PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Pa' STROM y!

Episode Date: November 12, 2021

On this episode, Jesse and Derek are joined by Astros beat writer Chandler Rome from the Houston Chronicle to discuss the D-backs making Derek's dreams come true by hiring Houston's pitching coach Brent Strom for Torey Lovullo's staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to the PHNX D-BACs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as the mayor of PHNX. And of course, we are brought to you by the Draft King Sportsbook app. Go download the Draft King Sportsbook app now. Use our code of PHNX. And simply for betting $1 on any NFL or NBA game, you will get $100 in free bets should those teams score any points, which seems like a very high likelihood, especially for NBA games.

get your free bets from the Draft King Sportsbook app. I am joined today, as always, by my vice mayor, the one and only thunderstick, Jesse Friedman. Big day for the Diamondbacks, Derek, Brent Strong. Jesse! It actually happened. It happened. So here we are.

I have, we'll get to it later, but I have a whole list of requests now, now that I know that we have the front office's ear. Yeah, they've been listening, clearly. So clearly that we are you know that's that's something I need to slip into our intro right the the the the podcast of the front office of the Arizona Diamondbacks do you think they listen to our show where we spent Ken Kendrick's money the other day. Oh absolutely. Absolutely. We're making notes diligently. They were putting together a list of who we want and yeah.

We'll we'll we'll ask for that all the time now knowing that you guys are listening. But big news obviously today that the Arizona Diamondbacks have. I guess it's not official yet, but the news coming out that the Arizona Diamondbacks will be hiring Brent Strom from the Houston Astros, the pitching coach, somebody who I have spoke very highly of over the last few weeks,

watching the Astros in the playoffs, everything they've done, just somebody I admired. I enjoyed his interviews and his answers. I really liked his philosophies on being a pitching coach. And it was the exact kind of guy I wanted the Diamondbacks to go after. Little did I know.

That's exactly who they were targeting. But to talk about that today, we actually have a friend of the podcast that we've invited on. Chandler Rome Astros Beatwriter for the Houston Chronicle. Chandler, thank you so much for joining us, man. We appreciate it. And we are excited to hear a little more about Brent Strump. Yeah. I hate to rub salt and looms, but there hasn't been much to be excited about in Diamondbacks land for the last 12 months.

You're absolutely right. I'm happy that you guys. Hey, we were enjoying tanking there for a while. We've tried to accentuate the positives and just, you know, write it to the very end. But I think the thing exciting here is that the D-Backs, Mike Hazen, their general manager, has said several times that they are committed to their farm system and developing their young pitchers that are kind of right there

on the cusp of being big leaguers into their next, you know, major league squad. I feel at times like teams are kind of aspiring to be what the Astros became after their three consecutive seasons of terrible baseball or, you know, losing seasons or whatever, how that turned around and became one of the most successful teams in baseball. Yeah. And it's no surprise that you're seeing a brain drain from the Astros and from more recently the Rays. I mean, the raise are losing people left and right. And it feels like that's just like what the Astros were going through from 2018 to 2020, really. You know, this one was a little more unconventional.

I don't think Brent Strom's decision to leave the Astros was a surprise. But certainly, I think if you guys watched maybe the interview he gave after Game 6 of the World Series, it was really unknown kind of what his next move was. In one answer, he would mention wanting to go lay on the beach in Mexico, which, after talking to him today, I can confirm he still wants to go lay on the beach in Mexico. We all do.

That is his foremost retirement goal. But then in other breath, he would say that if the right opportunity arises, he would answer. And, you know, he does live in Tucson, which I'm not up on my Arizona geography, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhat close to Phoenix.

Absolutely. It gives him a chance to be somewhat closer to home. I did think it was a little odd that he took him majorly pitching coach jobs because he did mention the reggards of the travel. And when I talked to him today, you know, he did say, you know, and this is a luxury that I think any baseball man would love to have. But, you know, he talked about going deep in the playoffs five straight years. I mean, this team went to the ALCS, has been to the ALCS five years in a row, World Series three of the last five years. It can grate on you a little bit. I mean, the success is one thing, but, I mean, we're still humans.

And, I mean, it's a long, grueling season when you're playing as long as they are. And I think maybe, you know, he was always going to leave. I don't think this was like a spur of the moment decision. But I think once he had a couple days to be compressed after the World Series, it really kind of registers him that he wasn't ready to give it up completely just yet. Chandler, I want to ask you, this has been, frankly, a big day in this Diamondbacks off season. Frankly, this might be the biggest day in the Diamondbacks off season. for this entire winter.

They're not exactly expected to spend a whole lot of money. And Brent Strom is really a pretty formidable name. I mean, it's not often that you hire a coach and you get this many rave reviews, you know, right off the bat. A lot of people have spoken very highly of him. Obviously, you know, covering the Astros since 2018, you've been around him a little bit. You've, you know, you've talked to him before.

Can you just give Diamondbacks fans and us just a sense of who Brent Strom is and why you think he gets just all of this positivity, right? All of these great things that have been said about him today. Why is that the case? And what kind of a guy is he that's coming here to the Diamondbacks? Strom is the best. He's going to look, I think one of the biggest regrets or tragedies, if you will, of my tenure covering the team is when AJ Hinch was the manager of the Astros,

assistant coaches could not speak to the media. So Brent Strom barely spoke to the media until Dusty Baker got here. Really? We were really missing out, man. He is the best. He's a gem. I think a couple of things here. So this is in no way to diminish anything Brent Strong did.

But there is a lot more to the Astros pitching development monster than just him. I mean, they've got great analysts. They've got guys that are on the cutting edge of pitch shape, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, sequencing, all that kind of stuff. And Stromi, he will tell you right out. He's just the point man. He's the guy that ends up on TV. That's not to diminish anything he's done.

I think this is one of the best pitching coaches in baseball. And I think the diamond backs did a great job. But without knowing the inner workings of the diamond backs and how they, how their pitching system is, how their analysts are, how they embrace technology, advanced stats, all that kind of stuff. Like I'm not sure how to comment on that specifically. But I will say what Brent Trom is really good at. He's one of the most progressive and forward-thinking 73-year-old

people will ever meet, just in terms of how he takes, how he takes information that maybe you would think a 73-year-old baseball lifer would just kind of cast aside. He takes it and he's able to blend it so well with just the gut and how pitching is supposed to be. And I think that's the biggest thing that Brent Trom was able to do. And I think when Diamondbacks fans should maybe you look at more than, you know, look, Garrett Cole and Justin Burlander, those are the guys that you're going to see and you're going to be like, oh, my God. Right. They were really good before Brent Strong got them.

I would look more at the Colin McHughes, Will Harris, Charlie Morton. I mean, these guys that were middle of the road, nothing pitchers, and that's no offense to them, but they were just kind of middle of the average guys. Yeah. And they came to the Astros, and it wasn't just Brent Strom, but they got them. And it was the way that Stromy could. explain and in part what the front office, what the analytics guys saw. And they were able to make, you know, they were able to make people better.

And I think that's maybe what this Diamondbacks team will benefit from Straum today when I was talking to him. He made it a point to reference the 2014 Astros. You know, because that's when he started. His first year with the Asherst was 2014, they had lost 111 games a year before. Yeah. They went from 111 losses in 2013 to say. and 92 in 2014, and you saw market improvements from Dallas Kichael and Colin McHugh.

And I think that's maybe what excites Brent the most about this job. I think he even mentioned today that he does want to start kind of, I don't think he said ground zero, but he wants to start kind of a new thing. He wants to see if he can build this thing up again because by the end, and this is one of the reasons that he departed, And, you know, the Astros had built such a machine, such a behemoth, that they had a lot of great coaches in the minor leagues and a lot of coordinators that had been with this new core of Astros pitching that had been within their whole careers. And he thought it was probably better that those young guys kind of take this next wave of pitchers in their next career. So maybe Brent Strong is the guy that, you know, can start that core here with the Diamondbacks. He absolutely can be, I think. And he referenced that. You're right.

he referenced how he felt like the Astros were in good hands and that essentially he could leave that to other people. I think what excites us as fans and as people that cover this team is everything you said there has this remarkable connection to this Diamondbacks team. When I say that, I mean, you know, the similarities between the fact that they lost 111 games and the Diamondbacks lost 110 this season. you look at the Diamondbacks starting pitching rotation, and it doesn't feel like they should be as mediocre as they are.

Zach Gallin has shown signs of being brilliant. Madison Bumgarner, obviously, is who he is. Merrill Kelly held things down for this team throughout the season, but it feels like at times even he could be better. And that's not even to get into the young guys that haven't really, you know, made a big impact or been at the major league level for very long. I feel at times that this team has had a problem with translating analytics to their pitchers. I've heard Madison Bumgarner and other guys basically make it sound like the analytics and stuff that they're getting from this team is too, maybe too complicated, maybe it's too much, maybe it's not being interpreted in the right way.

I don't know because they don't really specify. They just kind of say like Bumgarner said at one point, a lot of stuff was being thrown at him and that he felt like once he was able to kind of, shut some of it out, he was able to improve his game. Strom seems like the perfect guy, based on your description, that to fix some of this, based on the fact that he can connect with someone like Madison, Bumgarner, who is a bit of an older pitcher and kind of make some of this analytic stuff make more sense to someone like him, or just having that kind of ability to mentor these young guys, while still

hanging on to the information and not like being not not being so old school about it right yeah i think so and i think you know like you said i think that's probably the most important thing here i think strami going to an organization that um maybe just had was barren had nothing to work with i don't think that would have worked but like you said like he's madison bungarner like you have like i get he hasn't looked like madison bungarner in the path like you still have madison bungartner Just like the Astros when they got Justin Verlander and Garrett Cole. I mean, these guys were, that was still Justin Verlander, and it was still Garrett Cole.

They didn't need to, like, completely reinvent them. But it was just like, hey, maybe three or four seam were up in the zone a little bit. Maybe stop throwing two seams down in the zone. And I'm not saying it's going to be that easy with this team. But like, like I said, I mean, they've got Madison Bumgarders. That gallon was really, really good. Same thing with Merrill Kelly. I know they've got some good young talent in their system.

You know, this doesn't seem to me like, and I think something you said kind of resonated, like when I, I didn't have much reason to look at the Diamondbacks baseball reference all year, but like, I went and looked at it today when I was writing about Brent Strong and I was like, how did this team have a five IRA? Like, I mean, they don't have a lot of like just guys have never heard of. Like, yeah, they've got some decent pitchers. So I think that will help. And again, I do think Stromi is able to kind of. just, I don't know if I can curse on this podcast, but he's able to cut through the BS. Oh, you can say, just say the bullshit. Just say it. He's able to kind of, he's able to just kind of cut through the bullshit. Just be like, look, like, here's what we think you do well. You need to do it more. And I think that's the genesis of what the Astros and how they've done what they've done is, you know, everyone thinks it's like this magic formula or something. But it's like, no, like, their analysts saw that like Ryan Presley spins the hell out of the ball, like keep spinning the ball. Or like they saw that Garrett Cole and Justin Burlington are the riding four seam action,

like keep throwing that. Like it's more of like, here's what you do well, and we're going to focus on it and forget everything else. And I think that more than anything is a lot simpler than just like, hey, you go up a 480 OPS on pitches located in this quadrant, but you go up a 980 OPS and pitches located in this quadrant. to throw to this quadrant, but only in this count, like, it can get a lot, like, a lot of, that can have to be a lot going on in your head. So I do think Stromie is able to simplify it. And I think just kind of his folksy kind of old school kind of hilarity, I think will help too.

He's a guy that's really easy to get along with. I have not met a pitcher that didn't love working with him. The thing I really like just about all their hiring is just to let you, let you in on this is it's completely the opposite direction of the, the Lavello's entire staff prior to this, right? Which is kind of weird to me because Strom, Jeff Bannister, you know, these guys are guys that have years and years of experience and Lovolo has always seemed like the type of guy that was open to collaboration.

I think bringing in guys like this that can not only mentor the players, but can give Tori LeVolo good advice and just information that he really can, but like he respects these guys. So I feel like he's going to listen to them. I also feel like they're not going to shy away from telling him what they think. And I don't know if that was happening with his previous staff. There was just such a lack of experience with every single person that he's replacing now with someone of immense experience. Yeah. And look, I think the thing that AJ Hinch did best is AJ just kind of let Stroming work.

Yeah. I mean, obviously, like he's like the manager. going to oversee everything, but you kind of just have to let Stromy do this thing. And it's not just, again, like, I'm not trying to belittle anything Brent Strong did, but there's a lot more going on than just, you know, Brent Strong being this magic, magic coach. But, I mean, there's a lot going on in the organization and a lot of people had a lot of influence. But Brent Strong, I think when he calls himself the point man, it's probably the best description because he's the guy that hears everything, right? He gets the inundation of the analytics and what the,

advanced stats say and all that. And he's the one that has to present it to the pitchers. And I think that's what's probably the best thing about him is he's going to be able to translate it into something that everyone can understand, whether it's the veteran Madison Bumgarner or whether it's this 23-year-old hot shot prospect that comes up and just wants to stay in the league. So I think you have to have a depth touch and a really kind of unique persona to be able to pull that off in Stromiazum.

Well, thanks for so much. Thanks so much for joining us today, we really, we really appreciate your time. This is great. We promise we will take good care of Stromy while he's here. Yes, we promise.

So the first thing he'll probably try to, he'll, he's got one joke he always runs out, and I'm probably going to spoil it right now. Let's go. Brent Strom, in case you didn't know, Brent Strom was the second person

to have Tommy Johnson. Tommy John was the first. Brent Strom was the second person. Really? Have to have Tommy John's. Really? So he always says, well, if I were to have been the first person, I have Tommy John surgery, I guess they had to call it BS surgery.

So that's just kind of what you're in for with him. He's a gem of a human being. And again, I've never met anyone that doesn't like him. So it may not translate into a pennant, you know, next year. But just rest assured, y'all are the Diamondbacks ring. I'm so excited to hear that. And to be honest. It's kind of odd how much of what you said fits in with who I know Tori Lovolo is as a manager, right?

Like we've even asked him before this about things like certain players not throwing a certain pitch anymore. And his response was that's not my department. That's like, that's the pitching coaches department. At the time it was Herges, you know. And so I just am excited to have somebody with this level of experience of coaching, you know, over 50 years of experience in MLB. And it's just crazy to me to think of him, you know, now being a part of this team that so desperately needs a mentor.

You know, that to me was what he always came across as in the, in the playoff interviews that he did was he looked like, he looked more like a teacher than a coach. And it's hard to explain that considering both of those things are kind of the same, right? but he just seemed like the type of person that is much more of a teacher and a mentor to to young players. Yeah, this may rival the, this may rival the Grinky returns, the best thing the Donovanbacks in the last three years.

All right. Hey, well, Chandler, thank you so much for joining us, man. We appreciate it. Thanks, Chandler. All right. Well, that was incredible. And you know what, dude? I think that at times I am a little, you know, hesitant.

about what's going on with this team and, you know, their decision. Why, Derek? Why would you possibly be hesitant? Well, you know, it's like I'm hesitant because I start believing that I think that's why I'm hesitant. Be careful, Derek. Be careful.

No, I don't like getting into my Ted lasso phase. I'm talking about having the memory of a goldfish. I'm slapping a sign over my door, Jesse. I don't want to get too excited about anything, right? And it was a slow process for the Astros. Even once Strom came on, they didn't immediately turn it over. They still had one more year of a losing season, a sub 500 year, before the Astros were able to put it together and actually start winning, right?

Right. It's just incredible to me that we've talked so much in the past about wanting and desiring to follow the Astros blueprint. yet here we are kind of actually on that path, right? They didn't necessarily need to do the full rebuild thing, right? They didn't need to tank and be as terrible for as many years as the Astros did because they had that big draft in 2019 that they drafted 99 out of 100 players, you know, in the first 100, right?

But it was, it's the fact that their farm system turned around so fast. They went from having one of the worst farm systems in the league to having one of the best. between the Astros trade, the Zach Granke trade that he brought up, some of the other trades and that draft. So they are in a position now to actually kind of follow that blueprint with Strom here and with Joe Mather and Jeff Bannister. I just, I can't believe that they really actually hired him. You know, he's the only name we've brought up on this podcast.

Literally the only one. The only name and a name that we thought was unobtainable. The best fit, basically. Yeah, it's just the, and everything that Chandler just said, I can't tell you how little he did to restrain my feelings of excitement about this hire and the potential for this team now, right? He just kept saying thing after thing that was exactly right, right, exactly what the Diamondbacks need, you know? Tori Lavolo is a guy that likes to, not dictate, not dictate, but he likes to allow his coaches to, do their part. Now, not only does he have coaches capable, like, that have so much experience

that they could be the manager of this team, but he truly has people that he can trust 100% to get it done when it comes to handling the responsibilities he's given them. It's not to say that other people haven't, but when you look at the experience at other coaches on this team that were, you know, his members of his staff that were on this team for 2021, there was not a lot of experience there. There was some. Like I mean, Matt Hurges had, you know, obviously had a number of roles. And Darnell Coles was a hitting coach with the Rangers, I think, before coming over. So there was definitely experience. But I'm not saying their first year, first year hires, but Jesse, between Strom and Bannister, you have almost 75 years of MLB experience. There's something to be said for that.

There is something to be said for that. Well, said, my friend. Well, there's also something to be said about the Drafking Sportsbook app. Let's be honest. Go over the Drafking Sportsbook app right now. Use our code of PHNX and bet a dollar. I'm not even going to talk about the NFL. Why? I mean, yeah, there's field goals and safeties and all that.

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And again, if you bet $1 on either the NBA or the NFL, you will get $100 in free bets if they score. 21 and over only Arizona only gambling problem dial 1 800 next step new customers only eligibility restrictions apply see draft kings dot com slash sports book for details and while we're talking about pH NX we talked all about the new hiring even though it's still not official from the Arizona Diamondbacks It definitely should be by money. They were they were out golfing today so they were taking the day off but meanwhile the news was getting out this story broke by Andy McCullough by the way about Brent Strom being the next pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Strom did confirm the hiring. Like actually, we got Chandler letting us know that he confirmed the hiring, right? But he also confirmed it earlier today on Fox 26.

So it is going to be, you know, the Diamondbacks new pitching coach can find out more about his resume, what he's done and why in particular, I find him to be a very special addition to this team over at go phnx.com. You can become a member using our annual membership. option and you will get a free t-shirt if you do. You can also check out what the PHNX Coyotes and PHNX Sun Show have to offer in regards to that because they might make that deal just a bit sweeter. If you want to do the month-to-month option, you'll get your first month for 50 cents.

And remember, really, it comes down to you buying me and Jesse a cup of coffee once a month to sit down and talk to us. We're going to be here every day, every night, every morning. We're going to be here. We're going to be talking about debacks. We're going to be getting excited about it. And you should be too, because I think this team is going to be special. So we appreciate you guys join the family over at PHNX.com or go PHNX.com.

And, you know, we have all sorts of special member, you know, special little membership details and things you can only get as being a member. Right now we have a buy one, get one free deal on sweet, sweet Phoenix Sun's merch over at the PHNX locker. And let me tell you, I got my Phoenix Sun's tattoo gorilla. I don't know what we want to call it. I don't know if we want to call it. We want to call it the tattoo gorilla? I don't well I mean it's only that's only relevant because it's your tattoo like that's well that's why we should call it that way should we call it the the mayoral gorilla I don't know but they have an amazing

they have an amazing mayoral gorilla shirt because that's what we're calling it now we're p.m. uh I got it today it's so good the shirt's such a high quality I'm not trying to brag I'm just excited about my personal purchase right it just so happens to be the company that I work for and adore but this shirt is incredible. One thing I hate is when the designs on shirts, Jesse, are too small. And this, like it doesn't really pop as much. Yeah, it doesn't pop. It looks kind of awkward because it's centered and it's this, you know, big shirt, not on, not on the mayoral gorilla shirt.

It's gigantic and it's colorful. It's orange and purple with the yellow background. Go get yours over at the P.NX Locker.com. Jesse, though. Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. Our new friend Stromy, I like calling him Stromy. I feel like calling push stromming. You guys pals now?

Like pa, Pah, Straumy? You know, like, Pa, okay. Anyway, we'll work something now. Oh my gosh. He's been in the MLB since 1970. So I wanted to do a little 1970s trivia with you, Jesse.

Oh, my gosh. I got a little, I got a little few key information, key tidbits that happened the year that our new pal, Brent Strom joined the MLB. And Jesse, do you want to do this like, do you want to do this like Jeopardy style where I give you the answer and you have to ask the answer

in the form of the question? I think the odds of me knowing the answers to any of these questions are very, is highly unlikely. So you can have me give the question or the answer or whatever you want. All right. This legendary band broke up

in 1970s. Not 1970s. 1970, this influential legendary band broke up in the year 1970. Jesse, let's hear your guess. One of the biggest bands on the planet, Jesse. I don't know. Did the Beatles break up? Yeah, there it is.

You got it. The Beatles. Yes. Yes. Oh, well, this one's more. I thought I heard something about that at some point. Yeah. Yeah, the Beatles broke up in 1970.

All right. we got another one for you here and this one actually relates to Brent Strom. Jesse, this space mission later became a movie with the memorable tagline, Houston, we've had a problem. Oh my gosh, Derek, this might be the first time you've ever referenced a movie on the podcast that I've actually seen. Oh, my God.

It is Apollo 13. Yes. Yes. I'm amazed. I'm two for two. this is incredible. This is incredible. All right. This one, we can play a little bit of a higher or lower on this one. This was the cost of a gallon of gas in 1970. Ooh. Cost of a gallon of gas in 1970. Cost of a single gallon of gas in 1970.

Okay, before I answer this, isn't it now like $4 to get a gallon of gas in Phoenix? Yes, absolutely. We actually just went to get gas and we refused to get it at a place because it was $4.19 a gallon. Oh my God. Yeah. So we were like, you know what? We're just going to let this sucker hit the light and we'll fill up back down towards town a little bit where I think we got it for like $3.89, you know, so not much cheaper. But hey, like a quarter per gallon cheaper.

So, but yeah, this is, this makes me miss the good old days. Let me tell you that much. All right. Well, speaking of the good old days. All right, so 1970. I'm going to say it was, let's say it was 93 cents. Oh, much lower, Jesse. Much lower?

Much lower. Even in the 70s? Even in 1970, much lower. Like 30 cents? A little bit higher, a little bit higher. Okay, 40 cents. Lower, split the difference. 35.

One more up. 36. Is that really necessary, Derek? You could just tell me 36? Nope. Nope. We had to hit the actual average. All right.

But this is funny to me. We'll do one more. We'll do one more. This was the cost of a 25-inch color TV in 1970. Ooh, that's fascinating. A 25-inch, it was kind of a new thing, right? That was a nice thing to have back then. Uh-huh.

Absolutely. This is a 25-inch cinema screen. Color TV. 25, 25 inch, that's like a decent. I swear I've seen TVs in like, like my grandma's house that were like 12 inches or something. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, without a doubt. We had a 13 inch in my kitchen when I was a kid and it was black and white.

Yeah. And it's what I used to watch my cartoons on when I would eat like lunch and stuff at the table. Yeah. And I love that TV because it got the cartoon channels and that's all I needed it to do. All right. So, I mean, it's kind of, it's probably kind of expensive then. I will give you that. Yes, it is surprisingly expensive.

All right. I'm going to say it was $400. Higher. Higher. Much higher. Much higher. Oh, my gosh. Is it a thousand?

Under a thousand. Under a thousand. All right, $750. Yeah, we'll say at $7.39.95 for a color TV, $25-inch. Wow. Highway robbery. You could get yourself a 65-inch, you know. I mean, what is that?

What is that in today's dollars? I mean, $740. That's a lot of money. I mean, if a gallon of gas then was 36 cents, then,

I mean, that's been multiplied by like 12 cents. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that we're talking a whole lot of money. We're talking like, I don't know,

like, like segue money or something like that, right? So, not as much money out of Candy Hendricks's pocket as we did the other day. No, but we'll spend more of it.

We'll spend more of it. And speaking of it, which since we do know now that the D-BAC's front office is listening to the podcast, Jesse, I wanted to see before we go, did you have any other requests you'd like to make or throw out there for them? We just want to remind them, we've already asked them for Robbie Ray, Max Scherzer and Starling Marte back. So did you go before the window closes, I don't know how long the window is open for.

Maybe it's just this week. Maybe this is all we have. Absolutely. Absolutely. Did you want to get any other requests in? Is there anybody you want? Did you want to bring back the bullpen cart? No, no.

Do we want to address Baxter and then, no, you're good? Wow. See, you're such a good kid, man. No, I'm just talking about the bullpen cart. I don't want to. Oh, you're good on that. Okay, but what do you want for the team? What's on your list?

Well, did we talk about going back to the old uniforms this week? Ah, yes. Yes. Okay. Yes. And I'm not talking about just for a Thursday night game. I'm not talking about once a week. I'm not talking about a fun series here or there.

I'm not talking about like what you did with the Sir Penta's jerseys. No, no, no. I'm talking about a full re-rebrand back. People would go crazy, Derek. They will lose their goddamn minds, guys. I'm not joking. They will absolutely lose. Attendance would notice.

Attendance would noticeably take up. It really would. That I can just about guarantee you that more. Like everyone listening right now is like, oh my gosh. Like I would just have to go to a game just to see the diamond backs wear those uniforms. And it would be like that all. the time eventually maybe it would get a little bit more normal but sure sure you to get you get at least two solid seasons of people showing up and buying all the merch all the merch yeah the merch the merch the merch

would go insane look at what happened with the kachina jerseys i was there in 96 people fucking hated those kachina jerseys they did not like those coyotes jerseys back then and they love them now people have embraced their love for arizona and we've gotten to a point where people like even the turquoise bullshit at the stands on the side of the road and all of that stuff man like so like embrace it embrace our native american culture embrace all of that and i felt like that's what they did such a good job with now the jerseys are so bland they're so lame they're so just nothing like the only thing that excites me about him is the teal on the gray away jersey that is it that is like the sole thing that like keeps my heart pumping and like i'm up here defending those goddamn Serpienta's jerseys because they're the only thing that makes me feel like you guys are doing something new and original so please for the love of god go back go back to the purple go back to the black with the cool ass like i just i want to see those jerseys now kind of updated but not change just you know like with newer materials better abilities to make things look sharp and cool on the jersey

like her modernized a little bit right but just bring back the teal bring back the black, purple. I don't care that the, the Rockies do it. I don't. Nobody does. Nobody does. There's not a single person that ever complained in the history of me living in the state

that said that I don't like the Diamondback stuff because it looks too much like the Rockies. Nah. Never. Not one. And let's be honest. The Rocky, the Colorado has some cool shit going on with their other teams. So if someone should change,

maybe it should be the Rockies updating their shit that they haven't changed. That's true. The Rockies are kind of a, they're kind of a hot. mess right now. They are. Despite what Patrick might have might. Oh, he'll have you believe everything so good over there.

Yeah, right. Yeah, right. I don't believe it for a second. Before we get off the topic of my request, don't think I'm not going to mention Dutch brothers. So please have a seat while I tell you all the reasons why we need to bring Dutch brothers back. Oh, man, here we go.

First of all, I know you're bringing in some other crappy coffee place. I've already seen them advertised. and I don't like it and I don't care. You know why? Because I know that since they're advertising, there can be only one, Jesse, inside of Chase Field. I know that that means

that Dutch Bros is not coming back. And I feel like we can do something right now before things go too far to circumvent this and get Dutch brothers back in that stadium. What other place had a line for drinks that went and turned left or right and went down the corridor because it was so big and long all the time?

The biggest problem with Dutch brothers was that it was causing a fire hazard with how many people were standing in line to get their sweet, sweet nectar of the gods. I don't know if that's why they got rid of them. It is very sweet nectar at Dutch bros. Are you talking shit about Dutch bros? I mean, I'm not necessarily saying it's good or bad. Oh, you're in Seattle.

You think I won't find you. I will find you. It is my favorite thing in the world. It was the only way I made it through several extra inning games. And let me tell you, I cannot live without Dutch bros. So I need it back. and I you know what I'll let you slide on Robbie Ray

Max Scherzer and Starly Marte if you bring back Dutch bros that's all I'm saying I don't need the other stuff bring back the jerseys and Dutch bros and you'll have me there all the time I just needed to get that off my chest I'm excited Jesse Brent Strom I mean this is this is big for this team

and a lot of times I try to keep things in perspective but this was one of those ones that we called our shot and yet somehow it happened And I didn't really expect them to do it. I just really wanted them to get somebody that was going to bring that level of experience and leadership to this team. They already did it with Jeff Bannister. After they got Jeff Bannister,

you were already pretty happy with Jeff Bannister. Oh, man, I can't. I changed my life after speaking to Jeff Bannister. And we talked for 15 minutes one time, Jesse. Can you imagine the impact he's going to have on this team? Yeah. I'm trying to be a better person for Jeff Bannister. just in case he checks in on me and sees how I'm doing.

He wants to be like, Derek, how's things going? I want to be able to show him quantifiable proof that my life has improved since talking that. That's the kind of influence and impact he's had on my life already. But I'm sure we'll have to see if we can get Brent Strom on the show at some point. Absolutely. I want to cut him off at the past with his own joke about BS. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Now we see him coming. I'm going to get him. You guys, thank you guys so much for listening. You can follow us on social media, of course. I'm at Cap underscore K-Bam with a K. Jesse is at Jesse N. Freeman, but all roads lead to at PHNX underscore Sports on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Also on Twitter, you can follow our account for this show at PHNX underscore D-Backs.

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