The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Inside the Parker - Stacked MLB Playoffs; Bruce Bochy Props; 2019 Milestones; Guest: 2-Time All-Star Dmitri Young, Rays Beat Writer Dick Scanlon

Episode Date: September 25, 2019

This week on Inside the (Rob) Parker, Rob gives his take on what should be a stacked MLB Playoff field, pays respect to retiring Giants manager Bruce Bochy, and the MLB assault on the record books. He also names his Top 3 MLB Teams of the Week, Fair or Foul and the Analytic Stat of the Week.Guests: Dmitri Young - 2-time MLB All-Star on  working with youth amateur baseball players and his take on the MLB Playoff field;   Dick Scanlon - Longtime Rays Beat Writer on Tampa making a postseason run despite little local fan interest, and their prolonged under-the-radar success. 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,

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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. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. 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, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of, Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the biggest storylines

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You give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the scoop on Major League Baseball. Now here's Baseball Hall of Fame voter number 103. Rob Parker. Welcome to Inside the Parker. We got a great show for you today. We'll have former Major League First Baseman in outfielder Dimitri Young. He'll talk about the postseason plus. Dick Scanlan, the longtime reporter from the Lakeland Ledger will stop by,

and he'll tell us about those rays trying to make the playoffs as well. That and much more coming up. Let's go. 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. In six days, next Tuesday the baseball playoffs begin.

And if you're not excited about it, I don't know what's wrong with you because this might be the strongest field we've seen in a long time when you talk about the playoffs and the teams that are in. And everybody's not in yet. It's not locked down. Some wild card spots. So there's still a question of a couple of teams that'll make it. But right now, if the season would have ended today, Tuesday, then the season would have ended. then the Brewers would meet the Nationals in the wild card game. The Rays and A's would meet in the AL Wild Card game.

And then the wild card winner would take on the Dodgers and the Cardinals would take on the Braves. This is in the National League. In the American League, the wild card winner would be at the Astros and the twins would be at the Yankees. So that's where we are now. it's not finalized, but my goodness, you know you have the playoffs, have three teams in it that have won 100 games or more

in talking about the Astros, the Yankees, and the Dodgers. And even when you look at some of the teams in the National League, and it's amazing when you think about it that maybe the Cubs might are out of it and won't make it and what's happened and look at the teams that are in, it's going to be a strong field. It should be. Goose bump playoffs, and we can't wait. It's just a week away.

Number two. In less than a week, Bruce Bochy will not be the manager of the San Francisco Giants. What an incredible run as a manager. Think about it. 13 years in San Francisco, three world championships. And this season, Bruce Bolshe became the 11th manager in Major League Baseball history to achieve 2,000 wins. Bruce Bochy will be missed. It's amazing.

This guy who played in the major leagues and had a lifetime, 239 batting average, 26 home runs and 93 RBI. goes on to be this incredible manager, first with the San Diego Padres and then with the San Francisco Giants. Again, he won National League Manager of the Year, and that was in 1996 with the Padres. He never won it with the Giants where he won World Series in 2010, 2012, and 2014. He has been incredible. Bochi is the first foreign-born manager to reach the World Series back in 1998, and of course the first foreign-born manager to win the World Series in 2010. He has had an incredible run.

He's one of the characters of baseball, one of those guys you love to talk to. So Bruce Bochie hangs it up as manager of the San Francisco Giants after this season. What an incredible run. What a good guy. the guy who was born in France comes to the major leagues and does magical things for that team by the bay. Number three. As we enter the final week of the regular season, 2019 has had so many milestones reached and accomplishments. You know, C.C. Sabathia got both his 3,000 strikeout, his 250th win.

Albert Pooleholz reached a 2,000 RBI mark. Recently, Garrett Kohlnachted his 300. 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 beaders 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, 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, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free, our heart radio app, Search Learn the Hard Way and listen now. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor.

So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it?

Yeah. Just because we... Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of...

Ha, ha, ooh. Ha ha, ooh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeard Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever 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? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The strikeout of the year. We talked about Bruce Bochy and his 2000 managerial victory. And there's still more to come as the season winds down. What about Peter Lonzo of the New York Mets? Who's trying to reach the most home runs by a rookie and win the National League MLB home run title. Home runs as of Tuesday trying to catch Aaron Judge

who set the rookie record in 2017 with 52. So that's on the docket. There's so many other things going on. Nick Costellanos is with the Cubs has his 58th double on Saturday and coming into Tuesday, he's looking to try to get 60 doubles, two more, which were past Todd Helton, who had 59 doubles in 2000. Ronald LeCunia Jr. is trying to be a 40-40 guy.

He already clinched the 40-30 season, which was impressive enough. Think about it at age 21. He's the youngest guy to accomplish that. But there's still a chance that he could become the fifth. He needs three more stolen bases as of Tuesday to be a 40-40 guy, and it'll be the first time that happened since Alfonso Suriano did it in 2006. So there are other things to look forward to as we enter the final week of the Major League Baseball season. Ford Motor Company is committed to moving forward together with new all-electric vehicles

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Here comes the big interview. Listen and learn. Oh, it's so good. All right, now let's welcome into the podcast. Former Major Leagueer, Dmitri Young, yes, first base, left field, designated hitter, 2-92 lifetime batting average. Dmitri, welcome to the podcast. Hey, thank you there, Rob.

Thank you, thank you. Glad to be on. No doubt. What are you doing these days after your baseball playing days? Oh, man, I got a whole laundry list of things I'm doing in the amateur ranks of baseball. You know, I'm doing the breakthrough series and the Hank Aaron Invitational. The breakthrough series is held by Major League Baseball and they have it at the Urban Youth Academy and they have it at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex, formerly known as historic Dodger Town.

And that is a showcase for young black players that are high school age that are looking to go to college or go professional and probably not being seen properly. and then we have the Hank Aaron Invitational, which used to be called the Elite Development Invitational. And that is a camp that's held for two weeks in Vero Beach, Florida as well. And first group is

the seventh, eighth graders are about to be freshmen and then the second group high school students. And we're there for a week and it's a whole bunch of old baseball players and we're just sitting there coaching the kids up. And I'm also coaching at Oak Christian

high school out here in Southern California with Royce Clayton, the head coach, Jeff Weaver, the pitching coach, and I just moved up the varsity as the hitting coach. Are you kidding me? Those kids got those kind of coaching? Why, you'll better win the state championship. Well, the whole thing

is about getting them to buy in. You know, that's the thing with amateur baseball now. If you picked up a bat, all of a sudden, you're a baseball expert, and they're teaching the kids a lot of wrong. things. And so that's the reason why I'm on the amateur side, trying to teach these kids the right thing and get them away from the people and the money grab. I got you. How about a couple of your former teams, you played with the Cardinals, broken with the Cardinals, played with the Cincinnati

Reds, the Detroit Tigers, and the Washington Nationals. Do you keep up with your former teams or some of them? I didn't keep up with baseball in general. I'm not picking up a paycheck from none of them, so I'm not going to say I'm a fan of any of them. Right, I got you. But the Cardinals are, that's a great baseball town. And here the Cardinals looks like they're going to, you know, they win the division and the Cubs are not going to make the playoffs. Can you just talk about your days of playing in St. Louis and what that was like?

Well, that's funny that you say that because when I mentioned about playing, I mean, coaching that Oaks Christian with Royce Clayton, he was my teammate when I got called up to the St. Louis Cardinals. And the thing about the Cardinals, the reason why they stay consistent is because they teach you everything that you need to know in the minor league system before you get called up to the big leagues. That's why you always see guys that get called up and the Cardinals never seen the miss a beat ever. And that's because of what they have down in the minor league system

with the coaching staff and what they're providing as far as development. developing players to become big league ball players. So it's not real surprising that you see the Cardinals always in the division race, and it looks like they're going to run away with it, especially with Christian Yellage out for the rest of the year. And, I mean, the Brewers are playing good ball, but, I mean, is it enough? Right. To be able to do it.

And you're the former team, the Washington Nationals, you know, Bryce Harper walks out on them, and it looks like they're going to be able to secure a spot for the wild card and make the ball. playoffs when most people thought that, you know, what they had going on, they've always had good pitching. But are you surprised the Nationals going to make it to the playoffs? You know, at first I was, but then you look at the young roster that they have with Juan Soo and Robles on top of MVP candidate Rendon. I mean, these guys are really stepping up. And, of course, with Strasbourg and Scherzer, I mean, you have top-notch,

front line pitching. And nationals are a real complete team, and it's not shocking that they are where they are right now. But once that wild card began, you know, is anybody's guess who's going to win between them and Brewers or the Cubs? No doubt about it. What do you think about the playoff field? It looks like it's pretty strong.

There are three really good teams. The Yankees have won over 100 games. The Dodgers have won over 100 games. 100 games. The Astros have won over 100 games, and on paper, the Astros look like they should be the favorite to win the World Series. Do you buy into that? With the American League, I mean, you have three teams that basically have 100 wins, and the Astros have Justin Verlander, which we both know very well. From Detroit, Y'all days, yep.

Yes, and again, getting Zach Grinky and then that lineup, I mean, from top to bottom, and then you go on the bench. I mean, everybody's swinging the bat. And, I mean, the Astros, to me, they seem like the team to beat, but if the Yankees are swinging the bats when the playoffs begin, you know, I mean, that can be good as well,

but when they have Hermann out for the playoffs pretty much because of off-the-field incident, you know, that kind of swerves things in the other direction. And then the Minnesota twin, You know, everybody's got to have a surprise team that make the playoffs, and this year is going to be the twins, and we'll see how that young team does in the playoffs. But, man, I mean, if there's a team that picky have them.

The Astros. I like the Astros. No doubt. Can't wait for the playoffs to start his name, Dimitri Young, the two-time All-Star, nationally comeback player the year in 2007. And a guy, when I was covering baseball and out there all the time, I enjoy covering. Demetri, you're the best, man. I appreciate you.

Hey, hey, I love watching you on TV, and then when I'm on the road, I listen to Fox Sports Radio. That I couple is a great show. Man, thank you so much, Dimitri. Appreciate you. It's time for the Pocket Protector Central. The analytic numbers you need to know. Well, maybe. FS1's Anthony Masterson is his name. BS analytics is his game. What you got for me today, Anthony?

Well, Rob, the rise of those analytics, specifically with pitch effects technology, can give fans a better idea of what it means to be disciplined at the plate. Baseball info solutions through fan graphs shows us how often players see strikes, swing at pitches outside the zone, or even make contact.

Now, let's start with O swing percentage, the rate at which a hitter swings at pitches that are outside the strike zone, hence O swing. It's opposite for pitches inside the strike zone. That's called Z swing percentage. The cousins of these numbers are O contact and Z contact percentage. The rate of which hitters make contact on pitches out and in the strike zone respectively. Now along those same lines is contact percentage and zone percentage.

How often a pitcher sees pitches inside the strike zone? Got all that? Now this season, the Giants Kevin Pilar has an O swing percentage of 48. So that means he swings at nearly half the pitches he sees that are outside the strike zone. Alex Breggman for the Astros on the other hand rarely chases as his O swing percentage leads all of baseball at just 18.8%. Now the leaders in zone percentage, i.e. the hitters who see the most or fewest amount of strikes, it's no surprise the players to see the fewest pitches in the zone read like an all-star team. Alonzo, Yelich, Harper, Baez, Rizzo, Flattie Jr. In fact, Pete Alonzo's zone percentage

of 35.7% is the lowest among a qualified rookie since at least 2002. Pitchers clearly fear the polar bear, Rob. Nice. I might have to pay attention to that. We appreciate you, Anthony.

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. If the Cubs don't make the playoffs, is it foul or fair to fire Cubs manager Joe Madden, JR? It's foul. That is a foul ball.

It's so foul. Dating back to 2008, when he led to Tampa State, Debbie raised to an AL Pennant, believe it or not. That is won, what, 90 games in nine of his past. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 athletes 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to SportsSlice 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? 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, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Will Ferrell from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV. who now have covered Dancing with the Stars,

traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it?

Yeah. Just because we? Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season, from the final attempts at gameplay, to the desperate plea as a finalist to a bunch of ha, who, ha, who.

Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart 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 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 line. Hey, you know these kids. He walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rec, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Twelve seasons.

He's long established himself as a winning manager, especially when he led the Cubs to the World Series in 2016 and won 103 games, breaking the oldest World Series drought and baseball, what, 108 years. Prior to this season, Madden's won 92 or more games every year. He's been with the Cubs. Not many managers can accomplish that, but as we know, the game is changing. GMs want more control of the decisions, and old-school bosses like Madden, Joe Girardi, are susceptible to getting canned if they don't win World Series.

rings. The fire matter would be a dumb move. The Cubs are still in playoff contention despite having a down season. That happens in baseball. It's not like you're going to find an upgrade. He's one of the best. Keep him. J.R., you couldn't have said it any better. It's unbelievable. Fasten your seatbelt. Give you fuel, give me fire, give me that what I desire. Here comes Parker's top three MLB teams this week. Number three. The Los Angeles Dodgers. I know, I know they have over 100 wins. It's been a world win season. But for the Dodgers, they're in a different boat. They've had their struggles. The bullpen is still questionable. People aren't sure about the Dodgers. On paper, they look like, of course, they should make the

playoffs and the World Series and all that stuff. They won their seventh straight National League West Division. But that's not enough. For the Dodgers, it's all going to be. about the postseason and winning a World Series. But right now, the Dodgers, as we're a week away from the playoffs, enter the playoffs as the third best team in baseball. Number two. The Houston Astros, yes, I know on paper. They are the best team.

Look at the pitching staff. When they added Zach Granky, everybody wanted to hand on the World Series trophy. I get it. They won three straight division titles with over 100 wins, and that included a World Series in 2017. Yes, it's the golden era of Astros baseball, and they have an unbelievable lineup so much so that Altuve is like an afterthought with Bregman and Springer and all those other guys.

Yes, they are loaded and ready for the playoffs, and we'll definitely be a hard out, hard to beat. But with the record of 102 and 54, they are the number two team in baseball as of Tuesday a week before the playoffs start. Number one. The number one team in baseball is the New York freaking Yankees. I've been saying it all year. It is a miracle what they've been able to do when you think about it. Coming into Tuesday, they matched the Astros with 102 wins.

They were 102 and 55, a half a game behind the Astros for the best record in baseball. They've had by far the most games lost by players with injuries. And yet, think about this. Stanton hit a home run earlier this week, like only a second home run of the year. If he can come back and contribute in that lineup, he's going to be huge. and think about this. Aaron Judge has a chance to get to 30 home runs in the final week and think about it. He's only played in 98 games this year and he still might hit 30 home runs.

The Yankees lineup is potent. If they can get decent starting pitching with that unbelievable bullpen, the Yankees can win the World Series. I believe it, the Yankees are the number one team in baseball a week before the playoffs start. for this podcast in the following message comes from American Express. With Amex Platinum, once-in-a-lifetime perks happen all the time.

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Uh, almost done. Okay, I'm a car fanatic. eBay Motors. Let's ride. Take out the papers in the trash. It's time for Trash Talk Twitter. Your chance to trash anyone or anything in Major League Baseball. This week's winner is at Robbie Aronson.

And he tweets this. How can the raise? make the playoffs. I don't even know a single guy on their team. The A's and Indians are way better. If you want a chance to win a new era snapback like Robbie did, 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, old or new. All right, let's welcome to the podcast, Dick Scanlon in a long time, Lakeland Ledger Sports Rider, who of course is around and covers the Tampa Bay Rays. Hey, Dick, how you doing?

Good, Rob. How are you? Man, doing great. You know, Tampa Bay is one of those teams that people just kind of forget about and don't think too much about. But here we are on Tuesday, and they have a 92 and 64 record and are poised to make the postseason, they're hanging on to a wild card spot. Dick, tell people about the raise and how they've been able to do it this year. Well, they've had an incredible number of acquisitions since the trade deadline of 2018, that's, you know, a little over a year, Rob. Uh-huh.

Half of their roster has been acquired since the trade deadline, you know, of the 25 main guys. Half of them were not here in the middle of the 2018 season. They got a good bullpen. They have three good starting pitchers, Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glass now, two of whom have been hurt most of the year. But they've just kind of patched it up. And no stars, you know, a lot of good young players. Everybody's made a little bit of a contribution.

And here they are at 92 wins with six games left in. It's five games left in. Amazing. What about Charlie Morton? He has a chance to qualify for the ERA title. He's been a workhorse. We'll probably end up with 33 starts over 190 innings. He's been a godsend, hasn't he?

Oh, really, yeah. He's been exactly what they needed to stabilize the rotation, because, as I mentioned, Rob, the other two guys have been hurt most of the year. Now on the Sai Young Award, he's missed four months. Glassnow was 6-0 at one point and then got hurt in his eight start, and he's just got, neither of those guys are really fully black back into the rotation. So they've kind of pieced it together with, you know, openers and guys pitching three or four innings at a time. and somehow it's worked,

partly because they've had a pretty good bullpen, and, you know, they just sort of glued things together, won a lot of close games. Nobody's really better. Austin Meadows, who came with Glassnow last summer, has had pretty close to a monster offensive a year,

but other than that, you know, everybody's just done clutch it, I don't know if you're aware of Travis Darnow, the catcher that I picked up off the scrapkeep in May. The Dodgers, he was in the Dodgers, Triple-A, the Dodgers virtually gave him to the raise. Yep. And he's been, like, one of their most valuable players.

He has 67 RBI. Just a dozen, you know, huge clutch hit. And it's worked. So they got a 795 or 96 win, which even that wouldn't necessarily. certainly, gentlemen, as a playoff. Now, speaking of that, right, they're not, it's not a done deal, but here's the other part that people really don't know. How successful the race have actually been over the past decade plus.

Tampa Bay's record is 1,05 and 901, which is fifth best in the major leagues, right? It's amazing? Yeah, since 2008, since the breakout year when they went to the World Series. but nobody would even know that or even think that they've been that successful. But here's the problem, of course, the playoffs. The raids have only made the playoffs three times and none since 2013, so that's why people don't realize, right, how successful they've been. Right.

Well, I mean, that's a function of being in the division with the Yankees and Red Sox. You've got the high-powered, big spending teams. and the race that usually well the rate have to finish ahead of one of them usually and this year it happened to be the the Yankees had the big year and the Red Sock didn't but I was stunned to find this myself Rob they've had 90 wins in seven of the last 12 years

that's incredible 90 wins used to be pretty much an automatic ticket to the playoffs but you know not this year this year in last there's so many bad teams in the American League, you know, to whip up on that 90 wins doesn't even get your playoff spot. Nope.

Last thing, when people see the raids on television and considering all the success they have and they look like they were going to make the playoffs all year, the crowd still are bad there in Tampa Bay. Why don't people come? The demographics of the market. People here watch the games on television. They have good TV ratings. and frankly, they don't go to the ballpark.

I think the ownership made a big mistake a long time ago, bad-mouthing the ballpark, claiming they need a new ballpark. And there's a lot of people in the Tampa Bay area and surrounding areas that think the ballpark is a joke, and they don't want, you know, and it's poorly located. Yep. His name is Dick Scanlon from the Lakeland Ledger, one of my favorite baseball writers.

Hey, Dick, thanks so much for joining the podcast. Thanks for the kind of words, Rob. Anytime. Now bring in the closer. Track one. Strike one. Strike two. The right three.

Here's why MLB is better than the NFL or NBA. And it isn't even close. Here's reason number 3,000 why MLB is better than the NBA and the NFL. And let's first talk about Detroiter Eli Hydez. He's the fan who caught Albert Pooleholz's ball back May 9th when he finally got his 2000s RBI. What a milestone. And if you remember, Hides didn't want to give the ball to Albert Pooholtz. And then, you know, all kinds of stuff happened.

He turned down a lot of cash and a whole bunch of stuff. And instead now he has decided to hand-deliver the baseball to the Baseball to the Baseball Hall of Fame. he will do that instead so that all baseball fans will be able to admire the moment for Albert Pujols, who has at the time of 2000 RBIs joining only Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez as guys who had over 2,000 RBI in their career. It's an impressive number. Hyde is donating to baseball in the memory of his late son, Cyrus. His son was named after Cy Young. What an awesome story.

In the words of New York TV legend, the late Bill Jorgensen, thanking you for your time this time until next time. Rob Parker, out. He can't get it. This could be an inside of Parker. See you next week. Same bad time. Same bad station. Teathing can be a real nightmare for your little ones. Highlands Natural's baby oral pain relief tablets can help ease the pain. It's gentle, natural, active ingredients like chamomile and arnica,

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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.

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