OverDrive - OverDrive - July 16, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Frankie Corrado, and Keegan Matheson for hour 2 of OverDrive! John Gibbons joined the show to discuss the Blue Jays. The guys got into the AL MVP race and Paul Skenes’ future in Pittsburgh before playing Level of Concern.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada.

The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app Hour two overdrive continues powered by Fandual bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score Brian Hayes Frankie Corrado We've got Keegan Matheson in here

John Gibbons coming up here in a few moments Keegan your book. It's been out for quite some time You're officially an author you have that horror to you very established for esteemed uh... but give you wrote the forward for your book he's very substantial right i'll tell you what fell as the week after the book him out as my mother how do you like the book and she said gibbies forward is great

which was a really tough moment for me yeah uh... but in that give the uh... email the forwards i'll tell you what at first i think you told is great which was a really tough moment for me yeah but man Gibby he nailed the forwards I'll tell you what at first I think he told me just to write it myself make him sound smart yeah but I convinced him eventually the man is a storyteller and he is one of a kind one of one John Gibbons he's so funny man like we've had him on and now he's working he's back in the game obviously work with the Mets but like there was that break in between, you know, his time.

He was doing the podcast. Yeah, he was doing the podcast. And he'd come on here and just start slinging it about everything. We just basically just talk about his life more than anything else. Yeah. You know, cause Gibby's the best.

Like he, and he started getting into stuff. Like, what'd you think of that last night? I didn't see that. I'm like, okay, well, we'll move on to something else. What are you gonna do? It's always great though talking about like the glory days 2015 he had a lot of good stuff to say on that like how could you not the city the city came alive for those two runs and I'm curious to see now that the Jays are in the position that they're in like is it gonna be a repeat of that downtown like I don't live down there anymore I don't have a pulse on it. You would know better like you're around it

But does it feel like it's getting that way yet or not quite? No, no, no granted I stay in my home, but it's not quite there, right? You know because it had been so long last time and we've seen it even in recent postseason runs for the Blue Jays Even in the wild card round. There's still a sense of like, okay, prove it. Prove that you're going to do something here. Prove that you are going to win a single postseason game since 2016, which they have not done. So if they get out of the wild card, if they get to a DS, then it's legitimate. Then I think that starts back up.

But I remember that was the year I moved to Toronto and I thought, oh my God, it's like this all the time. This is incredible. And it hasn't been there since then so it's not there right now it's gonna take I think postseason wins because fans are tired and they get exhausted of supporting a team that falls flat each year so I think they want to see a bit more but when it happens downtown Toronto during the Raptors run as well there's nothing Amazing man. And I will say this, Toronto loves a trade deadline

and generally takes their P's and Q's from the trade deadline. And in 15, you know, famously they were 50 and 51. It was not buzzing downtown in early July 2015. People were not like, hey, I know where this is going. No one saw where it was was going and I know we were looking at run differential and they were a better team than the Rick record would indicate But when they traded for price and to Lewicki People started buying tickets people started showing up and it helped that they went on a heater almost immediately But that's the best way to sell people on this being possibly real is You swing for the fences and bring in a piece or two. I guarantee you you're gonna create buzz you know

You're serious. Yeah, you're serious We're serious Yes Just trying to limp into the third wild card spot and be happy to be invited to the party right when you make the big Deal you're telling everybody including New York LA everyone else, the Blue Jays are serious. Now have they been a serious team every year the last five, six, seven years? It's a high bar for me. They've been participants in the postseason.

They haven't won a game yet. When you announce yourself as serious, because people in Toronto want this to be a serious team, they want it to be a serious city. And once you jump over that line, that's when it gets exciting when you bring in the big dogs. Well, and here's another thing that's available to them. You could be a top two team in the American League. You don't have to play in the wild card. Go to a real round.

Exactly. You play five games. Get right to the divisional series, right? Like you don't have to do, that's the thing. Like when you look at where they were against Seattle and against Minnesota they're at home against Seattle they got to go on the road in Minnesota was a wild card games yeah like a wild card rounds here like you've got obviously the Tigers of the pace card in the American League I think they're where they game back at Houston who are currently leading the West but it's right there for you like you could legitimately be the top seed in the

American League heck home field throughout, and you could avoid the wild card round. Like that's very substantial. The best of five is so important. It's so huge. The best of three, one guy has a bad game, sleeps poorly, makes a bad decision, a bad bounce, your season's over.

You need the five gamer, man. And they can go for that. So Kucchi got 14 hours, man. Oh, that's right. The 14 hours kills him. He had a big sleep, man. He loves to sleep. He can't wait to sleep. He likes that 14 hours man. That's right. 14 hours kills the running man. He loves to sleep. Can't wait to sleep. You say Kikuchi. I love that. That was my favorite report ever that I believe

was completely erroneous and fake. He didn't get his 14 hours. He needs 14 man. Gotta have 14. Alright here is a former manager of the Blue Jays. Multiple times. also a forward author that's what i'm gonna call him a forward author for keegan matheson spoke he's the bench coach down the mess here's a one of our favorites back in overdrive here in the maple to the hotline here's john gibbons give me do you consider yourself an author no

but i thought you know what you can ask me to do that uh... at the day with it was just as bad as me asking Josh Donaldson to do mine Yeah, I guess either one of us have made friends That's right, that's right, it's great catching up with you long time long time great catching up with you How are you enjoying the all-star break? Nice nice, but it's almost over. I tell you what those those four days go by so fast You know, but it's almost over. I tell you what, those four days go by so fast. You know, but it'll be time to get back to work, no doubt about it. Yeah, I guess so, right? Like, it happens quick. I mean,

do you have a chance to get back home to get down to San Antonio? What have you been doing? Yeah, that's where I'm at right now, and I fly back up to New York tomorrow. But hey, you guys, man, you guys are on fire up there, huh? Well, you know what, 2015's coming up, Gibby. Like, people are starting to mention 15, and you know, you were right in the middle of that, clearly, and we were just talking about it, that famously 50 and 51, and then swing for the fences, go get Price, go get Tullo, get Red Hot,

and that's what people are hoping for here in Toronto, but I'm curious if you can just speak to what it's like, you know, in the city, in Toronto, at the Dome, when you're in the hunt in August and September, you experienced it multiple times. How different is it from other years where you weren't in a hunt in April or May or June? Yeah, it's a huge difference. You know, I got up there in 2002, started as a coach, and eventually managed first time,

and then ended up coming back. You know the whole story. But everybody would always talk about, hey, you know what, if you guys are relevant in sometimes August and September, watch what happens to this place. Watch what happens to Toronto, watch what happens around the country.

Of course we never were for so many years. So, you know, I thought, okay, maybe, maybe not. But, and then, you know, 15 rolled around and, you know, things fell in place and Anthopolis, you know, he, he, he went wild. And, and you know, the team just took off and you could see it was like a light switch, you know, and it was like every, everything that everybody had always told me and it's like, dang, you know, then naturally Toronto caught fire and then the rest of the country and, you know, we were basically unbeatable there till the end. So it's real, you know, and then there was that carryover effect for a number of years

and then, you know, they went through the rebuild and all that. So some of that dies off and, years and then you only went through the rebuild and all that so some of that dies off and but you know for me I'm on the outside looking at you guys now and you guys were playing some great ball who knows maybe we'll have the old Mets Blue Jays World Series you never know. I love that idea. That would be good. Gibby in all your years where you know you've had teams and you've made a big trade or an acquisition do you think players sometimes look at that and say well now All your years where you've had teams and you've made a big trade or an acquisition, do you think players sometimes look at that and say, well, now there's pressure on us to win?

I know it didn't go that way for you guys in 2015. You guys went on a massive heater and it didn't feel like you guys felt the pressure, but do you think it could almost go the other way where guys are like, oh my God, there's a lot expected of us right now? You know what? I don't know if it would affect the players much, maybe the coaches, staffs, but I can tell you, in 14, we were almost in identical spot

that we were in 15, right? But Alex had no money left to spend. And I don't think we did anything of the trade deadline. We might've made a little small move. And I can remember the day after that Batista and Jansen, our closer, came out and did interviews and they were expressing the disappointment. And so it was like it just sucked the wind out of us, right? And I mean, you know, they, you know, there was limited, you know, Alex had no money.

That's just the way he was being treated up there at that time. And so what he did in 15, he kept some money in his back pocket there and ended up making almost identical position as the year before. But he had enough money, he could go get David Price, you know, his pro-rated salary the rest of the year. And then Tula Witzke and Jose Reyes was pretty much awash and a couple other small, you know, moves. But if he hadn't saved any money or kept any for that particular reason nothing would happen. So it's crucial I think you know, this is where you know, the GMs make their name, you know, they wouldn't Hey, they go out your team needs something

It may not even be a lot But just a little something sends a big big message to those guys in the in the room because when it doesn't happen You know it affects him just the opposite and I can remember at 14 we didn't do anything we just disappeared quickly after that so but as far as the pressure on him I don't know I think it's more of excitement for the for the players there you know naturally he's always there's always pressure on the manager I get the most out of these guys we gave you what you wanted but I'm not so sure the players always feel that, but the fans love it too, you know,

and it's just a, it lifts, you know, your whole fan base up. Give me back in those 15 and 16 years. Now there are, there are stadiums in Major League Baseball where players and coaches get in their car and drive home and they don't have to interact with anyone. Downtown Toronto is a little different as you know. You're around the people who in prior years may have been yelling other things at you. What was it like for you in those years when it turned around? Because you're a guy who would walk to the stadium, you've got to live your life around

the city. What was that turn like for you? What do you remember about that? Okay, can I tell you? Well, it was My first go-round and when things weren't good, you know, maybe they were rightfully so hollering things at me Negative things at me and uh, but I mean it was like I went from villain to hero, you know And I can't I still can't understand it to this day um

but you know, I mean it was the the fan base was starved there for so long, you know, and in uh, and especially after you went back toto-back championships and then there's a You know that that I don't know how many 20-some years whatever it was You know, that's a long time route for a team and not getting to the postseason and so when it happened, you know God, this is this is like wow You know here we are. We're back boys, and you can feel it, and you know, like I said, the country caught fire, and you know, and it lasted like that,

at least two or three years, and then you know, some things changed, and I would expect, you know, I like to be in a distance away now, I'm not sure how the feeling is up there, but I know after the last couple years when they struggled, there was some skepticism and things like that.

But I expect the optimism is returned, I would hope anyway. Yeah, people are feeling pretty good. I mean, and they've earned that. You know it as a player, as a manager, Gibby, like you play the games, and generally speaking, the fans, the media, if you win, people are happy. If you lose, people aren't happy.

Like it's not really an overly complicated system. Pretty simple. It should be. You know, if people pay a lot of money, you can go watch your team. You know, so if you're gonna demand that, take that from them, you know, they expect something in return.

And you know, it looks like every night you guys can run out, it seems like a good starting pitcher, you know? I mean, you had that little rut there while when Scherzer was down but that's gonna give you a shot every night and it looks like you just got a bunch of gamers now to go with some you know some of your star players and that's my impression from afar you know and it's a it's a it's a group of dirtbag type players that the fans can especially you know in a hockey obsessed country you know they love

those kind of guys and I think this think that seems to be the perfect kind of players you have. Gibby, let me ask you about my favorite record of yours, the career ejections Blue Jays record that you, that's kind of like Cal Ripken's consecutive games record up here, man. I don't think it's ever going to be touched. Thedo had 27 and he managed more games, so you're running away with it i don't know if you saw john schnider's ejection in sacramento there the other day give me he got run out through center field in that minor league park after a

along altercation bit of a rugby scrum and he was getting pushed man he was pushing back to use fight for position he was there with the there was some other from those tackles so give you know i hear your review of that objection or what goes into a good objection you know what what what are you trying to check off when you're out there and you know you know i'm out of this game

what are you trying to get out there well you know the other three of the ball that we do that the fire between right now is never my deal right my deal with him angry about the real we're we're playing aousy baseball and I got tired of watching it. But one thing I do know, you have to fight for your guys. If you expect them to fight for you, you got to do that. I'm not sure what happened out there. Was it just a short foul pole that he thought it was fair? Yeah, not enough camera camera angles I think. Yeah.

Yeah and that set up at Miami Park you know that's the way it goes and yeah it got that I mean that wasn't pretty heated out there you know John out there dang Johnny man it's like WWE man they're bumping each other a little bit you know but you know you need to do that as a manager sometimes you know and you know as long as you go for all the right reasons you know you're not phony but you know John's got somebody got some fire in their belly you get that big belly like I got you know there's a lot of fire in that thing and you know whatever you know whatever you're doing those all that they just have to do it up there it's working I tell you that absolutely with John Gibbons so you were catcher when you were player and i'm curious you know what you you're making of uh...

the big dumper cal rali i think that's the best nickname in sports right now they got her so phenomenal but he said on thirty eight home runs is on pace for sixty four which would set an american league record you know how much how much pride you take in that give us as a former catch yourself and are you in all of this in india believe he can get to the finish line considering the

position he plays got that helps the leaders it is great to see you know a catcher that it's pretty pretty remarkable that he got to me home runs but that you know that that uh... off our break in in you know, the, uh, I'll start a break and, and, you know, nowadays you, you watch, you know, every, every, I'm, I'm amazed at how hard all these guys throw nowadays, right? And the, the offense in a lot of, a lot of ways is down in a lot of, a lot of areas, you know, guys don't hit for much for average.

They strike out a lot all the time, you know, and you're constantly the style of managing, you know, you, you change pictures every, you know, every any it seems like. Uh, so the thing, you know, it's really pretty remarkable that he's doing it now. You know, the way these guys throw and the different pictures he's facing and, you know, it's not, it's not necessarily an easy ballpark out there in Seattle to hit either, uh, size wise and. You know, the, the, the, the, you know, the catching position is taken on his body. You know, it's pretty, it's pretty amazing. It's going to be like a dream year for him.

And you know, the fact that he won the home running contest the other night was I think it was perfect, you know? Uh, uh, so yeah, it's, uh, you know, I grew up, my, my favorite guy was Johnny bench and, uh, you know, Johnny was always, you know, he, well, I think 45, maybe was his most, he never hit me here. Oh, he's gonna blow, he should blow pass and if he stays healthy,

but yeah, it's remarkable what's happened to a catcher. But most teams, they don't ride their catchers either. Like they do out there in Seattle. Maybe it's because he's playing so well, but I think Raleigh, he's always played a lot of games and he's a big strong country boy. That That's for sure and I'm rooting for him Yeah, we always talk about the NHL all-star game and how people don't really want to watch it and you know the NBA All-star game is pretty much a mess last night

I think it's been a resounding success from everyone that you know, we've spoken to or heard from What'd you think of last night's all-star game and everything that it entailed whether it was, you know we've spoken to or heard from what'd you think of last night's all-star game and everything that it entailed whether it was you know Kershaw or Skeens or the the tribute or the the the hit-off at the end of the game like did you did you like it did you think that the MLB got it all right? Well I'll tell you what you know it's funny I you know I saw one of the Laundrie's home run you know one of our guys funny, I saw one of the lads at his home run, one of our guys. After that I fell asleep, missed the rest of it.

And I woke up and I saw, yeah, I saw a one on a home run in contact, I didn't even know they had that. And it's funny now, most of the All-Star games, like you said, are brutal, they're just kind of like a love fest and all the hugging going on and everything. It's not like they used to be in all the sports, but I think baseball probably has the best ones. I think in hockey, man, as much as we beat each other,

you can't get too carried away in an exhibition-type game there. But I've seen enough baseball now in my lifetime where I don't necessarily lock into the All-Star games anymore especially if I can't be there. Yeah I hear you there man with John Gibbons and you know one thing that stood out to me was Paul Skeens you know doing what he did last night and what he's been doing in Pittsburgh and you know there was a time when like it was amazing Kershaw was there and obviously we know he's hit

300 strikeouts and Verlander's still kicking around and Scherzer's still kicking around but that kind of horse type pitcher man it felt like they were kind of moving out of the game a little bit, Gibby, and you look at Skeens he looks like he could he could pitch 250 innings in a season and not lose sleep and he hits a hundred like on the gun with ease. Like I don't know if you've seen him up close and personally but if you have like, what's that aura like?

What's the kind of vibe of Paul Skeen's like if you see him up close and personal? Well, I'll tell you what, he's a big, strong dude. And early on, that know, they were, that was kind of the way they, the philosophy in the game now, they were like, you had to kick gloves on him and he throws five innings and he wouldn't,

you know, right after he got drafted in the first couple of years there, you know, it's like, what are they doing? You know, and he, you could just tell when he'd be taking out of a game, you know, that he'd be a little frosted and all that kind of thing. And yeah, he's, you know, that he'd be a little frosted and all that kind of thing. And, and, uh, yeah, he's, he's, uh, you know, they all get hurt nowadays. You know, let's hope he doesn't, you know,

there's very few that don't, but we have, we have a weapon like that, man, let him go. You know, um, it, uh, you know, he may, he, he's a generational player and dominated guy. The fact that he's so big and strong, you know, he's a hundred pitches, it shouldn't not be anything to him. You know, and you know what the, I guess the sad part is, is that, you know, he's in Pittsburgh there and, you know,

they got some really good pitching, but they just don't address the offense. So, you know, they just don't want to spend the money or whatever it is. Because you look at his record, you know, he loses one, nothing, things like that. And, and, uh, low scoring games, but he, yeah, he's probably, you know, if, if anybody could pick a pitcher to have any of the 30 teams out there, he'd probably be, I'm sure he'd

be the number one to list him and, uh, kids from Detroit behind him, you know? Yeah. So they're pretty, they're pretty good. Those big guys like that. But you know what? They, you can see the game, the game, you know, I hope it goes back to, you know, yeah, so they're pretty they're pretty good those big guys like that But you know what they you see the game the game, you know I hope it goes back to you know, let me guys stay out in the game more, you know morning is morning morning's number of pitches thrown all those kind of things because it's good for the game and you know the Commissioner's thrown around some hints

Next couple years they may try to you know, yeah a pitcher has to throw a minimum of Scenics to you know, one of those kind of thing kegging right a little better idea in try to you know, yeah a pitcher has to throw a minimum of settings to you know One of those kind of thing kicking right a little better idea than that, you know for me, but yeah are you you know what the games about starting pitching not all these bullpen guys and He's he's definitely the head of the class. Absolutely Which are you guys you guys you guys probably haven't heard me ramble in a while. Have you know we like it man It's great. This is great great man we miss this kind of I know it's what you missed to give you and I know you missed the two daily

media sessions and all of the the enlightening questions I know you do oh no never have never kept quiet on that thing well you know you mentioned spending money that's not an issue with your current team down there with the Mets. What have you learned about Juan Soto that maybe you didn't know prior to him showing up in New York or with the Mets? Well you know I tell you what you know he's a special guy he's very quiet keeps to himself you know I kind of anticipated you know he'd be a little more outgoing you know every guy that's, has thrived in New York, a guy that really liked the limelight,

I don't necessarily see that. But I tell you, anytime he steps in the batter's box, you feel like something good's gonna happen. And he got off to a slow start with us, and then there was some newspaper articles that thrown around that well he was wanted to stay with the Yankees but somebody his family forced him the other way that kind of stuff you know but it was just the fact that you

know the season was he was with a new team in New York City and it finally got got on a roll and you know you know I've had a chance to manage and coach some really good ones in my days. He gives you that feeling just like a lot of the Batistas and Donaldsons. Anytime they step in the box, something good can happen. He's a special guy. I guess what I didn't know about him, I didn't think he was that quiet and as reserved. He works hard.

He's probably got the perfect temperament from New York to be honest with you yeah well that's it man I mean they're gonna be there he's there for a long time he's gonna be there for a long time man that's for sure all right give you will let you get to that private jet back up to New York we appreciate you doing this well they were gonna get into jet dad talking about Soto. He took all the money. There's no money left over. Yeah, he's going to let you use his. Our owner's not afraid to spend it.

That's for darn sure. That is. You got to love that, man. That's the way, you know, yeah, you got to, they should all be that way or they shouldn't have a team. That's right. We'll preach to that, man. We totally agree.

You're preaching the choir. Enjoy the rest of the season give me thank you for doing this All right boys. It's always a pleasure. Miss you guys you too. There is John Gibbons joining us here on the maple Toyota hotline Drive the built-in Canada fuel-efficient fun to drive Toyota RAV4 gas or hybrid models available visit maple Toyota comm Yeah, the Soto story. It's interesting because judge is doing what he's doing So like it's all judge judges to what he's doing so like it's all judge in the american league in in new york on the east coast you know he's he tracking out a triple crown i think he probably catches

rally in terms of home runs like i think seems like he passes them at some point knees kinda leading in every other category so triple crown seems very reasonable going to win the mvp to be'll be unanimous I would think although Raleigh I guess I shouldn't I should crazy to say catcher exactly and Seattle needs him yes right like now both the Yankees and the Mariners are in wild card spots right now if Raleigh keeps this up and they make the playoffs then he may win I guess I'm immediately contradicting myself. I'm not sure Judge

will be a unanimous MVP winner. He may not win it. There's still time. There's still plenty of runway. Absolutely. Yeah. So the fact that he's doing this as a catcher, I think is obviously speaks quite a bit of volume. Right. Do you think FanDuel would have like a market on where Skeens is going to sign once he's done with the Pirates? Like like could you already start betting on that basically what three I mean you can bet on whether yeah you can probably bet on that and will they trade him before it gets to that point he just walks for nothing yeah we're like what he's got three four years of Arb before he gets there yeah they got him team control for another four or five years and they're not going to very unlikely are they

going to give him the mega deal. Right. It's gonna happen somewhere else and it's a matter of do they want to cash out now or later or are they going to build a team around Paul Skeen's? Probably not. Yeah. So probably not. But yeah it's it's gonna be an interesting race down the stretch. You know where Soto comes into play in the National League where the Mets are at you know in a pretty good division there the Phillies are gonna be a good team. Soto's hot too. Yeah, he's been hot recently. I covered that Yankees Guardians ALCS last year and if the Yankees had gone on to win the World Series, I think that Soto at bat, that extra innings

home run, that 10-pitch at bat would be remembered as one of the best at bats in MLB history. It blew me away. I'll remember that for the rest of my life. He was stepping out of the box. He had that grin. He was loving it. And he knew that he had this reliever on a string. So few players can do that.

Vladie at his very best can do it. Soto can control an at bat. Judge can do it. But man, to watch him stepping in and out of the box and nodding and grinning, if I'm that pitcher, I'm faking an injury. I'm out of there. If the guy is nodding and grinning at me, but Soto at his best man is a show. Brilliant. Not, wasn't warm too, they're like grinding it out in the weather and the elements and yeah and I guess according to Fandl, Judge is minus 600 to win the AL MVP. Okay. Which is again I like when I said it I'm like I think Judge wins it

and I think if he ends up I think that what that is taking into account is predicting what will happen the rest of the way. I think an expectation rally kind of falls back a little bit but if he touches 62 63 home runs, I think he's got to win it. Like I think it's mandatory if you set a new home run record. You have to win the MVP. And furthermore, if your team is hanging on and possibly going to get in because of your heroics, like that would suggest if Judge is minus 600, like is Raleigh, are you getting plus money on that? Hunfando, look that up. Raleigh's plus 360. Okay, you're can plus money on that unfunded was plus three sixty okay get plus money on rally this is when we really get to the definition of that v word in the middle of mv value valuable as best as it most

valuable and every year we seem to have a conversation about what's going to be the new york guy because well writers from every market vote on it it's not just new yorkers right and this could be one where after you have someone like Aaron Judge with a reign of dominance or anybody in any sport, Patrick Mahomes in the NFL, it reaches a point where people start looking for reasons not to give it to them again, probably. Yeah, they set the bar too high for themselves.

Exactly, and if Cal Raleigh is doing this as a catcher, like you mentioned, Frankie, that's some positional scarcity. Like we don't see catchers do that. Ever, man. At all. Piazza, like. So there's gonna be a couple factors working just beyond their numbers. Big time. Big time. Yeah, and you're getting like quality plus money. You know, I'm like, I'm trying to think who would be third in the American League right now. Like, who? Bobby Witt would be getting up there, I guess.

Scooble? You'd be looking at Scooble pretty high on some the p balance yeah well he's having a hell of a year yeah anyway will come back with role play level of concern we got dark or a local bitch coming up as well dark was been down in vegas for a while get his take on what's going on down there and the rappers been really good in the summer links will catch up with him our best but still to come as well overdrive continues he has sent and fifty and onto your son to Drive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. Champions Canadian music loud crowd and all yours no passports required

Just press play tap into mating Canada now on I hear radio dot CA or the free I heart radio app You can never Never ask me to stop drinking You understand I. I really do. Alright, roleplay level of concern. We got Keegan in here, Keegan Matheson. We're really putting him through the wringer here, right? Getting hockey takes, Mitch Marner scheduling takes. Not only Marner too, like we know Marner's coming back and that's gonna be big, but Brad Marshannel returned to Boston. Jonathan Tave's making his return to Chicago. It's gonna be significant.

Matias Macchelli back to Utah. That's huge. Who gets a bigger return video? Macchelli or Marner? I learned how to say Macchelli to come in today. I was proud of myself. You have to know Macchelli. I couldn't slip up. I'll tell you guys why I couldn't slip up, because I've been watching the YouTube videos and I've been seeing the comments roll. Yes. And I cannot turn into one of those comments.

Dude. I'm determined. Like we're up on YouTube live, on TSN's YouTube channel, every hour of every show's up there, and you get caught into the rabbit hole where there's some guy that's got a serious issue with you or one of the things you're saying it's a problem man and the comments just keep keep coming like i got hit a few weeks ago like 4 pm hour haze is an idiot that's a stupid

take 5 pm hour brutal take and i'm like man this guy's just gonna continue to follow that's on the YouTube Yeah in the comments. Yeah, I'm looking at it right now man. You can get hit you gotta be Trapneled out there. They're trapnel. Yeah, even the DMS are nasty. I got a nasty DM yesterday from a from a woman That it was it was scorching like it was scorching. Oh, yeah, it was scorching I was like, what was the genre of this? It started with you're such an idiot. Yeah, and then it launched into why I was an idiot and Then I realized that there had been other DMS in the past and I'm like, I think she watches every single day This guy's such an idiot. Yeah, it's basically I was fest check and she was Phil. Yeah, but that's fine

I happens it happens to the best of us What are you gonna do at least on Twitter or X you can hit the mute button? Yeah, you don't have to go to the YouTube chat, although it's nice to interact with fans Very nice thing like very nice to interact make it an interactive show Yes, we do value what people are bringing to the table But then there's just a lot of like I hate when you're on or yeah this guy's an idiot. I'm a power muter you know like I've curated Twitter to just be people who are saying nice things. Yeah see there you go. You can control it. I don't want to see bad things about myself. Well and to be fair there's a lot of there's way more positive yeah like I don't want to sound as if like I'm a victim here of like

there's so many people that are like great show this was fun that was great there's a lot of that. You agree or disagree go ahead. I'm looking at it right now except this guy Ricardo, Frankie sucks. Oh see that's uncalled for Ricardo. Ricardo Corrado. It probably is a family member. I hope it's not.

I hope it's not. That's going to be so funny when people like tune in and realize that Michelli's not from Woodbridge. Right? Like when people realize Michelli's not even Italian. Like that's, cause he's Finnish, I believe. But he's Italian heritage. There's a guy we know, Italian guy here at TSN. His dad called him on free agency day

or whenever that was done and he goes, see, they're getting it right. Yeah, that's the best part. So many of the Italian Leaf fans are like, I always wanted Michelli. He's the best. Actually, he's Finnish. He stinks. I don't like him anymore.

I swear to God, like to this day, I still get from like Italians in Woodbridge, the Pat Quinn days, they only wanted Irish guys. Now they bring in Italians. They're a better team. Get Michelli in there. We need more Michelli. Bring back Gio. We need Gio and Corrado and all the boys and Speetsa all the guys that so much ellie spring in the

heat i roleplay level concern we're all going to be i'm only going to do one of these i may even skip myself here because you guys gonna do i know a phenomenal job here you feel okay and i'm feeling all right i just feel like i want to be kind of manning the ship here so to speak so you're going to be applied to person and a scenario and then its level of concern. Pine on the patio is no concern based on the scenario.

Nick Cage leaving Las Vegas, nuclear levels of concern. Alright Keegan, we'll start with you because you're a first timer. You're playing the role of Vladdy Jr. I am Vladdy. You are Vladimir Gurel Jr. as of this second, you are Vladdy. Fantastic. What is your level of concern? Team success will not shelter you from criticism if you don't start mashing. Six pack. Six pack? There's some real concern there. Six pack of a real beer too, one that'll

knock you down. Nothing light here. Okay, like a Nova Scotia craft beer or something like that. Yeah, like a nice Alexander Keith. Okay. I Like the beer that tricked me into thinking I was an IPA drinker. Yes. I know with how I look, I should be explaining IPAs to people. That ain't me. Right. I moved to this city and I said, well, Keith is an IPA. I should order that at the bar. And then... Keith's everywhere. You go out there, go to school out there. It's just kegs of Keith's. What else do you need? Can't order anything else. All you can get. What else do you that's a six-pack and certain for the because it's time with this contract man and this is the exact moment flatty was in the middle of this season in the jays were about five hundred

you'd have some concern around it but there's probably other reasons right now you're seeing flatty not holding the steam back but he's not helping them forward right now seeing Vlad E not holding this team back but he's not helping them forward right now he's playing okay baseball and he is not an okay baseball player and the spotlight is only going to go grow brighter out of this break Giants Yankees Tigers trade deadline boom it's got to happen right now and Vlad E has been a Yankee killer in his career he loves it in the yankee stadium is going to get them at home but

as the eyes of major league baseball turned to toronto which they are about to is the playoff race the big team big market the rest of the league is about start watching the blue jays and the flat e is going one for four with a really hard hit single to right field not going to do anything about it and not changing the game what you see right now is a very good baseball team i think the blue jays are really hard hit single to right field. Not gonna cut it. It's not doing anything. Not gonna cut it.

It's not changing the game. What you see right now is a very good baseball team. I think the Blue Jays are a very good team that's being coached well, they're playing well, and they're gonna get better at the deadline. Vladdy can take over games. And in the postseason, you're going to need that because every game's gonna be two to one,

four to three, this is gonna be tight. And Vladdy's the one guy who can make them a World Series contender because every other team, the Yankees, are going to have Judge, the Dodgers have 10 of those guys. All of these teams have a superstar that you need to plan around. The Jays don't really have that right now in their lineup. Yeah, George Springer is playing well, Kirk is playing well. You're not planning an entire day around them. When Vlad is at his best, 1100 OPS, he's mashing, that's who he is. And right now I see a lot of hard singles to right field, which are not special. Vlad, he should be a special player. The ball should be in the fourth deck. It's got to come. To your point there, like you talked about that Soto at bat that you said is

one of the best ever. That's why you pay 700 something million dollars. 500 million, maybe doesn't get you that at bat, but it should get you something pretty special. Can you imagine that he didn't come to terms on that deal, what the vibe would be like around him with 12 home runs and a sub 800 OPS, and he didn't sign? It does not make sense.

Well, it's shocking. Yeah, exactly. It really is. He's on pace for 20. The staggering stat. And if he ends up with that and he hit free agency, he wouldn shocking. Yeah, exactly. It really is. He's on pace for 20. A staggering stat. And if he ends up with that and he hit free agency, he wouldn't be getting $500 million. Goodness, no. He would just get it from Toronto because there would be a fear that we can't get anyone like Vladdy. Right, but they wouldn't give him $500. Shapiro would not stomach that.

There's no chance. All right, Frankie, you're playing the role of Easton Cowan. Easton Cowan, what is your level of concern? The expectations will be tough to meet for your first pro season. Umm, Rick Bushwood. Six Bushlight, six Budlight, and I love him, tall boys. No IPA in that. No. Rick Bushwood does not do IPA. He doesn't do acronyms. You know he hates an acronym. He hates it. Rick Bushwood can't even spell IPA. There's no chance. Do the math. Thank you, Rick.

Attaboy, Rick. Here's the thing. I feel like there's a segment of Leaf's fandom that will expect Easton Cowan to jump in and replace Mitch Marner to a certain degree. And there's probably people that say, well, this is just a young kid. He's going to have to take his time. Maybe he does start in the minors. It's not a big deal.

So I'm somewhere in the middle on this. I think Easton Cowan is more prepared now than he ever has been to make the jump to the NHL level. That doesn't mean he jumps in and starts playing with Austin Matthews and he's, you know, 0.75 points per game to start his career. He might have to play a middle six role, like maybe playing on the third line and playing 14-15 minutes a night is going to be more conducive to him having success and that's okay. He doesn't have to do it right away. I've never seen a young player been done wrong by taking a little too long to get there and just cooking a little more, but you can get them there too early and it can backfire on you. So I'm okay with being patient with Easton Cowan

but the thing that he has going for him is even if it's not Like super productive. There's a B game to this kid like he works. He's got energy the feet are always moving So that's why I look at it and I'm like, okay, he can play on the third line and worst-case scenario He's like an Energizer bunny up and down the ice. And then as he gets more confident, he can produce more. I think it's a good environment for him to make the jump to the NHL and not have to feel like you're Mitch Marner's replacement in the top six and you're doing it at 112th the cost. Yeah, I totally agree. Because when Matthews and Marner also, when they arrived, it was coming off years of ineptitude, years of losing, and everything was attached to them.

Like the only way we're getting out of this darkness is if you perform. He's not that guy. Like Matthews is here, Nylander's here, Tavares is here. They're a veteran team. They're one of the oldest teams in the league. He's also not a top five pick. Yeah, exactly.

Matthews first overall, Marner fourth, Willie seventh, Tavares first. Easy way in. The guy that was late Matthew's first overall. Marner fourth. Willie seventh. Tavares first. He's your way in. Late in the first round. Now he's had a great he's had a similar junior career to Marner like he won CHL player of the year he just won Memorial Cup MVP, wins the MemCup. You know like he's been the man on London which is coincidentally enough where Marner happened to play but the hype for Marner was at a different level and Marner met it immediately like immediately. Marner made the team he still had a year of junior hockey eligibility like he made it as a 19 year old. Right. He could have been back in London. Right.

Marner was the case of there's nothing for him to do in junior. And he's ready and he's so good. Now he needed last year. Yes, big time. All right, let's skip mine, Frankie. We don't, or Joe from the Bridge. I was going to do a Marner thing. We've done enough on that. I'll get to mine a little bit later on. Keegan, you're playing the role of the big dumper himself. Oh baby. Cal Raleigh, the big dumper himself. Thank you for casting me as two very similar builds. Well, Gladys and Cal, like, you'd be a typecast a little bit. It's good. No, it's great. All right, you're playing the role of Cal Raleigh. What is your level of concern? The wheels are going to fall off down the stretch. Just an apparel spritz,

nothing big. No, really? No, okay. That could be the first spritz on the show. I don't think anyone's ever mentioned that word before. real light okay I like that on the patio because when I look at Cal Raleigh and I mean certainly how he is built he's a guy who's held up pretty well throughout his career and yeah being a catcher and certainly catching down the stretch in importantly guys what's going to be a pretty tight run for the Mariners so they're going to make him play he's going to have to play but when I look back through his last couple of seasons games played and this is not games caught but the games that he played in 145 and 153 that's a ton most catchers get more time off going back to last year

He started a hundred and twenty five games behind the plate appeared in 135. That's a ton a lot of that's how they used to do it It's not how they do it now. So that's why I think that Calralli can hold up in this. Now the power numbers, I think just based on luck and chance, maybe they come down to earth a little bit, but I don't think he's going to run out of gas, man. He is a big diesel truck. He's built for this. That big dumper for a reason. That big dumper on those knees. Yeah. Like that's tough. That's what's crazy. Right? Crouched over like that. And the heat, like I know baseball, you're primed for that. And Seattle's not like crazy humid, but like you got the gear on, you're kneeling down, you know, dozens and dozens of

times throughout the game. You're like, the big thing is the game has changed again, where there's no contact at the plate anymore. So you don't have to worry about that but that was a completely different element that you had to add back in the day. It used to just get dummied at all the time. You knew it was coming you're like run over all day man like you knew it was coming like if there was a ball coming in if there was a cutoff or something and some guys flying around third base he's not looking at the plate he is going to destroy you amazing and you don't have to experience that anymore for catch bring it back i say from the every time i'm on the field but i have pretty good at the man there are some wild scenes back then the way we reached a point where we just accepted the big dumper was something

we were gonna fly away totally as a sports culture that never jumping off point where we had early on i still remember where people were like we put this in stories like are we gonna make this big dumb he's big dumper sports is a better place with big dumper and it absolutely leaves nothing to the imagination and he's he's he's performing to that level like a nickname of that status yeah those are big shoes listen if you're a big anything if you're a big sexy mm-hmm you're a big dum, you're a big dumper, you're a high expectations. Yeah, you can't suck. High expectations. All right, Frankie, we'll come back and

we'll get to one more role play with you on Scottie Scheffler, golf fans, his future. We'll get to that. Darko Ryukovic coming up in about 20 minutes from Vegas. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising 50 and on TSN too. proud and all yours. No passports required just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. All right Darko Ryokovic coming up in about 15 minutes best bets powered by Fandu coming up later this afternoon. We were playing some roleplay level of concern we've got the Open championship tomorrow starting tomorrow royal port rush scottie shepard had a uh...

very deep press conference yesterday very existential uh... so will continue role play frankie you play the role of golf fans what is your level of concern scottie shepard is going to leave golf before his prime comes to an end he's gonna pull the chute at some point? Give me a little Stevie Caldwell. A couple of Westies and five or six beers. Casual. Very casual. Let's hear Stevie again. What's Stevie at? A couple of Westies and five or six beers. That's a night out in Glasgow. That's a Tuesday afternoon in Glasgow.

That's happy hour into dinner and then home. Yeah. That's all that is. That's Aberdeen on a Wednesday night. I think every pro athlete to different degrees have this like existential thing where you're just, you're in the moment, you get this tunnel vision and all you do is the same thing over and over again. It becomes so repetitive.

The days of the week have no feeling. And for Scottie Scheffler, all he's done is just win and put up like all this money in his pocket. And now it's gotten to the point where it's like, is there something deeper out there for them? Is there something that there's more meaning for him? But that's not necessarily going to lead him to the point where it's like, yeah, I'm not going to golf anymore. He's probably still going to golf. He's still going to be very good. He's

very competitive. And if he doesn't golf, then he's going to have to find that deeper meaning of something in his life. And that just might be his family. It might just be spending more time with it. He maybe doesn't have to go play the 3M in Minnesota. Maybe he can be more selective with what he plays. So I think he can make different changes in his life around golf. Doesn't mean that he's gonna retire before his prime is done. Yeah, I think that's reasonable and I do think that's clearly a plan for the PGA Tour players. I think they're jealous of live players. They play 14 times on their tour and then four majors 18

weeks a year they're playing. Now they're working other weeks because you have to keep up with things and you've got to be practicing and all that but I think that's coming at some point for Scheffler. I think it's gonna happen way more for McElroy moving forward where they're you know basically elevated events they'll play the players they'll play the majors show up at the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup. We talked about Tiger earlier what happened with Tiger all of a sudden he didn't come to the Canadian Open yeah he didn't do the you know the second tier tournaments no it was are you paying me two million to show up and is it a you know we didn't have the elevated events back

then but we know that's what it's gonna be. Yeah. He's the majors. He's gonna show up at the big the the biggest events and again if you're an American you do and you're a highly rated American you play the Ryder Cup and the President's Cup every single year. Yeah. Like the Europeans get a year off right the international team gets a year off. The Americans don't. Yeah. Scheffler was in Montreal. He'll be in New York in September. Like he's going to be playing every September, these major events on top of what else he's doing. So I do think it's likely that some point he scales back a little bit. But you know, right away you can because he's

on a wave right now. Like he's he's red high as the best best player in the world I wouldn't be running from that final hour coming up we'll get to our best bets power by Fando looking ahead to the Open Championship Darko Ryukovic coming up Rappler's head coach from Vegas overdrive continues TSN 1050 and on TSN 2 unmistakably Canadian it's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Suns. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado.

Made in Canada, the station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeart Radio app.