Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - The Pitch Clock Was the Best Move Ever (with Karl Ravech) | 837

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

Use code TALKIN10 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek. https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN10*Up to $25 offUpgrade your closet with Rhone and use BASEBALL to save 20% at https://www.rhone.com/BASEBALLPost your job for free at https://linkedin.com/talkinGet ahead of the game with Blackbox Sports AI! Visit https://shorturl.at/cFIX6 and use code BASEBALL for your first week free+++++Timestamps: 0:00 Intro1:20 How did Karl Ravech Get Here?3:30 How do you prep for Sunday Night Baseball Each Week?5:45 In-Game Interviews7:20 Korea Series and the Entertainment Factor of Baseball12:40 Pitch Clock Has Been Good for the Game18:10 Golfing and Pickleball21:10 Little League World Series is the Best Event to Call Every Year28:00 Grew Up a Red Sox Fan, But Who Does Ravech Root For Now?32:36 On Field for the 2004 Red Sox World Series35:40 The Impact You Can Have on Others40:10 Pitch Clock41:35 Favorite Ballplayers to Watch Now 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 talking baseball. Jimmy's gone. Jake's gone. But Carl's here. It's broadcasters only. Let's go. Pick it up. Trevor here.

I'm going to throw you a pitch with the Little League baseball that I caught at the Little League World Series years ago. You ready? Of course you struck me out, Carl. Oh, goodness. Hello and welcome back to Talking Baseball. And yes, we got a fun one. one today. This one that I told you before the show started, Carl, I'm very excited about this because you do a lot of things that I eventually want to do. So first, before we start anything, I'm just

going to throw this out there. One day you and I are going to be working on Sunday night baseball together. I'm just putting that out there into the world, okay? But again, I appreciate you coming on. It's stored right here. No, my pleasure, it's stored right here, brother. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. I'm really excited about it. I get a chance to talk baseball with a guy to play for years and did some time in Connecticut. I read over the fact that you were in New Britain for a little hard-hitting New Britain. So that's close to my heart being a Connecticut guy. So that's great.

2008 and 2007 and 2008, I believe I was there. And I had a great time. So I appreciate again. This is at Carl Ravich on at Carl Ravich ESPN on X Twitter, lead ESPN baseball, play-by-play commentator. I'm going to read all the things you do because you do a lot. Sunday night baseball, home run derby, Little League World Series. College World Series. You've covered golf. You still call college basketball.

Are you just like a sports junkie? Is that what you are? Yeah, I grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. You know, and the question we always get, I'm sure now you're in the media, like when did you start to think about doing things like this? I was what I would call a runaround sport guy. We didn't have video games and computers, anything that would require me to be outside and running around, I would do. I grew up in the era of I was young Bobby Orr with the Bruins and then Larry Bird Celtics. Those are my two guys. And once I got to ESPN, I covered the PGA tour for a long time, the majors and the fall

tour during Tiger Woods Peak. So I have three. I tell people, my memorabilia consists of the Little League Baseball that I caught on a foul ball. and then a whole bunch of lithograph signed by Tiger Woods and a Bobby Orr and Larry Bird jersey. That's it. I don't have anything else. But those are the three people who have signed things for me

that are in my collection. So yeah, I played a lot of sports. I watched a lot of sports. But it wasn't until I blew up my knee in high school playing soccer that I went into a guidance counselor meeting about college. And she said, well, what do you like to do? when I said, I love sports and I like to write. And that's what led to the communication path.

That was really it. She steered me in the right direction. And then it was a stop at Ithaca College for four years. I worked in Binghamton, New York, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and ESPN. I played in both of those spots as well. Okay. I wonder if I've crossed paths out there at some of the bars. But this week's game, you're, you Sunday Night Baseball, which I think is,

I don't know how I'd rank them as far as like, if you're in the broadcast world in baseball, I guess it's World Series first and then Sunday Night Baseball second. I don't know how you would rank him. That's kind of how I have. Sunday Night Baseball is such an honor. It's something that I grew up watching. I think anybody that's listening to this show right now has watched for a long time. This week's game is San Diego and Atlanta.

When do you start prep for that? Is that something that it's a week long? Do you need that long? Do you follow the game enough? Yeah. I mean, you know, having as you know, when you were playing, having hosted the baseball tonight show every night for several years, you know,

that was being immersed in the game similar to what the folks at MLB Network do. So you knew everything. I mean, your study was literally in class every night hosting those two shows. Now, when you do these national games, there is, and the fans are not, you know, they're not naive, but neither are we. There are certain teams that tend to rate better than others, so you see them quite a bit. And certainly the Atlanta Braves are one of them.

We just had them last week. But Monday morning, I mean, you know, you start to think about the Padres and the Braves the day after your Sunday night game. If you're fortunate that the same team two weeks in a row makes it a little bit easier, but you're going to have a different pitcher. There are injuries along the way, et cetera. You talk to different people throughout the course of the week. But, yeah, I would say short of calling a championship, a World Series, you know, Sunday

night baseball for me was never something I would imagined I would be a part of. I'm delighted to be a part of it. We know what an honor it is. We take it really seriously. And yet we don't take it too seriously. You know, when you're sitting next to Eduardo Perez and David Cohn and this past Sunday, Cohn attacked a donut that was given to us by the city field folks like, you know, like you would attack a Thanksgiving turkey after waiting for the dang thing to pop for seven hours. You just dive right in. That's what he did to the donut. So it's a fun group. We, we're all have an immense amount of appreciation and love for the game of baseball. And I hope that shines through. And yet we interview the player during the game. I mean, it's a, you know,

it's kind of a lightning rod thing. Most of the people love it. The players, I think, really enjoy it. They've often asked, when can I do that? It's a way to show people's personalities. Just the last two weeks alone, Brandon Marsh was an absolute home run. And this past week, you know, he didn't play Brandon Nimmo in the beginning of the game and he was supposed to wear it. He came on from the dugout and of course came on and hit a walk off homer. That's right. And again, I don't think people give baseball players enough credit for their intelligence, their sense of humor, who they are. And that's all these interviews that basically take a minute and a half we hope are doing or showing people at home what really good people play this game, smart, funny people. You've talked about humanizing

players. And I think that's something that we like to do at our network as well is, you know, just kind of portray that aspect. Because a lot of times you just see the uniform and you're, and you get mad if someone doesn't perform well or perform well or maybe you cheer a little bit too much when they perform well themselves. But in the end, yeah, their, their fathers, their husbands, their brothers, their sons. And I think that that is important to show the human aspect to it. I love the in-game player interviews. And especially when, you know, a guy like McGee Rojas gets a ground ball and is talking to you while he's fielding the ground ball. I think that's like, I think that's so cool.

And it's taken a while for, for baseball. I think maybe the MLBPA had something to do with this, but in players in general. It's taken a while to get to this point. And we, we also talk a lot on this show about the entertainment aspect of baseball and sports in general. Hey, sorry to interrupt guys, but BBD myself and Robo, Trev, got to tell us. you about Roan. Look, fellas like you and I, sometimes we're in between sizes. It's hard to find the most comfortable clothing that is also stylish.

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B-A-S-E-B-A-L. Don't forget how to spell baseball. It's in the name of this show. It's time to find your corner office comfort. You did the Dodgers' Pajas game in Korea, and I watched the interview you did with Dan Patrick, and you were talking about just the atmosphere there and the in-between innings, how electric it was,

and all the things that they do over there. Do you think that's coming to U.S. baseball? fall. Do you think that kind of atmosphere is needed in the States? That's a great question. If it does, I would say, Trevor, it's a long way off. I think there are certain behavioral patterns here that we see in the States with the fans, that when we watch the WBC, it changes fairly dramatically. When we watch the Caribbean series, it's very different when you see baseball in Korea. It's very different.

You know, and I'm not certain that that is what triggers, you know, an audience to be engaged. I think it's the product on the field. I'll be honest with you in Korea, too, when you watch the game, like my wife and Eduardo's wife had seats down the third base side and the cheerleaders for the home team hitting. Let's say it was the Dodgers. I forget if it was the Dodgers of Padres, but let's say it's the Dodgers. they're at the plate. This cheer team is literally right in front of my wife and Mirba, Eduardo's wife.

They can't see the game. I mean, honest to God, they can't see the action on the field. So everybody is either engaged with what's going on on the field or they're more engaged with these cheer teams, these dance teams. So it's sort of an immersion not only in the game, but the entire event. And look, we just did this. the game at City Field, they have a dance team now.

Will there be cheerleaders at baseball games? Maybe. Is that going to be, you know, something that distracts the fan or causes them to be engaged more or differently? I think, I think it's kind of rooted in this country that we go. We cheer for our team. If we feel like booming the other team, we're going to do that. But our engagement is what's going on on the field. And I think it's a reflection.

and they have pretty good attendance rates in Korea. Teams good or bad. If the team sucks around here, they don't go. So you've got to put a good product on the field if you want people engage in the seats. And I think if that happens to your point, it's a long way off. Yeah, I believe so as well.

We are getting so many, there's such an international influence in the game. You know, the Latin players have brought the flair to the game, which I think we're seeing more and more now. It's becoming more acceptable at the, youth levels of our game, you know, at the collegiate level as well, and it's kind of permeating into the big leagues. And we've seen, now we see, you know, everyone's got a home run celebration. You can kind of do whatever you want on the field, which wasn't the case not too long ago.

But the reason I bring up the in-game stuff is, you know, we've have the pitch clock now, which by and large, I think is good for the game, especially when you're viewing it on TV. I think the game kind of just, it flows a little bit better. but I've gone to a few games and obviously I broadcast as well but as a fan going to games sometimes I feel like it's almost a little bit too fast when you're

at the park like you're almost not getting your money's worth how have you felt calling games prior to the pitch clock and now calling games with the pitch clock do you think it first do you think it's good for the game and secondly how have you had to change your style of broadcasting

to fit this? Yeah I haven't changed my style of broadcasting. Everything is a bit quicker. I will say that having done a couple of recent games on Sunday nights, they would have been four-hour games. They were three-hour games. They weren't two hours and ten minutes. I've seen some of those two-hour games.

Do I think you're getting ripped off? I think it's a multi-layered question. I don't think anybody's getting ripped off because of the time. I think ticket prices are too high, but I don't think it's the timing of the game that's causing people to feel like they're not getting their money's worth. I think one of the arguments to that, Trevor, is would you rather consider yourself having made a good deal because the product took four and a half hours and it was awful? Or would you rather having spent the same money for a game that took 2.30 and was really exciting and there was some great plays and base deals. and strikeouts and maybe you walk off. Like, I'm sorry, I'm taking that.

The other industries like records and movies have figured out the seven-minute song, you know, unless it's stairway to heaven, ain't going to work. People aren't really that interested in spinning that. So I don't think that there's that element that I would consider, boy, we're not getting our money's worth. But there's going to be people who think that. I think the pitch clock universally is the greatest thing ever. I really do.

I just went and did a college baseball game in Nashville, Louisville and Vanderbilt. I was in Arkansas earlier for a Texas Tech, Arkansas game. And they have a pitch clock, which helps immensely. They don't have the one batter minimum, and the number of mound visits. It was literally like somebody came up, slapped me in the face and said, remember?

Like, remember what it was like? I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is paint dry. You know, they need to bring those rules to the college game, too, because I think they're great for the pace of play at the major league level. You want to get into the injuries and things like that? Does the pitch clock force pitchers to throw too quick? I will say that managers have told me it's that inning that gets away from the pitcher where, A, they got to face three. The starter still there in the third inning. He's given up three rockets and a walk. You come out, he gives up another hit, you don't have a bullpen, and he's still got to, you know, you've got to keep going because you're not ready to make a change. Does it contribute? I'm sure.

It's if you broke it all down into a pie, it's a slice of the pie. And I'm not, I don't, I don't necessarily think it's the biggest slice. I don't know how big it is. But do you golf, Trevor? Do you play other sports? I do. So actually, I was trying to look up your handicap. I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't you on the Ginn app. I do play golf, but yes, I do. My point is, if you were, you know, if you played speed golf in a sense every day, at some point things would start to hurt that don't otherwise hurt when you're playing golf.

Anything I think that requires you to do it quicker, running, if you're a runner, and all of a sudden, you know, you're finding yourself doing it and you've got to go do it. You've got to finish in seven minutes for the next week. You're probably going to feel it. Now, are they long-term requirements? surgery injuries. I don't know, but I just think it's natural. If you're required to do something in a short period of time, there's an increased chance that you're going to hurt yourself. But again, that's a huge pie with a lot of pieces and the pitch clock is only one of them. I think universally,

I love it. I absolutely think it has changed the game for the better. Me too. I mean, the flow is so much better. And then the pitcher's arm discussion, that can lead so many different ways, you know, the velocity train they're doing and everyone's really trying to go max effort. I think that, in my opinion, it's probably the main culprit of what's going on. Surely the pitch clock, you know, like you said, has an influence on that is a lot of the guys that are in the big leagues grew up with it a little bit in the minor leagues. But I think the transition was pretty quick, but it needed to be quick. Because to your point, when we were doing Yankees, Red Sox, and those games are like minimum four hours.

It was, it was minimum. You're right. Every time you played the Yankees, the Red Sox as a visiting team, it was like, okay, it just seemed like the commercial breaks were longer. Everything was drawn now. It kind of sucked the air out of the stadium

from time to time. But now it was happening so fast. We were getting our money's fresh. We were getting our money's right. You know, the people there that, you know, have that extra beer might say that. So wait, I did try to look up your handicap. Are you a golfer?

I golf. And what do you? I'll be honest with you. Here's a weird thing that's happened to me recently is I got introduced, I don't know, three, four, five years ago to pickleball. You played that game yet? Okay. Yes, I play it from time and time.

I'm a tennis player. So, like, I'm kind of one of those people that looks down on pickleball. No offense. Right. Tennis guy through and through. I appreciate that. And I am too, but I fell in love with that other game. I fell in love with pickleball.

When you play, I think, with, you know, with people of your own. skill level or better, it's a blast and you can get a little sweat. And then again, it goes back to what I told you at the beginning. You know, run around sports, different than golf. You're not, running around. But yes, the answer to your question is I do do that. However, given a choice, it's not a no-brainer anymore. It used to be. Now it's like, I got a chance to play pickleball and sweat. I can golf, I can golf another day. I like that because you're also not spending five hours somewhere. You know, pickleball is a little bit quicker than that. That's something, that's what I have my beef with golf is man like it takes up your whole day and i got kids and i got stuff to do

100% yeah i do like that's my wife if you could play like seven holes like that'd be a good round yeah that's good you know maybe an hour hour 15 i don't know i find places where i call the place i say how's the crowd out there it's like okay deal i'm in and then you hopefully finish in about three hours i'm about a six because i know you're going there that's really good car that's really good. I'm listed right now as a 13. I think I'm a little bit better than that, but I'm still one of those guys that has the errant shot from time and time to blow up. You and I all meet in the middle. I'm a six trending the other way. You're a 13 coming down. We'll meet it around a 10. I got to be better. Okay. Hey guys, Robo Trev and I here to tell you about LinkedIn. When you're

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And we hire a lot of people off LinkedIn. We love LinkedIn. It's awesome. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash talking. That's LinkedIn.com slash talking to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Go get a good candidate for the job you're hiring for, guys. We mentioned all the stuff you do, all the sports and events.

You covered Tiger Woods in the early 2000s, like at its peak, which is amazing. Of all the events you've done, do you have a favorite? Yeah, I mean, I've answered this question a lot, and I would say the Little League World Series is my favorite consistent event. It combines everything that I think you want in a sport. We talked about a championship, a World Series. In the end, there's a Little League World Series champ. In fact, there's really two of them.

One wins the international side, one wins the United States side, and then you have the overall champ. So I guess in a sense, there's three of them. But it is everything about sports that I think we all grew up, boys, girls, enjoying. They're good athletes. They're goofy. They're funny.

They don't take it too seriously. There's not an immense amount of pressure on them. The plays can be dazzling, and they can be like, oh, my God, we just had a little league home run where we threw it all over the ballpark. It's just a fun, fun event. It consistently delivers. It's never failed from the Monet Davis, you know, phenomenon. to this kid, Louis Lapie, hitting a walk off last year.

It's great every year. The production crew that we work with is incredible. I'm sure you know Julie Fowdy, like she is such a phenomenal add to that event because she's just not a diehard baseball person. And I'll be honest, Trevor, more people, given all the things I've done at ESPN in my career, more people ask me or make a comment

about the Little League World Series, anything else. And it's always, I love the Little League World Series, and I don't often bring it up, but they know and they watch. And you go from, how old are your children? I have an eight-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter. Yeah, I mean, that's Wheelhouse. So you start, you know, they watch when they're six, five, all the way up to their grandparents who were 75, 85, you cover everybody. And, you know, in this era of binge watching, the Little League World Series is the ultimate binge watch

that takes about 10 nights in August right before we're all going back to school. Over the course of that week and a half, you get to know some of the people, the personalities, the players. And I know that after that Sunday of the championship, people are like on Monday, they go, click, click, where? Oh, where is it?

Oh, my God, there's no. Oh, wow, it's gone for another year. I would have loved to have participated in it. By the time that I was of the age, you know, 11 and 12, I was playing pony baseball, so it really can't even have a chance at it. My brother, actually, I don't know if you remember this. This was 1994. There was the Northridge earthquake kids.

Sure. They played in the Little League World Series. My brother was 11 that year. They didn't take him on the team, which he was like really, really good. Right. And that caused such contention with my family. we end up leaving the Little League because of it. You know, they were supposed to be on this team.

They go all the way to the World Series. I believe they lost to Japan or Venezuela. I don't know where they remember. But I would have loved to do that because I do believe, you know, I watched it growing up and I still watch it with, you know, my son, we watched it this or last summer. And it really is one of the most special events. And I tell people that all the time, it's like,

I think the most pure form of baseball, The last time it's truly pure is little league, but also like high school baseball. When you're with your friends, guys that you hang out with and you're playing just for the victories. Once you're in college, it's like, man, you, you're trying to get to the pros. You're trying to put the statistics up, especially in pro ball. A lot of the times it's your job now. But those pure baseball moments are just so cherishable. Yeah, so two things on that.

So we just did the Braves game. you talked about that terrible earthquake in Northridge and the Little League team going. On the day of that earthquake, Max Fried, mother went into labor. Wow. I mean, they are literally in the middle of this earthquake and they are driving around trying to find a hospital to deliver Max. And all these hospitals are closed. There's roads that are impassable. I mean, it's a terrible, terrible tragedy.

finally they find a hospital and they had to allegedly walk up seven or eight flights of stairs to the delivery unit because it was it was one that was open they deliver max and as they tell the story they basically said now you've got to leave you know within hours you've got to get out of here because we don't know if this hospital is sturdy enough to stand and that was that was one of the sort of sidebars to that that earthquake back in 1994 and then moving forward to your next point about the joy of the Little League. So Tim Corbyn, one of the most successful college baseball coaches ever at Vanderbilt. At one point, a team from, I believe it was Nolensville, Tennessee, and they've been there a few times, but they were there. He came to

the Little League World Series that he had not been exposed to it. And after seeing the series, not just the team from Tennessee, but the series, you know, he said, you know what, Ralph, this is pretty much the last time that these kids will play for the name on the first. front of the uniform as opposed to the name on the back of the uniform. And I thought that, and as a kid growing up playing ball, just to your point, like this is the last time. It's not about individual, you know, speed, your ability to throw the ball. We're not going to showcases. This is about you and your buddies from the neighborhood hanging out together and playing a game, you know, that you've been playing at some little school that you decided on a Saturday morning,

seven of us are going to go and you can't hit it to right field because we don't have a right fielder and it's an out if you do that but that that's what it's about and it is magical every year in Williamsport for just what you just said Trevor yeah I think I think professional baseball gets that way during the playoffs where like your statistics don't necessarily mean anything you're not going to arbitration through your statistics in you know during the playoffs and it really is about just getting those victories right I I love I love when baseball gets like another time when like that actually is the WBC when you're playing Team USA

or Puerto Rico, wherever you're from, I also think that that means something. I really, really, really enjoy the WBC as well. I've got a couple more for you. Don't want to keep you too long. No worries. I'm with you. Cool, I love that. I love that. So you're, I'm assuming, a Red Sox

fan. Do you have a favorite team in baseball right now that's maybe maybe not like a team you root for necessarily, but a team that you think is just the best team? Right. So I grew up outside of Boston as a fan of the Red Sox as a child. I think that the announcers who say that they are completely objective, I don't necessarily buy into that because we all grew up somewhere. I think there's a difference between being objective and broadcasting objectively. Like that's not a problem. And having seen the Red Sox win the World Series and having been on the field in 2004, like four, like four, my family members and relatives and friends. Like that box was checked.

Like I don't, if the Red Sox ever win again, it doesn't really move me. I'm glad that they did. The same way I'm delighted the Cubs won their World Series and all those people got a chance to enjoy that. I'd be honest, having sat in that baseball tonight chair for so many years and sat next to people like Aaron Boone and Alex Cora and Dusty Baker and Buck Show Walter and Terry Francona, and the list goes on and on that are involved with still baseball, whether they're managing or coaching.

I root for people. I really do. I really want Aaron Boone to win a World Series. I really, really wanted Buck Showalter to win a World Series. I think similar to the Little League concept and to your point about the WBC and the World Series, I think when you get to be a certain age and have done a number of certain things, you then really can focus on other people and the joy they would get from having success in their chosen field as opposed to worrying about, as you said, your numbers.

It's not about me anymore. I want that guy to have success. I want that girl to have success. I want that team because these people that I covered and got to know and like are going to win. And that's who I root for. I've even moved past the selfish nature of when teams would be in the World Series of rooting for time zones and temperatures. I'm even past that because that was having grown up at ESPN when the Yankees were dominant

and the Phillies were good and the Red Sox were winning. Like, man, it gets nasty cold. Cleveland was a good team. It gets nasty cold in late October in those places. So I kind of moved into the West Coast time zone, warm, weather, wherever that may be, Dome Stadium, I'm good. But now it's really, I root hard for those people to have success. I love that you mentioned those two guys, Aaron Boone and Buck Schulter. Aaron, you know, does a show. He comes on, I believe, every Tuesday on talking Yanks that we do here.

He's been phenomenal and just very insightful and open and in a way that a lot of managers, especially ones that manage in New York, you know, necessarily wouldn't be it. He's been, he's been awesome. And I think, I think that has really humanized him. And now, I think people, I don't know. I think a lot of people root for Aaron Boone, even if you're not a Yankees fan, which I don't know if you could say that too often before. And then Buck, what a, what a character he has been. And I got to, you know, play against him quite often.

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I guess I did a lot of research for this, but I don't know particularly where you, were on the field in 04 for that Red Sox World Series victory. Obviously, that's a great, that's something that is awesome for you to see. Did you get any champagne on you? Were you in the clubhouse as well? Like, how was that celebration? I do have a cork from the celebration, but we were in the middle of doing baseball

tonight shows, pregame, post game from inside the stadium. So as soon as the game ends, we go on to the field. And that's where you see the, you know, you see the emotions. You see adult men crying. You look around the stands and people glued to their seat. Like I can't even get out of my seat, you know, head and hands like this just happened. And so many of those stories not only about the person that may be in the seat, but the mom or dad or grandfather or grandmother who never got a chance to see this.

And now, you know, you can, and you've read about all the stories. I just wish that they were around to see this. And the impact that it has on the community is overwhelming. Chicago got a chance to experience it because of these long droughts. You know, the Padres have never won a World Series. That would be a team, you know, and Mike Schilt is a friend. And there are now other players, young players, that you get a chance to know. I mean, just a weird sidebar.

But Michael King, who's a phenomenal pitcher for the podcast. was traded in that Soto deal. His dad and I worked in television in Binghamton, New York. His dad was a news anchor. So I've known Michael since he was born. So another guy just to kind of root for. Like I hope he has great success. I hope his team wins because I know what winning means to the player,

to the team, to the organization, and to the community. It's massive. It's wonderful. So that's the answer to the question about, to 04 and where I was. And, you know, look, then the bar is so high, Trevor, as you know, you've got to consistently do it in this off season. The Red Sox, you know, in a sense, took the year off from spending.

And you could just see the alienation of that Red Sox nation. Like, well, if you're not going to invest and I'm used to seeing championship, well, we're going to be pretty hesitant to reinvest until we see you guys are trying. Like, we want you to. That's the given take of, you know, baseball, not. having a hard cap. We have a soft cap with all the competitive balance taxes and whatever, but you don't have the floor either.

So you have these years where, yeah, you could drawback spending. I know the NBA has to spend a certain amount of revenue. Everybody in NFL kind of spends the same amount of money. But that's where I think the problem in baseball lies. But yeah, that's, you mentioned the community. And we try to, I try to, I still, I don't know if I mentor guys in the babies. I still have guys, Max Reed being one of them. who I, you know, worked out with when I was a player and I still talk to these guys. And that's one

thing I was trying to mention to them is you don't really, when you're in it, you don't really realize the impact that you can make on a singular person just by signing an autograph, saying hi, like, just doing something to acknowledge them coming to the games. Like that, those create like lifelong memories. I remember the first autograph I ever got. And like, I've had a lot of memories in my life. That one like sticks out to me. So I try to tell people to play the game how impactful they can be by just taking a second out of their day to make somebody's day. It's really an important part of it. And you know where we see that, thankfully, Major League Baseball got on board with the MLB Little League Classic. And when you see the impact that

those guys have when they are walking around those fields, it is unbelievable. The connection. And when they sit there, I think it was Jake Arietta a few years ago, sitting in the stands, kind of talking about his, his grips, et cetera, to kids and how just transfixed they were. They are their idols. They are their heroes. Whether that's misguided, I'm not going to sit there and judge, but they are. And certain kids, you know, grow up wanting to be those players, and they get now a chance to sit next to them and talk. It's a massive, massive impact.

And I think sometimes, and I'm glad you're a mentor, I think, and I've seen it, you know, whether it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's Max Scherzer. The lineage of players kind of handing down advice and as silly and simple as taking somebody out to dinner or buying them their first suit, a right of passage in Major League Baseball, but so critical to explain how important that dynamic is between you, and the community. And look, there are many players who don't want the attention that do get involved. And I have a tremendous arounder respect for that as well. But yes, it is hugely critical. And I think this idea of players wearing microphones and getting their personalities out there is another step. And that's a change. I mean, look, how many times when we read about Babe Ruth, you know, in the streets of New York, Willie Mays in the streets of San Francisco with New York playing stickball. And then we kind of got away from that. And now maybe there's a little bit of a turn where we go back to the players, you know,

being more human in their communities and to people. And again, the vast majority of those that I know are just like that. They're good, good people. They are. And you mentioned, you know, being around big leaguers when you're a young kid, the impact I can have on you. I never even talked to this guy, but Brad Fulmer, former

Expo, I believe, would just take batting practice at the little league that I played at when I was younger, and I would just see him from afar, and I couldn't believe that there was a big leaguer there, and it was something that was so inspiring, like, okay, let me see what he's doing. He's just hitting in the cage, okay, I'm going to hit in the cage. Oh, he's hitting off the

tea. Oh, I'm going to hit off the tea. It's, I love that, yes, we are, especially with social media and guys kind of understanding, you know, the importance of connecting with fans. I think we're seeing a little bit more and more of that. And it is very important to grow the game because that's really what you do have, in my opinion, as a player, you do have, you have to have an onus of handing the game to the next generation, whether that is mentoring guys, whether that is getting out in the community

and making sure that you're making a lifelong fan. I just think it's really important. Well, I also think, too, that these rules that we talked about, you know, you were playing and I was covering the game with all of its ebbs and flows. And look, the game, the game was boring for a while. It got stale. And look, the players have, in some cases, begrudgingly, but otherwise gone along with these rule changes because I think they too.

I mean, you wouldn't believe, Trevor, some of the big name players. players when we got into COVID and then those seven inning double double headers, how many of them were encouraging seven inning games? Because they realized these games just take too long. And I'm telling you, this is not player 28 and 29. These were some big name players who were like, we got to do something. It's too slow. I stand out there in the field. And I'm just like, I'm looking at the, you know, I'm doing what kids do with Little League. I'm looking at for, oh, there's a piece of grass I'm going to pick. There's a four leaf clover. I'm going to go out. after that because it's just not moving. And that's why this has been such a monumental shift

and a good, good thing for the game. And the players deserve a lot of credit. They're in. They went along with it. Do you remember the first, I believe it was the first big league game, was a spring training game. We had the pitch clock and it ended on a pitch clock violation. We thought the world was going to end. We thought what's going to happen here? And now we're seeing less than one violation of game and guys are all. Let's give the players are not stupid. The players are really, really smart. They'll figure it out.

I mean, that was, I thought, kind of insulting when people said, we're going to end games on pitch clock violations. What would cause you to do that? Well, a pitch are not real. Well, pitchers are smart. They'll get on there. Think about the analytics and the metrics they're all looking at. Heck, you've got guys literally, as you know, in the middle of games,

throw a pitch, turn over their shoulder and say, oh, boy, I've got to make an adjustment. that the horizontal break wasn't exactly what it should have been. Like, they are smart people. You're not going to end every game on a pitch clock violation. You got a favorite player in the game right now? As a person or to watch? No, just to watch.

Physically, the traits on the baseball field. You know, it used to be for a lot of years. I was a big fan of watching Dustin Padrella play. because he just sort of embodied that that undersized, big kind of ego. I can do this. I'm going to beat your butt. And more often than not, you know, in his prime, he was that guy. You know, I'd say that between a guy like Fernando Tetis, Akunia, you know,

I think Soto is really an interesting and fun guy to watch for a lot of reasons. and not the shuffle, but his ability to kind of put back to ball. Like Aaron Judge, who I love as a player, I wouldn't say like I need to see everyone of his at-bats. I think there's the home runs and then there's the other stuff. And I like action. I want ball and play, whether it's going over the wall or not. So it's the younger, faster player that interests me.

And, you know, Titis and Acuna kind of embody. that with a little bit of the flare you were talking about. They both have a lot of extra stuff that they bring to the ballpark. I think that's fun. I really do. I think that personality stuff is great. Yeah, I mean, watching Tate's play is incredible. He doesn't get enough credit for making the position change,

winning a platinum glove, his first year in the outfield. But the things that he can do on a baseball field, that's what I like as well. Carl is when I see a guy and I'm like, I know how hard that is. And I know that you almost, some of these things you have to be born with, like the speed, you're born with that speed. The overall athleticism, like you can hone it a little bit.

You can craft it if you may, but you're born with a lot of these things. And I think that's what I like to watch. I'm like, this guy is, I couldn't dream of doing some of the things that he does on the field. And that's what kind of gets me going. I mean, it's hard. Trey Turner's, Craig Turner's another one of those guys. He's another one of those guys. Harper is one of those guys.

I do think that, as you mentioned, Tatis and his ability to go from short to the outfield. I don't think that Mookie Betts is given enough credit for the level at which he's been able to transition from from gold glove right fielder to second baseman to shortstop. Because you guys are all great athletes. Like you do, you know, my buddy Tim Kirschen will ask every baseball player at what age could you dunk? Like when could you dunk a basketball? of them will tell you, oh, you know, maybe freshman year of high school, some a little earlier, some a little later, but they just all are able to do these athletic things. The idea that Betts has gone from Gold Glover to second to short, and it's been fairly seamless,

I don't think we give him enough credit for how athletic he is in a world of great athletes. He's incredible. And you see that every once in a while, guys that can kind of just do it all, like multi-sport guys, he literally can just do anything. We talk about that on this show all time, how incredible that transition is, because it's one thing to go from shortstop to the outfield. That is a natural progression in the world of baseball.

Like eventually you grow out of shortstop, okay? Like I wasn't fast enough and I had to go to third base, whatever. But to go from the outfield back to the infield, after 10 years of it is, you're right. It really is incredible. And you know what? I love that you have that insight. Me and you one day.

Sunday night baseball. I can't wait for that. That's really all I got for you today. This was like such a fun episode for me to be a part of. Again, catch Carl at Carl Ravich ESPN on X or Twitter, whatever you want to call it. Sunday night baseball this weekend. San Diego versus Atlanta.

We'll get to see your two guys, Tatis and Acuna matching up. Carl, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your insight. It really is. It was a pleasure. It's my pleasure. And thanks so much for spending the time. Congrats to talking baseball and John Boy for all the success you guys were having, being focused on this great sport.

Appreciate it. Hit it, Beams. That was so much fun, man. Anytime, buddy. We'll do it again. We'll play golf. I'll drag your ass out to a pickleball court, too. Okay.

Okay. Then I'll take you on the tennis court. We'll have some of it. I like pickle. I do. I do. I really. All right, buddy.

Be good. Thanks. Thank you. Take care.