollar payroll. You know, just what he could do up here in Philadelphia. Oh, I like that angle. I didn't think about that angle. Oh, I like that angle, Jack. Of course. Like get to the World Series with your ragtag group and then just get beat by a more talented, deeper squad that you really just couldn't your tricks and your your you know marketing efficiencies and your edges and you know little edges that you get

just wasn't enough to beat the big behemoth go be but the but the the behemoth i like that one jack behemoth behemoth i say behemoth but yeah i like to go so it's totally a reservoir dogs reference uh have you have you seen reservoir dogs probably not right no no no asking the wrong guy big daddy don bodine's truck the behemoth oh nice by the way i think it's hilarious that not even the rays could fix how terrible hunter Renfro is. I don't believe it. That dude hit some tank shots. By the way, Randy Arrozarena?

What? Where? How? Who? What is going on here? Like, this is an all-timer. Like, this is truly one of the all-time what the bleep come out of nowhere for a postseason miracle run type of things I've ever seen.

It's crazy. You and I follow baseball. I didn't really know who he was. I had no idea. I had no idea who he was. At least when Daniel Murphy hit, like, four homers against the Cubs, I was like, oh, well, that's Daniel Murphy. Daniel Murphy, sure.

Figuring out how to launch in baseball. I was didn't know who he was i knew he was in the the matthew liberatore deal and it's like wait no was meth liberatore the tommy fan i don't know but um yeah just i didn't know who he was so just classic neander same thing same thing it's unbelievable it is creepy how much hunter renfro looks like Mike Trout, though. Oh, he does look a lot like Mike Trout. It's a very good call. It's kind of terrifying. Cosign.

Cosign. Kind of terrifying. Yeah, it is unbelievable just watching this Rays team. And, like, I mean, this lineup is, like, it's dog crap. Like, on paper. On paper. But it works. I mean, it's unbelievable.

Like, it's a bunch of cast offs and nobody's like it's crazy and as we learned in 08 they they're not clutch they can't get the big hits they don't know true same thing 08 translates to now so oh yeah just just ask ned coletti um uh all right uh as always save lasalle. We had my buddy Ray on last week. Yes, Save LaSalle Baseball. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at Save LaSalle Baseball. Helps save a nice little local program. They did not recruit me, but that's okay.

I'm not holding it against them, as you can see by now. I've completely moved on. My science point is this. My science point is this, and I'm just saying that there's no way that everything falls at 9.8 meters per second. Like, you can't eye test. The eye test does not back up that objects fall at 9.8 meters per second. Wait, what are you talking about here? This is my science point.

Okay. You pivoted quickly i know i was like call me off guard i was like what are we talking about because i have a whole bunch of stuff on the rundown this is just where i was at so like okay you ever learn so i don't know i know i don't know what you're talking about so everything falls at the same speed the law of gravity is that everything falls at 9.8 meters per second. Yes, relative to their size. Right? I don't know. I don't know.

I just think it's ridiculous. You can't tell me that a bowling ball and something else falls at the same. They both don't fall at 9.8 meters per second. It doesn't back up the eye test. I think you're understanding this theory wrong. Obviously, a feather and a bowling ball are not going to fall at the same speed. back up the eye test i think you're understanding this theory wrong like obviously obviously a feather and a bowling ball are not going to fall at the same speed like i don't think that's the scientific what about if what about what about a bowling ball and a shoe

a bowling ball would fall quicker that's what i said because it's heavier right but that's what i'm saying about i think you're misunderstanding no i don't think i am i think everything falls at 9.8 meters per second i don't know this i mean i'm to be frank i am not a big like science guy science was definitely not my best uh school you know subject in school emily my wife is great at science stuff uh i'm looking this up hold on because i don't know this but this i like i don't think this seems possible like hold on everything falls at what speed okay 9.8 meters per second as such all objects free fall at the same rate regardless of their mass because the 9.8 n kg gravitational field

at earth's surface causes a 9.8 m slash s slash s acceleration of any object placed there we often call the ratio of acceleration of gravity hold on one sec this, Jack. I'm confused here. Um, so hold on. Okay. Okay. So they've got an example, uh, an elephant in, in new, if Newton's second law were applied to falling motion, I'm trying to read and okay. So 1000 kilogram baby elephant would accelerate faster. Hold on. Force and mass. There's a lot of science-y stuff, Jack. Yeah, I don't do the science-y stuff.

I just do the eye test. I'm so confused about this right now. People are going to think we're so dumb with this people who actually understand this are going to be listening and yelling at their iphone or whatever like you morons how do you not understand this you idiots 9.8 meters per second is apparently how fast every object falls all objects objects placed upon the Earth's surface will experience this amount of force upon whatever killing of math within the object.

Man, I'm so confused now, Jack. There's no way. If I went on the top of my roof and I dropped a bowling ball versus... I guess it's got to be solid objects right because like like a shoe like a shoe there's no way the shoe falls faster than right but that's what that's what the that's what the law of gravity suggests i'm i'm like super i that we've got to be missing something. A misunderstanding. I feel like... Listen, let's just...

Here's the thing. My official stance here is the science is right. We're not understanding the science and what they're talking about. That's my official stance. Let's put it out there. I just want to put it out there. We could be wrong about this. We could be wrong about this.

I think we probably are wrong.'m in fact i'm i'm doubting everything i've said to this point if we are a hundred percent wrong feel free to email us at high hopes like all right a bowling ball or a stuffed animal i'm looking at zoe's stuffed animals right now like there's no way a stuffed animal is going to fall as quickly as a bowling ball. Dude, that's what the theory is. Especially the higher up you go, right? Because then there's more time for it to speed up on the way down. But as long as they're dropped at the same time, apparently that's all that matters. And that they would both hit the ground at the same time no matter what the object is?

Yes, because they all fall at 9.8 meters per second that's the law of gravity that's what gravity's that's gravitational pull i'm i'm like floored by this this can't be right that's why i didn't do it good in science and math because i was just questioning everything uh i apologize to everyone who thinks we're dumb now. Okay, well, they probably knew that already. But if we're way wrong, just email us at thehighhopespod at gmail.com. We are way wrong. I'm just intrigued to find out. I don't think we're wrong.

I don't think we're wrong. Or we're misunderstanding the law more likely, the scientific law. I think I'm right. And, and I think, I think, I don't think that I don't think they're right on this. There's no,

my, my eye test is better than their science. And I would say that there's no way that every object falls at 9.8 meters per second. Sure. Whether it seems weird. Yeah's ridiculous it's ridiculous launch i think i think science needs more eye tests and less computers just like just like baseball um trust science that is the main thing i want to say seriously trust science okay bring this

trust science bring this conversation up Bring this conversation. Trust science. Bring this conversation up to Emily and see how dumb she looks at you. I'm embarrassed. Embarrassed, too. Okay. I'm embarrassed to see the look in her eyes, the never-to-be-fixed disappointment in me and in my brain. I can't do it.

I also can't wait for it when Zoe brings this us home from school in like 10 years and you have to well that'll be easy i'll just be like oh ask your mother well no no i alternate alternate you could say ask jack because he's broken yeah it sounds like a great idea 10 years ago he broke it down on a podcast and said it's all bull oh my god I'm so confused now what is happening alright other things in my mailbag let's get to the other important things how are we still talking 50 plus minutes in

when we had literally nothing to talk about coming in we had to talk about Ned in well that's what we do um we had to talk about we had to talk about ned coletti um we did it's true uh did you see the mlb game 7 nlcs ratings or was that just i did how about that i truly hate to suck it nba yeah from a dying sport a dying sport's got a what nine million viewers nine million dead people watch baseball uh in game seven wow wow unbelievable i was let me just have 65 000 more think pieces about how no one likes baseball get out of here anyway No one likes baseball.

Get out of here. Anyway. Tell him. Tell him. Absolute joke. It is the anniversary of Game 4 in 1993, which apparently you were at. I was. I don't know how you're still here to talk about it because.

Highest scoring game in World Series history still to this day. If the Phillies ever blew a 14-8 lead in the eighth inning, I would be inconsolable. Just absolutely inconsolable. I can't believe you were alive for it. I can't believe you're still here to talk about it. It sounds like an absolute freaking nightmare. And then two nights later to have Joe Carter happen? I am so glad I'm not alive.

I was not alive for 1993. And you're about to see a big time home run in about four pitches. Will Smith. Is it Will Smith? Buddy. Will Smith batted like eight innings ago. It's not Will Smith. I can't believe that you,

that you were at games. I'm watching Will Smith. Yeah, I was at that game. First of all, I was young. I was 12. But it was just a crazy game. It was such a ridiculous game in and of itself. But yeah, when you put it into that context,

it's, it is hard to fathom. It is weird that we don't talk about that game as much as we just talk about Joe Carter. That's what I was trying to say today. It's like, it's a fair point. My whole life.

I'm talking to Joe Carter, Joe Carter, Joe Carter. Dude, they blew a 14 day lead in the eighth inning. Like we talked about four, nothing with Cliff Lee, like Cliff Lee's not even allowed back in Philadelphia.

You're right. It was a different time, but you're right. It just truly sounds awful. Cody. He finally caught up. Oh, yeah. I'm there. He does not bust his shoulder

at home, which is good. Good job, Cody. finally caught up. Oh yeah. I'm there. He does not bust his shoulder, um, at home, which is good. Good job, Cody. Um, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,

but, but, but, but, but, but, but like insightful, is that the right word? Yeah. The law of gravity. No, no one breaks the law of gravity down better than this podcast.

Um, I don't get chills watching any of the, Oh, eight to 11 stuff anymore. Like I finally, I think I'm five. Finally have broken it. Like the, the Rollins walk-off used to always

give me chills and hearing Franski in LA. And, you know, I first noticed that when we played, uh, Victorino's grand slam, uh, off CC that used to always give me chills. I didn't get chills. I need new highlights. Like I I've, I've watched them all too many times i've i've i've gotten so much chills i've almost started tearing up all the old stuff i i don't i i can't do it anymore like i don't even get excited to put it out there i don't get excited to play them anymore i'm just done i'm done with the old highlights like even stairs wrestling into the night like no doesn't do it for me anymore. I'm over it.

I'm 100% over it. I need some new freaking highlights. And I know I'm probably over it because it's all I do in the offseason is just watch old Philly stuff that I've seen a thousand times, and I get it's still special for people who don't live and die with it every day. But I need some new freaking highlights i mean the rounds walk off was 11 years ago 11 years ago i need i need something else i need something else so i just had to i had to tell people that i'm i no longer get chills at all the old highlights i i haven't thought about it like that i think it's a awesome way to put it

like you're dead right we need new highlights like that was a long time ago we've heard it a lot we have not had anything new to replace it with for a long time jack really terrific point like wait perfect way to frame that i i'm with you like i hadn't thought about it like i still um i get highlights from the the hairy stuff some of it like the old stuff more so but like um still always but i'm with you like there's something joey's gonna get chills from i think but like it's not the same i agree i think it's time it's time it's only been a decade i mean it's only it's only only been a decade um and the final thing in my in my note back here is uh uh jj our friend jim jackson um no longer be doing

philly's games next year a luxury that they could no longer afford according to him um it was a pleasure working with jj on philly's pre-post and during the fourth and fifth innings for home games and uh he's a great dude and it's just a it's a shame that the the pandemic um you know just kind of is making the jj run come to an end and it's a it's a all big one shame especially when you go down there and it's like you know murph and jj won't be a part of the broadcast anymore. It's just like, yeah, those are kind of our guys. I mean, whether you're in the car driving around,

you always know it's going to be JJ on the pregame show. You always know Murph's going to be with the fans. They're kind of like our summer family, and it's a shame that they won't be around anymore. It's just thinking about them. So, J.J., it was great working with you. And, you know, you still have Flyers hockey. And they might be the only fun team in the city.

So, you know, it might not be too bad. Look at that. I'm with you. That was well said, Jack. There might be three teams heading towards purgatory And the Flyers And for what it's worth, JJ A outstanding Hockey announcer

Truly one of the best that I've ever heard Do hockey And let's be honest There will never be anyone who will handle rain delay phone calls As JJ I mean, what a stud Whenever you have to take like who will handle rain delay phone calls as jj i mean what what a stud yeah whenever you're in it when you have to take like two hours of rain delay phone calls what a stud what a stud honestly like some of the most riveting radio just just i i would tune in if i

knew it was happening just even if i was busy i would find a way to listen say yeah i'm with you because like dude there would be nothing like Because I had to screen those freaking calls for better parts of two seasons. Oh, I can imagine. And it's, like, it's just so funny because it's always the same eight callers. And then, of course, like, you'll sprinkle it in another. Yo, JJ. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, yay, JJ.

Yeah, get Klintak out of here. He's blowing all our money. And JJ will be like, yeah, well, you know out of here. He's blowing all our money. And JJ will be like, yeah, well, you know, he spent money in wise places. And we'll see what this team can do from here on out. It's like, yo, JJ, I met you when I was at Philly's game. It was really cool. I heard like eight of those types of calls. And JJ was very cool about it.

And I always found a way to almost make the person believe that he actually remembered who they were, which is pretty good radio, never better. Uh, it's the best. Uh, no,

I'm with you. We're, we're going to miss those guys. And obviously it's been a bummer. Um, seeing a lot of the people who've, and I, and look,

it looks like there might be more to come too. So, um, you know, it's a, it's definitely a bummer. You got any final thoughts for it toitz, or was that your final thought? That was my final thought.

And, John, dear John, don't even think about it, buddy. Oh, my God. Don't even think about it. No Ned, no Jim. No, no Dave. No Dombrowski. No, no, no. He's Fritz. I'm Seltzer. Talk. No Dave. No Dombrowski. No. No.

No. He's friends himself. Talk to you later. All-Star Closer. Kenley Jansen, we have a question. What's the best podcast of all time? Baseball isn't boring, baby. I'm Rob Bradford, and every single day I'm sitting down with the biggest names to show you this great game is the greatest game.

It's my podcast. It's my passion. It's a cause I started more than two years ago. It is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact, so jump aboard the BIB Express. Follow and listen to Baseball Isn't Boring, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.