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Episode 49 - 1940 World Series and Early Off-Season Discussions
24 Plays1 month ago
Zach is finally back and the boys breakdown the 1940 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Detroit Tigers.
Mac laments the loss of the Mariners and we discuss iff the 2025 World Series will be an instant classic (Episode was recorded during game 4).
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Transcript
Shohei Otani's World Series Triumphs
00:00:04
Speaker
All right, I'm going to get ahead of this right now. Congratulations to Shohei Otani for winning World Series MVP, NLCS MVP, and for having Game 4, the best game anyone's ever played since whatever the one Shohei Otani played three days ago.
Episode Introduction and World Series Context
00:00:20
Speaker
What's up, everybody? Welcome to a new episode of Championship War Bust with Max, Zach, and Josh. Welcome back, Zach. It's been a while since we've had you on here. no It has been while. has, dude. Happy to be back. ah Just a little note off the top, recording this the day after the 18-inning classic. That was Game 3 of the 2025 World Series.
00:00:37
Speaker
If, for whatever reason, that intro from the original intro is somehow kept in here, you would have known that. um But we're about an hour before Game 4.
Historical World Series Relevance
00:00:46
Speaker
actually about a half an hour now before game four, Shohei Otani versus Shane Bieber. You'll know what happened by the time we released this.
00:00:51
Speaker
But if anything sounds a little off from here, that's why. ah But during this World Series time of year, what better time to talk about 1940? I right? Gosh. Absolutely. Yeah. Who doesn't want to talk about 1940 and the year 2025? mean, I know I do.
00:01:07
Speaker
i Yeah, absolutely.
1940 World Series Highlights
00:01:09
Speaker
So the 1940 World Series, the Cincinnati Reds versus the Detroit Tigers. This as Mac will talk about later, is Bill Clem's 18th and final World Series as an umpire. Congratulations to him.
00:01:24
Speaker
Missed that man. Love that man. So the Tigers won the American League by just one game, while the Reds won the National League by 12 games after quite a turbulent season. After getting swept by the Yankees just the year before in 1939, the Reds played much of 1940 without their all-star catcher, Ernie Lombardi.
00:01:42
Speaker
And Lombardi's backups Willard Hershberger committed suicide in Boston a day after having a defensive lapse that cost the Reds a game.
00:01:53
Speaker
Hershberger was hitting.309 at the time of his death. Like, he was playing very well, and he ended up committing suicide. That actually happened, we'll talk about it, in 1986 as well, but it happened a couple years after the fact.
00:02:06
Speaker
Jesus.
Game 1 to Game 3: Reds vs. Tigers
00:02:08
Speaker
um So with Lombardi still hurt, that It ended up forcing 40-year-old coach Jimmy Wilson out of retirement and back onto the field for much of the season.
00:02:18
Speaker
So the Reds were they were going through it, and yet still won the league by 12 games. So game one in Cincinnati, so the Detroit Tigers tee off for five runs in the second inning to open up the score in.
00:02:31
Speaker
Two singles and an error loaded the bases with no outs before Pinky Higgins singled in the first two runs of the game. A walk reloaded the bases for Dick Bartell to hit another two-run single. Bruce Campbell followed it up with an RBI single to make it five runs in the inning and chase starter Paul Derringer from the game.
00:02:45
Speaker
The Reds would get on the board in the fourth inning when Ival Goodman doubled and scored on Jimmy Ripple's single, but the Tigers would push across two more in the top the fifth thanks to Bruce Campbell's two-run homer. The Reds would score a run in a bottom on the eighth on Ivo Gilman's RBI single, but that was all they could muster.
00:02:59
Speaker
The Tigers would take Game 1 by a score of 7-2. It was the first World Series Game 1 by a non-New York City team since 1935. Yep. ye Yay. um ah Bobo Newsom, Tiger starter, would keep the Reds' lineups subdued ah in his complete game victory, and he said he felt great about this game because his dad was there to watch him.
00:03:23
Speaker
And, but, After winning the game, Newsom's dad died in his hotel room. Yep. And Newsom would end up missing game two while at the funeral.
00:03:34
Speaker
As you can imagine why. As you can imagine why. So while he was at the funeral, game two, Detroit would strike first. and At the top of the first, after two walks started the game, Charlie Geringer hit an ah RBI single, followed by a run scoring on a double playground ball.
00:03:49
Speaker
The Reds would strike back in the bottom ah bottom of the second thanks to four singles. Eddie Juiced and Billy Myers each having an RBI. In the bottom third, the Reds would take the lead on Jimmy Ripple's two-run home run. Bucky Walters and Billy Werber hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Reds' lead to three.
00:04:05
Speaker
In the top of the sixth, Hank Greenberg's RBI double brought the Tigers within two, but that was it. Much more just three runs on three hits off Bucky Walters, the Reds would take game two by a score of 5-3 and tie the series.
Game 4 to Game 7: Reds Clinch Series
00:04:17
Speaker
Game three in Detroit saw the Reds strike first in the top of first when Billy Werber doubled and scored an Ival Goodman's RBI single. Tigers tied it in the fourth when Hank Greenberg hit into a double play after two singles, but the run would score.
00:04:30
Speaker
Noticing a theme here with him. In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers broke the game open. Rudy York and Pinky Higgins each hit two run home runs to make it five to one. The Reds would get a run back and a top of the eighth on Mike McCormick's RBI single, but the Tigers would plate two more in the bottom of the inning after Hank Greenberg tripled and scored on Bruce Campbell's RBI single, and Campbell would score on Pinky Higgins' RBI single.
00:04:50
Speaker
Down five and a ninth, the Reds started out the inning with a single and an error. Eddie Juice singling at a run, but a strikeout and a flyout followed before Billy Weber singled another run, and that's where the game would end as Tommy Bridges finished the game, striking out Mike McCormick and giving the Tigers a 2-1 series lead.
00:05:07
Speaker
Game four. Saw the Reds strike first. A leadoff walk to Dizzy Trout, followed by Ivo Goodman's RBI double, and an error on a ground ball gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. And the third, after two leadoff singles, Jimmy Ripple's RBI double made it 3-0. The Tigers would get on the board in the bottom of the inning Hank Greenberg's RBI double.
00:05:23
Speaker
but the Reds would get that run back in the fourth on Eibel Goodman's sack fly. In the bottom sixth, the Tigers would score again when Bruce Campbell singled with two outs and scored on Pinky Higgins' triple. But in the top of the eighth, the Reds got that run back on Mike McCormick's RBI single.
00:05:35
Speaker
Paul Derringer completed the game, giving up just two runs on five hits in the 5-2 victory, the tie of the series at two.
Newsom's Game 5 Heroics and Career
00:05:42
Speaker
Game five, saw Bobo Newsome rejoin the team to take his regular turn in the pitching rotation, saying that his dad would have wanted it that way and that he was going to beat the Reds for him.
00:05:53
Speaker
In the bottom of the third, Hank Greenberg teed off on Junior Thompson with a three-run blast. In the next inning, after there're a walk and a sack bunt, Dick Bartell doubled in a run. Two more walks chased Thompson from the game, with the bases loaded before Greenberg hit into a sack fly, scored yet another run. And another walk loaded the bases of Bruce Campbell, who did RBI single, making it 7-0. In the eighth, the Tigers would score one more run on a wild pitch.
00:06:16
Speaker
But the storyline of this 8-0 victory was Bobo Newsom throwing a complete game three-hit shutout just days after his father's passing.
00:06:26
Speaker
Game six in Cincinnati. The Reds are back against the wall. So the Reds jump out to an early lead at home. In the bottom of the first, Billy Werber led off with a double and had scored on Ival Goodman's RBI single.
00:06:38
Speaker
Goodman then scored on Jimmy Ripple's RBI single to make it 2-0 Reds. Pitcher Bucky Walters hit an RBI fielder's choice in the sixth and then hit a solo shot in the eighth to help himself during his five-hit complete game shot out to force a game seven.
00:06:52
Speaker
Game seven. So Bobo Newsome take the mound for the Tigers on just one day's rest. And the Tigers gave him a lead in the third inning on Charlie Geringer's RBI single. And Newsome held on to this lead until the seventh inning when Frank McCorbick doubled to lead off the inning, scored on Jimmy Ripple's RBI double.
00:07:10
Speaker
After a sack bunt and an intentional walk to bring up Billy Myers, Myers hit a deep sack fly in the center, giving the Reds a lead The Tigers were managed just one hit in the final two innings.
00:07:21
Speaker
And the Reds took Game 7 by a score of two to one to win the World Series. Good for the Reds. Bobo Newsom had an incredible series, and you've to feel bad for him how it ended. Yeah. Losing his dad and throwing a game of his life in Game 5 and having an incredible start in Game 7 and not having anything to show for it. Crazy story.
00:07:41
Speaker
So Bobo Newsome does actually a very interesting stuff with him he's never He's not a Hall of Famer. He had like an almost four ERA, was slightly under.500, had a.50 war.
00:07:52
Speaker
um But obviously he had some dominant stretches. But a couple things with him. He actually had 17 different stints with different teams in the league. There were 16 teams in the league at the time.
00:08:03
Speaker
He played for nine of them. Wow. He bounced around everywhere, and a lot of the reason why i was with his contracts. So – Going into what you were saying with Game 7, he actually said to reporters before Game 5, I'm going to win this one for my daddy.
00:08:19
Speaker
And then manager Del Baker named him to the mound for Game 7. matt The reporters asked him again, going to win this one for your dad? he said, why no? I'm going to win this one for old Bobo.
00:08:30
Speaker
Hmm. Obviously, he didn't, but he pitched well. um And then 1941, he had a rough stretch. He went 12-20, and he negotiated a contract with the Tigers GM.
00:08:41
Speaker
They told him, you're going have to take a salary cut since you lost 20 games. And... Bobo Newsome remembered that the GM was violating league rules and was releasing players on the minor league team that were under the major league control.
00:08:56
Speaker
He said, hell, you lost 91 of Briggs's, meaning the owner's ballplayers, last year, and I don't see you taking no cut. So he took a shot right at the GM to his face.
00:09:08
Speaker
GM wasn't happy, traded him to the Senators, and that was kind of so how it went for Bobo Newsome. So
Bill Clem's Umpiring Legacy
00:09:15
Speaker
interesting little life there. um Good career, not a Hall of Fame career by any means, but a fun shout out for sure.
00:09:23
Speaker
um Let's go into the is he a Hall of Famer. I have one ah fun fact before you do that. ah Reds manager Bill McKinney was the first manager to win a World Series with two different teams. The one with the Pirates in 1925. Oh, sorry. Well, here you go.
00:09:40
Speaker
It's all good. He's also one of three managers still to this day to take three teams to the pennant. Wow. Anyone know who the other ones are? Oh, I got to think about this.
00:09:51
Speaker
Is it anybody modern or no? One of them.
00:09:56
Speaker
Well, I know Bochy did it with two. i don't know if he did it with three. Right. Bochy did do it with three. Who's the third? I'm thinking... Padres in 98, the Giants, and the Rangers.
00:10:08
Speaker
All right. So he's one of them. Nice. The other one's Dick Williams. Yeah, wouldn't have got that. I think there's other ones that... There might be a couple of those that did too, but those are the three i know off the top in my head. I'm pretty sure that he's one of three.
00:10:21
Speaker
But... Anyway, but yeah, you got me on McKechnie. Sorry. It's all good. Shout out to Bill Clem. 18 World Series. To this day, no other umpires work more than 10.
00:10:34
Speaker
ah Does he get a plaque? He gets a plaque. oh he Are we doing this? a Hall Famer for Bill Clem? I mean, he's in. I mean...
00:10:44
Speaker
and He's got to be in. Did we just make a post of it? Put it on Twitter. I think you should make Bill Clem a plaque and post it. Absolutely. I mean, you made a plaque for like Brett Gardner. I think you could make a plaque for Bill Clem. Bill Clem has a real plaque though.
00:10:57
Speaker
All right. There you go. If anything we'd be doing, is he a Hall of Famer with Bill Clem? Where we'd be voting on him like we do with the other guys. He's not Joe West. I'll give it to him. I mean, he's an instrumental part of the show. He needs to be in.
00:11:08
Speaker
Oh, he's definitely part of the championship or bust Hall of Fame. think he has to be, right? Yeah. But there's some funny stories with him too. So he worked the 18 World Series. No one's worked more than 10 to this day.
00:11:19
Speaker
um Funny thing, out of the 16 major league teams that were around during his career, 15 of them won a pennant during his World Series that he officiated. The only one was the St. Louis Browns. So I guess we can call them the modern day Seattle Mariners.
00:11:33
Speaker
Thanks a lot, guys. I vouch for you and you let me down. You really let me down. But every single team except for the Browns appeared in the World Series that he bumped. um And the only other teams that didn't win a title with him on the field were the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Detroit Tigers.
00:11:52
Speaker
But every team except for the Browns made a pennant.
Hall of Fame Candidacy Debates
00:11:55
Speaker
That's crazy. He was also one of the umpires the first All-Star game in 33. He was behind the plate for part of it. um Also did in the 38 All-Star game. Remember when he was around, there wasn't a lot of All-Star games going on. He also holds the record for most career ejections from an umpire.
00:12:11
Speaker
He's thrown out 279 people, and a couple of them are pretty funny. um So he's nicknamed the Catfish. He had a bunch of nicknames, but he hated the name Catfish. It was basically making fun of how he looked.
00:12:23
Speaker
And basically, if anyone said it to him, he immediately threw him out. So he once saw a player, Little League style, drawing a picture of a catfish with his foot in the infield and tossed him.
00:12:37
Speaker
What? It was a player drawing a catfish. Was that like an insult back in the day? like Basically, they were calling him ugly. And then looked like a catfish. well they go Is that why they called Jim Hunter Catfish Hunter? Because he's ugly? Actually, that's a good question. I don't know.
00:12:54
Speaker
But was basically just insulting his appearance. And then there was a catcher named Al Lopez, who's a Hall of Fame manager, who we'll be talking about a lot. um He threw him out because...
00:13:06
Speaker
He was playing catcher, and on home plate, he threw a newspaper clipping of a bad call that Bill Clem made in a play that involved Al Lopez. So the catcher covered the picture with dirt, and then the way umpires brush off home plate, when Bill Clem brushed off home plate, he saw the picture of him blowing the call.
00:13:28
Speaker
Wow. On the plate. So needless to say, he got thrown out. du These stories are so, like... one of a kind, like craziest stuff. But cle the answer to the catfish hunters ah question was no, that is not why that's not why.
00:13:42
Speaker
Uh, apparently the, uh, athletics owner at the time so a 19 year old kid and said, Hmm, Jim, that name sucks. We need some flashy and fun. So they started calling him catfish and made up some ridiculous story that's about how we used to go fishing as a kid and caught for catfish. Yeah. I don't, I don't know.
00:14:00
Speaker
I guess this is what they did back, back in the day. yeah Back in the 60s, this is what they did. Just a bunk catfish hunter. There you go. So Clem got a skin condition that he said happened to be because of nerves and stress.
00:14:12
Speaker
And he talked about how much umpiring killed him because he would talk about you know public humiliations that umpires have to deal with. And you he would say they don't go in one ear and out the other. They go in one ear and then go straight to the nervous system, eating away at coordination, self-confidence, and self-respect.
00:14:28
Speaker
And so basically saying umpiring kind of killed the self-esteem over the years and made him physically unhealthy. Um, but he also claimed that he created hand signals. Can they verify that?
00:14:41
Speaker
No one could really confirm it because it's either him or this guy, Cy Riggler, because this was later in his life and didn't have a lot of data back then to really verify it. um But he wound up having the record for most MLB games umpired over 70 years, 5,375 games, and that was the record until it was surpassed you-know-who.
00:15:07
Speaker
yeah.
00:15:10
Speaker
2021, who passed the record for most umpire games? Think about it, guys. Joe West. Yep. Terrible, terrible umpire. So he finished his career with 5,375 regular season games, all in the national league, 103 postseason games, all of which were in the world series. Cause that was all that we had back then. And two MLB all-star games. Remember they didn't have a lot of them at that point by the time he was done.
00:15:35
Speaker
So shout out to bill Clem went a little longer than I planned to, but I was honored to have the opportunity to get to cover his career. I think we can all agree. He's a unanimous vote for, is he a hall of famer? Absolutely.
00:15:45
Speaker
right. We'll throw him, we'll throw him on the dock. Go to vampires. What a life. Can you just imagine? Yeah. But you could tell, like, I guess, like, you you think they can't, when you get that job, you almost feel like you have to handle the stress.
00:16:01
Speaker
So it's interesting for him to be so open about how that messed them up. That's a good point. and True. and Mental health is, I'm sure, not a thing in the 30s. Oh, not at all. But, you know, it shows the human side of some of these guys.
00:16:13
Speaker
That's so cool, dude. So into the losing Detroit Tigers, a half-hearted welcome to Hal Neuhauser. I don't know how well you guys know him, um but we'll get some more on him at another time.
00:16:27
Speaker
um But he was one of the forgotten greats of the 1940s. I'm looking forward to that discussion. um There's actually a part of him that involves Derek Jeter um with drafting him because he became a scout after.
00:16:39
Speaker
And basically the short story is is that he was a scout for the Astros and he insisted that they should draft Derek Jeter out of high school. They picked Phil Nevin over Derek Jeter and Hal Neuhauser said, screw this, I'm retiring.
00:16:55
Speaker
He was that big on Derek Jeter. and So you might have heard that story before. Like Michael K has brought it up on broadcast a few times, especially the last year of Jeter's career.
00:17:06
Speaker
But Hal Neuhauser was a Hall of Fame player. We'll discuss if he belongs in there. um Spoiler alert, I think you guys will probably say he belongs there. And, you know, obviously knew what he was talking about as a scout as well.
Impact Players in Baseball History
00:17:20
Speaker
So half-hearted welcome to Hal Neuhauser because he didn't pitch in this one, but he was on the team. Welcome back, Charlie Gehringer. It's been five years since his 1935 World Series win, but this is his final World Series.
00:17:32
Speaker
So he retires with one ring and three pennants. He went 6-28 in this series with two walks and a run batted in. I still have him level 2, number 8 at second base between Roberto Alomar and Frankie Frisch.
00:17:43
Speaker
Welcome back, Hank Greenberg, the Jewish king. He was the MVP of 1940. So this he was the MVP of this year. But this was also his last full season before going off to fight in the war for three years.
00:17:55
Speaker
So Zach doesn't like him. and Anyway. Oh my God. ah He only played 19 games the year after. So he then he took the three years off. He's currently one for, well, I shouldn't say he's currently, he went one for two in this series, but this loss wasn't his fault.
00:18:09
Speaker
um He went 10 for 28 with one home run, one triple, one double, six runs batted in. So he played very well. Still level two, number 10 first base between Willie McCovey, Johnny Mize.
00:18:21
Speaker
And our new Hall of Fame enshrinee to discuss is Mr. Earl Averill. Welcome to Championship Robust, Earl Averill. 1940 episode as I put this in the log.
00:18:33
Speaker
This is his only World Series appearance. This only time going talk about him, but is he a Hall of Famer? In this series, he went 0 for 3 in three plate appearances over three games. He was elected by a Veterans Committee in 1975, and he peaked at on the BBWA ballot.
00:18:49
Speaker
He was a six-time All-Star who had three top five and four top 10 MVP finishes. He only played 1,669 career games, but in that time he had a career 318 batting average, a 928 OPS, and a 133 OPS+. plus Since his career games are so low, so are his career numbers.
00:19:09
Speaker
He finished with 2,019 hits, 238 home runs, batted in, and a fifty one point six war what do we think here
00:19:22
Speaker
um
00:19:26
Speaker
Wow. Okay. Why? Any reason? The career at 318 batting average. um You know, I love my average hitters.
00:19:38
Speaker
but Fair enough. 2000 hits is pretty good. The the stats are almost there. I'll still go yes. Keep in mind, his career didn't start until he was 27. yeah So that, I think, adds to the career number thing. He did last a while through 30. It was just, you know, he started late.
00:19:58
Speaker
He was kind of the rev reverse of all the guys we talk about. Josh, what do you think?
00:20:13
Speaker
I don't know.
00:20:16
Speaker
going to go with no. You're going no? You're going no. Any particular reason why? i Zero accolades other than All-Stars.
00:20:29
Speaker
What else did they have back then? Didn't have... Doesn't have any of the rate stats. Because, yeah, yeah mean yeah he started you started late. um I don't know. I don't think had enough career.
00:20:41
Speaker
MVP votes in eight seasons. They never got higher than third. um mean i'm Fair. are sorry But 51.6.
00:20:52
Speaker
So he had three six and a half war seasons or better. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't think i had a long enough career. So I had him on the list um when I first did it.
00:21:04
Speaker
You know my rule? It's a yes because of that. i Once I have someone in, I operate like the Real Hall of Fame, I don't take them out. With that being said, if I was making the decision today, i think I probably would be a no.
00:21:18
Speaker
But I'm going to honor my own rule and vote yes. um I have him as my second lowest center fielder on my list between Dale Murphy, Hack Wilson. But i get I don't blame you for going no. And honestly, the way you guys were debating it and how yeah tough it was, I feel the same way.
00:21:39
Speaker
I think he could go either way. It's just when you look at that era, a lot of these guys have the low rates that some are because of military service, some are from injuries, some are from other things. He compares well to them, and that was my reasoning for putting him in.
00:21:52
Speaker
But I think a lot of those guys that I did put in, I probably wouldn't have put in if I was doing this list in 2025 rather than 2019. So a yes, but I don't blame you on the no.
00:22:05
Speaker
Now, fun fact. What? I appreciate that. Fun fact about Earl Averill. Earl Averill hated the Hall of Fame. Oh, you should have told me that.
00:22:16
Speaker
Not because he didn't get in. change his vote now. But at his 1975 induction, he wanted one of the Reds, Ernie Lombardi. And a guy that we talked about in past, Joe Sewell, the guy who never struck out to be added to the Hall of Fame.
00:22:31
Speaker
And after the ceremony, he said this, quote, my disagreements with how the Hall of Fame elections are held and who is elected is not based on bitterness that I had to wait 34 years after retirement to receive this honor.
00:22:45
Speaker
But it is based on the fact that statistics alone are not enough to gain a player admittance. Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame.
00:22:57
Speaker
So this has been going on for a while, putting people in after they die. oh and So Earl Averill had some things to say. Now I feel terrible. Well, you voted for him after he died. I think that's good.
00:23:11
Speaker
He was already in, so. a Good point. But he was annoyed that he had to wait 34 years to do it. So that's... And so it goes with the Hall of Fame. Nothing ever changes.
00:23:23
Speaker
um But the winning Reds, manager Bill McKechnie, Josh already talked about. It's his fourth and final pennant as a manager, his second title. um This is significant for history because he became the first to win championships for two franchises.
00:23:36
Speaker
We'll see who follows him in future episodes with that because quite a few guys do join him. And then Erlian Lombardi, who we just brought up, who Earl Averill was an advocate for. Long time no see, Ernie. Two years in a row, he plays in the World Series, but this year was a much better result for him.
00:23:50
Speaker
He only had four plate appearances in two games, went one for three with a walk, finished ninth in MVP voting this year, but won the World Series. Level one, number 14 catcher between Ted Simmons and Bill Frihan.
00:24:01
Speaker
And that wraps up, is he a Hall of Famer for 1940? All
Seattle Mariners and Yankees Analysis
00:24:05
Speaker
right. So i didn't I didn't want to, you know... bring any hard topics just wanted to chat about everything so mr mac how are we feeling about the mariners talk to me ah i mean it comes down to the rule of choking and josh and i actually talked about it on the last pod he was dead on right about it and it's about the fact that teams who historically choke are gonna choke again this is what they do
00:24:34
Speaker
yeah And teams are going to choke until they meet a team that's known for choking more than them. The Chicago Cubs choked for 108 years until they met the Cleveland Indians at the time.
00:24:47
Speaker
We haven't won for 50 years. so you need In order for a team that's historically known for choking to stop choking, they have to go against another team that chokes. And the Mariners didn't.
00:25:00
Speaker
Blue Jays were a better team. annoys me to say. It makes me hate the Blue Jays even more. ah But... I think the you Mariners had a good season. Overall, I'm happy about my World Series prediction.
00:25:12
Speaker
yeah i I was one for two. I'm glad that my one was very easy, but I got as close as I could have gone without being right. Yeah, dude. when yeah I got really close. When the ALCS was going on and we were talking about recording, i was going to bring that up, but you got to get on a bigger podcast or something because you keep getting all these predictions right, like Mystic Mac over here.
00:25:33
Speaker
Well, it's funny because if we really went back into my prediction. Mystic Mac. Mystic Max. that in a t-shirt and sell it. If we had time, that reminds me, I gotta tell you guys a story off pod. Remind me on that. Go back to that later.
00:25:45
Speaker
um But... if For my picks for who's winning, I've done very well on the pod. And I love that it's on public airwaves because I get to brag about it.
00:25:56
Speaker
But when it comes to my awards, I have been atrocious. That's too difficult to even horrific you know have a good shot at. And I don't help myself by doing like, oh, here's my top five. He doesn't work at all.
00:26:08
Speaker
um But I've been awful with them. And I did the one segment on like who has the most to gain with the Hall of Fame. i did I got two that were pretty good, and the rest was like oof.
00:26:21
Speaker
I had Aaron Nola in my five. it was rough. It hasn't, dude. I'll take my team ones where i can get them. Yeah, Seattle just felt like the team of destiny to me too this year, and ah I'm actually kind of sad it didn't happen because I can't root for the Blue Jays, and I most certainly can't root for the Dodgers either, so this World Series is just rough.
00:26:44
Speaker
The one thing is that when Aaron Judge wins that MVP, i won't feel it won't feel as weird now. Because if the Mariners wound up winning the title, there would have been so much narrative of, oh, Judge can't deliver. Even though Judge had a decent playoff.
00:26:58
Speaker
Decent playoff. He had a fantastic playoff. Right, but it didn't end in the result we wanted. so Not his fault. with the rat I agree, but I'm lowering it to decent to avoid the homerism. But Raleigh was killing it.
00:27:10
Speaker
And he had the big hits. He was passing every eyeball test. And if the Mariners wound up winning the title and then, and not you know, in November 15th, Aaron Judge is MVP, everyone would have been mocking it And everyone's dumb because it's voted on before the playoffs. Judge might have never won an MVP again, though, because it would have been extreme voter fatigue, and it would have been, oh, he choked.
00:27:29
Speaker
So now what a matt next year he could have hit 75 home runs. They wouldn't have voted for him. So I'm glad that we don't have to worry about that now. But the one thing I will say is I will wholeheartedly a admit, like, I thought the Mariners were going to win because of their pitching.
00:27:43
Speaker
I did not expect Cal Rowley to do what he did. And listen, MVP or not, he had a heck of a season. There's no questioning that. I didn't expect that. I had a feeling they were going trade for a bat. i didn't know it was going Suarez, but he was a perfect fit. He had a huge hit.
00:28:02
Speaker
Overall, I thought the Mariners had a great season. know, the Final Four, when we were borderline on them making the playoffs. And my main thing was, if they make the playoffs, they'll go on a run.
00:28:14
Speaker
They more than made the playoffs. They exceeded expectations in that regard. Yeah. And they're a good young team. I mean, their whole staff, I think, is under team control for and at least another a year or two. so Yeah, and their rotation will continue to be good. And their their hitting was better than expected.
Future of Yankees' Roster
00:28:30
Speaker
Jorge Polanco stepped up. Right. Randy Rosarena again in October. I think that would be my question for next year is can their hitting do it again? I mean, i don't know it comes down to Cal Rowley. I mean, I think we can all agree. Is Cal Rowley ever going to hit 60 home runs again? I don't know. I'm not sure he's ever going to even hit 50.
00:28:49
Speaker
But if he can hit 40 for the next three years, they they have something there. Yeah, but ju you guys remember that Julio had like a terrible year like two years ago or whatever. like He's not that consistent yet either.
00:29:00
Speaker
Julio had a good year this year. this year yeah Playing in Safeco, the OPS is always going to be on the lower end. That's a good point, yeah. So like he had a good defensive season.
00:29:11
Speaker
His OPS plus relative to Park was 128. So he did have a good year. you know His OPS was 798, but when you account for the place he played in, had 6.8 war. I mean, I know Zach, and you and I aren't big war guys, but the Sabre Metric said he had a good year.
00:29:30
Speaker
and I'm just saying he's a young kid. You don't know how consistent he's going to be yet, right? Yeah. vi agree. He'll get MVP votes. Yeah. Suarez, great deadline pickup.
00:29:41
Speaker
Like, didn't think it would work out when they did it. Well, actually, that's a lie because he had like 30 home runs before the All-Star break. but He's on the first team all – I never expect this guy to do anything at the beginning of every year, and then he ends up 30 and 100.
00:29:56
Speaker
yeah He's like the the poster boy of that.
00:30:02
Speaker
Very underrated, all-or-nothing hitter. Yeah. But, yes, wanted to touch on Seattle. I feel like it's way too late to even talk about the Yankees, and I'm exhausted about it, and I really don't want to. I have no interest. yeah I mean, unless you guys do.
00:30:16
Speaker
It's Justice Cashman, Justice Boone, back for another year. We'll get a new free agent or two. We'll be happy about it when we do a pod in January, and that'll be and then we'll have the same cycle.
00:30:27
Speaker
ah Sheriff, did you want to touch on the Yankees? Uh, no. Okay. No, they are going to do something stupid, like sign Trent Grisham to a major contract. um They would never do that.
00:30:38
Speaker
Do the same stupid thing they did with Aaron Hicks. Uh, and then they're going to be like, well, we could get Bellinger or, uh, Tucker and pick the wrong one. And I already see it cause they're like, oh, Tucker is younger. That's yeah, but the thing is that Bellinger can play center field.
00:30:55
Speaker
And you want a center fielder. You cannot be playing games again with Trent Grisham as your center fielder. I mean, this is this is Verdugo 2.0. And Bellinger runs the first base.
00:31:06
Speaker
And Bellinger runs the first base, yeah. Yeah, he plays first. But, you know, they're also saying, well, we're going to give Domingo's innings next year. And if you want to do that, then you have to get a center fielder. Then you cannot be signing Cody Bellinger unless you're somehow magically making Stanton go away.
00:31:20
Speaker
You can't have two starting left fielders, right? part of me is thinking that they do what they did with Tashara and A-Rod and just, you know, here's your money, bye.
Marketing Challenges in Baseball and Hockey
00:31:32
Speaker
oh But i don't think they do that yet. I think they're going to try to get the 500 merchandise. I think they should. i do too. But, you know, the other thing is I saw floating around was you know, the whole Bryce Harper thing where they're, you know, mad at each other with the Phillies and they're like, oh, the Yankees should trade for Bryce Harper and trade Ben Rice for him And it's like, are you, are you stupid?
00:31:54
Speaker
um If anybody says the word, let's trade ben Rice for Bryce Harper, you should be, yeah, stone. If you say trade Ben Rice, stone him. Ridiculous.
00:32:06
Speaker
I mean, it's ridiculous. Um... But like, I just, I don't understand how you can, how you could possibly think that. I mean, Harper is starting to decline and race is starting to heat up. And he, he had statistically the most unlucky season and like the last 10 years, like his, his exit velocity and all that stuff has his average, like 30 points higher than it actually is.
00:32:30
Speaker
And he's just hitting it right at people like that's going to change. Yeah. As long as he keeps making the contact. Soto had the same issue in April and May. Exactly. Yeah. and And just never turned around for Rice, which is wild.
00:32:45
Speaker
Eventually it will. Yeah. yeah Yeah. Okay. um I mean, you mentioned Bryce declining, but you know, His own GM can't say that because he does.
00:32:58
Speaker
He's got to put his foot in his mouth there. And Dombrowski... He's a real smart guy too. He's a guy who's... He's going to be a Hall of Famer as an executive. Yeah. like There's no doubt about it, but he's also a guy who tends to... but He's known for building to get a title and then just completely blowing the building up.
00:33:16
Speaker
Yeah, I know. own up the form I wonder... it like The weird thing is that you'd think that if anything, he would want to up Harper's trade value by trying to bump him up to something that he isn't. It was weird to kind of hear him temper the expectations on Bryce. Yeah.
00:33:31
Speaker
ah He was just being honest, though, because he's been 100% honest. bryton't have Yeah, he was, but it's you know it's kind of like, and I don't want to go too far off topic here, but you saw it I don't know if you guys saw what Woody Johnson said about Justin Fields. Oh, yes.
00:33:45
Speaker
it It felt like that. It was a nicer way of saying that, and either way, I think the mindset should be, shut up. like what What is that doing for your team?
00:33:58
Speaker
So now your star, who, yeah, okay, he's been on a bit of a decline. He still had an 844 OPS this year. Still had a 129 OPS plus.
00:34:09
Speaker
Still hit 27 home runs in an incomplete season. like this He didn't have a bad year, but now you're singling him out as, oh, he may not be elite anymore. i don't i don't It felt weird.
00:34:21
Speaker
it felt um It felt almost personal. Who knows? It might be. And Woody Johnson was completely personal. I felt awful for Justin Fields. Yeah, that was that was bad. this is random This is very random. I didn't like prep you guys on this, but i but there's like no baseball coverage on.
00:34:44
Speaker
I feel like there's a billion segments on basketball and football all the time, but I can't find something on the World Series. like Is that just me?
00:34:54
Speaker
Or is ESPN like not covering this, I feel like?
00:34:59
Speaker
ESPN doesn't care. It's weird. ESPN doesn't care about anything but football and basketball. that's that's That's pretty true.
00:35:09
Speaker
I don't know if that's like if that really is a knock on yeah ESPN or if it's just more that everybody else bought all the rights to baseball.
00:35:20
Speaker
To an extent, but even when Sunday Night Baseball was big and mattered, they didn't cover it that much. yeah like They'll cover Otani. That's really about it. And the of the New York teams, they talk about Judge and Soto all the time, which is, again, i get it, but you know there's other things to talk about too.
00:35:37
Speaker
i mean I mean, you want to talk about it, dude. ah you know, today is October 28th. ESPN is doing the Frozen Frenzy where they're basically doing Red Zone for hockey. Did you see any advertising about that?
00:35:49
Speaker
and I saw an online ad when I had done Monday Night Football on mity on my computer and they showed one ad for like 15 seconds. didn't have to do anything on TV. Dude, literally the only reason why I even knew it was happening because I was like, don't I was playing at 7.15. Man, that's a weird time.
00:36:05
Speaker
And I looked it up and they're like oh it's the Frozen Frenzy. I mean, they couldn't have picked the worst two of the worst people to sit there in the booth and go ah and do this. But that's besides the point. I mean, there's there's no advertisement for it.
00:36:19
Speaker
I just think as a whole, like, baseball and hockey in particular both need significant work on their marketing. Yeah. And it's all like the live and same four guys every year. Who watches ESPN?
Changing Intentional Walk Rules - A Question?
00:36:32
Speaker
Nobody. And that's the thing. I feel like baseball is trying to make an effort, I guess, with the rule changes and all that stuff to get younger and stuff too.
00:36:40
Speaker
And like there's all the younger kids getting into sports aren't watching cable. They're on TikTok and YouTube and stuff like that. So maybe. And the kids aren't into baseball. Right. I wonder why. Like. yeah The NBA is all over Instagram, man.
00:36:56
Speaker
Same with the NFL. I also the fact that kids these days have the attention spans of fleas, and they're not to sit down and watch a baseball game. Yeah. They're just not.
00:37:07
Speaker
yeah When they go there, the experience helps. But you know basketball, flashy things happen. Football, flashy things happen. Hockey, just the very basic extent of the sport, you know you have – you know let's say 20 minute periods, 60 minutes, and five goals happen.
00:37:29
Speaker
Are kids going to sit down for 60 minutes with two 18 minute intermissions and watch five things happen?
00:37:38
Speaker
I don't know. I know. I think it's just about the ironic thing is that they, they like soccer. Yeah. They love soccer. So I don't get what it honestly is.
00:37:53
Speaker
But soccer does a good job of marketing their stars. Hockey stinks at marketing their stars. Baseball markets the same four guys. Basketball and football market their stars.
00:38:05
Speaker
And the other thing with baseball that I've noticed, and Zach, i I put in one of our group chats today, I don't know if you saw my rule change proposal. Oh, yeah. What was your thoughts on that? Did you see it? Oh, Jesus. I did see it. I'll tell Josh in a second. yeah tom It's like I get where you're coming from because every – I know what your explanation is going to be from our conversation, and I understand that.
00:38:28
Speaker
Right. Josh doesn't know anything. No, Jesus. It just feels a little gimmicky, but like I could also get behind it if it works. I think we need something, though. What is this, Banana Bowl 2.0?
00:38:39
Speaker
I think it's it's not anything super tacky. it's It's just a minor thing. Basically, what I'm tired of seeing, and I think it's bad for viewership and bad for the kids for the game, is that you have a great player coming up to bat, and they just say, walk to first base.
00:38:58
Speaker
Now, I've been trying to wrestle ideas on how to fix that. i Like, Shohei Otani came up twice yesterday. he's He stands up. They do the, and I'm feeling good. then it's walk to first base.
00:39:11
Speaker
Kids want to see great players do great things. Viewers, casual viewers, don't want to watch Shohei Otani walk to first base. You never see the NFL say, okay, you know Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, we're going to get you in a position to do less.
00:39:30
Speaker
So your idea is to ban intentional walks? No. My idea is if a batter does walks on four pitches, does not see one strike, they get two bases. that'm very That's very gimmicky.
00:39:43
Speaker
what's What's the solution? We don't see Shohei bat after the seventh inning ever? Yeah. like I think that's awful. We don't see Aaron Judge. We see Aaron Judge walk three times out of four at-bats, or four plate appearances because they don't count as at-bats.
00:39:57
Speaker
i think think i think youre I think you got a little bit of think a little bit of recency bias here. i watches it This isn't Perry Bonds. I watched the Yankees all season. I watched Aaron Judge intentionally walk many, many times.
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, this isn't Perry Bonds. doesn't work for you're also watch you know You'll see him stand in right field for three hours, go up to bat four times, and take first base once.
00:40:23
Speaker
You're taking the ball. The most exciting time of the game is when the star hitters are coming up in the late innings. And you're depriving people of that. No, the only thing that's depriving people is when these guys have maintenance days because they're getting paid millions and gazillions of dollars and they can't be afford and they can't be, you know, ah they can't play.
00:40:40
Speaker
That should be. you want You want to ban something? Ban that. I can get behind that, but that's also injury player safety. that You're never really going to get rid of that. Oh, player safety. when you're in I understand that, but that's what they'll hide behind.
00:40:52
Speaker
Right. You know, we don't want to get sued by Congress like football laws and NBA is now. We're trying to avoid lawsuits. Yeah. You know what? You know what, Mike? Instead of doing two bases, I think they should do what the banana ball guys do. You know what their rule is about walks?
00:41:09
Speaker
What? That when ah when a guy walks, ah every player on the field, including outfielders, have to touch the ball and the guy can run until the last guy touches the ball, basically.
00:41:21
Speaker
So usually what ends up happening is the guy splints to second base and hopefully makes it there before he gets thrown out. I don't think that's anywhere near. That's entertaining. What I'm suggesting is anywhere near that.
00:41:33
Speaker
I think that would be more entertaining. One money strike. One strike. Give him one shot.
00:41:42
Speaker
One legitimate pitch that Shohei Otani can hit per at bat. And think viewership will go up really quick.
00:41:50
Speaker
i don't think I don't think you're solving a problem there. You're going to have a guy and he's going to throw something on the outside corner, basically, and hope he swings at it or hope he gets a bad call and then just throw four balls off the plate. At least then it's a little more effort than, yeah, just walk to first base.
00:42:11
Speaker
Well, yeah again, they're going to hide behind player injury. That's the reason why they got rid of it, to speed up the game and a prevent injury. No, I'm saying that was for the four pitches intentional walk. Those are stupid anyway.
00:42:22
Speaker
I'm saying at least make the at-bat look competitive. It's a bad optic.
00:42:29
Speaker
There's no other sport where they say, okay, we're going to take the puck or the ball out of their hands. Sidney Crosby is going to have the puck less. Alex Ovechkin is going to shoot the puck less. I get what you're saying. It's bad the sport.
00:42:44
Speaker
It's awful for the sport. i mean, I get what you're saying, but it i mean it's baseball. The closest thing to basketball is hack-a-shack, and at least then he has a shot to shoot free throws and score. Like, yeah, I get i guess what you're saying, like, sentiment-wise. But, like, yeah, I don't know. to think there needs to be some kind of – It's just a different – it's a different sport, you know. One guy is not going to run away with the game.
00:43:06
Speaker
But that's all well and good. It's just a different sport. And that's great when no one is going to end up watching it because none of the kids are into it. In 30 years, if baseball is dead, oh, yeah, it's just different. It's not going to fly.
00:43:17
Speaker
They need to make money. It's not going to die
Emerging Hockey Stars and Marketing Needs
00:43:20
Speaker
because kids are going to continue playing it because – It's fun to play, and you get the perspective of being rich. It's a lot that play, but you know what I do.
00:43:33
Speaker
If I have three kids, I can name more than five players. It's a lot.
00:43:40
Speaker
It's the truth. Yeah, I mean, yeah. I'm sure they can name five basketball players, though. Oh, yeah, they can. me They can name 20 basketball players. They can name a lot of football players. Yeah.
00:43:51
Speaker
They know who Tyron Tracy is. They don't know who Freddie Freeman is. That's a problem. That is a problem. That's a problem. Yeah, yeah I mean, most these kids are too young to know Freeman on the Braves. And who's watching an L.A. team, to be fair?
00:44:06
Speaker
It's still bad, though. You have to teach these kids, Mike. You teach us how to play fantasy sports. and know you're gonna say something else They have plenty of teams. Yeah, I knew what you think I was going to say. I ain't that bad.
00:44:18
Speaker
They have plenty of teams, but they're not playing fantasy baseball. They know who Kyron Williams is.
00:44:25
Speaker
Jeez, man. They know who Stephon Castle is. yeah I mean, that's why i mean that but but that's why everybody knows who every football player is because everybody knows him in fantasy. If you play a fantasy hockey or a fantasy baseball player and understand, you understand the players better. You you didn't you didn't know Deadly Squad about hockey, and then you started playing fantasy, and you started understanding it more. Doesn't it make you understand it more? started going into researching it. Fantasy hockey had nothing to do with it. I was still calling him Tucka while we were playing fantasy hockey.
00:44:49
Speaker
I think what we need to do is the next and NHL postseason preview that you and Corey do. I come on for about 10 minutes. Just do the segment and leave. I love that. That would be pretty funny. that's Yeah.
00:45:00
Speaker
See, you know, random random fact about um at the hockey preseason or the playoff preview. I always, like, want to do it. But then this was me being me, like, a few years ago when we started. i was like, oh.
00:45:12
Speaker
I missed the first one. i was like, I'll wait till the Sabres make the playoffs because it'll be like I'm finally joining the party. That has not happened. Buddy, you ain't never joined the party. And it's almost been two years since we started this pod.
00:45:30
Speaker
I feel like it's been more than two years. It's only two years. 2023, maybe. Wow. wow Dude, it's, it's, that's all, that's so funny. Yeah, I really thought I had something good, Sherm, too. I'm like, oh, yeah, it'll be great. I'll, like, be like, oh, I'm joining. I'm all here because the Sabres are here.
00:45:45
Speaker
Nope. Yeah. Nope. It's so funny because I was just watching the Frozen Frenzy and Kevin Weeks was talking about how the Sabres look better and literally 30 seconds later, Columbus scored. And Columbus is terrible.
00:46:00
Speaker
That is classic us, but hey, we beat Toronto last, you know, last week, so. It's Tage Thompson and nobody else. Tage Thompson, Darlene, and friends. And Darlene is having a bad start to the season because his wife almost died in the offseason, which everyone keeps forgetting. that was wild.
00:46:14
Speaker
That is wild. i mean, that's a reasonable excuse. absolutely. Everyone's yelling at this dude. I'm like, guys, he almost lost his f freaking fiance. like There's only one guy on the Sabres that I would actually be yelling at, and that's Owen Power.
00:46:28
Speaker
Yeah, he hasn't been anything since... Yeah, it's a number one overall pick. and He's just not good. know. I mean, you know, the Rangers fans rag on Lafrenette, but Sabres fans should ragging on power, man. I mean, this guy was touted to be incredible, and he's just not.
00:46:42
Speaker
He's supposed to be better than Darlene at some point. That's not happening. Yeah. Don't worry. How did actually feel more like a crapshoot than any other sport? No, unless you Not really. ah we You know, if you win the lottery, it's usually pretty good.
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah, win the lottery is pretty nice. Yeah. I wouldn't know anything about that. We did. Thanks, Lovna. Like, everyone's yapping about Bedard, too. Bedard's a kid.
00:47:05
Speaker
Also, he's doing much better this year now already, right? I feel like Shermie's on that pace. He is. He looks a lot better. The thing with Bedard is that he's surrounded by ninkan poops. So it's kind of difficult to score when there's no—he's a passer. He is a passer. That's his game, and he has nobody that will score the puck for him.
00:47:23
Speaker
Now that we're firmly off topic, I'm going to continue on with this. I was at the Islander game last Tuesday, a week ago, and Macklin Celebrini. He's incredible. He looks awesome.
00:47:35
Speaker
My God. Yeah. He had one goal in the third period, but the first two periods, were even when he was scoring, there's very few times, like me as the casual hockey observer, go-so game is like, whoa.
00:47:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's a first overall pick. Check whoa box. Yeah. Matthew Schaefer checked the wall box, too. They've been saying that Celebrini is going to be the next Crosby, and I can say it. He's responsible in every every zone of the ice, and he is hard to stop.
00:48:01
Speaker
You know, he's nuts. yeah That Sharks team should to be very good in a couple of years. Yeah, scary. Then again, we've been saying that for quite some time, but some of the guys are actually starting to join the team.
World Series Ongoing Discussions and Otani's Impact
00:48:15
Speaker
I don't mind them struggling. Just keep getting good players and keep the prices cheap. Yeah. I'll see them every year. See their next new guy.
00:48:22
Speaker
Well, if things go well for the Islanders, the prices might start going up, my friend. know. That's why I'm talking up now. What's up with Ilya? What's going on? what's going What's going on with Ilya? The defense is atrocious. that's what's That's what's going on. And then he lets in the one easy one a game, and that infuriates me. You know, I –
00:48:42
Speaker
they've been saying that there is a fundamental issue with his, he has a fundamental issue with his mechanics. And that's why he has some, some problems with pucks that kind of like go through six hole stuff.
00:48:58
Speaker
um I've said that what they should do is ah tape his elbows to his sides. Cause that seems to be what his issue is, you know, just in practice, you know, start getting used to that feeling.
00:49:11
Speaker
um but But that's the thing. He'll watch him give up a really crappy goal, and then you know five minutes later, he'll lunge across the crease to save one that he has no business getting to. And does that routinely.
00:49:23
Speaker
um don't there's anything wrong with him. But they fired the goalie coach, brought in his goalie coach from Russia. Sometimes you need a change. Maybe. I'm not concerned. Yeah.
00:49:35
Speaker
But back to baseball. I do have a story that we hadn't talked about. ah i'm sure I think I told you guys this one. ah My favorite player, Yusei Kikuchi, kind of deal with the Angels forgot about this last year for a lot of money, which was very un-Angel-like.
00:49:53
Speaker
And he was telling the ah Japanese media... think it was Japanese media. He's Japanese, are right? Yeah. He was telling the Japanese media...
00:50:04
Speaker
that he was cramping in his last start of the year and couldn't finish the game because the Angels do not have air conditioning in their clubhouse, despite him asking the team multiple times to get air conditioning.
00:50:17
Speaker
not Not only was this story outrageous, but literally the next day, the Angels put up a posting for an HVAC technician. So that's all he had to do was say it publicly.
00:50:29
Speaker
Apparently so. Is that not wild? That's insane. That's like Moneyball where they didn't have but they had the players pay for soda. yeah Yeah. And other players from the Angels have have confirmed that they are like ridiculously far behind in like clubhouse amenities. That's insane. this is why nobody wants to play for them.
00:50:48
Speaker
Could that be why Rendon is just so miserable? honestly I mean, he was miserable before he went there. Was he he? had a little bit of a personality with Washington, and then I don't know what happened, though.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yeah, when they won the World – he left there in 2019. They won the World Series. He was smiling all the time. Yeah. Sitting crap out of the ball. Remember when he was that good? Remember when he played baseball?
00:51:10
Speaker
Yeah, I remember when he hit 330 with 30 home runs, and they were like, this guy's going a perennial MVP candidate. Nope. And then I think he's played about 30 games since then. He did finish top 10 in MVP voting four times.
00:51:23
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, dude, he was good. He was really good. what was really good. what ah What if that is? I mean, he was the guy that was like, they're going to get ah player to finally play with drought. And he just started eating the game of baseball. Yeah. And during this contract, he has played less games than Ted Williams played during the war.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yeah. yeah I mean, there you think about the biggest what-ifs in baseball, you know both past and present. What if the guys didn't have to go to war? What if Shohei Otani's betting investigation lasts in more than 48 hours?
00:51:54
Speaker
yeah What if Anthony Rendon actually liked baseball? It's up there on the list of modern what-ifs. ah Well, the next what-if is going to be what if there wasn't a lockout in 2027. Yeah. Yeah. a really good one.
00:52:06
Speaker
Because you know that's coming. Because when matt Rob Manfred is already running damage control in 2025, you know there's a problem of Bruin. Well, that's part of why, like, but um we didn't really, it's funny, all the stuff we talked about, we haven't really talked much about the current World Series going on, aside from the intro, as Shohei Otani's coming up to bat right now.
00:52:27
Speaker
Yes, we're all voting for Meteors, right? Are we all voting? Natural disasters? What? We're voting for Meteors or and or Natural Disasters? Absolutely. I'm rooting hard for the Dodgers.
00:52:38
Speaker
I'm sorry, unapologetically. Huh? Go Dodgers. I'm all in on the Dodgers. I hope O'Khani wants to win. know if I'm all in on the Dodgers, but... I cannot stand Toronto. Well, I can't stand Toronto. I can't stand Toronto.
00:52:53
Speaker
I respect i hope they sink and burn. I'm reluctantly all in on the Dodgers. You really want to see a back-to-back champion? i don't i I don't want to see Vlad Jr.
World Series Closing Remarks and Future Episodes
00:53:03
Speaker
cry.
00:53:03
Speaker
That's what I want to say. yeahs why he He runs his mouth all the time for no reason. Nobody ever says anything to him. it's too It's too much. Shane Bieber's already scared. We already see a 3-0 count on Otani.
00:53:16
Speaker
So this could be great. He throws ball four right now. Nope, he threw a strike. So now Otani would only have one base to take. Ridiculous.
00:53:26
Speaker
Ridiculous. Anyway, that that yeah that's how I feel about that. I just, I can't stand, I can't stand Vlad Jr. I can't stand George Springer. And i just don't, I don't, you know, Canada is a country, man, you know, 51st state.
00:53:42
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I just, here you go. The funniest thing, the funniest thing I saw last week was somebody legitimately asked, so, you know, if an American team wins, they go to the White House. So what happens if Toronto wins?
00:53:58
Speaker
And then somebody replied, well, does that mean the Dodgers go to Tokyo if they win?
00:54:05
Speaker
Well, now I got to know what the Blue Jays did in 94. I think they still go to the White House.
00:54:13
Speaker
That's actually a good question. We're both typing it up. I mean, what happens in hockey? um they They probably go to the Prime Minister's residence or whatever it is. Yeah, thank God the Canadian team hasn't won.
00:54:25
Speaker
Presidential message on the 2025 World Series.
00:54:31
Speaker
you know you He wished to both luck, so I'm guessing that means that he would invite them. I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure that he would invite them. He said they were by this white baseball brings friends and neighbors together.
00:54:45
Speaker
Yeah. and didn right i need I think they'd be invited. Whether or not they go is another story. Oh, yeah, so the Blue Jays in 92 went to the White House, and they also went to Rideau Hall, which I guess is some fancy Canadian place.
00:55:02
Speaker
And even though it's you know a Canadian team, I'm sure you know obviously a bunch of the players are American. Oh, good point. I don't see why they wouldn't. It's a national pastime.
00:55:12
Speaker
Dominican or whatever. Yeah, but a bunch of them are American. I'm sure they don't have any more non-American players than any other team. Sure, yeah. I'm actually on there.
00:55:24
Speaker
on there There you go. Scherzer, Bieber, Bichette. Yeah. Varsho. But yeah, I guess that's cool that they go to both. Kind of jealous. Yeah. Sir Anthony Dominguez throwing a meatball to Otani after having a mound visit was really, really funny.
00:55:42
Speaker
You think he's betting too? I don't know. Dude, did you see the pitch? was right down the middle. I mean, I know it wasn't like the game winning. I watched it live. Oh, yeah. Right down Broadway. was a meatball. Yeah, that was pretty bad.
00:55:55
Speaker
Insane. don't know. Maybe he needs to learn to aim, just like Chapman. Can we talk about that one? About how he wants to retire over the Yankees? Oh, yeah, about how that he would rather retire than get traded to the Yankees because he, quote, felt disrespected.
00:56:10
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I don't know about this disrespected thing, and I won't even be like, well, yeah, the Yankees treated him bad because, you know they you know, they booed him because of the Altuve home run or they booed him because of all the blown saves.
00:56:22
Speaker
This is the same guy who demands who's now demanding respect from Yankee fans who missed months of a season because he got a leg infection while getting a tattoo in the middle of the season. Are you kidding me? Oh, you didn't even go where I was going with this.
00:56:35
Speaker
um Yeah. And as Yankee fan, I say this. Don't come back. We don't want you. No. No. But with that being said, I mean, going back to that segment I was talking about before, guys who did the most for the Hall Fame case this year, I predicted a bunch guys. Aroldis Chapman was not on my radar.
00:56:50
Speaker
Aroldis Chapman might be number one. For guys that impacted their case the most this year. and I agree. He probably won't get in anyway because of the aforementioned domestic violence incident. incident But, you know, he's going to end up with 400 saves. He just signed. i Didn't he just sign a contract?
00:57:05
Speaker
I don't know how long it was with Boston. I think he just signed a contract. did sign an extension with Boston. Two weeks ago. You know, he's about 33, I think, thirty three yeah, 33 saves away from 400. He has playoff titles. You know he's obviously known for the Cubs title that broke the curse.
00:57:23
Speaker
Won again in Texas. This guy might be an on-field Hall of Famer when it's said and done. He's not there yet, but he went from being, like, pretty much considered and a clear no to at least opening the door a little bit.
00:57:36
Speaker
Yeah. But the character clause will screw him out. which we can argue about to wear blue in the face.
00:57:45
Speaker
I mean, Zach doesn't vote for him anyway. He's a rolliever. but this is Yeah, he won't be a championship or bust Hall of Famer. This is true.
00:57:53
Speaker
And that wraps up our 1940 episode of Championship or Bust. By the next time we see you, we will know who won the World Series. We may know who won MVP. We may know who won Cy Young. I'm sure we'll be discussing it.
00:58:05
Speaker
So catch us next time. We'll see you then. Peace.