The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Postgame Show: The Pitch Clock Goes Under the Knife (feat. JuJu Gotti and Jane Leavy)

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

"Oy...the Mets." JuJu Gotti is here to dish out a Thursday Thunder, give some advice, praise the Ray Hudson song, and update the Polls. He also shares some of his knife expertise. Then, Jane Leavy ...is here for this week's episode of The Pitch Clock that ranges from trivia on Postseason HR Leaders since 2000 to Warren Spahn to a crazy Wild Card race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:35 It's Thursday Thunder and it's presented by Draft Kings. Draft Kings. The Crown is yours. Juju, what up? What up, my brother. Thursday night football tonight and you know we got to lock in a couple
Starting point is 00:00:49 of bets, you feel me. First leg, the most used fantasy football team name, motivated at times. It's neither here nor there. Jackson Smith in Jigba. We're going over 6.5 catches for my boy tonight against the Cardinals. Second leg, I'm going with my brother, Marvin Harrison Jr. To pick up the pace, he's been having a slow couple weeks, man, hearing it from the media, hearing it from the fans. I think he's going to be hearing it from Kyle Murray tonight in the form of receptions. Over 3.5 catchings.
Starting point is 00:01:27 just for my boy Marvin Harrison, Jr. tonight. And the last leg, I'm taking the Seahawks and the spread. Seahawks, 1.5, minus 1.5, lock it in. They're going to win. I don't understand what Marvin Harrison Jr. Like, he's supposed to be awesome. And I understand it's only a second year and it's only the fourth game of his second season tonight.
Starting point is 00:01:49 But, I don't know, going to the draft last year, this was supposed to be a stud immediately, right? Yes, sir, Maserati Marv. It's more looking like a Honda Accord, Marv. Miata Marv. I like that. Miata Marv. I like that one.
Starting point is 00:02:04 I'm confused with this game tonight. I feel like this is a good game tonight. It's the weakest of the Thursday night games. Don't be full by Kyle and Murray. Don't do it. Don't do it. Have you seen the uniforms? Uniforms are dope for Arizona.
Starting point is 00:02:15 They actually have one of the better rivalry uniforms. I love this division, man. There's always a rock. I love the NSC. I love their feel, man. The end zones painted so good. it tonight, man. Wait till you see that sun, man. Oh, we're going to get a great color clash. I'll tell you what. How you feel about the quarterback play in this NFC West?
Starting point is 00:02:35 I like it. I mean, I don't know how to satiate Dan there. Like he likes the offense having unfair rules. I guess that that's cool. I'd like defense. And you got one of the better, more brilliant defensive minds coaching Seattle today. Kyle Murray presents a unique set of skills for defense can break him down. I actually think he's going to air it out a little bit, especially with the injury to James Connor, I love football. I'll watch a bad football game over starting a new show. I can get out of here with binge watching. I'm sure that you love Jason Bateman's show seems great.
Starting point is 00:03:08 It's a show or a movie? It's a show. It seems great. I've heard great things. And I can't, I only have so much time while my daughter's not watching Bluey that I got to be able to get these games and because I love ball. Yeah, I watched the Black Rabbit, by the way. And yeah, you can get to it whenever you feel like getting.
Starting point is 00:03:25 to it. You're not missing anything. Mind-blowing. It's a great show, but come on. And what's mind-blowing? The NFC West. Yeah, also, there we go. No slotch on defense. Mike McDonald. That's got the Seattle defense. That's what I say. See, Morton. But to be honest with you, I kind of
Starting point is 00:03:39 forgot his name. You said Jonathan Gannon. No, I didn't say any names. I got a note for the room from the audience. The audience is in love right now. They are in so much love with the Ray Hudson track segment and playing the Ray Hudson. But a note from
Starting point is 00:03:55 the audience today brothers when that Ray Hudson come on we need to see some fist pumping we need to see some break dancing I think my boy Mike had it right that he was throwing knives my boy Tony you got to lock in man you be text checking your text message anytime text when the Ray Hudson
Starting point is 00:04:11 on uh-uh we need you just step up my bad I thought it got longer this time is that ah it's perfect really I thought it got longer this time it was longer even if it plays for 20 minutes we need to see 20 minutes I can make it 20 minutes I can make a 20 version. How's Pat doing today? As you can see here,
Starting point is 00:04:27 I hit him twice in the deck. Oh, wow. Nice. Right there in the neck. I don't like it. That's right in the carotid. Sniper. He's going to have to go under the knife to fix that. Okay. Juju, let's update some polls, man. What do we got? Yes, sir. First poll. I put this poll up because it was a debate in the beginning of the show, and I just wanted to throw it out to the audience. If you're sick, what's the more honorable thing to do?
Starting point is 00:04:52 still go to work or stay your ass at the house 73% of the audience says you should stay home Billy sorry about that I know I know and I agree
Starting point is 00:05:06 because I got sick down there in Miami one time I came to the studio somebody gave me COVID and admitted it and everything and was just like whoops my bad worst three weeks
Starting point is 00:05:16 of my life the next three weeks but you know the thing is I think that people don't believe it So you make an appearance. They're like, oh, yeah, this person really is sick. And then you're like, okay, now I'll be the honorable person to disappear for a little bit, you know? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:29 The Buster Posey ruined baseball. 60% of the audience says, yes, he did. Juju, who do you think is better? Cal Raleigh or Buster Posey? The very best. Cal Raleigh. Yeah, you think? I mean, I'm a little surprised by that war number.
Starting point is 00:05:48 Yeah, his war and it's a little worse. Aaron judges for that MVP race, but I'm still back in Cal. In order to embed a hunting knife into the wall, do you throw it by the blade? Big pole. Seventy-eight percent of the audience says, yes, you do. Yep. Tony, you were right. Take a victory lap. If someone tosses you their car keys while thinking that you're the valet, is it stealing if you take their car? No. Good show today. 78% of the audience says no it's not stealing drive away that's a gift right hole is not binding it probably is illegal for everyone out there you feel me also too just a comment on your the guy the actor gets shot and then doesn't realize it Chris she was like how do you not know that how do you not feel that back in my young I'm talking about young teenage days I was stabbed and it took me about 10 minutes to realize I had been stabbed the adrenaline Like that's a real day. Yeah, it's actually real.
Starting point is 00:06:51 It's pointing at someone considered rude in some cultures. 94% of the audience says, yes, it is. Yeah, I can see that. Again, I'm for the US of A, baby. All the dudes hit one of these and everybody loves it. Right. Also, Jeremy, I love what you're doing with the Marlins playoffs. You feel me?
Starting point is 00:07:11 Like, great board work. I like it a lot. Just re-reminded, we're giving you that patience. and that grace, learn who Terrence Crawford is, just in your free time. You know, you know who Bud Crawford was? Sorry, who? Okay, see, here we got. Tomorrow, that board will just say, eliminated.
Starting point is 00:07:27 Yeah, I will. More likely than not. More famous eyebrows, Eugene Levy or Anthony Davis. I think it's Eugene Levy. Right, and the shocker, 78% of the audience says Eugene Levy. Man, I wonder Peter Gallagher would like a word. It's next year. going to be the summer of
Starting point is 00:07:49 Bluey. Oh, lock in. 59% of the audience says, yes it is. Mm-hmm. And the last poll is Casanova Frankenstein a good name. Very early in the proceedings, but
Starting point is 00:08:05 74% of the audience says, yes it is, and those are your polls. Thanks, Jude, Jim. Pitch clock. Next. Yeah. Pitch clock is coming at you right here. One of my very favorite episodes that we have maybe ever recorded. We have the incomparable Jane Levy as our guest. We have a really great game of trivia between
Starting point is 00:08:27 Chris Cody and myself. It's going to be a lot of fun. But we also don't dive that deep into what's happening right now today in Major League Baseball. So I'm going to explain it as quick as I possibly can. You have a crazy AL wildcard race where now it's the Tigers as the final team in the wildcard race sitting in that final spot. You got the Astros just a game behind them. that's alternating back and forth as the Guardians and the Mariners have ended up taking the lead in their divisions. The Mariners have clinched a playoff berth. They're so fun. He got Cal Raleigh over there. In my view, he's the player who should win the MVP. I'm telling you right now, that's what I believe. He should win the MVP over Aaron Judge. That's not to say
Starting point is 00:09:03 that Aaron Judge isn't amazing. Then you've got the National League where there are still five teams fighting for the final wildcard spot. You got the Mets in control at the moment, but the Diamondbacks and the Reds just a game behind them. The Cardinals are still alive. Hey, the Marlins are still alive, technically, for now. But we'll see what happens as of tonight. You've got four games left in each league. I'm doing this as quick as I can. You obviously have on the National League side as well, an MVP race that's going on.
Starting point is 00:09:26 It's probably going to be Shohei Otani. I'm the belief it should be Kyle Schorber because what he's done with the Phillies has been really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, amazing. Anyway, that's what's going on in Major League Baseball. All sorts of teams are ready. We're going to have a lot of fun on the pitch clock right now as we get to some trivia with Chris and an incredible interview with Jane Levy, of which went actually an hour. We're going to post the full interview as well.
Starting point is 00:09:48 So you get your clips here in this episode of The Pitch Clock, and you will get the full interview with Jane Levy on our YouTube playlist. So be sure to go check that out if you're just listening on the audio side. It's incredible. She's incredible. What a joy. And, yeah, hey, baseball. Coming at you now.
Starting point is 00:10:05 Welcome to the pitch clock. Here's the pitch. A two-part baseball segment. a nostalgic baseball trivia game and an interview with an expert. This is the pitch clock. The pitch clock is back for the final episode of the regular season. Hi, everybody. Yeah, baseball.
Starting point is 00:10:28 Bye, everybody? Yeah, we're getting close. I mean, we're going to be here for the postseason. Don't you worry about that? We will be here throughout. Today, we have a very special guest that I will tell you the fans of the pitch clock and just of the Levitart show in general, have been clamoring for.
Starting point is 00:10:43 Wow. That is not necessarily the man who is about to dish out our trivia, but we are very happy to have him here. Ethan is delivering our trivia today. I was like, the fans want me? I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. Good job, Ethan, you're here.
Starting point is 00:10:57 Ethan, you're here. You show up, you do the job, and that's what's happening right now. You're wearing a San Francisco Giants hat, hoping for a wild card run from them. Maybe we'll get into that with our guests, but I'm going to tell you this. You probably won't.
Starting point is 00:11:11 That's a hint. Ethan, tell us what our trivia game is today. I'm going to test you guys on the postseason home run leaders since 2000. In front of you, there are logos and a total. You have to tell me the player and you have to match the player to the total. So there's a bunch of the same team on here. You have to tell me which player from that team is in which spot. And also, just so you know, some of these players have played in multiple.
Starting point is 00:11:39 Post seasons with multiple teams. Yeah. The team that their logo is is the team they have the most home runs with. Gotcha. I love this idea. I love where your head's at. There is a 0% chance that we are going to be able to do this without just throwing out names and you letting us know where they go. Maybe bonus points if we do.
Starting point is 00:12:00 Yeah. Yeah. Sure. So you get a bonus. You get a bonus. I have. A half. I was going to do this as a three strike category.
Starting point is 00:12:06 A three strikes. Yeah, I like three strikes. I like three strikes. I like three strikes. How about if you get it in the exact spot and you have a strike, you can take a strike off the board? Ooh, I like that. This is not confusing at all. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:12:19 You give yourself a bonus strike. So yes. So if you can, if you can nail it. But, but here's the risk. Let's turn into a billy game. Hold on. Here's the risk. If you guess what spot it's in and you get the player right, but the spot wrong, it's a strike.
Starting point is 00:12:36 You see what I'm saying? They're right. Yes. Let's go ahead and do this. Chris, do you want to take the first place? Yeah, I'm going to have Cody T off here. Sure. Hi, everyone.
Starting point is 00:12:48 I'm going to do Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper is the Philly with 17. I would have guessed. I would have guessed 21. So a good thing. I'm going to go ahead and give one that I know is on this list. It's George Springer. Yes.
Starting point is 00:13:05 George Springer is the third Astro on this list with 19. Albert Pooleos. Yes, Albert Pooleholz is the Cardinal that is on this list. I should have saved it. I knew that was not. Yeah, it's remembering the fact that this is actually since 2000 that is going to be the big one here. And that actually helped me think of another one, which is 100% on this list, is David Ortiz. Yes, he is the Red Sock with 17.
Starting point is 00:13:35 It is now my absolute pleasure to welcome it. this guest to the pitch clock, seemingly everyone's favorite baseball guest we've like ever had on this show. My opinion, the most delightful guest we've had all of the calendar year of 2025. And now she's here on the pitch clock. Jane Levy joins us here on the pitch clock. Jane, welcome to the show. And thank you so much for taking some time to chat with me about some baseball. Boy, oh, you're now, you're my now number one favorite bro. Oh, number one favorite, bro. I'm putting it, I'm putting it in my Twitter. Jane Levy's number one favorite bro.
Starting point is 00:14:11 So thank you for that. Jane, I'm so pumped to dive into some baseball stuff with you here. So with the postseason approaching, we're just, you know, four games away from this regular season coming to an end. I just wanted to see what teams in modern baseball here in this season that have brought you some joy watching them this year? Who are some of the teams that stand out that you'd maybe like to see make a run? Not my teams. Let's put it that way. It's not the Yankees.
Starting point is 00:14:39 Because how do you start a season without a third baseman? If you start a season without a third baseman, you deserve whatever you get. And it's not the Mets who were really my team briefly when my father was still alive. My father was a New York Giants fan who transferred his love to the Mets. And when he was dying and he was in a considerable amount of pain, the only thing I could think of to distract him was to read him game stories from the New York papers, the tabs, the Times, whatever. So this was in 2003, and it was not a great Mets year.
Starting point is 00:15:20 Not as bad as this year, but it was not a great year. And literally his last words to me before he went to have the surgery that he would not really, that he wouldn't recover from were, oi the Mets. Oh, man. You could put that on a T-shirt, first of all, and second of all, what an almost fitting story. That's in some ways very beautiful. You know, it's so interesting. People are, I imagine, thrilled that this mega team with a $765 million man in right field is playing terrible baseball. You know, I can't help, but, you know, you know that I confab with Buck Showalter a lot, and I feel, I understood why, you know, David Stern's general manager, do guy in town wanted his own manager, blah, blah, blah. But do you think they'd be playing that sloppy if Buck was still in charge? Never.
Starting point is 00:16:25 I don't. I mean, what's missing, and I would say it's equally true of my Yankees, and. my dad's Mets is the lack of attention to fundamentals, the inability to do the basic things I was taught. You know, guys, let's start over. Remember, when a ground ball is coming at you, even if it's a wiffle ball, you bend your knees, you put your hands down on the ground, and you wait for the ball to come to you, right? They can't do it. They just can't do it. And contrast them with the two teams that I find I'm watching and rooting for the Brewers. Yes. The Guardians. Yes. Guardians are stunningly now leading the Central Division, and the Brewers have the best
Starting point is 00:17:14 record in baseball. So what's different about them? You know, other than that they don't have the money to spend on whoever they want, they're teams. They play like teams. And I don't think you can accuse the Mets of that this year. Certainly not. No. Yeah. So I'm really liking the Brewers and guards. I couldn't agree with you more and watching teams that do all of the little things.
Starting point is 00:17:45 The Guardians the other night when they beat the Tigers laid down three buntz that allowed them to be able to score some runs and get to an ultimate victory that's propelled them into a place where they control their own destiny in the division. And as someone who covers the Marlins, it's been a joy for me to actually. actually watch the coaches teaching their young players throughout the year. Pre-game, they're working on ground balls. Post-game, they're having conversations about those things. And it's one of the only reasons that team has overachieved the way that they have to, technically, as of today, still be alive for a potential post-season story. I was going, I saw a story yesterday going, and the Morlins are still a lot.
Starting point is 00:18:21 It's crazy. It makes no sense in the world. But here they are with potentially playing the spoilers with the Mets down here in Miami this weekend. but let's get into some other stuff here because I know there's a player you want to highlight here and I've been referring to this as a bit of a golden era for stardom and baseball starting to return because you do despite the fact that you know team wise we're looking at sort of three results in the walk the strike out in the home run there have been some really great stars of all sorts of different sizes skills and shapes in the league and I wanted to sort of pick your brain on
Starting point is 00:18:59 on a player who stands out to you as someone that has had a really great year or, again, has maybe been a joy to watch. Well, Jacob Young, the center fielder for the Wobagon Nationals, a team that spends no money on anybody or anything and who was injured much of the year. So he's only, I wrote this down somewhere for you, Jeremy. He's got, he's only had 319 at bats because he was out. injured. He stuck a pitchfork in the Mets the other night with two catches at City Field that were miraculous. But what was most astonishing, the catch where he brought back a home run, the ball was in
Starting point is 00:19:45 his glove that fell out of his glove as he fell to the field, and he kicked it with his spike back into his glove for the out. And what was both really instructive and kind of disturbing was that people who looked at it and said, oh, that's a Savannah banana play. And I'm like, no, that's a major league play. That's what happens when you don't give up on a ball. That's what happens when defense is your game, because God knows this guy can't really hit too much.
Starting point is 00:20:22 But he's got, let's see, he had 20 outs above average. Funny last year and 14 so far this year with only, you know, being out injured twice and only 319 at bats. So, you know, there's a case of paying a guy probably not much. I don't know what a salary is to do something that has value in two ways. What the banana's comment means is, oh, it was entertaining. Yes, it was, it wasn't a home run. It wasn't a strikeout. It was a part of the game that is woefully unappreciated these days.
Starting point is 00:21:08 So it's the skill and the craft of the game that, you know, I grew up loving and miss now. Chris, there are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Okay, so there are 16 slots left. Jose Altuvae. Jose Altuve is the number one postseason home run hitter since 2000. Doesn't he wear number 27? With a remarkable 27 home run. That's why when I first flipped this over, I was like, oh, he's putting their jersey number.
Starting point is 00:21:38 Yeah. That's also pretty crazy to think about considering he's like five foot six. So there's a player that I want to go with, but I'm a little bit afraid of the Yankees ones right now. I'm... So avoid them. I guess I'll go ahead. I'll stick with the Red Sock. I'll go Manny Ramirez.
Starting point is 00:21:54 Yes. Mani Ramirez is the other Red Sock on this list with 16 home runs in the postseason. I'll go Kyle Schwerber. Yeah, he's probably 21. Kyle Schwerber has 21 home runs in the postseason since 2000. Unbelievable. Flip-flop. I thought Bryce would have had 21 and Schwerber had the 17.
Starting point is 00:22:10 All right. I know somewhere on this list with the Dodgers has to be Freddie Freeman. Yes, Freddie Freeman has 14 post-season. He's in home runs since 2000. I just had a name pop into my head. Don't know if this guy. I know he's played for the Astros. Don't know.
Starting point is 00:22:31 I feel like he's hit a lot of home runs. Yordon Alvarez. Yeah, he's definitely here. No? First strike. Wow. Okay. Word on.
Starting point is 00:22:40 I'm trying to think of the guys who were on it. Oh. Um, is one of these Bernie Williams? Bernie Williams is not going to go to face. Fuck me, man. I got two trigger happy there. I'll go mooky bet. Yeah, good one.
Starting point is 00:22:56 Mookie Betts. Not this list. Well, okay. No, I'm just going to get on the board. Alex Bregman has to be on this list. Alex Bredman, I have listed as that second Astro with 19 home runs. Terrific. Chris has two strikes.
Starting point is 00:23:11 I have one strike. So we are headed into, I believe, our seventh round. And so, Chris, look, if you get this wrong and I get it right, then this game is over. So if I say a name and I gets the wrong spot, I don't get a strike. I just don't get to subtract a strike. So for what it's worth, I'm happy to make this pivot. I'm happy to make this pivot. I'm happy to make this pivot.
Starting point is 00:23:35 But I want everyone to know because we had it in there. If you get a player that's on the board but you get the spot wrong, it would be a strike. That was a bad rule when you said it. It wasn't a bad rule. Now that I'm thinking about it, it was kind of a bad rule. Because you should still get credit for getting the guy. Whose side are we taking here? The 16, not the 18, with the 18, with the.
Starting point is 00:23:53 Astros is Carlos Correa. You should have done it the other way around. So I'll give you, we changed the rule, so I will give you that Correa's on there. I could have won right. Jane, you and I are sharing in that we celebrated Rush Ashana this week, Leshanatova to you. And you literally wrote the book on the greatest Jewish baseball player of all time, Sandy Kofax. I'm fascinated by both the pitcher and the human being, Sandy Kofax. for a multitude of reasons.
Starting point is 00:24:26 And I can only imagine some of the things that you learned about him and with him sort of resonate today. And so I would just really love to sort of hear some of your favorite Sandy Kofax anecdotes or stories. Oh, we need a year for that, Jeremy. We could talk obey, so. Here's one that, why did it occur? to me. I think it was in the context of teamwork and respect. Sandy was named the left-handed pitcher, the pitcher, in 1999 for the 20th century All-Star team, right? That meant leaving off
Starting point is 00:25:12 Warren Spahn. And Sandy said, I'm not going if he's not going. So they had to change the rule about how many pitchers were being named in order to accommodate that. And, you know, he was mindful, as he ought to have been, that he won 165 games in his attenuated career. And Warren Spawn 363 wins in 21 seasons. Correct. One of the last being that game against Marischal at the stick in 62, which was, you know, nothing, nothing until Willie Mays hit a home run in the bottom in the 16th inning. Spahn was pretty fragile. And this was before Truest part, so this is, you know, the other Braves home. And Sandy waited, and he was, Sandy was announced, and he didn't pop out of the dugout. He waited for Warren and gave him his arm and helped him up the dugout
Starting point is 00:26:13 steps. And they walked arm and arm up the ramp. And that kind of respect, If I had to pick, you know, my favorite pitcher of all time, you know, I probably should pick Mariano Rivera will be the last fabulous closer. But the ball came out of Kofex's hand differently than anybody else's. And no, he didn't do it as long, you know, in many games, as many innings as Warren Spahn. But if you're talking about pure quality, you know, and the ability to do it. what was intended and to execute a plan, you know, with that 12 to six curveball and fastball that, you know, came out of exactly the same. Now they called it tunnel. Yeah, they do. He's an extraordinary human being. I like to say he's as good a human being as he is a pitch, as he was a
Starting point is 00:27:11 pitcher. We've got a lot of fans here with the pitch clock who have really just been following the game through our show, getting their three or four storylines each week, you know, playing some old nostalgic baseball trivia with us and going from there and, you know, have done their best. I've spoken to a lot of people who have said, hey, I've started watching more games here and there, you know, turning on Sunday night baseball, you know, following the season and being excited for the postseason, which to me has made my year, knowing that we've had even one person who has decided they're going to watch more baseball. But these are some casual fans who are trying to get deeper into it. And we've got the major league postseason coming up.
Starting point is 00:27:50 So as someone who is in love with this game, what would be maybe the advice that you could give to someone who's going to be viewing baseball through that postseason lens on a consistent basis for the very first time as a viewer? Well, I'm going to start with the acerbic. If any manager starts a World Series game with an opener ever again, he should be banned from baseball for once. I couldn't agree with you more.
Starting point is 00:28:22 I strong agree. Strong, strong agree. Thank you. The thing about the postseason, you know, to say that everything is heightened is a ridiculous cliche, obviously true. But a lot of the silly stuff that particularly old timers complain about during regular season games, you know, what they consider breaking the unwritten rules of baseball and showboating, that tends to go away in the postseason.
Starting point is 00:28:49 you're getting, you know, the best of what the best have to offer. And that includes plays that obviate what, you know, my old never-loving baseball friends used to say, which is nothing happens. It's so slow. Now, it is true that before the pitch clock, it had devolved into a Bergman movie, you know, pacing-wise. Four-and-a-half-hour movies. Yeah, exactly. But you don't see that so much in the postseason. You see no nonsense in the
Starting point is 00:29:29 postseason and efforts to make plays that maybe they don't make in 162. So every time somebody says to you, baseball is so slow, look how fast it happens when a guy, you know, goes first to third and the collision between the ball, the cleat, and the glove. Yes. That's not slow. That's, you know, milliseconds worth of action, and you really have to look at it. So my advice would be, you know, you want to go see home runs.
Starting point is 00:30:08 You're sure to see them, you know. Don't look down because there'll be another one. Look for the guy who knows how to play the ball. off the wall, make that throw. Look for the catcher who knows how to frame pitches, right? You will see the little things at work and you see them much more in the postseason than you do day by day. That's such a great point. And specifically, like when you talk about stealing strikes, right, like this might be one of those final post seasons that we get to watch that happen as ABS comes
Starting point is 00:30:43 into play. And it's important in terms of framing things. ball fan. When there are several strikes on the outside corner or the inside corner for a team that get called incorrectly, there shouldn't be a level of frustration with the umpire. These umpires are tremendous. There should be a compliment, a compliment paid to the catcher. One of the other things to pay attention to, because this is a space where oftentimes some starting pitchers, the best of the best, can go deeper and deeper into the game and see time, you know, a third or maybe fourth time through the lineup, watch how pitchers set up hitters for later at bats.
Starting point is 00:31:19 Watch what the pitch sequencing is against the best hitter in the lineup the first time they go through, if it's a lot of fastballs, if it's a lot of sliders, if it's a lot of sweepers, and the way that that goes the second time around, because then you might be able to start predicting the third time through, hmm, if I'm the hitter, what am I looking for? And being able to balance off of that. And so let's wrap right here. I asked you for your top five baseball players.
Starting point is 00:31:44 in the history of the game. Here we go. You've told me there's a list. Let's get to it. Let me see. I did this. Okay. And this is going to sound,
Starting point is 00:31:53 this is very idiosyncratic, but I know you expect nothing less of me. I love it. Babe Ruth, he invented the home run and the power game that is now way out of hand. And actually, his mechanics and his swing and his use of leverage with his 52 outs bat before he switched to a third.
Starting point is 00:32:14 34-ounce bat are really quite modern. Okay. Hank Aaron, because he broke the babe's record, when much of America didn't want him to do so, and he did it with extraordinary class, forbearance, and grace. That's right. Mickey Mantle, because he generated that expectation. You know, what was going to happen when he came to the plate?
Starting point is 00:32:41 Was he going to injure himself yet? again in such a graphic and horrible and defining way that he'd never be the same. I was at one of those games, and it was horrible, wonderful, exciting to see, the one where he tore his adductor muscle off the bone in 62. Kofax, like I said before, because the ball came out of his hand differently than anybody else. And I would have put Mariano because, you know, one pitch, you know, I don't know, could he pitch today? I don't know if he could pitch today.
Starting point is 00:33:22 It'd be interesting to know. But, you know, that's another role that's been obviated by the way pitching is now aligned. Yeah. You know, remember when they were called firemen? Yeah, right? Fireman. But to your point, to be able to have to have. Mariano Rivera, a guy who only threw one pitch, be the all-time saves leader, and come up clutch
Starting point is 00:33:44 in a million different moments. I love that we have a closer on this list. I love that we have two players who careers were cut short, but their excellence stood out in a way that was necessary. And, of course, two of the greatest players to ever play the game and compile stats that are unmatchable without, you know, performance-enhancing drugs. Quality, not quantity. Absolutely. Speaking of quality, this has been a really quality conversation. Jane, thank you so much for joining us. I love you, boy.
Starting point is 00:34:14 Oh, love you too. This is the best. This is awesome. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Great. I'll talk to you again. Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:34:21 Take care. Why are the Yankees so confusing? It's just like, is it possible? All right, Derek Jeter. Yeah, Derek Jeter is on this list, of course. He had 16 career postseason home. I'm going to go. with 18 Yankee
Starting point is 00:34:40 Oh, you're trying to gain a strike Alex Rodriguez That is three strikes And you are out Is there any world where that last Philly is Ryan Howard? No You guys are going to love this name It's Jason Worth
Starting point is 00:34:55 Wow! So yeah, so I'll fill in the blanks here So the Dodger with 19 is two-time World Series MVP With the Dodgers and the Rangers Corey Seeger Oh wow I almost said Justin Turner on here
Starting point is 00:35:06 I almost said Justin Turner is He's at the bottom with 13. Oh, man, Ginger Supremacy. So Giancarlo Stanton has 18. 18 with the Rangers is Nelson Cruz. Oh, should have known that. 16 with the Yankees. Can't believe you guys didn't say this name.
Starting point is 00:35:23 Aaron Judge still has 16 career. That was my, that was also my like, I don't know, man. The Astro was 16. Carlos Beltron had 16 career postseason home runs. I swear he was someone I thought about. Because remember he played with the Mets early with the Mets, And he had a couple with the Astros in like 0405, and then later in his career with the Asherst.
Starting point is 00:35:42 So there's two more Dodgers here. Kike Hernandez with 15, because he's had some great post seasons with the Dodgers and the Red Sox. And then Max Muncie with 13 has also had some. And Justin Turner. Wow. Justin Turner to round it out with 13. The Philly with 15 was Jason Worth. And you know what I'll tell you?
Starting point is 00:36:01 It was worth it having Ethan do this because I feel real good about getting a W. Hey, at the start of next week's episode. I'm going to reveal who won more games between the two of us. Who won? Nice reference. You missed. Just like you missed all those names. Winner!
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