The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Inside the Parker - Dombrowski Out; Welcome Home Papi; Byron Buxton Done; Top 3 Teams; Guests: Ex-MLB'er Bernard Gilkey, Sox writer Alex Speier

Episode Date: September 11, 2019

This week on Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob gives his take on Dave Dombrowski being removed as President of Baseball Operations less than a year after winning the World Series, Big Papi's first public appearance at Fenway since being shot in the Dominican Republic, and the Twins loss outfielder Byron Buxton for the year with a shoulder injury. He also names his Top 3 MLB Teams of the Week, this week's 'Twitter Trash Talk' Winner, 'Fair or Foul' and the Analytic Stat of the Week.Guests: Bernard Gilkey - Former MLB Outfielder on why Cardinals fans are the best in MLB, and why he enjoys the changes since he retired.; Alex Speier - Author of Home Grown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion From the Ground Up on his book detailing Boston's 2018 title run.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played. with and just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to listen to learn the hard way on the iha radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast what's up guys

this is clivert taylor the fourth and on my podcast the clivert show i'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff like being an internet famous referee we're in the middle of a game this linebacker this linebacker walks up to me he goes a ref my mom wants you to wave at her what Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker.

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Rob Parker. All right, welcome into Inside the Parker. I'm your host, Rob Parker. And coming up on the program, we'll talk with former Major League outfielder Bernard Gilke and his former team, the streaking St. Louis Cardinals. Plus, we'll talk with author Alex Spire. He has a new book about the Red Sox and their homegrown talent. That plus so much more.

Let's go. Better up. To lead off, it's getting robbed. And keep him up. Rob's hot take on the three biggest stories in Major League Baseball. Number one. Dave D'Browski's out as president of Baseball. operations for the Boston Red Sox only 10 months after winning three consecutive American

League East titles and the 2018 World Series Championship. We're talking about less than 10 months from winning a title for Boston. They say the farm system is depleted. They say he spent too much money that he shouldn't have rushed to sign Chris Sale to that big contract. They say that the Yankees owned the Red Sox this year, winning 14 times. And is that really the reason that Dave Dumbrowski's out? I'm sorry, I can't buy it.

It's got to be more than that. There's got to be some other story we're waiting to break and develop and to ooze to the surface. It can't be because the Red Sox are having a bad year and because the Yankees have dominated them. The Red Sox ran away with the World Series a year ago. Do you remember what they did to the Yankees? To the Astros? To the Dodgers?

Yes. Dave Dombrovsky's out in Boston, but I can't believe it has anything to do with baseball. Number two. On Monday night at Fenway Park in Boston, Red Sox fans were delighted when former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankees Red Sox game. Fans were surprised to see him. The 43-year-old Ortiz was released from the hospital in July and he's rehabilitating at home.

When you talk about what this guy's been through it was his first. major appearance since the shooting in which he was shot back in his home of the Dominican Republic back in June. What a great sight. What a great scene. A three-time World Series winner, known affectionately as Big Poppy, was met with a thunderous ovation from the fans. It was great to see.

And Ortiz told the fans, quote, First of all, I want to thank God for giving me a second opportunity in my life to be able to be here with all of you. I want to thank the Red Sox, my real family. They have always been there for me, supporting me. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live there. them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch life becomes about wins and losses

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth or are you a good person because you're afraid because that's two different intentions bro absolutely and that's two different levels of trust I want you to just really be a good person Join me, Keir Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes, fleets for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you

to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Red, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. They were aware of what happened to me, and they were the first ones there supporting me. Welcome home, Big Poppy. it was great to see you back up and around. Major League Baseball could breathe a sigh of relief. Number three. Bad news for the Minnesota Twins who are having a magical season. Byron Buxton, yes, their star outfielder will likely not return in October.

On Tuesday, Buxton was placed on the 60-day injured list on account of his left shoulder. Buxton was set to undergo surgery on Tuesday, and the timetable for him to be able to bounce back is expected to be between five and six months. More details were expected once the surgery is complete. The 25-year-old had not allowed a plate appearance since August 1st when he crashed into the outfield wall in Miami and suffered the soldier injury.

and Buxon finishes the 2019 season with the career high and batting average at 262, slugging 513, OPS 827, doubles with 30, and instead of being able to make it to the playoffs and we join his team, he is out. Buxden is out for the season. It is a blow for the Minnesota Twins. Ford Motor Company is committed to moving forward together with new all-electric vehicles that offer an efficient and exhilarating driving experience.

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people from all different types of walks of life. Food is the one thing that truly ties us all together. Support Coutura all year long by listening to. to the Microtura Podcast Network, available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn.

Oh, it's so good. Now joining the podcast, former Major League Outfield and one of my favorites, Bernard Gilke, who of course played for the Cardinals, the Mets, the Diamondbacks, the Red Sox,

and the Atlanta Braves. Bernard, what's happening? What's going on, my friend. How you doing, Rob? Man, doing great, great, great to catch up with you. What is Bernard Gilke doing now? People want to know. Wow.

Actually, I'm on the road just coming back from playing in the golf tournament up in Chicago. I had the pleasure of playing Olympia Field. And so I'm trying to learn the game of golf a little bit. And also still a part of the game of golf. the Cardinals organization. I am a Cardinal core coach, and we do like mentor in the minor leagues. All right, well, let's talk about the Cardinals, who are atop the NL Central, and, you know, that's a tough division with Milwaukee and with the Cubs, of course.

Tell me about the Cardinals. Why are they in first place, Bernard? Well, I think their persistence. They stuck with it. You know, they had a rough start. Well, they really got off to a really good start, and they fell into, you know, a little slump, a little slow start there, you know.

But I think they just stuck to their guns, you know, and they believed in themselves, and they just kept being persistent. The locker room seemed like it turned around, well. They seem like a really tight group, tight knit group of guys right now and the management is doing well

and the ball players are playing. That's what it takes. They are, it's going to be a tight race. Some good team is not going to make the playoffs when you think about as I brought up, the Cubs and the Brewers. Bernard, of course, you are from St. Louis

and I don't think this is you being a homer, but I've said this. And you played in some great towns. You played in New York. You played in Boston. You played in Atlanta. But I think the St. Louis fans, and I think St. Louis has the best baseball fans in the country.

I've always said that. What do you think about St. Louis and the crowds? It's outstanding. You know, you must look at it. They always come out. They support no matter what. And, you know, once you look at different fan bases in different cities, and you see how the St. Louis crowd, even how receptive they are to the baseball fair in general,

even the visitors, they come out and they recognize, and they're very knowledgeable about the game and how it should be played. And they are just 100% St. Louis Cardinal fans, but they are great baseball fans in general. No doubt about it. I've always said that, and like I said, there are so many great towns, but there's something about St. Louis and all that red one. I used to go to hit of cover games. It was amazing.

Talk about the home runs in baseball. Do you like it? Don't like it. Too many shifts. What do you like about baseball right now? What don't you like about baseball? You know what? Baseball is fun right now, I do believe.

You know, even with the home runs and the numbers these guys are putting up, I think the home run makes it fun. The shift makes it very interesting. I think the shift really makes the player become an overall player, not just a one-dimensional player or a full-hitter. You know, to beat the shift, you have to use the whole field. You know, so it takes the hitter from a hitter's perspective. They have to use the whole field.

So it makes them, even though they hit a lot of whole runs to be an exciting baseball player, You have to use the opposite field, good on base, you know, steal some bases and make things happen. I think baseball is exciting right now. Another thing that makes it exciting and is all of the players and there's... Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode we're cutting through the night. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about on healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Suns playing in the major leagues.

Can you get over, like, how many players? We just saw Vlad Guerrero Jr., right? he's up with Toronto. We've seen a number of other players all of a sudden start to play in the major leagues. Why do you think that is and why there are so many players now in baseball and their dads? Pudge Rodriguez's son is a pitcher.

I could go on and on and on about how many players. Why do you think that is Tatis, Jr. is another guy. The line on the shields. Delano the Shields, right? We could go on and on about the list. Why is that? I think we came up in an era where the kids, like the teams I played on,

the kids were always allowed to be around the ballpark. So these kids, they were groomed from birth in the ballpark, you know. And so they got so accustomed to being around it, and then they fall in love with the passion of the game. You know, and they get a head start. They get to see major league players. They get to see how the game really at its best, at its highest level, how it's played. And, you know, they got a sense of that at an early age.

I think it just really rubbed off. And the organizations, they accepted that. They invited that. They let them in the clubhouses, and the kids grew up in the clubhouses. Yeah, I think that's been good for baseball. When you see like a Cody Bellinger, what kind of player he is. And, you know, remember his dad was a utility player, play Bellinger. When you see a guy like that, what do you think of Cody Bellinger,

big-time home run hitter for the Dodgers? And I don't, he's a star. He is an outstanding ball. So he's fun to watch. You know, when my dad, We used to sit down and watch baseball. If he was here today, he would see a baseball player like Cody Bellinger, and he would say, that man's dangerous.

He is dangerous. He's a dangerous baseball player offensively. Defensively, he has a strong one. So he's always making something happen for the good of the team. All right. His name is Bernard Gilke. Of course, St. Louis born and bred, and Wanda. playing for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. Bernard, great catching up with you, man. Thank you so much.

Hey, Rob. It's always a pleasure anytime. I'll be here for you. All right. Stay well. It's time for the Pocket Protector Central. The analytic numbers you need to know, well, maybe. FS1s, Anthony Masterson, is his name. BS Analytics is his game. What you got for, Anthony? All right, Rob, one of the beauties of baseball is that no park is the same. In hockey, basketball, or football, there are rules that make the playing field the same, but not so in the national pastime. However, that individuality can certainly skew stats.

Now, a 310-foot fly ball in your Yankee Stadium, Rob, is a home run in every other park. It's usually a fly-out. Now, how do we factor this in when comparing players? Well, they're appropriately called Park Factors. Now, Park Factor is taking into account more than dimensions. They also consider weather, air density, and even air quality. Now, Petco Park has a denser marine layer that makes it tougher to hit home runs than, say, the thin air of Coors Field in Denver.

The league average park factor is 100. So a park with a factor of 105 means that run scoring is 10% higher than average. It's actually 110, but it's cut in half since half the games per year are played at the same park. Now, so we see on these stats leaderboards any metric that ends in a plus or a minus, like weighted runs created plus or ERA minus. Therefore, the Rockies, Nolan Aronado, who's sitting 310 with 37 home runs this season, has a weighted runs created plus of 122, since Coorsfield's Park Factor of 112 assumes his home part will give him an offensive boost. But a guy like the Mets Pete Alonzo, who's hitting 270, but with 47 home runs at the moment

at the more cavernous City Field has a weighted runs created plus of over 148. Now, Cityfield's Park factor of 87 last year was the lowest in baseball, by the way, thus giving Pete Alonzo a boost for the park factor. It's all about leveling the playing field, Rob. You just hit it out to park. Thanks, Anthony. Hey, singles, do you feel like a tourist in your own town? Too busy to enjoy all your city has to offer? Events and Adventures organizes up to 30 unique get-togethers around town each and every month.

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It was a big week in the big leagues. Who's up? Who's up? Or is it fair? And now, here's shadowleague.com MLB insider, J.R. Gamble. They say the farm system is depleted. He's spent too much money on free agents. The Yankees kicked the Red Sox's butt all year.

and Dave Dumbrowski has been fired as GM. J.R., is it foul or fair to fire Dave Dombrovsky 10 months after winning a World Series? Fowl. That is a foulball. That's totally foul.

I mean, it brings me to one of the series last year and you have a little struggles this year, which is, you know, totally likely after having such a great year that Boston had last year, You're going to have a little bit of a letdown. Everything fell correctly for them from the pitching to Moogie Betts's MVP season to Jackie Bradley's clutch homers and the playoffs. It was unlikely that that was going to happen again. Now, it's more embarrassing because the Yankees seem to be back formidable at full strength,

and they ran away with the division. And then we don't know about the internal relationships that are happening within the team, the relationship with the general manager and the manager, who has. more power, who's more popular after winning that World Series last year. So it's embarrassment. And Dave Dunbrowski, unfortunately, is the one that has to suffer a year off of World Series. If his job is his job is taking off, nobody's job is safe. So to think that he'll be fired after one year, in which they still competed most of the

year, is just foul. All right, there we go. Fasten your seatbelt. Give you fuel, give me fire, give me that what I desire to. Here comes Parker's. top three MLB teams this week. Number three. The Los Angeles Dodgers, they were red hot most of the year, 93 and 52 coming into Tuesday.

And yes, they nearly got swept over the weekend by the Giants. They're struggling right now. Starting pitching's not good. The Dodgers have a little issue. The bullpen has bounced back. But right now, going into the playoffs, the playoffs, the Dodgers. Dodgers aren't as hot and look as tough as they did earlier in the season. There's reason for concern the way they're playing right now.

Number two. The Houston Astros. Yes, yes, we saw how crazy it was on Sunday when the Astros exploded for 21 to 1 victory over the hapless Mariners. Yes, and we know that there was also that 15 to nothing blowout over the athletics on Monday. And yes, Astros have set numerous team and personal records in a short stretch. They've been unbelievable with the bats. They entered Tuesday 95 and 50, 45 games over.

But they still are the second best team in baseball. Number one. The New York freaking Yankees. I've been saying it almost all year. Somehow, some way. Coming into Tuesday, the Yankees have a 95 and 50 record, 45 games over 500. They were the first team to get to 90 wins. They've had a slew of injuries.

And yet they continue to win. They went to Boston this past weekend, won three out of four. and the real big key is James Paxton. The pitch who struggled most of the first half, he's now 8-0 in his last 8 starts. He's been incredible. These the A's the Yankees have been looking for. If he continues to pitch at this level,

the Yankees will be in great shape as they enter the postseason. Right now, the Yankees are the best team in baseball. Take out the paper. It's time for Trash Talk Twitter. Your chance to trash anyone or anything in Major League Baseball. This week's winner is Gus underscore Weddickamp 23. And he writes this,

The Red Sox have been awful all year long. This series was no difference. Good riddance. We beat you 14 out of 19. Wow, the Yankees put it on them. If you want a chance to win a new era snapback cap, send your trash to at Rob Parker FS1 on Twitter. When Rob was a newspaper columnist, he lived by this motto.

If I'm writing, I'm ripping. Let's bring in a writer or broadcaster, older new. All right, let's welcome to the podcast, Alex Speer. He has a brand new book called Homegrown How the Red Sox built a championship from the ground up. Alex, welcome. How are you? I'm great, Rob. Thanks so much for having me on.

Really appreciate it. No problem. Let's let people know that you've covered the Red Sox for the Boston Globe since 2015. Yes, and covered the Red Sox dating back to 2002. So, you know, seen a franchise transform a few different times over the course of the last few years. But talk about this team. and what they were able to do and how they were able to dominate

and win a World Series championship. What was the big first move that they made? Well, there was this kind of extraordinary day that occurred in the Red Sox front office on August 15th, 2011. The rules of how Major League Baseball allowed it seemed to draft and sign players were different then. You basically had an open wall.

You could spend as much as you wanted to to add prospects to your system. And it looked like at that point it was going to be the last time that teams had a chance to do that. So the Red Sox were taking one last really big swing at the fences, and in that last kind of frenzied hour, literally the minutes and seconds leading up to midnight,

they signed a number of players who ended up being core contributors to the 2018 championship. Among those guys were signed between 11 p.m. and midnight on August 15th, 2011, while the Red Sox front office was kind of freaking out, were Jackie Bradley Jr. and Matt Barnes, a couple of their first round picks, and also a skinny 150-pound kid who was about 5'8 out of Tennessee named Mookie Betts, who was a fifth round selection that year and obviously turned into a transformative figure in the history of the franchise. So that was kind of the beginning point.

The Red Sox seized an opportunity that existed a closing window to add as much amateur talent as they could, and that obviously paid a lot of dividends, but it took a long time for them to get there. How about Mooky Betts? I mean, talk about coming out of nowhere and being this impactful player, MVP. I mean, that's quite a story. It's extraordinary when you think about exactly what I was talking about a few moments ago. Coming out of high school, this small kid who really didn't stand out at all on the baseball field, the type of guy who often ends up going to college and then maybe asserting himself against really good competition there.

But the Red Sox took a chance on him. They had a scout who really was drawn to just the ease with which he seemed to be moving around the field and the athleticism. And, you know, even though he didn't have real power at that point, just saw some great hand-eye coordination. But over the course of time, Mukie Betts went through serious self-doubt early in his professional career. At one point in his minor league career, he was ready to quit. He was talking to basketball programs about the possibility of going to school. But instead, he ended up kind of sticking it out through this period and making just a couple of small. adjustment, having the right coach, come along at the right time for him in 2013, made some

adjustments and all of a sudden got on this kind of rocket ship to being one of the biggest prospects in baseball, and then ultimately one of the best players in baseball. But it's not the type of guy who, when you're passing him on the street, you say, oh, that's a guy who's going to be a superstar athlete because he's 5'9 and, you know, just kind of undersized. So it took a little bit of, it took a pretty interesting crystal ball to discover the talent that he might be. And we say this to add for all.

all the joy of 2018, 10 months later, Dave Dumbrowski, the president of baseball operations, is out. How stunning is that to you? On the surface, it looks crazy that, you know, it's the type of thing that induces whiplash when you think about it. You know, I mean, this was a guy who, less than a year ago had been the architect overseeing the final touches of the most successful Red Sox team in franchise history. On the other hand, the team that Dumbowski built from the time that he became, that he came on board as president of baseball operations in 2015 through 2019, through 2019. His mission was to add to a really good core.

The Red Sox are getting to a very strange place where the mandate isn't going to be one of adding. Instead, it's going to be, quote, unquote, reshaping the core. They're going to be having to watch some of these guys walk away or trade them. So a player like Buckey Betts, the Red Sox faced a significant decision coming up on this offseason or the following one about whether or not they're going to be able to retain. Mookie Bets, and if not, if they should trade him. And Dave Dombrovsky has been, you know, his M.O. with the Red Sox was to add and add and add. And so at a time when they're going to need to start subtracting key cornerstone players

in thinking a little bit more about balancing short-term and future interests, they decided that they were going to go with a different leader for that next phase of the franchise. But, yeah, on the surface, it's stunning. but when you think about the particular circumstances of the franchise, I guess it's slightly less stunning, but only slightly. His name is Alex Spire. He has a new book, Homegrown, How the Red Sox built a champion from the ground up. Where can people get the book?

Any online outlet, you know, or your local bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or hopefully your local bookstore is carrying it too. All right, Alex, thank you so much for joining the podcast. Now bring in the closer. Track one, strike two, ski, right, three. Here's why MLB is better than the NFL or NBA, and it isn't even close.

This is why baseball is better than the NBA and the NFL. We're seeing a lot of generosity in the crowd. A lot of it, a lot of those baseballs going to kids. That's what it's all about. Very sweet. And a Yankee kid. He looks emotional about it. He is.

He really is. Isn't that sweet? The scene that unfolded. Monday night at Fenway Park was unbelievable. There was a foul ball in the stands. Somebody grabbed the foul ball from the bat of Aaron Judge.

The guy who got the ball handed it to a kid and the kid who's wearing Yankee stuff is brought to emotional tears. He cannot believe he got a ball from one of his favorite players at the ball game. He didn't catch it.

It was handed to him, but it still moved him like that. There's no other game you go to. If an NBA ball goes into the crowd, you throw it back. It's not a big deal. They put up the nets when they kick the extra points or the field goal so it can't go into the crowd. Same thing. If a ball goes into the crowd, nobody expects to take it home

or the security guard takes it from you. In baseball, when the ball comes into the stands, it belongs to the fans. Fans treasure getting a foul ball. It makes a moment. Monday night, we saw what a foul ball can do to a kid and give him a lasting moment. That's why baseball is better than the NBA, better than the NFL, and it ain't even close. In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time until next time.

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We dive deep into IT profiles and learn what it takes to drive large-scale IT transformations for successful businesses. Visit changemakers.freshworks.com. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves,

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podcast. What's up, guys, this is Clifford Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

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