PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Umpire of the Fun

Episode Date: October 21, 2021

On this episode, Derek and Jesse are talking about a whole lot of Astros offense in the ALCS, how the Dodgers never seem out of the NLCS even when they're down, and why an umpire with a 6% regular sea...son accuracy rate is calling the playoffs. 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:07 Hello and welcome to the PHNX D-Backs podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, known around these parts as the mayor of PHNX. And of course, this show is brought to you by the Draft King Sportsbook app. Draft King is America's top-rated sportsbook app. And right now, you can get $200 in free bets instantly. If you bet $5 on any NFL team, use our code of PHNX when signing up. And as long as that team wins, you will get those $200 in free bets. Again, go Cardinals.
Starting point is 00:00:42 If you have no idea who to bet on, bet on that money line on the Cardinals. I think that's a sure of a bet as you're going to get this week. Thank you guys again so much for joining us. I, of course, am joined by my vice mayor and best friend in the baseball world. It's Jesse Friedman. Jesse, how are you and how are you enjoying the playoffs, sir? Oh, it's been a lot of fun to watch, Derek. It is, uh, the Astros have kind of, uh, stomp their feet a little bit on the Boston Red Sox.
Starting point is 00:01:13 Uh, they punched them in the mouth today, my friend. They punched them in the mouth today, nine to one as we record here on Wednesday. The Wednesday game, the Astros absolutely destroyed the Red Sox. Framber Valdez was incredible today. And last night, Derek, on Tuesday night, uh, that was a really close game. It was a nail biter going down. to the wire and then the Astros just completely broke things wide open in the ninth inning. The Red Sox made a gutsy move.
Starting point is 00:01:43 Alex Cora went to Nathan Eivaldi, which did not pay off. And things just sort of spiraled out of control and got even worse from there. It looked like it was, it looked like it was going to for a second. It looked like a very much a brilliant move for one batter. And I loved it. Like in the moment, I was like, this is sick. We were texting each other. Yeah, no, it was fun.
Starting point is 00:02:08 I mean, I love, that's my, one of my favorite parts of playoff baseball, of postseason baseball, is when managers just do crazy stuff. Just throw the rulebook out the window and do whatever the hell they need to do. Yeah, you bring in your ace starting pitcher in the ninth inning when you pitched two days ago. Like, you do that because you've got to win these games. and the the red socks i mean they're uh you know they sort of had their their back against the wall and they tried to do that their their depth in the bullpen and even in their rotation is not great um as we saw today which obviously this was not a good pitching day for them allowing nine
Starting point is 00:02:46 runs to a very prolific astros offense but he went for it and unfortunately it it didn't really work derrick it it was not great he of all he didn't have his best stuff and then you know he went to martin paris after that who was even even worse. And that's when the game just completely, uh, was blown open for the Houston Astros. Tori LaVolo has talked a lot of times about the, the debacks during the season. At the D-Bitch needed just something where they put up that big crooked number, not a three, not even a four, five plus in an inning, which surprisingly enough, they did actually quite a few times this season, despite their lack of success. The debacks had like big innings like that.
Starting point is 00:03:32 I think from his experience, though, what Lavolo saw was how much a big inning like that could boil over and cause this team to just go on a run offensively at the plate. Yeah. I think that's almost what we saw. I feel like that's what we saw in these last two games. I feel like the Astros gained so much confidence at the dish last night in the ninth inning alone that it boiled over to this nine to one victory today. I don't know which way this series is going to go, but now the Astros are completely in the driver's seat, and they have an opportunity to close this series out in game six.
Starting point is 00:04:15 They do. They do. And I mean, this is kind of what we expected from the beginning, right? I mean, the Astros on paper, steam like, probably the better team. And I mean, this lineup, Derek, is insane. I mean, the Red Sox lineup is great too. But I mean, you look up and down in this lineup. It's El Tuvei, Brantley, Bregman, your Dono Alvarez, who had an incredible, an incredible game today. He went three for five with a home run and a double. Carlos Correa. Kyle Tucker, bat sixth. I mean, Kyle Tucker would be the best team on at least
Starting point is 00:04:45 half of the teams in baseball right now. Uliaski Gueriel. Yeah, Ulyeschi Guriel, bat, It is just an absurdly deep lineup that the Astros have. And Framber Valdez showed today that we might not be giving him quite the respect that he deserves. I mean, he was eight solid innings today for the Astros. One run, only three hits, five strikeouts. It was an impressive day for Valdez. And right now, I mean, the Astros, it sure looks like the Astros are the team coming out of the American League. But also, a couple days ago, Derek, we said it looks like the Red Sox.
Starting point is 00:05:21 or team coming out of the American League. We can't pick a direction. Yeah, we can't stick in a lane at this point. We are just all over the place. And that's how these series have been. I mean, again, the Dodgers coming back in game three, the way they did, completely changed the complexion of that series. And it's weird because they're still down.
Starting point is 00:05:44 They're still not in a position of being in the driver's seat. But it's just one of those teams. that feels like that. And we'll talk about that momentarily. But I wanted to get back to what you said about teams doing whatever they can, whatever that they think needs to happen in order for them to secure victories in the playoffs this way. The only way, the only thing I can question about that is baseball is such an absolute sport of consistency of, you know, starting pitchers knowing that they're going to have so many days rest in between their next start. And, you know, guys knowing what their role is all season long, especially on these really good teams, they played those roles well,
Starting point is 00:06:30 which is why those teams had the success they had. I just, you know, I think at times the, you know, throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks might not work when there's still so much to go. I understand from our experience as D-BACs fans doing that in the World Series, right? We would not have won that World Series if it wasn't for Randy Johnson, period. That's it. Randy Johnson. Say whatever you want about Kurt Schilling. Randy Johnson won us that World Series.
Starting point is 00:07:03 Luis Gonzalez, yes, the offense, yes, the team won it. But we would not have done it if Brenley didn't pull out all the stops and use that guy as often as he could. to get us that world series, right? It's why they brought him in. It's why they knew they could rely on him down the stretch because he just had a different attitude. You know, it's kind of like my joke about Max Scherzer saying, it was, you know, or me saying it was Max Scherzer's decision
Starting point is 00:07:32 to come into the game in the, in the NLDS, right? Max Scher seems like that kind of guy. He's not going to take no for an answer when it comes to him playing a role in securing that division series win so that they could. move on. I just don't know if that's too early to be pulling those moves, right? You have a, you still have a world series to go. And even if you would have gotten through that game, there's still a lot that could happen that disrupts your lineup and causes you all sorts of problems. I don't know. I think it might, at this point, it might be too early. I'm with you,
Starting point is 00:08:09 though. I still love seeing it. Yeah. And I have to, I have to point out the Diamondbacks on their current roster. I mean, you want to talk about guys who have a storied background of coming up clutch in the postseason when their teams need it. Madison Bumgarner is honestly maybe the best. I mean, it's hard to think of a guy who has been, you know, who has been tasked with a larger role in the postseason and delivered in a better way. I mean, Madison Bumgarner, you say Randy Johnson won the Diamondbacks 2001 World Series. Madison Bumgarner won the San Francisco Giant It's arguably multiple World Series near the beginning of the 2010. Very true.
Starting point is 00:08:50 And yeah, and I mean, I think this makes us appreciate that all the more, right? You see Max Scherz are coming out. You see Julio Jureas coming out. You see Nathan Evaldi coming out in these big late game situations. It's not easy. We've seen these guys in these situations this year. And a lot of times they don't look like themselves. They just don't look the same, which is understandable.
Starting point is 00:09:11 They're pitching in a role that they're not really familiar with. But Madison Bumgarner, I mean, Derek, it makes you, at times it's hard to appreciate what he's done in Arizona because he obviously is not the man he once was. But this makes me appreciate Madison Bumgarner and his history in those situations. I still believe in him, Jesse. I still think he can be that. I do too. Yeah. You know, like when we were talking about Granky's velocity being in like the high 80s, like Bumgarner's still throwing in the low 90s.
Starting point is 00:09:43 So that's promising. There you go. It's, it pretty much comes down to him, you know, using, adapting and finding other ways to get out. And I still think he can be worth the money. I also think that there, there's a slight possibility that some other team might see,
Starting point is 00:10:00 you know, his services as being worth the money that it's, in ways that's the best out. Right. I think so too. And I hate to say that. I don't think Bumgarner's been the problem. on this team. And I think that he has gotten, kind of corrected the course towards the,
Starting point is 00:10:19 not even the second half of this season. I'd say the last three quarters of this season. He really got things back on track. I just think that, you know, his contract and his career at this point don't really line up with the success and when the success for this Diamondbacks team is going to happen. But I'll tell you somebody who has a tremendous amount of success, especially in the playoffs, that's Jose Altuve. One fact that just blew my mind in yesterday's game when he hit that just one one pitch monster home run over the green monster was that that was his 21st postseason home run, Jesse. It made me go look up and tweet about how many, the Diamondbacks as a franchise have, that number is 44.
Starting point is 00:11:15 Jose Al Tuvei almost has half as many home runs in the postseason as the Arizona Diamondbacks have as a franchise. Now, don't get me wrong, we haven't existed for very long. This isn't our 91st playoff game like it is at Fenway. But with that being said, Jose Altuve hasn't been around in the league for 500 years. either. It's a really impressive stat. I think it just is a great example of
Starting point is 00:11:43 how much the Astros have been in the playoffs, how consistently good they've been, and how much of a factor he has been in their success. Well, even more than that, I mean, how many guys who are five foot seven have hit ten
Starting point is 00:12:00 home runs in the playoffs? I mean, it is wild, not just in the playoffs, but Jose Altuve, his game never ceases to amaze me. Like how does this little tiny man manage to have so much power in his swing year after year? And, you know, he's not going to hit 40. He's not going to hit 45. But he always seems to get into the 15 to 20 range with ease.
Starting point is 00:12:22 And that is special. And honestly, here in Arizona, this is a mold that we kind of see the diamondbacks chasing after. A lot of their top prospects, they're maybe not quite as small as Jose Al-Tube, but they're not bigger guys. Like Alec Thomas is 5-10. Corbyn Carroll is 5-9, 5-10, something in that range. A lot of the guys the Diamondbacks draft are not necessarily big players. And we're starting to see that a lot, right?
Starting point is 00:12:47 Like even Mookie Betts, he's not a, you know, a huge guy either. This is becoming a normal part of baseball. And Jose Al-Tuvae was one of the first ones to do that, like sort of start this movement of players who might not be great in stature physically, but somehow just have monstrous power year after year. It's called shrink in the strike zone, Jesse. Pitchers get bigger and the batters get smaller. Good luck getting it in between these elbows and knees. There you go. There you go. But you know, you're absolutely right. And I do have a piece up to going up tonight on Alec Thomas speaking of him. Just on his production this year, how good he's been. It looks very likely
Starting point is 00:13:31 like we will see him be a big part of the major league club next year. And, And I'm pretty excited for it, but grounded in reality. It is Reno. And I do talk about in the article, obviously, some of the production numbers getting skewed just a bit. For instance, Josh Van Meter had an OPS of like 1.40, 1-2 in Reno. Like something just ridiculous. And, you know, he hit 212 this season as a major leaguer. You got to temper your expectations.
Starting point is 00:14:05 But I will say now is a good time to let you know to go to go PHNX.com, sign up for a membership. And you know what? Become either an annual member. You'll get a free t-shirt for PHNX Locker.com. You can get our tremendous PHNX, DBAX podcast t-shirt. You can get, I think, the recently restocked coyote shirt that I can't shut up about or whichever shirt you want. We have some more designs coming. I have some more ideas.
Starting point is 00:14:34 I'm throwing our designers away. Jesse, he's got a brilliant mind when it comes to some of these t-shirts as well. So keep an eye on PHNX Locker.com because there's always going to be new designs coming that way. Also, sign up for a membership. If you don't take us up on that annual membership option, take us up on a month-to-month option. You'll get your first month for 50 cents. And after that, I think the month-to-month option is around $10 a month. So again, buy Jesse and my tall Carmel Machiato each. And you will get yourself all of this wonderful content. Not to mention this show and our,
Starting point is 00:15:12 not this show, but our writing, but all the writing from this website, the Phoenix Suns have made us look really bad. Gerald, our buddy over there, has written so many articles that I can't, I can't even keep up on my own dress. Gerald is a machine. He is an absolute article.
Starting point is 00:15:34 at home. Gerald, Gerald will have eight drafts in the queue on the back end of our website. Any given day, on any given moment. It doesn't matter when. Right now. He's just, yeah, he as of right now probably has 10 articles that are ready to post tomorrow if you had to. So it's wild. He's the best. And so is this website. Again, we're excited to be a part of it. And we hope you are to join our PHNX family for either of those membership options. And, you know, you can also get in on our discord which gives you uh did i said it wrong again didn't i it's i can't say it like a human being i don't even i can't i will never say this website correct jesse i just it's the word doesn't doesn't even make sense to me anymore i was watching a uh an episode of of a document
Starting point is 00:16:24 or documented the other day about people that that that can't say words right and i realize that's me so but you can join our discord and get all of our uh uh members Membership options can get away from the BS on social media and just talk sports with us. Also, go over to Draft King's sports book and use our code of PHNX to sign up. You'll get $500 in free bets for betting $5 on any NFL team as long as that NFL team wins that game. And again, I'm not telling you what to do. You can bet on whoever you wish. But I will say that the Arizona Cardinals are a great.
Starting point is 00:17:04 election if you were curious on who to go for. Remember that draft king sports book is the official sports betting partner of the NFL. You can go in there and do same game parleyes, which I've become a big fan of. I am Mr. Parley. Combine multiple bets from the same game for a bigger payout. Something I love to do. I also love to lose sleep at night when I miss it by one leg like I did with several of my bets. But you'll probably do better than I will. Draft Kings is safe, secure and reliable. Best of all, you can deposit and withdraw your cash whenever you want. And again, that code is PHNX over at Draft King's Sportsbook, 21 and over only, Arizona only,
Starting point is 00:17:44 gambling problem, dial 1,800 next step, new customers only, eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com slash sportsbook for details. And the ALCS has had some crazy offense, Jesse, but so has the NLCS, as we are seeing right now, similar to what we saw with the Astros taking a pretty significant lead in that game throughout. Right now in the NLCS, the Atlanta Braves are currently up four to nothing on the Dodgers. It is the bottom of the fourth. I feel like you're jinxing it. Just talking about it.
Starting point is 00:18:23 We shouldn't even speak about it. We shouldn't talk about this series at all. You know, it's, again, it's weird because the Dodgers do feel like this team. that are never the underdog, no matter what. Even when you look on Draft King's sportsbook, they're down, they're still somehow favored to come back and win. That I still don't get. You know, it's like,
Starting point is 00:18:44 even it's like everybody can kind of universally agree that this Dodgers team is capable of turning it on at any point, even though they are, like the other teams are limited not only by the managerial decisions that have been made in order for them to get to this point, but injuries and other factors that really are, are preventing them from being at 100% at this point in the playoffs. Do you see the pitch that Cody Bellinger hit for a three run home run last night?
Starting point is 00:19:12 I don't understand how any human being could hit a pitch like that for a home run. One thing about Cody Bellinger, like he is sort of this wild card at this point. Like we don't really know what Cody Bellinger is, which is honestly sad to say, because as much as Cody Bellinger is a Dodger and we inherently don't like him for that for that purpose, Cody Bellinger was like, he was like a pretty fun player. Like he was a fun player to watch play, right? I've never hated him. I mean, even it's kind of like, even with as much as Brandon Crawford has tormented the debacks,
Starting point is 00:19:46 I've never really hated Brandon Crawford because he never came off as being like a terrible person as far as I was concerned. A lot of players really aren't terrible people. It's just the way we as fans perceive them in the moment and their actions. their celebrations, all of that kind of stuff, right? Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. So, I mean, I've always sort of liked watching Cody Bellinger play for the reasons you mentioned.
Starting point is 00:20:11 You know, he's just a great guy. But, I mean, we don't really know what he is right now. I mean, he's gone from being the MVP of the National League to really not being much of anything. I mean, he had a horrible, horrible season this year. Terrible season. He hit 165 this season. Yeah, like, like to the point where, I mean,
Starting point is 00:20:31 you can't even really start Cody Bellinger anymore with a straight face. I mean, he had that level of a season. But here in the playoffs, man, I mean, he is just, he has turned it on to another level. And I don't know where it came from. I guess Cody Bellinger seems to have some sort of a flare for the dramatic. But you want to talk about dramatic last night. I mean, to hit that pitch in that location as far as he did, I mean, that is the kind of pitch that, you know, a pitcher throws that 100 times,
Starting point is 00:21:03 probably 95 of those times the batter doesn't swing because it's at his head. And the other five, he probably swings and misses. Yeah, completely missing. And maybe somewhere, if you repeat this a thousand times, you throw that pitch a thousand times, maybe there's a home run in there somewhere. And Cody Bellinger found it last night.
Starting point is 00:21:23 And it was insane. We live in that multiverse. That's the branch off the multiverse that we're currently in is the one that Bellinger hit that. You have your finger on the pulse of the fans a little bit better than I do at time. Do they have the same disdain that like, I don't know, DeBax fans had for like Alex Avila when he was hitting 1.80.
Starting point is 00:21:45 I mean, is it was it? The Alex Avila hatred is another level. Or like, because I was wondering, like, with him having been a former MVP, where fans just more patient, were they wanting to see him turn it around, were they sick of him and they wanted the Dodgers to kind of move on? What was the general kind of feeling? That's a great question. I would love to ask some of them what their feelings are on Belanger.
Starting point is 00:22:10 You were telling me about Pollock and how basically he already has a really bad reputation with them, right? But I can imagine that Bellinger is probably more favorable despite his struggles this season. It's just, it's interesting. I mean, I don't know. I think a lot of times when you look at. look, especially at somebody that, let's be honest, he hasn't had a very long career, right? We've seen Diamondbacks players that kind of peaked at one point like a Jake Lamb or somebody like that, and then they never got back to that same level that they were at one season.
Starting point is 00:22:43 You tend to kind of hold them in high regards as far as, you know, that season that you remember, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they were a really great player consistently over their career. What's funny about Bellinger is that his reputation is very, like, it's very weird. So Bellinger in years past has been great during the regular season, right? Like we talked about his MVP year, but he actually was not good in the playoffs whatsoever. And I do remember Dodgers fans having quite a bit of frustration with Cody Bellinger during some of their past postseason runs because he was the guy who just seemed to be whiffing at every single pitcher's breaking ball.
Starting point is 00:23:25 he was just really struggling in the playoffs. And this year it's been the reverse where the regular season, Cody Bellinger was a disaster. And yet here in the playoffs, he's hitting 280 with an OPS of 819 and three stolen bases. So he's been a really productive player for them here in the playoffs. And for whatever reason, Cody Bellinger in the regular season tends to be the opposite of Cody Bellinger
Starting point is 00:23:48 in the postseason. Well, and I'm not, this is going to sound like Dodger's shit talking. but it seems like that's kind of the case with a lot of Dodger players, right? That's Kershaw. There's a lot of players on that team that that's what you hear about. It's almost like, are you blaming the individual players, or can you just say the whole team kind of shrinks in big situations at times, right?
Starting point is 00:24:12 Like the whole team at times seems like they're not as good as they are in the regular season when you get to the postseason. It's hard to maintain that level of success. throughout that length of time. Not to mention the fact that, you know, when you are that good, I think during the regular season, it makes it a little bit more difficult for you to be, like,
Starting point is 00:24:33 truly ready for all of the adversity that you can face during, you know, the postseason. Whereas other teams kind of had to fight and clawed to get there, and they have a different sense, you know, at times of fighting to get to that next level. I don't know what the answer is, you know. I just know that the Dodgers. tend to shrink away in the big in the big games.
Starting point is 00:24:56 Yeah. Well, let's let's, we'll see, Derek. We'll see. I mean, after last night, it threw this whole NLCS thing. Like, I don't know. I just don't know what's going to happen. I know. The Braves are up for nothing right now and you still don't know.
Starting point is 00:25:12 And they're up to one in the series and I still are torn. And you still don't know. It's why. Because because last year, the Braves led the Dodgers three to one and the Dodgers won the series. Yeah, we've seen this movie before. We've seen this movie before. I've seen enough movies with the Dodgers down in series looking like the underdog. I'm not going to feel sorry for them, Derek.
Starting point is 00:25:33 I am not going to feel the slightest bit of, oh, now I want to cheer for the Dodgers because they're the underdog. No, this is, this is that that beast in the wild that just won't go down no matter what you do. And the Braves just need to keep, they just need to keep their foot on the gas throughout this entire game. and don't let up even in the eighth inning and throw it, throw it next time six feet above Cody Bellinger's head because apparently three feet wasn't enough in order to get him to swing and miss last night. It's like I said on yesterday's show.
Starting point is 00:26:07 They're like Halloween with Michael Myers and not Michael Myers itself, the movies that just keep coming, no matter how many times you think they're dead and aren't going to make anymore, here come the Dodgers again, just back to life. I guess it could be Michael Myers. You thought you killed him.
Starting point is 00:26:22 He's back. You think you killed them again. And nope, here they are in the eighth inning and the ninth inning winning the game. So I don't know. A big hit by Eddie Rosario right now. And I'm excited. I'm just, I'm ready for this. You're right about the Dodgers, though.
Starting point is 00:26:37 It's hard to ever feel sorry for any team that spends more money than everybody else. You know, you, I think unless you're a fan of that team, whether it's the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Lakers, in any sport, you just want to see that team. get smited. Unless you are a fan of that particular team, your hope is to see that team that spent more money than everybody to be in the position that they're at, not succeed because that's, that's a truly righteous moment in sports when the team that spent the most money does not get to go on to be champion. Championships shouldn't be bought. They should be earned. Baseball, yes, you can buy a team. But man, really at the end of the day, hitting a ball with a stick.
Starting point is 00:27:24 It's a great equalizer. It is a great equalizer. You can't spend money on the ball with a stick. Anyway, I want to thank you guys again for checking out our show, obviously. And I want to tell you guys all that you can keep your playoff stadium grass nice and trimmed with the Manscape Performance Package. I have been threatening Jesse all week that if he doesn't behave himself, I'm just going to start reading the Manscape ads completely for themselves.
Starting point is 00:27:56 So just to give you guys a little piece of it. You guys get the abridged version. Yeah, you really do. I take it and I make it more palatable for you. But really, Jesse, it's time to end the days of shaving your balls, ending up looking like a horror movie. You know what I mean? Folks at Manscape have the perfect package for your package to get this done.
Starting point is 00:28:16 Below the waist grooming leader have a fourth generation performance package. Inside you'll find my favorite thing, which is the lawnmower 4.0 trimmer. It's got a headlight on it. I get really excited about the headlight. It's, I don't know why it's, it's designed in a way where it also, and they don't talk, this is me just talking. This isn't a talking point from the ad, Jesse.
Starting point is 00:28:39 It, it kind of, it keeps all of the hair you trim, kind of neatly organized in a way where you don't make as big of a mess with some other groomers or shivers that you might use. but this package, the 4.0 package includes the weed whacker ear and nose hair trimmer, liquid formulations, and your two free gifts. Of course, your two free gifts are a man-scape boxers and the shed travel bag. Yes, I took mine with me when I travel, and you should too. Get 20% off plus free shipping using our code of P-HNX at manscape.com. Spend spooky season using the best tools for the job at Manscape. And Jesse also, I've talked about the PHNX code being the skeleton key for the internet.
Starting point is 00:29:25 It may or not be true, may or may not be true, but you can go over to Draft King's Sportsbook app and use it there. And again, you will get $200 in free bets instantly for betting $5 on any NFL team, as long as that team wins their game. That code again was PHNX. We've been, we've, we've, we really have been at the, top of our game while doing this podcast this whole time. You got to admit from I don't mean to I don't mean to to our own horn, Jesse, but beat,
Starting point is 00:29:57 you know what I'm saying? You know, but I'll tell you who wasn't on the top of their game, especially this season. And that was the home plate umpire who was absolutely terrible in game four of the ALCS, Las Diaz. And I'm not, I'm not going to rip him for the bad calls he made or his ever-changing strike zone that occurred. I think you just did, Derek. I'm not going to say how mad I would have been as a player with the fact that this guy can't figure out just how to consistently call whatever the hell that he's calling up
Starting point is 00:30:31 there. But per ump scorecards, Diaz was bottom 6% in accuracy and bottom 12% in consistency. So again, I'm not going to attack him as an umpire, but I'm going to ask you, Why does MLB have the worst umpires statistically calling postseason games? I feel like there are better options out there. And I feel like the umpires that did a better job of consistently calling games, deserve not only the postseason reps, but a lot of them and a lot of extra money, especially when someone like Mr. Diaz over here is bottom 6% in accuracy and calling an A, LCS game.
Starting point is 00:31:21 It's, it's tough. It's tough to know what to do with this. Are these numbers, these numbers are for the season, like for the entire season. These are regular, these are regular season numbers. Okay.
Starting point is 00:31:30 Okay. Yeah, I mean, this is tough. I mean, we've seen Angel Hernandez, uh, uh, um, fire in.
Starting point is 00:31:37 Don't you start with me. We've seen him in the play off you, Derek. So I think it, I think it's clear that major league baseball, I'm sure that somewhere in the major league baseball front offices, they've probably taken a peek at some of the numbers that you're looking
Starting point is 00:31:53 at with some of these guys. And frankly, with Angel Hernandez, you don't even have to look at these numbers. You know that Angel Hernandez is every bit as bad as he is, as he has said to be by so many fans and players and coaches across the league. The problem here, Derek, is that I don't, I just don't think that really plays into their system at all. I think Major League Baseball goes largely off of seniority, you know, which guys have been here the longest. there's sort of a there's sort of a system to it and and i don't think that those numbers really fit into that system and obviously you're you're right i mean nobody wants to see subpar umpires put into these positions um but that's just i mean that's just kind of how it goes it's sort
Starting point is 00:32:35 i mean it's sort of like tenure uh for like college professors right like that horrible you know that horrible biology professor you had is only there because he's been there for like 20 years And they outlasted everybody else. Yeah, they contractually can't get rid of him. And the same sort of deal happens in baseball where like they can't just like let Angel Hernandez go as easily as you think they can. That's just not how the system works. And I'm sure that's sort of the idea with a guy like Lads Diaz who did make some, you know, some crucial probably not great calls and some big moments last night in the Red Sox Astros game. game. I know there was the big breaking pitch from Nathan Evaldi, thought he had strike three. And then, of course, that same at bat turns into a base hit and turns into a major swing of the game.
Starting point is 00:33:28 Things went off the rails after that. Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, the Astros, granted, did go on to score a lot more than one run. So like, it's hard to know in hindsight what really would have happened there. But, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's tough. And this is where you go on your robo umps rant, if I'm not mistaken. That's exactly where I was. going Johnny five back there. I even want to give him a laser cannon on his shoulder, but I understand how that could be going too far. I'm just saying, I don't know why he would need it. I just like the idea
Starting point is 00:34:01 of the umpire also being armed. I don't know. I mean, it makes as much sense as Jack Peterson and his explanation for his pearls, right? He just wears pearls. That's it. Right? There's no good reason for it. There's no good reason that
Starting point is 00:34:17 umpires should be allowed to, you know, pitch the, or, or call games in the postseason based on seniority, but you're 100% right. It's probably the way it is. Just like, again, Jock telling us that's why he wears pearls. No origin story. No cool reason. They're not from his grandma or anything. It's not like, I didn't even know, like, how do you know, John Peterson wears, like, is this some known fact about Jock Peterson that just went way over my head for years? Oh, yeah, he wears. Have you, no, I mean, have you not been watching this season? He wears a big old pearl necklace. I've never noticed that. It is not hidden underneath his jersey. It is just there. It is just a thing that he wears. And again, he expected it somehow to not be asked about by the media.
Starting point is 00:35:01 It's a pearl necklace, my dude. All right? It's not exactly like it's some sort of, you know, stylish gold chain that everybody else is wearing, for instance. I saw the Milwaukee Bucks ring, their championship ring. Does it, is it just, am I mistaken? I'm not sure if this is the actual ring, but I saw it turns into a necklace as well.
Starting point is 00:35:24 Shit's off the rails, man. I don't even know what's going on with all this bling. It's crazy. Huh. Yeah, that is really bizarre. I did not expect that. Again, yeah, it's Jocktober still, and his pearls make as much sense
Starting point is 00:35:37 as Blas Diaz being in the playoffs, but whatever. We won't question that because you're right. And we have very little control over, what umpires appear but uh again robot umps man i'm telling you i don't even want i don't even want like human beings as umpires at first second or third i want robots everywhere actual real robots maybe futurama style uh differentiating their i don't want them all the same they can't all be on like some have to be some have to have two legs some have to be like on wheels different you know
Starting point is 00:36:10 throw some variety out there should they start filling chase field like all the empty stands with these robots. Oh, God. Don't even, yeah, that's a great idea. You need cardboard cutouts and you just have a bunch of robots that will like actually cheer. Forget the teddy bears that Peralta brought. Let's get some robots in the space. Well, you guys can follow us on Twitter for all for more ideas like this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is what the people want. Yeah, this is exactly what we know what you guys want. Again, cap underscore caveman with a
Starting point is 00:36:40 K for me. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. But of course, all roads will lead to you. at PHNX underscore sports, on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Also, if you're listening to us right now on your favorite audio podcasting app, please jump over to our YouTube channel and subscribe there. Also, if you haven't done so,
Starting point is 00:37:00 subscribe to us on your favorite audio podcasting app and leave us a five-star review. We will love you for it until the end of time. Jesse and I have some fun things planned out. We plan on getting away some t-shirts, maybe even a PHNX annual membership or two this holiday season. We'll see what happens. But we have some fun things planned for you guys for supporting us and being part of our
Starting point is 00:37:24 PHNX family. Again, we can't thank you enough. Follow everybody in the PHNX family that you want to, especially Petey over at the coyotes. He's the best. But we thank you guys again. We have our mascot now, Derek. Oh, don't even get started on that.
Starting point is 00:37:42 a bit. No, Jesse, no. No, do not. You don't start promoting that little prick. No. Did you see he's coming after the mayor title? I don't like that. I don't like, I forgot. I didn't recognize there's a rivalry going between you and you and the next. Very, very, very aggressively in our first interaction. So you might find Phoenix. Fenix, excuse me, he's probably going to fucking give me a hard time for saying his name wrong. But find phoenix on twitter and follow him too i suppose but uh more than anything i thank you guys for watching this show uh you're not watching this one you're listening to this one listeners viewers i got to get that all straight if you're and you're watching us tell us how i don't have no idea
Starting point is 00:38:25 jesse you don't understand i've done i've done a i've done a snack podcast for like three years i still can't get listeners and viewers figured out but thank you guys again so much for listening to us and remember kids baseball is fun but it's so much more fun when you bet on it I don't know.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.