The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Robert Ford On A Short MLB Season

Episode Date: June 25, 2020

Robert Ford On A Short MLB Season

This is the Matt Thomas show. On Sports Talk 790, our good friend Robert Ford is finally going to get to work. July 23rd or 24, depending on when the schedule is going to be released. And Robert joins us here on the Matt Thomas show. All right, I know you've been taking art lesson. You're going to put those away and start focusing on your scorebooks. Are you prepared to do so? Yeah, I mean, I am disappointed.

You know, I was really enjoying Bob Ross. He has such a soothing voice. You know, happy little trees, but that's okay. I can get back to baseball. So how many DVR episodes of that show do you have on your DVR right now? You know, it's on Netflix. I actually have watched a couple of them. I haven't tried to paint, but it always brings back fond memories of childhood,

seeing Bob Ross with that huge appro. Oh, my God. Making things look easy with the paintbrush, and I'm just like, yeah, I can't do that. I understand. Have you done anything? I mean, like, I've cleaned some parts of my house that needed to be clean. What's the most productive thing that Robert Ford has done besides spend time with his daughter? Well, you know, I moved in, you know, the place I live, I moved into a little over a year ago,

and I finally have gotten around with some various projects I put on the back burner, done a little bit of decorating, fixed a few things. So that's been nice, you know, a few trips to hardware stores. I've also been able to knock out a few books, which generally doesn't happen as often this time of year. And I always have stacks of books waiting to be read. So it's nice to actually have made a dent in that. Of course, I've also bought more books during the pandemic. So that hasn't really helped.

But, yeah, I mean, it's been nice to, I mean, as much as I love baseball, as much as I love what I do, it's been nice to do other things this time of year. I do want to get to baseball for a second, but I do, again, I've done it privately. I'm publicly a semi-condolences to you and your family on the passing of your father. And so if you don't mind, your father, reading a lot about him through your Instagram and through Facebook and whatnot, was one of the original men behind hip-hop. Can you take a minute to kind of explain to the audience how your father got involved in that aspect of music? Yeah, I appreciate that, Matt.

Yeah, so my dad was a writer for Billboard in the 1970s and covered disco and a lot of other music, mostly, you know, quote unquote, black music. And he was there when hip-hop rap music was just getting started, wanted to get on the production side of things. And while getting hooked up with Curtis Blow, who became the first rapper to sign with a major label, my dad wrote or co-wrote several of his early hits, including the breaks, which is his best-known song,

and Christmas rapping and basketball, which still gets played, as you know, Matt. Oh, yeah. For NBA arenas. For sure. even today. And yeah, he was able to parlay that, you know, go from a writer to be on the production side in the music business

and did that for a very long time. And was also a manager of the R&B group High Five in the early 90s, and they came out with their first album, Hi-5 out of Waco, Texas. So, yeah, lived quite a life. But you know, Matt, what's been interesting to me is it's been great reading and hearing from all these different people about things that my dad did.

the way he impacted people that I just didn't necessarily know. But, you know, as a kid, that stuff didn't really resonate with me. I didn't really understand that until I got older. He was just, you know, he's my favorite guy to play catch with and watch baseball with. And, you know, when I was really young, he pushed me on the swings. You know, those are the things that resonated with me growing up. But it's nice to know that, you know, my dad has had the impact on as many people as he did. Did he ever ask your opinion about this new form of music that was starting up?

but I guess I'm thinking that's 30 years ago, so you probably, what, 9, 10 years old and somewhere in that range? With what new form of music? With hip-hop, I mean, the way that, and it's infancy. Did he go, hey, do you know, do you think kids don't like it? I mean, it actually happened, you know, so I was, so I was born in 1979. Oh, you're older than I thought you were. Okay.

Yeah, and so part of the reason my dad got involved on the production side was he wanted to make more money because I was on the way. And, you know, he was going to be a father for the first time. So that was part of the reason he kind of took that leap, that leap of faith and took that gamble into being on the production side of the music business because he knew it would be more lucrative and it'd make it easier for him to support me. And he was right because, you know, the royalties from some of the songs that he wrote for Curtis Blow helped pay for my college education. Wow. Well, that's great. Again, you did a fantastic job of honoring him.

And I'm sure he'd be very proud looking at you today. Let's get to a little bit of baseball here. Do you take anything away from what you saw in March, or are we just scrapping that entire four weeks down in West Palm Beach and saying it's a brand new season starting when the guys get together at Minutemate Park? Well, it's hard to – I mean, for me to take anything away, I'd have to actually remember it. I know. I'm having a hard time I'm in the Rockets roster right now,

much less trying to figure out who's going to get the rotation can playoff time. So I'm right there with you. Yeah, and so that, you know, I mean, you take some things away, and I'd imagine once the game start and I see you guys again, you know, that'll kind of jog my memory on certain things that I saw during spring training, especially with some of the younger players. But, yeah, I don't know that there's a whole lot to take away from it or that you can lean from it. And I think what's also going to be tricky and, you know, there's still unknowns in terms of how much access there will be to, you know, these spring workouts. but those are still going to be different than your typical spring training games. So it's going to be a really weird year to evaluate guys before the season because normally you could kind of go off maybe noticing something in spring training. Someone's doing different or young Claire that impresses you.

But, I mean, that was more than three months ago. So, I mean, does that really translate now when guys are ramping it up again and have had the layoff that they've had? So, yeah, I don't know that you can take a whole lot away from the first spring training, even if you are able to remember much from it. Robert Ford, Voice of the Astros with us at 107 on Sports Talk 790. I told the audience last hour that of all the sports, the ones that have the ritual, the daily habits down to a T are Major League Baseball players, from the time they eat, the time they get the ballpark, time they hit, time they field.

Everything's going to be different. You tell me how much of an adjustment you think these players are, as you know, being around these teams as long as you have been, that George Springer knows where he needs to be at 420. Carlos Curia knows what he wants to do at 315. Justin Verlainer knows what he wants to do on the day after he pitches. So I think it's going to be a tremendous adjustment for these guys, especially with all the new protocols in place.

It is going to be a tremendous adjustment, and I think what it could come down to is who's able to adjust the quickest, who's able to adjust the best, and not just with the pregame stuff, but also with the no fans or very few fans. Because I think employers will even tell you, you know, they feed off of fans being there, whether they're on the road or at home, and feed off that adrenaline and feed off just, you know, everything that they hear from the stands, good, that, or indifferent. And that's not going to be there. So what is that going to be like? if you're still going to be able to dial up the same amount of intensity

or even close to the same amount of intensity, applying in a stadium that's half empty or empty, I think that's going to be a big part of it as well. And I really think that the teams that are able to adjust to that the best, the players that are able to adjust to that the best, are the ones that are going to be more successful, whether that means they have to really change up their routine and are able to do that.

But I think it's going to be one of the big storylines of 2020, once games get going, is how teams adjust to all the different things that they're going to have to deal with that they normally wouldn't have to deal with. I think anybody in broadcasting, especially baseball, lends themselves to more traditional, you know, what you watch as a kid. So I'll throw these at you at two things. D.H. in both leagues and the runner at second base to start extra innings. How do you feel about both? Well, the D.H. in both leagues was always inevitable. And I, you know, and I grew up, And I think it all depends on where you grew up, how you feel about that.

I grew up a Mets fan. So, you know, I grew up being used to seeing pitchers hit. And for a long time, that was my preference. Now, I mean, it would be, it's fine when that happens. And obviously adds a different wrinkle to games. But, you know, it doesn't really make much of a difference to me either way at this point. But I've always felt like, you know, this is something that's going to happen, D.H in both leagues.

so I'm just going to have to get used to it. As for the runner at second base to start extra innings, that's something that, you know, I mean, it sounds like it's just going to be for this year to speed games up and make sure guys are spending as little time in the ballpark as possible. I'd have a harder time with it if I felt like this was something that was here to stay because it just changes what we know about baseball and what we know about extra innings.

And it's not something I'm crazy about. I mean, I guess it's nice that it's less likely there'll be these, you know, 15, 16, 7 inning games that every team seems to play at least, you know, once or twice a year over the course of the season. But, I mean, I'm always, I mean, who's in favor of less baseball? I, you know, like, in general, I want, you know, there to be as much baseball as possible. So long term, I'm not crazy about that idea of the runner at second base in extra innings. And right now it doesn't sound like it's going to be long term at the major league. league level, but I am looking forward to seeing it. I mean, it's a 60 game sprint. It's going to be something else to talk about, something that's going to be unique. So that's going to be

just one of the many fun and interesting things about baseball in 2020. Well, as we debated it yesterday, my feeling is this. I don't mind it, but I don't think, I think if you're going to do it long term, you give the 10th inning its organic foundation like 1 through 9 is. I think one, I think baseball fans, and I don't mean to be speaking for an entire generation of fans, but I think the 10th inning creates drama. Oh, this thing wasn't settled in 9. Let's get it done in the 10th. I do feel there's an indirect exhaust of, uh-oh, we're going to the 11th. We could be here for a while. And that's the reason why I would say, if basically baseball asks my opinion, that you keep it organic for the 10th.

And if you can't get it done after the 10th inning, then maybe the second base thing is in play. But I think everything is up for experiment. Lastly, I do believe managers, Robert, will manage a lot differently. Because, again, when you have guys, and you've talked to managers every single day, you do with AJ on a daily basis, when guys go through a two-for-19 slump, a lot of times the guys will say, all right, we're going to get this guy either a day off or we're going to keep him in a lot of because we know he can hit. If guys go through two-for-19 or it's two bad starts in a row in a 60-game compressed season,

that's going to make the managers and his staff kind of think twice about maybe putting a guy back in or skipping a guy on rotation? What is your thoughts on allowing the slump guys to breathe a little bit in a short season? Well, I think it comes down to a couple of things. I think one, it comes down to how's the team doing. And if a guy's two for 19 or in a bit of a funk and the team is winning, and it's a guy that you believe in or has an established track record, you're more likely to stick with them. I think that it also depends on what your team goals are. I mean, the Astros are a team that's poised to go back to the World Series and try and win it again. So you're less likely to have a long leash for guys, especially if it's, say, maybe a Kyle Tucker, for instance, who doesn't have as much of a track record at the big leagues.

Maybe, you know, the leash is shorter for someone like that. But again, I think a lot of it just kind of depends on team performance. If the team's playing well, you're more likely to stick with guys. But I think you're right. I mean, there's going to be a team. I mean, one of these teams that people think is a playoff contender or World Series contenders, somebody is going to get off to a terrible start. And a terrible start in a 60 game season, it could be three and ten.

It doesn't even have to be, you know, over, you know, 30, 40 games. And, you know, what happens then? Does that team start to panic? Does that team start to make some moves? Do guys start getting benched? I mean, that's going to be really interesting. But it's going to happen. you know, certainly hope it's not the Astros, but somebody who is expected to do well is going to get off to a terrible start.

Or on the flip side, you're going to have something like, think the Mariners started off 13 and 2 last. That's right. That's right. You're going to have that happen. And so then, you know, is this team for real? Like normally you would say, oh, you know, Mariners start 13 and 2, whatever. It's only 15 games in the 162 game season. But when it's 15 games and the 60 game season, oh, well, that looks a lot different. And so then does that team become buyers of the trade deadline? Does that team start to try and add? It's going to be, there are going to be a lot of things that we can't even really anticipate that are going to happen this year. If that team become buyers of the trade deadline, does that team start to try and add?

It's going to be, there are going to be a lot of things that we can't even really anticipate that are going to happen this year that are just going to make 2020 a year that I think we're going to be talking about. for the rest of our lives. Great stuff, as always, my friend. Restless Pipes, we look forward to hearing you on 790 here in a month or so, my friend. Thanks again for the time. Sounds good, Matt. Take care. All right, you got it.

Robert Ford, Voice of the Astros with us. 115 on the Matt Thomas Show, news from the NFL, and one of the all-time greats in the NBA. Finally calls it a career. Details on him next, 115 on Sports Talk 790.