The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Local Hour: I Am Not a Kook

Episode Date: November 15, 2023

David Samson is here for his Wednesday Local Hour, but first, we have to get to the recent success of the local teams and Roy and Stugotz's Bucket of Death punishments. David discusses the potential relocation of the Oakland A's, Brian Cashman being "done" in New York, Trevor Bauer, a U.S. Senator trying to throw hands, and more. Plus, the impossibly sweet Pablo López joins the show to share the details of his upcoming "Pickleball for Pets" event in Miami as we try to get him to say something mean. He also chats about what it was like being traded from Miami to Minnesota, hitters guessing at the plate, the language he curses in, and emotional goodbyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Dunlabor Tarshall with the Stugat's Podcast. The Miami Heat have won six straight. The Panthers have won six straight. The Panthers have won five straight. Skip Schumacher is manager of the year And as an added bonus local hours celebration We've got two grid of death punishments being served right now. Roy is wearing vampire teeth Roy, can you please give me as much information as you can before we get to David Samson on Sam Reinhardt having the strongest start in the history of the Florida Panthers. Yeah, he's basically in the running 40 hard so if we're at this point, top 10 in goalscoring,

top 10 in point. So it's big times he's the one over right now. I'm hoping to talk to Roy Moore on today's show that I ever have. Stugats is allegedly doing a grid of death punishment. I heard in the other room that it had accessories and that all he had to do was be shirtless. That was a different one, I mean. I would understand if you didn't want to be shirtless. I'm gross. I mean.

But what are you doing right now? What is your costume? This doesn't seem like much of a grid of death punishment. You have put on a hoodie and you've just said it seems snug because 34s aren't made the same. They used to, the way they used to. They're not making exiles like they used to. Dan, this is a, this is an Excel and it is snug.

The pants even more snug. I am Rocky. I'm supposed to be doing a rocky for workout video, but this is what they gave me. So I'm wearing it. I mean, all right. So the video of the actual punishment where you have to run around and have your heart pump for a little bit is coming because right now this looks rather comfortable, not an actual punishment. You're just in a hoodie. It's something I would wear double XL, but it's something I would wear. You're right. It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not like ET. That's the other thing. Thank you. It's something I would wear double XL, but it's something I would wear. You're right. It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not,

it looked like ET. That's the other thing. But thank you. It's not much of a punishment. More of a punishment is Roy Bellamy having to speak through vampire teeth. Just out of curiosity, the panthers, Roy, are legitimately good again.

We know this already. Yes, we are, we, we have enough of a sample to know this. Yes, absolutely. And they're gonna get get better than I am fully healthy yet. That is David Samson in the background. Nothing personal. I urge you to find it. If you want something to watch or listen to before we start our day, he goes live every morning at 8 a.m. A number of things that I want to talk to you about. The first is the A's and owners relocating to Las Vegas or the idea of it. What's real here? What's posturing? What's a lie? You are on record as saying that that move is not going to happen.

Well, I am alone on an island. Everyone assumes and you're going to see headlines. So get ready. The owners are meeting right now in Arlington and there's going to be a vote and the vote is for the relocation of the A's to Vegas. However, that doesn't mean the A's are relocating to Vegas. That vote is required in order for relocation to happen, but it is not the final step, it is merely the next step. There have to be all those agreements, construction agreements, operating agreements, non-relocation agreements, agreements between MGM and the A's over how that building is going to get built, and there's all sorts of hurdles still existing, but Rob Manford wants to get the vote out of the way, so they don't have to think about it anymore.

And that's what's happening in Arlington right now. I don't know if people can hear the fire alarm, but we are going to go right through it because we're on live, and one of these days we're gonna burn live on television. And we're going to leave here looking like stuntmen with our backs on fire because we ignore all of these fire alarms.

But just to be clear, David, are you worried at this point with our backs on fire because we ignore all of these fire alarms. But just to be clear, David, are you worried at this point of how alone you are because of how wrong you might appear to be here by saying that this is all largely business posturing and moves like this are rare, you know it, you've lived it. Yeah, I worry about getting sick. I don't worry about being wrong with something like this are rare, you know it, you've lived it. Yeah, I worry about getting sick. I don't worry about being wrong with something like this. Only in that, I can tell you that in my experience, while John Fisher can say all he wants

that he couldn't get a deal done in Oakland, he's run out of patience, he's been trying for 18 years, he said that to a bunch of fans, I covered this on nothing personal this morning. John Fisher walked into the owner's meetings and he was met by three fans and he actually stopped and talked to them. I give him credit for that.

And he said, hey, I've been trying for 18 years. Well, I think that math is a little rough and I think when you're trying to move the team to San Jose, that doesn't count as trying to keep the team in Oakland. And I do know that if they wanted to stay in Oakland that a deal could get done, and this could only be part of getting a deal done. And I say that because the deal in Vegas, it blows. It's not a better situation for the A's.

It's a worse market. It's a saturated market. It's a market that's not interested in having a summer baseball team. It is bound to fail. And therefore, I still believe that there will be a way to keep the A's in Oakland. David, what's going on with Brian Cashman? I'm enjoying it, but what's your thought? Let me explain this part to the audience. Okay. Brian Cashman told Gary Phillips of the daily news of John Carlos Stanton, quote, I'm not going to tell you he's going to play every game next year because he's not. He's going

to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. That, that last part there, that last part, it's a shot. I mean, it's, it's, injury seems to be a part of his game. What? Who's done? Cashman. What? Done. Why? You don't survive that. What do you mean? That is unacceptable. What? Telling the truth? Yeah, it calls out your player that way. He's telling the truth, David. I don't care. The business we're in is not telling the truth. The business we're in is public posturing. It's telling the media and the fans

the best message you can always being positive, always having the back of your players. You think for one minute that this is going away. You think that Aaron Judge is going to stand for Cashman calling out his friend, John Carlo. No chance. David, hold on just a second. Go get your glass of water, go find water, we'll come back to you here. You did excellent use of the cough button. Amazing. Better than anyone here has used it in 20 years.

Just wanna make sure you're okay. But you're saying something very strong there, David. You're saying cashmine is done. No one else is saying that. That doesn't. No one else is also saying that the a's are saying in Oakland, who is this cook? What are you doing?

I am not a cook, Mike. I'm trying to explain to people what actually happens behind the scenes of owners meetings and what this vote actually means because the headlines are all gonna be wrong. It's possibly A's will still relocate, but when you read a headline that says A's relocation confirmed because owners vote 30 is zero to relocate. But when you read a headline that says, A's relocation confirmed because owners

vote 30 to zero to relocate, that is a misleading incorrect headline. But what do you mean, Cashman is done. He's not done. He still has a job. Well, he currently still has a job, but this is the beginning of the end. And it started with that front page cuss filled, and I don't say cuss, but how's Simon are called like that? That cuss filled diet tribe, when he said, oh, we're F and good. I don't know what everybody's talking about. Cashman's acting in a way I've never seen him act

since he started in baseball. And he's been at the Yankees a long time, and it can get to you. And I feel like that he has maybe something snapped because when you say that about your player who you're paying $32 million for, who you traded for, is that really the sign of somebody who's going to stick around? How Steinbrenner is going to have no choice if the Yankees don't perform this coming season. He's finally going to have to do what George would have done years

ago. And that's fire, Brian Cashman. David, you said he upset Aaron Judge. He upset the clubhouse, potentially other players. How do you know the players in that clubhouse aren't thinking what Brian Cashman said that this guy is getting 32 million a year and he never plays 100 games. I love for your heads at because it doesn't matter. None of that matters, even if the players think it.

How many times did the Marlins players and this will hit close to home? How often did they publicly go against Hanley Ramirez? How often did the O3 players publicly go against Pudge Rodriguez? How often publicly, not at all privatelyately they were doing it all the time. Correct. So all I'm talking about is publicly the Yankees will have to come out and say and the players because they're going to be asked about it when spring training starts.

This story's not going anywhere. You think that Stan and judge and boon are not going to be asked by the media about catchman statements about Stan. Even though we're only in November, this story will last through February. It's guaranteed to. Put it on the poll, please, Judeoat Levitard show,

Cuss or Curse. Roy, the Panthers defense has been fairly extraordinary. Your thoughts? Yeah, the other teams has been very good as well. Of course, the defense is going to get better once one tour and eggchlor comes back. But the entire gene difference has been so far

of average, just right on the injuries. Roy, I think you should do after the game wearing vampires' fangs to add a little bit of spice to the proceedings. No one else has a hockey show that is hosted by a vampire. It's not fair that Roy's the only one who's had a real punishment because Greg Cody loved having his hand in mayonnaise yesterday.

He absolutely loved it. Yes. Jeremy loved doing whatever that accent was. Like he was born to be a theater kid for that punishment and now Stugots isn't sweats. Right. I love being a rocky. You are correct. Also, the only punishment about the mayonnaise was

Symbolically the white man got up at the end and the brown people cleaned it up for him left mayonnaise behind left a Sagi bagel that he was using as an arm rest left a thermos that is still here that is the responsible is responsible for his gargling and Gurgling on air why was the bagel wet? It was so wet from his fur. It's very confusing. I think it was just sweat in general. I've got a number of questions here for Samson. I should tell people that Pablo Lopez is going to join us at the end of this hour.

He was, I've been stunned by how good he is, David. I didn't think his time with the Marlins was a fluke, but I also didn't think he'd be someone who could strike out nine batters to start a game or be top five inside young voting i'm not sure what was as a scout you're saying you didn't think that i just when i saw him pitching i didn't think that's one of the best pictures in baseball which of course is why you have a media show you did you know you know you know you knew the only the only guy who could baseball. Which of course is why you have a media show. You did. You knew. You knew. You knew. You knew. The only the only guy who couldn't get anything out of Nathan

or E of Aldi. You knew. We got plenty out of a Valdi. You're lashing out. Hey, what are you talking about? I admit a vulnerability and what does he do? I know all. I know everybody who's going to be good. I knew Pablo Lopez was going to be top five in Sai Young voting. Don Lebertard. Oh, I like firing people. So I take the opportunity to fire whenever I possibly can because I can use it as a learning experience for them and try to help them out and try to point out what they did wrong. But in this case, the employee was enough levels below where I was that I did not do the firing, but I had it done within moments of discovery.

I'm just like firing people. It's absurd. It's absurd. Still gots. I'm talking about people who I fire who deserve it, who have done something that actively requires me to fire them, it is my unadulterated pleasure to do so. This is the Dalai Batar Show with Estugaats.

Can you just explain before we get past this, when you do your, and maybe I just don't get the show, but when you do your punishments and your great of death and bucket of death or whatever you do, but when you do your punishments and your grit of death and bucket of death or whatever you do, why would one of the punishments be something that hurts the quality of the audio of a show that's audio? Because it doesn't, it makes it funnier.

It's one of the only palatable ways for the audience to enjoy Panther talk. Thanks, Sam. But you've been surprised by this. Have you not? You don't get the show. I may not. No, I think that if you ask people in baseball, they would not say that they're surprised at all. However, some trades are just good for both teams. It's hard to argue that the Marlins didn't get the better part of the trade because they got the silver slugger, but they really got a batting champion

and they got a leader at the top of the lineup in Arias. But you got a give to get. And too often in Marlins history, the trades have been money dumps where you weren't getting quality back in return and you were trading quality for quantity of crap in Badenop. In this case, it was a real baseball trade

that benefited both teams. I think it's great. The Panthers are surprisingly deep at forward, Roy. Yeah, the fight, the other thing. I mean, even the fourth line is going, Ryan Longberg and yeah, and Karen Stinland, Ryan Longberg and Karen Stinland, he scored goals last night in San Jose, so they're very deep. Let's Dan, can you name three forwards for the Panthers? I'll just the ones that he named. Just I could just repeat what it is that he said. Can you please play for me this Senate fight

that we had last night? I'm trying to, we're debating something back here. Are your vampire teeth upside down because this is the first vampire with an under bite I've ever seen like I noticed that I was gonna say something in my Usually the longest they're they're equal inside but I've never seen a I've never seen an under bite on a vampire ever You're lower fangs seem longer than your upper fangs Can you switch it? I also don't think I don't't think that those are vampire teeth actually, those look like some kind of animal.

That makes a little bit more sense. Oh, this is a real right. Yeah, but the under bite is gone. And the forward question again, Dan. Roy, it looks better now. I think you had them upside down and I also think that that's the better way, because I think it's harder to talk with them upside down. Tell me more about this Panthers depth and forward. Like I said, Ryan Longberg and Carter

are still in the evil school at last, right? Not forthright has good chemistry right now. So yeah, they're just like a southern heck. Well, we'll cover that. I wanted to talk to you about this Senate fight, David. Let's look at this. I said earlier this week, I said, we get the leadership that we deserve, and I don't know if that's right now

that I think about it, because I do think that we deserve better than this, that we deserve better than this in Congress. For tunes like he's self-made, what a clown, fraud. Always has been, always will be. Quit the tough guy act and these senate hearings. You know where to find me. Any place, any time, cowboy.

So this is a time, this is a place. You wanna run your mouth? We can be too consenting adults, we can finish it here. Okay, that's fine, perfect. You wanna do it now? I'd love to do it right now We'll stand your butt up then you stand your bottom. Oh, hold it. Oh, stop it. Say you lose every poll Clown you know you're United States senator to actively okay, sit down, please all right, can I respond? Hold it?

If we can no, I have the money. I'm sorry. This is all that said, you'll have your time. Okay. Can I respond? No, you can't. This is a hearing. He took the ring off, man. He was ready to throw it down. And he had the thickness that suggested some experience with the throwing down. When you fill out tea tea when you fill out dress clothes that way, but what are we doing David? What's the movie where the guy uses the ring when he punches someone and leaves the ring mark? Mike, you may have this at the tip of your tongue green lantern Ace Ventura were ace Ventura is trying to find out who's missing a diamond on their Super Bowl ring So he gets punched by looking at someone at the urinal and he counts the the diamonds that

are indented into his forehead. Not what I was thinking of but I'm so true. Is that's got Mitchell? That was a good job. I was about to go. That was my gave you a lot of detail. I just threw out a green a flailing green lantern because I had not had no earthly idea. Do you still not know, though? Have you come closer to knowing? Are we just gonna flounder around here? No, we can finish floundering

because it'll come to me. I can picture the actor. He's one of the character actors. He's got the huge face and he's always the meat. He's the meat. All of her plate. A bunch of people.

All of her plate is a huge face. Not a whole lot of her plate. Elijah Wood, are you think of Lord of the Rings? No. David,att is a huge day. Oliver Platt. Elijah Wood, are you thinking of Lord of the Rings? No. David is a huge guy. So let me, these Senate hearings are really posturing. They don't accomplish a whole lot. You get subpoenaed to appear and it's generally used to inform the public about things that are going on that the Senate is, and they do hearings on steroids, or they do hearings on antitrust, or they do hearings on things that don't actually impact

too many people. The majority of Senate work gets done behind the scenes with lobbyists in the offices. Sometimes he gets done on the floor, like survivor at tribal council when the vote changes, but this is all just about getting clicks and getting popularity. And that's sort of, it just makes all of us look bad at all times. But it has zero impact on people's voting for a particular center. That's the sad part.

Trevor Bowers agent continues to try and get him work. I don't know that we've had an example exactly like Trevor Bower in terms of being excellent and not being able to play and being out of the sport. And you have said yes thank you but with this as what surrounds him where he is you know he's a person who has ended up being a weapon for people on the right. He has become a weapon for people who want to hate women, who want to think that women are gold diggers or make up things in order to take advantage of athletes. And he has produced his own edited evidence on why it is that he is innocent. And now is agent is trying to get him back into the sport and i'm not used to teams in sports making moral stands with arms like this so when but and you've said he's never he'll never play again and it i

wouldn't assume that he will play again he had to go to japan wherever then we it's more okay that Trevor bower uh... stands accused of this kind of sexual assault violence during sex he claims is consensual but what's going to happen here? His agent is someone named Rachel Luba who is really just his mouthpiece. He's not an agent who's taken seriously in any way in the industry. Trevor Bauer is persona non grata. He's untouchable.

There will not be a team who signs him and it's not collusion. He can grieve it all he wants. He can go to court all he wants. He will not be able to prove. And the reason he can't prove it is that every team can go before a judge and say the juice is not worth the squeeze. There is no reason why we would have him

and the judge cannot say, but wait a minute, you have a hole in your rotation. Wait a minute, you were the bottom 10 in ERA last year. Wait a minute, he's excellent. Like, you're telling me he would not have a collusion case. Correct. Because there'd be no way to prove anything other than, from a moral standpoint, owners get to choose who they want to employ, like all employers do, and they can choose for whatever reason they want, and that they individually chose

to say he's not worthy of being on my team. Now, is it true that conversations take place among GMs? Among presidents, among owners? Yes. Does that mean it's collusion? No, but is it made very clear that Trevor Bauer will never be in the major leagues again? Yes, it is.

What's the movie you're reviewing for us this week? I should tell people again, Atten Endwerk does his movie podcast, Center File, and David would badly like to do a movie podcast, but cannot and will not, because he's got a lot of other responsibilities at Metal Arc Media, but he sneaks in movies wherever he can

on nothing personal, and he watches one every day. So what are you reviewing for? I do review one every day. I have one for you, Mike. This is our second week in a row. How is it that Nicholas Cage releases a movie every week? I haven't been able to figure that out. I don't know where he gets the time, but he

has a new movie called Butcher's Crossing, where he actually shaved his head, and I thought he had it to pay or some sort of hair color situation going on. He went full head shave, full beard, and it's about the 1800s where people would kill Buffalo and sell the Buffalo hides. And he takes a Harvard student who says, I don't want to be at Harvard anymore, I want a hunt Buffalo and make money this way. And they go on this crazy hunt for Buffalo. And it's not like Brokeback Mountain, but sort of. And it's not like Silverado.

It's a movie where there is guns and gunplay and weird sort of buffalo hide scraping and hunting and killing. And Nicholas Cage spends the entire movie as this big, bad, buffalo hunting guy. And all I kept thinking is how much did he get paid for this movie? And who is his agent? Because I assume his agent has washed his hands of Nicolas Cage and said, hey, Nick, I'm

sending you 10 scripts. You're going to say yes to all 10. No problem. Don't worry about your career. Don't worry about your career trajectory. Keep making crap because the checks keep clearing. And that's all he's doing and it makes me very sad. We have less than a minute left, Mike Ryan, is one of the world's largest Nicholas Cage fans.

He has a pillow in his home of Nicholas Cage's bloated face. Weird. Before we get out of here speaking of merch uh because david samson has a merch store i see juju what do you show you're holding up there a doll-sized t-shirt for that's mine dan for davis there okay we're ready okay it's a very small t-shirt a toddler's t-shirt but what's going on with our merch store because a lot of people are asking you're in charge of it now and a lot of people want to do this for the holidays. I guess what, the Dan Levittard merch store will be available and we are launching on December

1st, so get ready. We have gotten this done. No one was able to get it done for years. We have worked together with people in your company, Dan, and we will have a launch. There will be great, amazing holiday deals. There will be great, amazing holiday deals. There will be great quality merchandise delivered in time for your holidays, and we will not screw it up this time. I guarantee you. Roy, tell me about the rookie defenseman

for the Panthers. Over the linkess. Ah. Don Lebatard. David Samson weirdo because he was not he was not the fun substitute teacher who'd wheel out a TV and play a VHS tape or Armageddon in science class. He was the weird one who would eat an ex-salad sandwich while clipping his toenails into the trash can and running about Ronald Reagan.

Still gots. The guy kept talking about how his ass was smooth. Smoother than a newborn's cheek. He wouldn't stop bragging about his bare buttics to me. This is the Don Lebertar Show with the STUGATS! He's an impossibly sweet man. He just seems so decent, so kind. He's an impossibly sweet man. He just seems so decent, so kind.

Can confirm. He also can pitch. He's going to get a lot of young votes, right? Pablo Lopez is with us. We miss him in Miami and I am sure he misses Miami. I am positive. He must miss Miami that Minnesota is freezing cold. Pablo, thank you for being on with us.

You had a great season with the twins. Everybody was happy with the trade. When you initially got the news that you were being traded from Miami, was that in some ways heartbreaking for you? Yeah, man, absolutely. We are taught in the minor leagues or in this industry, not to get too attached because things

like this can always happen. But you know like we're all human. We all have those feelings and the moment it happened, a part of me was you know I was having mixed feelings. I created so many genuine, nice kind relationships with people in Miami, people I still follow, people I still miss. But you got to understand it from the business side was a decision that both front offices were trying to make to help their team. And I mean, you have to acknowledge and recognize that both front offices did exactly what they needed. They got exactly what they were looking for.

And it just worked out. It was a fun year. It was fun keeping track of Miami, keeping track of the marlins watching the games, and keeping in touch with some of my friends on that team that were having such a good and fun. Like, you could tell that they were having fun, and they were hungry for more, and I was very happy to see them accomplish what they did.

And I think it was just all in all that great year for both organizations that were involved with that trade. Except that you were mother bleeping Lisa rise every time he was close to hitting 400 and you were rooting for him to go one for four or over four. Oh man, no that was unbelievable to watch. You know, he hit 400 for half a season, that alone is unbelievable. You know, I didn't put too much pressure on myself after the trade, it's hard to feeling shoes of someone you don't even share the same position with,

but like the expectations were there, the moment the trade happened, the expectations to perform, to show what I can do for the team, those expectations were there, I put those on myself, and it was just about really staying true to my process. He was doing unbelievable things, and I was just trying to do what I knew how to do it with what I had.

And then he was just doing it. Oh, knock it off. You were pretty good too. Knock it off. All right, knock it off with the fake humility. You ain't come on, knock it off. Well, Dan, Pablo is a very nice man as we've established. And we wanted to try to get you to say something or do something mean.

But you're obviously not going to do that. But I will remind you also that lying is not good. So you're not going to tell us the last time you did something mean. But when's the last time you thought something mean? And remember, you can't lie, Pablo, because that's mean. Oh, man. No. Last time I did something mean.

I've been getting ready for the pickable thing. So I've been playing a lot of pickable in every time. I miss a shot here and there. You know, like I started getting in my head too much. And I might do or say some not so nice things. but I try not to like that too much get to me You're mean to yourself. You're only mean to yourself when playing pickleball You do have this event in Miami pickleball for pets. It benefits pause for you rescue They do a lot of good work in Miami with pets and we will talk about that in a second

Are you hard on yourself? Are you somebody? You were somebody who failed by being a pitcher. You should be a doctor, correct? You should be in medical school. You are a family failure because you're merely an all-star, correct? To some people maybe, yeah, and I am very hard on myself. I get that from my mom's side of the family, very I am very hard on myself. I get that from my mom's side of the family, very studying driven, academic driven. I have a bunch of smart family members who are lawyers, engineers, all kinds of things. So in a way, I was brought up in that environment where if you were not doing the best that you could, you know, like you would know that you could have done better. And I grew up in that environment.

So I fail sometimes, I just realized in that, sometimes you're just gonna fail. You gotta deal with that and not be too hard on yourself, but it's hard when, you know, like when you know what you can do and you don't do it. For those who do not know, he speaks four languages. He was accepted to medical school when he was 16 years old. Can you tell me how rigorous your childhood was because it seems like if these things are so, you must have had a lot of discipline in your house.

A hundred percent, a lot of discipline, a lot of values, you know, I'm in Venezuela, at least in my house. School was to learn to like get knowledge and stuff, but everything started at home, you know, you wanted to get those values, you wanted to build that discipline, you wanted to build that mental toughness, that resiliency, knowing what you can do, knowing where you're made of, you know, like, that mentality that pressure doesn't build character pressure, reveals that character. So like I grew up with that mindset, always, just

always trying to learn, always keeping an open mind to learn, and then just soak as much as you can, learn as much as you can. And obviously then my older sister was in school, just getting tons of good grades, good grades. So I was expected to do the same thing as a younger kid. And I tried my hardest in doing that. And for the most part, I did.

But I always had that person in my family pushing for more and more and more on every single aspect. Not just that's cool with notes and grades, but also at home with the values and the way I would carry myself when I was at home and outside of the house. Was there an absence of fun? And now I was at home and outside of the house. Was there an absence of fun? And how I was known. Sometimes it would feel like it was, but you have to find ways to keep it lied.

I'm just curious, though, when you're accepted to medical school at 16 years old, where did you break apart on? Now, I'm going to choose this path, which is much different than the other paths in my family and has an entirely different set of challenges. 100%. So I graduated high school June of 2012, back then the international signing period used to be July 2nd after you were 16th birthday. So a month after, see the Seattle Mariners gave me the offer to, you know, like become a professional baseballal player.

And for a 16 year old kid, that was a huge decision. I had to really think hard of what I wanted to do. I used my support system to try to make the best decision that I could. And my dad was fundamental in that decision. My dad was a doctor himself. I think he played a little bit of baseball, like amateur football, common business fellow.

But, you know, like my dad was such a great influence in my life in every single aspect. So I just, it was just a matter of having those good conversations with him of like, he would tell me, no matter what you choose, I know you're gonna give a year old, I know you're gonna give a year base, but I do think that if you chose to play baseball

and it doesn't work out, it will be easier to get back into college to be a doctor rather than if you do it the other way. If you choose college first, it might be really hard to get. You can still do it. If you want to leave this career behind in baseball that you're pretty good at, you can try that path. Pablo, how often are guys guessing at the plate? Because like, we've talked about, I don't want to, I don't want to like, Jean-Carlo Stan. Yeah, well, okay. We've talked about Jean-Carlo

Stan being a geesser. And I don't want to like, you don't have to smurch him unless you'd like to. But are there guys that come up to the bat? And you're like, this guy is not a very good hitter, he's clearly guessing. It happens a lot because, you know, just like, just the same way, heaters are getting so good, you know, pitchers are getting just as good, you know, like, pitchers are covering every single part of the plate with hard velocity, big differences in, like, V-LO, move, pitchers that are moving every direction and as a battery, it's hard to cover every single part of the play. Like you have to hit something that's coming into you,

you have to be thinking about it. And then if you're thinking about it, that puts in the guessing position and then if the picture chooses to go the other way, then you're gonna look like you're guessing. So a lot of times it just depends on the matchup. Like if it's a two-page picture, you're guessing for one.

If it's a picture that you can hit every single like quadrion of the zone, then it's a two-page picture, you're guessing for one. If it's a picture that, you know, can hit every single like quadrion of the zone, then it might be a little harder. So, I think it happens more than you think because it's hard to cover every single part of the plane, just like by reacting to what you see. So, like, if you go to the plane, you have a plan, and if you're studying, like, if you see that the picture is falling into any patterns, then your guess might be a little better. Pablo, you're basically saying that it has become so expert-soaked. The pitchers, the hitters have gotten so good at the all or nothing of what they're doing that even the best hitters can't really protect themselves from everything that you're throwing

with accuracy. So you're telling us most hitters are doing a lot of guessing because you have to, because there's just no way to hit a picture with your expertise unless you're guessing certain portions on location. Yeah, man. Yeah. Like in my case, you know, I was with Joanne Durand. He's a closer for the twins and like, you're not going to hit a hundred and four if you're

not thinking about it you're not gonna hear you're not gonna hit the 99 mile an hour splinker splinker if you're not looking for it so sometimes you just have to take your shot like take a guess and then like hopefully hopefully you guys right you put the bear on the ball but reacting to pitches that are moving so much at such high speeds can be really hard. Some people do it. I'm not saying that they don't do it, but there's a little like the cat and mouse game going on because of how good heaters are and how good teachers are too. So it's just that it's that that game within the game that keeps it fun, keeps it entertaining. What language do you curse in? Spanish.

See if I had to. Okay, so it's not English curses that you are spitting angrily if something's gone wrong on the field, it's Spanish. Yes, if it were to happen, yes. And it's not Italian, it's not Portuguese, anything, it's just always Spanish. Yeah, that's the name one. All right, and is a mother involved?

Is there a mother, a mother? Do mother is? Yes, yes, yes. Very much, that. Okay, there. Can you tell us what it is that you're doing in Miami on Thursday and what you, the top three things you miss most about Miami now that you're in Minneapolis. Yeah, so this Thursday

From four o'clock to seven p.m. Completely free I'm gonna be hosting this pickleball event where it's just supposed to be a very nice fun like afternoon if name and the main like I've been thinking about it because I enjoy playing other sports, and I'm a huge tennis fan, but you know, tennis is more impact on the body. You have to be very skillful. So people looks like perfect. You just have fun, keep the body moving.

And like four years ago, my wife and I, we rescued our dog. And before that, I didn't have any pets growing up. And like I just, I found myself like, like all leading into having pets, having dogs, and loving on them. So I think it's just the perfect combination of a couple of passions I have outside of baseball.

And I decided why not make it a very fun afternoon with make it a fun event playing pickle, a casual reception after after foods and drinks, doggies, adipabar is gonna be their providing food, then it's yummy, yummy, venous food. There's gonna be paid adoption on side. So yeah, it's gonna be Miami Shore's tennis club, fourth through seven, absolutely free for everyone

yet they want to show up and just have a good evening. Three things you missed most about Miami. Oh man, I miss the weather. I made the stadium that has a roof and I miss all the Venezuelan food auctions that are pretty much within a 10-minute drive. How far do you have to drive where you live to get anything

that feels like Hispanic or ethnic food? Man, I had to make a 40-minute drive to find a good one, up in theapolis. Was to make a 40-minute drive to find a good one. I'll be anapolis. Was there like a 20-minute drive for a not so good one? Yeah. So it was a 20-minute one for a OK one and then the 40-minute rubber and a good one.

That's not nice, Pablo. Yeah, well, I mean, that's what it was. It just, it just telling the truth. Different, it's different. Before you go, just last thing, I don't know that a lot of people know you started a game with a major league record, nine strikeouts. At what point were you even in the middle of that? Come on, this is getting ridiculous. Man, I would say after the 30 and you started, you know, the first six, it's like, I mean, it's, it's impressive. You know that you're

feeling good. But like once, once I go into that 30 and the seven and like I sort out the seventh guy, I'm like, okay, like something's happening, something's up. And that was a very special day. That was a one year anniversary of my dad passing away. So I just like, I remember that day for a lot, a lot of resunds and that being the main one, you main one, I think I was getting a lot of help from someone very special and I think that was him.

Oh, you felt like he was with you? Yeah, of course, man. That was a very emotional day. I was thinking a lot about him and stuff and then to just go out there and something cool like that happening, I feel like he had to be a part of it. When you left here, I know you're good friends with Sandy. Did you have many emotional

goodbyes when you say you there were mixed feelings about leaving? Oh yeah, especially because I was training at the same facility as Sandy was last off season. So the trade happening just a couple of weeks before spring training as we were just getting into like throwing bullpen, throwing life-batting practice, you know, playing catch with each other. And then he's just like, man, this might be the last time we've got playing catch for another year until the next obviously some comes around. And yeah, it was, it was hard saying some goodbyes. I remember him, Jacob Soling, he called me right away, Luzardo, Mel Sotomayor Jr., who I have a good relationship with, was one of the hardest goodbyes too,

because if it wasn't for him, before I got traded in January, I wouldn't be the same feature I was back then. So there were a lot of emotional goodbyes, but that means it's a very strong relationship that to these days I still maintain. Who'd you miss the least? Oh. The least, I don't know Who'd you miss the least? Oh.

The least, I don't know. A lot of guys have come and gone and he's just, I try to, it's easier to think of like the good relationships I had. Done maddeningly. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it.

We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. We're going to get it. He's trying to do nice things for pets. He's fundamentally decent and you come in here with your ass hole question at the end Pablo Thank you for being on with us. We appreciate it sir. Oh, thank you guys appreciate everything