OverDrive - OverDrive - July 3, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: July 3, 2025

Join Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays holding on to the victory against the Yankees, the division race in the AL East, Nikolaj Ehlers signing with the Hurricanes and the team skyrocketing as a Stanley Cup contender. Former MLB Infielder and Host of 6ix Inning Stretch Whit Merrifield joins to discuss entering the podcast world, the Blue Jays' pursuit of the division and the team's trade outlook in Toronto.

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The vibes are high as we begin Overdrive on another beautiful day here in Scarborough, Ontario. We're live on TSN2, TSN 1050, and the TSN YouTube channel. I'm Aaron Kowalnyk. That is Dave Fastruck from The Star. What's up, my man? How we doing? I'm fired up, man. That game last night, that still has me juiced, man. That was one of the most intriguing, interesting, fun, regular season baseball games I've seen in a long time man. I'm driving home I live downtown around King and Spadina and I'm on the Gardner in you know horrendous traffic as you'd imagine on a weeknight and I hear

Like the Blue Jays home run sound yeah, I hear just a crowd going wild open dome I'm not that far from the dome and it looks at my phone sorry police yeah you know you take a glance from time to time and I looked down and it's seven nothing blue Jays barger a home run Davis Schneider home run and I'm like oh my god what is going on with this baseball team and then of course the fifth inning happens the Yankees have a barrage of their own it's a very close and compelling game but man it just seems night after night and Jays could sweep the Yankees have a barrage of their own. It's a very close and compelling game But man, it just seems night after night and Jase could sweep the Yankees with another dub this evening This is something to behold I can't believe what we're watching and Bo Bichette's not playing again tonight, or at least not starting the game tonight

Maybe he enters as a pinch hitter, but they're doing out without Bichette without Santander without Varsho It's uh, it is so impressive to see the way this team is mashing right now. It's impressive. It's bringing back retro feels, right? The last time they had a share of the AL East lead, AK, 2016. September 6th, 2016. That was a long time ago.

Very long time ago. And they could take sole possession with a win tonight. How about that? Yeah, and that really wouldn't surprise me. The way that take sole possession with a win tonight. How about that? Yeah, and that really wouldn't surprise me. The way that things are going for the Jays. And I will concede, when Judge hit that gargantuan home run off Jimmy Garcia, number one, I'm thinking, why are you pitching to Aaron Judge? He could have easily had another home run in the sixth inning.

Look at this home run up on TSM. It may have left the Rogers Center if the if that wasn't there in the 200 level but uh just started just a rocket I think 441 feet he hits that ball so hard and almost had one earlier but yeah. He hit another one off the top of the wall. Probably don't pitch to that guy tonight and John Schneider has done a very good job historically of pitching around Aaron Judge. Let some let Paul Goldschmidt beat you or somebody else on the Yankees. John Carlos Stanton, who almost did beat the Jays, he had a huge home run of his own, but what an opportunity for the Jays tonight to sweep the Yanks, take sole possession of

first place in the Ailey's, 11 games over 500. Something special cooking down at the dome right now. It's, no, it's really exciting, but I mean you're right, like the judge, the judge moment, I was, really exciting but I mean you're right like the judge the judge moment I was you know I think there's a lot of people scratching their heads going why are you pitching to this guy at this moment yeah. Especially since Jimmy Garcia is coming off just just returned coming off the IELT list yeah that day was his first day that was his first appearance in a Major League game after a lengthy stint on the IL and he's in a high

leverage situation suddenly against the best hitter on the planet. Maybe don't put him in that spot at that moment. He always seems to come up big against the Toronto Blue Jays and that's a guy I'd be looking to avoid at all costs tonight. I'm certain the Blue Jays will maybe tinker with their approach when it comes to Aaron Judge because he almost cost him a win last night. It did appear that it was going to happen but the Blue Jays were able to rally in the late innings and hold on with Jeff Hoffman shutting down things in his end as far as being a closer goes. So it's been an unbelievable run here for the Toronto Blue Jays and there's a lot of

buzz in this city and it's taken a long time for this team to kind of regain the Excitement amongst the casual blue Jays fan who I think kind of has been on the sidelines now for a while and yes They've made the playoffs wild card and they've ever won any games in those playoffs But I do feel the vibes are really really high right now with this baseball club And they're gonna get huge crowds again tonight another big crowd last night I think 31,000 not a sellout by Falling Canada Day in the middle of the week that's probably to be expected the Yankees in town and you can't even imagine kind of the highs and lows yesterday if you're a Yankee fan at that game right and there's a lot of them right coming from

New York you're down 7-0 after the first inning you're down 5-0 before you even record an out yes the Yankees and then it's eventually 8-0 and then they score six And the fifth and you're like, oh my god They're coming back and then judge does what he does and eventually the jays take the lead like true whirlwind of a game and kind of back-to-back nights to get the springer game that on canada day and It's been uh, it's been a lot of fun to watch. I can't wait to sit down and take it all in again Well, we were talking to keegan keegan matheson before the game last night on this show, and we were

talking about how the Blue Jays are finally, after a long period of playing, kind of run prevention small ball, they kind of got everybody upset at them for having really a weak offense, a really kind of nothing offense that, and not a particularly great defense either at times you know now they're playing al east ball or what you think of is al east big boy big bat ball right it's not this dollar store bat stuff we used to talk about with this team and and i read keegan's uh colin from the game last night and that's kind of the point he made after watching that game. Like it's a it's a slugfest. It's a heavyweight slugfest and isn't that what the AL East is supposed to be? Well it's interesting because I was looking at some stats earlier. The Blue Jays strike out less than any other team in Major League Baseball. They have the fewest strikeouts,

which is a great thing. You put the ball in play there's generally a much better chance of recording hits and runs than if you strike out. That's pretty obvious. And defensively, they're excellent. But the thing that I find most fascinating and the reason why I'm so encouraged and intrigued about what this team can be and will be is because they are far from a finished product and they're going to make a big transaction ahead of the deadline for sure. Several you would have hit you with. And again, can you imagine this? Jay's's team adds like a front end starter like let's say a Jacob deGrom from Texas Who's been as good as anybody in baseball? It would cost you a lot

But you have four legit guys who you could rely upon including that Top flight starting pitcher and I don't know how likely it is The Texas actually sells because they're only a couple games out of the final wild-card spot deGrom makes a lot of money He's been so good. If you're Texas, why would you want to trade him? Zach Galin, Meryl Kelly amongst others. But for me, it's that starting pitcher. I like Chris Bassett.

I like Jose Barrios. I like Kevin Gosman. But I think you probably need a fourth guy in there because there's some question marks around Scherzer who did throw today, which is a great sign because you see him coming off the mound in his start in game one of this series And you're thinking that could be it. You almost feel like it could be it every single time. He's shaking his hand I think and you're thinking who knows what's going to happen with this guy Well the understanding that I think a lot of people have come to is that the thumbs gonna be there

He's gonna have that aggravated. It's never gonna be perfect. It's not gonna be perfect He's gonna have that sort of the the thing that goes up the arm and emanates from the thumb That's bought that's bothered him for quite a long time and he's just got to deal with it I know it's just a matter of how long can he tolerate it? How long can he go in any given game? But and then how he recovers after the game, but so I think that's gonna be there But you're right like it's the old pack Gillick saying you could ever have too much pitching Which has served the blue Jays well in in better times and

i'm with you like you got you're gonna have to add to the front patient is a county you get a little bit lucky with the with the lowers of the world you know dragging you through tough times and you know you can't be can't rely on that you can be thankful for it which you can rely on it but look i mean it this is

we talked to keen yesterday i think those speaking of my power Rich Griffin recently like you got to be aggressive at the deadline here you've got less than a month until the July 31st deadline and Like this the American League is wide open well, we're looking at the odds to win the AL East here on TSN to provided by FanDuel Yankees minus 150 Jays plus 240 the Rays plus 340. I mean I get it. We've seen the Yankees in this small sample size and it has not been overly impressive. Defensively, they're a disaster, the Yankees.

Seemingly night after night, they have no idea what the hell they're doing. Going back to the fifth World Series game where they booted it around. Aaron Judge, yeah, of course. It's been really ugly for them, but that's a team that will be making moves. Like, it'll be very, I think the threehorse race in the AL East and I suppose Boston could work themselves

back into it I'm skeptical I mean they're pretty far back at this point I mean it's it's a it would be they have to get really hot really quickly the Debra's debacle is the sure debacle and I you just don't come back from that very easily Toronto New York and Tampa have really good teams and if you told me that any of those three won the AL East at this point I would believe it and it could be the team that takes the biggest swing ahead of the deadline that gets them over that hump and it's not gonna be Tampa I could tell you that. They're not trading for anybody. They don't do that. They don't have any money. So the J's have money, the Yankees have money and you wonder what type of American League arms race

we could be seeing and Houston's a really good team, Detroit's a really good team, now you don't want to get ahead of yourself, there's still a lot of baseball to be played but it's almost impossible not to be overly enthusiastic about this Blue Jays team considering what could be ahead and the potential of a trade and those guys coming back, like imagine you get Santander back, which I don't know how likely it is, like that, mean, what can we expect from this guy for the rest of the season? I have no idea and doesn't sound like he's anywhere close to coming back. But if they were able to get him back and Varsho back in the lineup, Bichette's can't be far away. He was taking grounders yesterday, so he's got to be getting close

to a return. Maybe they're just playing it safe considering how hot this team has been even in his absence. And Ernie Clement continues to do his thing and Andres Jimenez is a big game yesterday the infield not much of a concern there so let Bo get healthy but it's it's something special right now they've got a really fun product and it's been a long long time since we can say that and Atkins Shapiro although I was thinking about this like how much credit they deserve, which of course they deserve credit. This team's 10 games over 500. They talked about the internal development, internal progression, but in fact, if this is, if this front office did nothing at free agency

last year in the off season, they'd be probably better off. Jimenez has been okay. He's had some big moments. Yeah. Santander, Scherzer have been essentially worthless to this baseball team so far, but that could change. But it is funny how the pieces that could make this Blue Jays team even more potent haven't really contributed at all from the offseason. But it doesn't really matter at this point because they're getting contributions from everybody up and down the lineup. Well, it doesn't matter, but it will matter. Right. You can't like you can't expect this to just continue the way it is you're gonna need You know more depth and more contributions from more places because look they're having a magical run here

You look at it, and it really is like 30. What is it 32 games or 31 games? They're 21 and 10 in their last 31 games with a plus 32 differential But for the season, they're like plus five. Yeah, Michael K went on his show on ESPN and was talking about the Blue Jays, the run differential, and how it's not sustainable, yada, yada, yada, which may be true. The analytics doesn't say that.

But I think you could also look at it this way. The Blue Jays had a horrendous start where they couldn't do anything right. And in the last 30 games, which say 31 games, they've been as good as anybody in baseball yeah so I mean what's more important what happened in April what's happening in June and July I'd probably lean the latter yeah look recency bias is fun and that's right there they're lighten it up right now which is all that really matters to those of us who

live in the moment and then we all we understand that but look I mean the analytics this an analytics sport of all the analytics sports where the analytics actually has some credibility hockey maybe not basketball a little more so baseball is the home of analytics right and the analytics guys will tell you that the run differential means something because it tells you what kind of a team you are over the longer haul right not over a month not over thirty one games about the longer on any you think back to when alexandropoulos made the big move

ten years ago it was based on the fact that the team was five hundred but the run differential suggested they were better than yes is run differential amongst other yeah i must put it yes it's the base statistic credits the instrument it's the simplest statistic the kind of says we're probably better than our record says we are. This, you know, the Blue Jays run different just right now says they're probably a little worse than our record says they are right now, but doesn't matter.

Your record is what it is. But I mean, the point that Michael Kay would make, I think the point that anybody that watches this team would make is, yeah, it's going well right now, but we also know how poorly it can go, how these bats can go quiet, this pitching staff can be stretched. They got to make some moves.

They do. It would be nice if Vladdy just started tearing the cover off the ball, which I suppose could happen at any point in time. Because we want to look at analytics. I mean, a lot of his advanced analytics would indicate that he has been underperforming relative to the way he's been hitting the ball. And exit velocity and all that stuff is more in line with a guy who's doing a lot more damage of the play than Vlad jr has been doing so we'll be watching him we've got some great guest doogie

has been cooking behind the glass over the last 24 hours whip maryfield will join us at 4 30 he's got a new podcast played a couple years with the jays in 22 and 23 so we're looking forward to that he's going to join us in about 15 minutes ryan Dempster's in the show at 630 and funny You mentioned we're talking a lot about analytics the analytics guru of the National Hockey League getting a big Contract done the final key cog of free agency is off the board Nick Ehlers to the Carolina Hurricanes on a deal that really did surprise me six years hurricanes on a deal that really did surprise me six years eight point five million dollars and all the reports were that Carolina and Washington and maybe the Leafs maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning

Maybe the Rangers were all vying for the services of Nick Ehlers and he settles for a deal that I think's a little bit on the low end relative to what we were expecting Yeah, someone of his ilk to sign as really the only marquee winger who's available. Yeah, for sure. I mean, it's, you're right. Considering we talked about the rising cap and pre-free agency, there were a lot of people saying there'd be all kinds of overpaid guys and there were a few for sure, guys that got a little more than you might have expected. More like the middle tier.

Yeah. Like that's like, I think Dimitri Orlov would be example Yeah, I CC Cody CC. Yeah some of those defensemen But again, there's a reason for it be like San Jose in particular signed Orlov today two years 6.5 a year and they needed to spend money. They claim Nick Letty off waivers makes 4 million. Sure We'll take you we got to get to the salary cap floor So I think that's probably why they made a transaction like that with the Ehlers

thing it's a little bit different but I mean I'm looking at Carolina's roster right was looking at it and they've got a lot of talent on the wings but down the middle you're talking about Ajo is your number one center and Jordan stall and yes Barry Kotkin yeah me. Good luck competing against Bennett and Barkov and Lundell with that trio. You're not going to. It doesn't feel like it. It doesn't. And I go back to what the Leafs were able to do with John Tavares.

Say what you will about John Tavares. He's a hell of a lot better than Yosperry Kotkin-Yemi is as a number two centerman. And he's also making money that's very much in line with the Asperry-Kod-Kiniemi. So, at least we're very fortunate, I think, to get Tavares back at that number, because if they didn't, and then Carolina's an example, you don't think they would have loved to find a centerman along the way? I'm not that they're not happy with Nick Ealars, but I think... You really think John Tavares is going to go play for the Carolina Hull Kings? I do not. I do not. I do not. But I guess my point is what some teams were able to accomplish in free agency. And again, I'm not, this is not a shot at

Nick Gueller's at all, but I think you need to have that depth down the middle to be successful in the Eastern Conference. We just saw it firsthand with the Florida Panthers. I mean, they've got depth everywhere. Well, it helps to have depth on the wing too. Yeah, it does. They have a ton of depth on the wing. They have an end on the back end and end in goal. That helps. Well, yeah, they don't have any depth in goal, but they got a good one. I think for Carolina it's a no-brainer. A great deal for them. They bring him in the price line, I'm in their second line and you know they have Taylor Hall on the left side

as well. Vechnikov's there, Ajo's there. They've got a very good team. Yeah but I mean to me. It's a no-brainer. I find it kind of interesting that Ehlers, you know you heard a lot of the reporting was that Ehlers wanted to go somewhere with a quieter market right with with less attention on hockey so Carolina fits the bill mission accomplished mission accomplished but like well does that give you if you're the GM of that team does that worry you at all that he doesn't want to be scrutinized or he doesn't like the fact that people in Winnipeg care about the

Winnipeg Jets I mean because I look at it and I say like Winnipeg Jets were essentially Leafs West, right? Like in terms of a really good regular season team that's never been able to get it done in the playoffs. Now they've got it done more often than the Leafs. They've been to a conference final, albeit quite a few years ago, but you look at Nick Ehlers like kind of a leaf-esque splits in terms of regular season and playoffs right. Regular season he's a over an 82 game average in his career he's a 27 goal guy 63 point guy regular season over 82 games. Extrapolate that into playoffs if you if you're

looking at an 82 game playoff season theoretically he, he's a 16 goal guy, one six. So he goes from 27 to 16 in the playoffs, and he goes from 63 points in the regular season to 38 points pace in the playoffs. Like, he would have fit the Leafs. Oh yeah, tailor made. I like that, that is a very good fit. So at least as far as past production goes, which

is the greatest indicator of future production. But I mean, to your point about, does this help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers if that's what they're trying to do after they got decimated by them in the Eastern Final? So to defend Nick Ealers, it is very uncommon to find guys who exceed their regular season production to a point where it's like, wow, this guy is a playoff performer. It happens.

Again, I would look at David and Tri-Cytle and McKinnon and McCarr and Rantanen as prime examples of that. Guys who are incredible regular season performers and somehow are even better in the postseason. It defies any and all logic how that could be possible because we know the goal scored comes down, we know the tightness of checking is is evident but that's kind of what you're looking for and I mean look at Sam Bennett what he just did in the playoffs scored 15 goals to win a Kahn's smite trophy he's a guy who can elevate his game and be better in the playoffs than he is in the regular

season which he is again he's square eyes 51 points oh yeah his pace in the playoffs a lot higher than that. So it's hard to find, and that's what you need to go out and find. There's a reason that Florida was so keen to bring back that trio is because they've proven that they can perform in the playoffs over a long, long, long period of time.

Healers, not so much, but he's gonna have an opportunity in Carolina, they're gonna make the playoffs. They always make the playoffs. They're gonna be a really good regular season team you just wonder in a moment of transparency for general manager Eric Tulski I just I'm sure he fits exactly what they're trying to build in Carolina you keep piling up those assets But I will say I mean you kind of look at Marner's deal 12 million try to Marner 12 million or Ealers at eight and a half Yeah, I don't think it's even close.

I'd much rather have Mitch Marner. So, well, Mitch Marner is a much more accomplished player. Absolutely. But again, that luxury wasn't on the table for the Carolina Hurricanes. But it was widely reported that they were very eager to try and bring in Mitch Marner, even at the trade deadline. So, you can only get what you can get. I mean, you heard Steve Iserman today talking to the media and he basically said, hey, we would have loved to sign some marquee free agents, but no one was available. Yeah, because no one wanted to come here or we just could, everyone was already scooped up before free agency even opened. And I do wonder some of these like what a guy like Brad Marshawn would have actually

got on the open market. Had he gotten there? Like could there have been a 10 million offer out there simply because the salary cap space is available and how he just fits the perfect mold for anybody could play the left side could play the right side and Just everything that accompanies Brad Marshawn in a positive way. I guess we'll never know. Well, yeah, that's what that's the point I'm making here is that everybody's you know, I understand why Eric Tulski signs a guy like Nicholas, because guess what? There's no one else to sign. Yeah, you take the best available product you can sign. And if there was a guy available who had better regular season playoffs splits, like you know, who didn't maybe turn into two thirds the player or half the player in the playoffs that he that he is in the regular season, I'm sure you would have taken a look

at that guy and didn't exist in this case. But I do wonder, like when Florida's kind of got the market cornered on guys that seem to know how to elevate their games in the big moments, the critical moments as Brad Tree Living has repeatedly called them. I mean, it's very difficult to figure out

how you beat those guys, right? Like the Leafs are, we had that conversation with Brad Tree Living on free agency day and he went over the DNA conversation again. And it's like, he's basically making like, I think a lot of us, when we heard him say this need, this team needs to change its DNA, I think a lot of us felt like he was saying we need to change a lot of the players, but that's not really what he was saying. Like personnel is a part of it and they have changed some of the players I'm sure they're bringing in some others but his

thing was like we need to look at mental toughness and we need to look at our mentality in those moments and we need to look at our preparation for those moments and and I wonder about that like you know if you've been doing it for nine years with this same group, you don't think they've tried improving their mental health? I would hope so. You don't think they've tried to improve their preparation?

You don't think they've tried to bring in this sports psychologist and that sports psychologist and this player wellness guy, and this competitive advantage of any sort of given, you know, the old commune. These guys try everything to try and get that 1% edge that all these sports scientists like to talk about. And it hasn't worked, right?

All that trying hasn't really got them anything. And I wonder, like, what's the next approach? Where do you go from here? And we're gonna have to wait until September, as opposed to find out. Although, development camp is underway, and they were scrapping, there was a fight at Maple Leaf's development camp, which I'm not sure how common it is, but it was noteworthy nonetheless.

And Easton Cowan was talking as well about his relationship with Mitch Marner, having been with the Leafs last year, leaning up to training camp as well. He had of course, talked about Easton Cowan. So we'll let you hear some of that audio a little bit later on the subject of Mitch Marner. A little teaser for AK's list which is coming up at 530, the most polarizing Toronto athletes ever. Top five. All right. Coming your way at 530. And yeah, Mitch Marner's on the list. You probably guessed a couple of the names. I tried to be a little bit creative with the list. I like this. Which even you, Dave, don't know what the list entails. But you will at 5.30. Whit Maryfield will join us in less than 10 minutes. We're looking forward

to catching up with him ahead of Jays and the Yanks. The final game down from the Dome. 707 first pitch. It's Kuralnik. It's Festtruck. It's Overdrive. It's Thursday. And it's TSN. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive stream Encore the stories behind the songs you love on I heart radio or wherever you get your podcasts Overdrive continues

Who all they can fast-track until 7 o'clock Jay's Yankees game number four tonight We're doing Yankees fans rank amongst the most despised fans for Toronto sports fans? Yeah. That'd be pretty close to the top, no? Oh yeah, like in terms of being insufferable. Yeah, like the Yankees fans who are down in the dome. Like I was walking around last night after the game and you see the Yankees fans and the pinstripes and the jerseys and you're like, get out of here. Yeah. Like down in hockey you'd have, I guess and you're like, ugh, get out of here. I get out in hockey, you'd have, I guess if you're a Leaf fan,

you'd have certainly Senators fans, Habs fans. Habs fans, Bruins fans are really obnoxious. Bruins fans, oh yeah, maybe Bruins fans are number one. But Yankees are close, Yankees fans are close. Well, they walk around like they own the place. They walk around in their pinstripes and their Yankee caps and they act like they are kind of entitled. They're the evil empire.

They're the great 27 time World Series champion and yeah, it's hard to deal with them at times. I got one in my house. It's not grave. You have done a very poor job raising your son. No it's not. I agree. I grew up as a kid. All they ever wanted for my birthday was Blue Jay tickets.

How does that happen in your don't know in your household It's just over by words. Yeah, maybe it was yeah, that's an act of defiance Yeah, you can become a Yankee fan and you know, he does play golf. So at least Lisa you at least but anyway Yeah, but he's got the same entitlement. He believes like he does he looks down on the Blue Jays He considers them inferior, you know being because the Yankees are royalty. In some ways he's right, the Yankees are, you know, story. Not in this series, not in this series. Yeah, but yeah, they were storied in the 1920s.

Yeah, the 20s Yankees, yeah, murderers row and all that, and Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle, but this ain't that time anymore. No, certainly not. Aaron Judge is unbelievable for sure and i think the jays may made some mistakes in their approach to him last night we'll see what happens tonight for the jays and with their films and join us in just a second who has his retirement last weekend

now as a podcast that he's doing that's called the sixth innings stretch podcast and actually what's on the line right now let's bring them in retired ball player now a podcaster welcome to the audio medium Whit Maryfield and welcome to over drive how you doing I'm doing good appreciate thanks for having me on guys yeah man we're fired up for you a ton of rave reviews on your pod with Lindsey Dunn and we'll get to some of the stories that you told in the first episode but we we got to talk about this Jays-Yanks series to this point as someone who spent a couple

years in Toronto with the Jays, seeing the ballpark the way it is, seeing the Jays mash the way that they've been mashing against the Yankees. What is your take on what's going on so far? Yeah, good series. Really good series. Kind of heading into the all-star break against the team that had a pretty, seemed like a comfortable lead in the East for majority of the year. And as the Jays would play hot, it slowly, it slowly, the lead has shrunk. And big series early in the season when the Yankees came to town.

And even though it's 1st, 2nd, 3rd of July, that's when you're chasing a team like that, for them to come into town, big series, Canada Day, big crowd, to be able to go and win the first three games of the series is huge for the morale of the team, not only the series is huge for the morale of the team, not only the team but for the morale of the fan base and the city. And then tonight, hope to cap a rare four-game sweep and that'd be a huge win. But you'd look at the series as a whole as a victory and regardless of what happens tonight, but you know that lead that the Yankees

had, has evaporated and now the Jays are right there and playing well, but there's a lot of baseball left, so they need to keep finding ways to play well. There's a lot of debate last night and I guess it's not particularly the heated debate because the Blue Jays won the game, but they've got the big lead and the lead starts being frittered away and then they got Aaron Judge comes up in a situation with a man on down two runs and John Schneider makes the decision to pitch to a guy who has established himself as the best hitter in baseball by a lot of different measures. You know when you're on a team like are you hoping your manager walks the guy in that

situation or do you want the showdown, take him on and see where the chips fall? No, it's your guy versus their guy, Yumi versus first judge. I mean, Yumi had a slider coming back up on him and left it over the plate and the judge didn't miss it. But as a guy on the team, you want your guy to take a bond because as good as the judge is, as good as he's been, he's still hitting what, like 360, 370, which is absurd, but at the same time that's still just over seven times that every ten of back, he's going to make an out. Um, so you want it, you want

your manager to show confidence in your guys to go and get that out. It didn't happen this time, but I hope the situation comes up again. And, um, I hope Schneider trust me to get that out again, especially at this point in the season. It's different maybe if it's in the playoffs or if it's late in September. But right now, I mean, it's July 2nd. Go get them. Have your guy go, go, trust your guy to go get the best player in the league out.

And again, it didn't't work out but I think that if they walk judge and then the next guy hits a double on the gap or a homer it just it's a whole different feel in that in that dugout so I'm happy that he let him pitch to him. Whit Merrifield is our guest recently retired ball player now podcast you can check out the sixth inning stretch podcast with Whit and Lindsay Dunn. As far as Davis Schneider, I think you could argue is the star of yesterday's game with the two home runs. You were with the Jays, you played with Babe Schneider as he was called in the early days of his Blue Jays tenure. What have you seen from him since that incredible start he had

to his career in Boston where he was the toast of the town and has had definitely had some ups and downs since, but it looks like he's back to his best form. Can you tell us something about Davis Schneider that you may have learned as his teammate? He's got the perfect personality to be a big leader. He laid back, he doesn't let the game, he doesn't let the game get him too high or get him too down. He's willing to make adjustments.

And that's really what's happened is you come into this league and I don't care who you are, you can come into this league and you're hot. That's great. You know, you, you, you kind of establishing yourself that you can play, but then the league is going to not figure you out, but adjust to you and, and start, you know, start understanding a little bit of your weaknesses and how to, how to get to you, get you out, but adjust to you and start understanding a little bit of your weaknesses and how to get you out. You got to in turn make that adjustment back.

That's what having longevity in that league is all about. It's constantly adjusting, constantly learning. Schneider definitely has that type of mentality to do and you know it's when you're not when you're not a boba shed or a variety coming up and you go you have this big aura prospect status around your name when things don't go your way you're not going to have that long leash to work it out in the big leagues you're gonna you're gonna unfortunately you have that long leash to work it out in the big leagues. You're gonna, you're gonna unfortunately have to get sent down and kind of reprove yourself all over again and that can be frustrating but at the same time

Schneider's got the perfect mentality to go through that and looking forward to him having a lot of success because there's nobody that's here more for than him. Oh for sure. Wipp Maryfield is with us, spent nine seasons in Major League Baseball, Kansas City, Toronto, Philly and the Atlanta Braves and of course the host of a brand new podcast as well. So as far as what this Blue Jays team is and the expectations weren't overly high heading into the season but that of course has changed considering what we've seen of late. What type of additions would you like to see Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro make leading in the trade deadline?

Like is there one position that you could pinpoint that you think Toronto should be looking to address? I think you got to make smart additions. I think it's easy to sit back and just start trying to add and on paper thinking about making your team better, but The team's got a great thing going right now. They're playing well, but they're also you can tell they're enjoying playing with each other. You can tell the team gets along and has a good time together and that's what carries you through 162 and what keeps the bad streak short

and helps extend the stretches when you're playing really well is when guys really get along and gel together. So I'd be careful. I really would be careful with who I went out and got. Maybe a bullpen piece or two would be where my focus would be as a GM, depending on what max the situation is. You're possibly going to get a starter.

But I don't know. I've never been a huge compo. I mean, again, there's a fine line of walk because you want to show your team that you're willing to do things to improve and win now, but you don't want to overdo it and take out a guy like Ernie Clement or Davis Schneider that are pivotal, really pivotal points in that that lineup so I don't really know the right answer to that because I'm not I'm not there for the day to day but I would I would just advise that just be kind of careful with with what you go

and do and what you go and get to not upset what they got going on right now you were with the Blue Jays for a couple of years and on the first edition of your podcast you told a story about Yusei Kikuchi that has picked up a lot of steam on social media and elsewhere. Can you, would you mind retelling the story for our audience, Wim, because it's a hilarious tale. Yeah, I mean, so just to kind of give you a summary of it, I go into more detail on the podcast, but it's Kikuchi got into meditation and he was a big meditator. And I think really think that was beneficial or has been beneficial for his career, helped turn him, turn his career around.

But we were in Kansas City and he was, he was in his room, which happened to be right above my room in the hotel. And he went to take a bath the night before he was going to pitch and turn the bath on. Got in his bed or went over to meditate while the bath was filling up, fell asleep while he was meditating and ended up flooding his room, which in turn trickled down and flooded my room. And, um, uh, you know, I didn't know what was going on. So I called the, called the front desk. They went and checked it out.

Um, as the guy banged on Kikuchi's door, kind of panicked and realized what was happening while he was still half asleep. He ran to go turn the tub off, tripped and fell and fortunately didn't hurt himself but tripped and fell on the tub and finally got the water off and it's just a funny, funny deal listening to, while listening to the hotel staff come and try to explain to me what he just witnessed from Kakuchi's room and then me asking Kikuchi the next day what had happened and he's just he's one of a kind and one of my favorite teammates I've ever played with. That's a great story Whit and you tell a lot of great stories from your major league career on the on the podcast. The other one that I really enjoyed was the one

about speaking of Aaron Judge who hit that missile into the second deck last night he tied Roger Maris in Toronto a few years back when he was casing that American League home run record and the ball went into the Blue Jays bullpen and and I guess you had some strong feelings about what should have happened after that could you fill us in? Yeah, well we had talked about it going into that game because it was actually that series, because it was such a historic thing that had been since Roger Maris that someone had even gotten close to

that number. So we knew how valuable, we had heard how valuable that ball was going to be. And so we as pitcher players would poke fun with the bullpen because the bullpen is in left center field or so it's very accessible for a right-handed hitter and judges righty. So we were saying, hey, he has the ball into the bullpen. What are we going to do? What are you guys going to do? and they were all excited kind of if if it did happen as the one thing could get what they were gonna ask for and they were talking a big game and then lo and behold to make it up the homer and It goes right into the bullpen and these guys got it and the Yankees personnel comes over

Says hey, can we have the ball? They give it to them. And the guy says, whatever you guys want, just let us know. And, uh, so after the game, we were like, what'd you guys get? You guys had to get something good, right? You had to get some sort of custom engraved Rolex or you guys put off some sort of great request that the, one of the wealthiest franchises in all of sports in the world is going to is going to buy for you, right? And they ended up just getting an Aaron Judge signed jersey that they could have went and got on fanatics.

Come on. We gave them a bunch of crap for that because they didn't want to overstep their bounds and whatever. But yeah, that was a good riffing we gave them. Yeah, now I want the sweep more than ever. Oh yeah? Gotta see a Blue Jays win. We need to see the Yankees crumble after a story like that. That is totally unacceptable. Wick, congratulations on retirement. Congratulations on the podcast. You were a natural. It should be a huge success. We can't thank you enough for taking the time this

afternoon. Thanks for having me guys. Appreciate it. All right. That's Witt Maryfield. Yeah, that's a tough one. You have such high expectations. And an Aaron Judge signed Jersey, which is not nothing. Not nothing. But it's not that, I mean, if you had to buy one of those on the internet, what's that? 500 bucks maybe? Yeah. And this is the Yankees that ball was worth thousands many thousands There's a thousand hundreds of thousands and you get a judge signed Jersey. Yeah, that's I think what made a good point

Yeah, those guys probably should have held out for something a little better. Yeah, that would be probably a good idea But well though when you're a player, do you really want to defy thaty yeah Steinbrenner family? Yeah, and it's not yeah That's it. That's it And it's not like the MLB players aren't compensated well to begin with so maybe someone in the crowd might need that cash a little Bit more than Tim Mays and company in in the bullpen So thanks to Whit Merrifield Ryan Dempster still to come at 630 Mike Johnson in about 15 minutes We'll talk about the breaking news this afternoon that Nikolai Ehlers will be playing with the Carolina Hurricanes. Plus, how about what the Chicago Blackhawks revealed today? Kyle Davidson, their GM, saying that there have been extension talks

with Connor Bedard, which I think is one of the more fascinating discussions around contracts because Bedard has, let's say, underwhelmed, but hasn't been as advertised through two seasons. So how do you pay him? What's the number? I have no idea. That could be eight, could be 10, could be 12 a year. I have no idea.

I don't know. So we'll get into that with MJ when he joins us. It's Hour One of Overdrive on TSN2, TSN 1050, and on TSN's YouTube channel. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive stream

Encore the stories behind the songs you love on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts So it is july the third big day in the united states tomorrow july the fourth and Big holiday and also the nathan's famous hot dog eating contest goes down tomorrow where joeynut is back. Remember last year he wasn't able to participate because he had a deal with some vegan hot dog company and Nathan's took issue with it and kicked him off the contest and then everyone was upset but he's back now looking for his 17th mustard belt Dave number 17. Do you consider Joey Chestnut to be an athlete? No, but I would say this, AK, if the competitive eating world can solve

its divisive politics, why can't golf? Yeah, the live tour and the PGA Tour. I mean, Joey Chestnut essentially was kind of a live tour guy for a year, and then. Impossible Foods was the live of eating. Right, and now he's back at the big show. Yeah, yeah. tour guy for a year and then impossible foods was the live of eating right and now he's back at the big show yeah yeah and and the competitive eating world can you know sleep soundly now minus 1800 to reclaim his title at Fan Duel so if you

want to bet on Joey Chestnut you won't be making a lot of money but he is probably gonna win he is the goat of bloat he's a column he is an unbelievable unbelievable eater. He has won this 16 times, every year from 16 to 23. I do wonder, is there an AHL of eating? Are they top prospects? Oh yeah, there's county fairs. What type of circuit do you think is going on in the States

in some of those southern markets where just behemoths are hammering dogs circuit you think is going on in the states and some of those like southern markets where shows behemoths are hammering dogs in an effort to become the next joey chestnut working their way up through the pie eating contest and the the chicken we do contest and and there's in america's love nothing more than to fill their faces and and joey chestnut is the king of it and there's a lot of guys aspiring to take that crown a kill tell you that right there are there are you can watch the hot dog eating contest

live from Coney Island at noon on TSM plus so as much as I love supporting this company not sure the Joey Chestnut muckathon is something that I'm interested in can't watch it it is truly repulsive let me know the number I mean number. Yeah, he had 76 a couple of years ago in 2021. That's the world record. In 10 minutes, 76 doggers. He had 62 in 2023. So maybe slowing down in his later years. He's 41 years old now.

Maybe Joey has passed his prime. Let's hope he's slowing down. I think he should slow down. Yeah, like is Joey Chess not really rich? Like you think he's got a ton of cash? I mean, I'm sure Let's hope he's slowing down. I think he should slow down. Yeah. Is Joey Chestnut really rich? Like, you think he's got a ton of cash? I mean, I'm sure he's doing pretty well for himself. Because you see him pop up. It's like, Rhode Island, like, pie eating contest.

Oh, there's Joey Chestnut. Big name. Like, how much does he get paid? What's an appearance fee for Joey Chestnut? Like, 20 grand? I don't know that number off the top of my head. Dave, you're a journalist. I could probably find out. This sounds like a day of your journalist you need to probably find out

This sounds like a story you travel with Joey chestnut and find the details behind the scenes as what's going on Look, it's probably out there when you're the biggest name in anything, right? When you're the biggest name you're gonna get paid That's just that's just how it works. They're gonna be paid, you know, and the money No, he's not getting the yaka hurdle deal. You paid NHL money, but you're gonna get paid like competitive eating money It's there's a lot of money been made and in the hot They don't hold the hot dog eating contest not to get paid. It's such a fascinating thing I don't know why I am so fascinated by the hot dog eating contest I like that. No TSN to Joe from the bridge is Joey chestnut an athlete. I think you can make a case

He is okay, but here would be my case. Number one, it's competition. You are competing against somebody. And number two, it is a physical endeavor. Yeah. Like think about what he puts his body through, not only in the midst of competition, but also to prepare.

Like he's eating a lot to, I guess, to get your stomach ready. Yeah. Like is, what's it called, Professional eating, whatever, whatever the term would be. Is that more of a sport than billiards? Like how would you compare the two? I mean, look, I, no disrespect to billiards players or darts like darts is on TSN all the time. Look, darts is, it's a game though. I don't know if stuffing your face is really

a game, but he is the best at it. He's really good at it. He's the Gretzky of eating. Look I respect the man. I mean I respect anybody that competes in anything that they care about. I mean good for them for trying. But I mean I remember I wrote about this many years ago when when competitive eating first started to make waves and they started to make it into a big thing and put it on TV and stuff. And the thing that really made me have a hard time really you know sort of loving the sport let's say was that somebody explained it to me

that really knew the game and was was one of the competitors and he said basically you have to understand Dave competitive eating is essentially competitive vomiting because what goes in does not stay in must come out it does not stay in you do not out. It does not stay in. You do not digest that. When you put it that way, you don't see that part of it. Although you actually do. I don't know if you see it or not.

If you've watched, I mean, it can happen in the midst of the competition. Involuntary reflux. It is such a mess of life that these guys live. It can't be good for you. No. Imagine a physician trying to break down. You remember the Super Size Me movie? Yes. And like you want to watch something like a body deteriorate and Joey Chestnut's doing work for a long time when it comes to some of that things. I think he

has the world record for cotton candy as well. Oh, yeah, he does. Maybe the most destructive thing at all of all. I mean, I don't know how much cotton candy one person can consume in ten minutes, but it's probably a lot probably A lot. Yeah, we need something in Canada. That's equivalent to it. We know that's not how we operate here Yeah, it's not how we operate would it be like a poutine of a poutine Oh, I guarantee you Joe Joey chestnut has already crushed the post routine. Yeah, he's done it all He was probably put scene is it's too hot. Really? How you gonna be cold poutine? Yeah I guess you melt the cheese and it's you let it show. Yeah, and then you know, you need pounds of it That was yeah, it's it's it's repulsive and revolting and yet on TSN plus at noon Tomorrow looking forward to that nice holiday in the States tomorrow. We'll be working though. You'll be here on Overdrive.

I'll be here. I'll be back on first up. Mike Johnson, even though it's cottage season for MJ, he's going to join us on the other side. We're looking forward to that to kick off Hour 2. Plus, AK's List, the most polarizing athletes in Toronto's sports history. All that to come here on Overdrive. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel.

FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep

dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you love on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.