Charles Barkley joins the show, talks Phillies postseason and more!

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hi, this is Kylee Forber and welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, Welcome to The Philly Show with Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury. I'm Todd So Lucky. Brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. It is bye week this week for the Phillies. They will play Game one of the NLDS on Saturday. And so how do we fill a week without baseball? Well, we bring on some entertaining guests. And who is more entertaining to talk about the Phillies than Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley spends his summers in Philadelphia, watches the Phillies play. He's a legit Phillies fan, and so we wanted him to come on and talk about the Phillies, talk about baseball. And of course we went a whole lot of different ways, but Charles was tremendous with his time, a lot of fun. You are going to enjoy this, Charles Barkley. Everybody, Charles Man, thanks thanks for joining us. We really appreciate this. We know you are a big Phillies fan. We we know you've been on you were on the TBS pregame show. I think last year talking about the Phillies Diamondback series.

00:01:24
Speaker 1: What do you think about this?

00:01:26
Speaker 3: You know, it was crazy because I went over to the hotel they asked us was standing directly across the street from my house, and so I went over there every night to see the guys and hang out with Boa and Bull and those guys. It was pretty It was pretty cool because you know, obviously Boa and Loziski, those guys are more closer to my era. But it was nice to see the young guys. And man, I'm so proud of their success. They've done a fabulous job the last X amount of years and I'm really pumped looking forward to going to the playoffs next week.

00:02:08
Speaker 1: Will you be joining? Will you be joining in Philly?

00:02:13
Speaker 3: It depends, It depends, like uh, because, like I say, it's about time for me. I just came back out to Arizona because you know, my daughter got me under the gun right now Ruby, because man, it's so damn hot out here right now. But my daughter moved my two grandkids out to be close to the old Geezer and uh smoke and I played golf yesterday. It was like one hundred and fifteen degrees. That was one of the stupidest things I've ever deems I've ever made in my life. Hey, we teed off at seven o'clock in the morning. It was like ninety by by eight thirty it was like one nine, one ten. I was like, this is one of the stupid decisions I made a long time. So that's it, brother, No more golf until the templar.

00:03:01
Speaker 1: To give a little hundred.

00:03:05
Speaker 2: Who do you like on this Phillies team?

00:03:08
Speaker 3: Well, I tell you the guy Alex Bone number one. His RBIs He's had a hell of a season. But my favorite player. And I mean obviously everybody loved Bryce because he's a stud. But I love Kyle swarbur Man what he's did to his body. Going back on he was with the Cubs and he made the decision to transform his body. Uh, and it's just been incredible because it kind of not compared.

00:03:36
Speaker 1: I don't like to compare it.

00:03:36
Speaker 3: That's not fair, you know, because when I was a fat ass when I first got to Philly, not calling Kyle of fat ass.

00:03:43
Speaker 1: Now say, you know how I know how to I know how it works.

00:03:46
Speaker 3: By the time this gets up, by the time it gets on television, Charles Barker called Kyle Swarbur fat.

00:03:54
Speaker 1: But what's really interesting.

00:03:56
Speaker 3: You know, when I got to Philly, I weighed three hundred pounds and Moses told me I was fat and lazy, and he got on my cage and made me lose fifty pounds and the rest is history. And I remember reading about Kyle. I think it started when he was in Chicago. He said I want to redo my body, and he redid his body. And he's been a great addition to what he's accompanied the last X amount of years. So I'm using it in that context. Hey, let me tell you something about it's probably I mean, I'm so old now.

00:04:29
Speaker 1: You know.

00:04:29
Speaker 3: My favorite Phillies player all the time is probably Darren Dalton. And I was, you know, I had just taken over the leadership role with the Sixers, and I says he was my favorite player at the time. He gets on team and say, guys, we got to pick it up. We're not holding the Phillies tradition. We're not holding it for the Phillips standards. You guys, we all of us got to play better. We're not doing a good job. Blah blah blah. And then I can't remember the announcement. Come on, said, man, what a great leader. So I played aized his speech.

00:05:03
Speaker 2: Wow.

00:05:05
Speaker 3: By the time I woke up the next day, it said Barkley bad mouthed teammates, and I said, holy shit.

00:05:14
Speaker 1: This guy was a great leader.

00:05:16
Speaker 3: Twenty four hours ago I played the rized his entire speech about we gotta do better, everybody on this team's got to pick it up and blah, I gotta pick it up. And by the time I woke up and woke up the next day to inquire might even acquire the daily lost at Barcley Bashard's teammates, I'm like, you're held.

00:05:35
Speaker 1: To a different standard. Charles held Hey, do you remember do you remember you.

00:05:42
Speaker 4: Said when you were working out and he's transformed your body?

00:05:45
Speaker 1: Do you happen to remember this?

00:05:47
Speaker 4: Because I think it is the very first time we actually met.

00:05:49
Speaker 1: Do you remember Greg McCready's Oh yeah, Do you remember that gym that we used to work out at? Oh yeah?

00:05:56
Speaker 3: Because I started out and places like like that before Pat Croachey came into play, you know, because you know, I was one really cool I love Philadelphia. It's a great city. And what's interesting, I have stayed. I got a condo over there. Now I had a condo a house, and now I got a condo. I stayed within fifteen minutes max. In the entire forty years I've been in Philly, which is crazy because I've always lived in Balakanwood Norbrik in that area. I've been there over forty years and I've always stayed within fifteen minutes because I've always because when I played for the sixth we practiced at Saint Joe's, which was amazing. But I tell you, man, I just got it. People ask me why I live in Philadelphia during the summer. I said, man, I just think Philadelphia is an amazing city.

00:06:52
Speaker 1: I like it.

00:06:53
Speaker 3: They got some great restaurants, I got some great friends. So I just love the city period.

00:07:02
Speaker 5: Charles that that Darren Dalton's story is awesome. Did you ever have the opportunity to meet him and tell him that.

00:07:08
Speaker 3: Oh many times? Many times? You know, obviously, rest in peace. Uh, such a good dude. But I hung out with him a ton of times.

00:07:18
Speaker 1: You know, you know that.

00:07:19
Speaker 3: You know, obviously this is a great time to be a Philadelphia fan because between the Phillies, the Eagles and the seventy six ers, I don't want to come in on the flyer because I don't know a lot, but all three are legit, legit World Champion contenders. I mean, it was pretty It's a great time to be a Philadelphia fan right now. I Mean, somebody asked me who I think's gonna win first. I says, probably the Phillies got the best chance because they're gonna be one of the heavy favorites going into the World Series. And then you look at the Eagles last year. I don't know what happened last year, but then you got my seventy sixty. We've had a great summer. They got a great player in Joel. Getting Paul George is a tremendous accomplishment, and so man, it's a great time. But the point I want to make you go back, the Phillies had great teams. We had good, solid teams. Man, my favorite coach probably all time, Buddy Ryan had the Eagles and those guys, and I was like, you know, hanging out with Reggie White and self, Joiner and those guys, Randall Cunningham, the great Mike Quick who I played golf with recently, with Jason Kelsey, which was really cool to hang out with Kelsey because you know, I'd heard great things about Kelsey, you know, because I know it's brother pretty well. To be honest with you, but I never met Jason, and I'd always wanted to meet him. But I'm only in Philly three months a year, and obviously he was busy and Mike quick set it up.

00:08:54
Speaker 1: But we could go play some.

00:08:55
Speaker 3: Golf, and man, it was really you know, when you meet somebody and people say they're a great dude, when they live up to the hype, it's really cool. And it was really awesome to hang out and play golf with him.

00:09:07
Speaker 4: That's awesome. Gad.

00:09:09
Speaker 2: You know that this this time of year, you're right when the when the when a Philly team is winning. It's such a great place to be. It's it's great to be at Citizens Bank Park right now. And and Charles, when the team is going well or there's a big moment in the game, you're on the scoreboard quite often, hyping up the crowd, doing one of those hype videos. Do you remember when you shot that? And and what do they tell you? What's the instruction there? Just just scream your face off, and.

00:09:33
Speaker 3: The scream as loud as possible. You know what it's like, Todd, It's like making a subway commercial. I was like, they're like screaming to the microphone. Well, so it was. It's very interesting. I tell you this quick story about subway. The first time I made this subway commercial, I called my agent. I says, this is stupid a ship I've ever done. He says what I said, you know, like you normally, I said, I'm shooting commercial. You do what you're reading about it, like, go faster, scream louder. I'm like, blah blah blah. Okay, okay. They're like, no, go faster, go louder. I'm like, okay, I've already spent the money, might as well do what y'all want me to do. And they're screaming at me, dude, you can't go fast enough. And I will tell you it's turned into an amazing relationship because when you shoot though.

00:10:23
Speaker 1: When you see that, when you hear do you hear my voice?

00:10:27
Speaker 3: I'm screaming fast, going fast, and it works in the commercial. But the first time I shot that commercial, I told me this is stup of the shit I've ever done. And it's turned into an amazing relationship. So to answer, your question when they're like, because I did it. I think like five or seven times they're like, no, louder, more energy, loud or more energy, And I'm sitting there like and then like, when I got an opportunity to see it, it turned out really well, and I'm it's all. It's man, Philadelphia means a lot to me and anything I can do to support Philip.

00:10:59
Speaker 6: De Cool, we get it. Mornings are nuts, no time for breakfast, but you need to get your day started right.

00:11:06
Speaker 7: What if a delicious, nutritious meal could be ready in seconds. Support for foul Territory is brought to you by Hewle, the world's number one complete nutrition brand with over four hundred million meals sold worldwide. Fuel is trusted by millions of people looking to fuel their days with convenient, complete nutrition. Try it for yourself with this exclusive FT offer fifteen percent off with the code foul at huel dot com.

00:11:29
Speaker 1: You know we're all.

00:11:30
Speaker 8: About saving time, but we get angry like a lot. I recently fell in love with the Fuel Ultimate Supergreens powder, which is a perfect blend of ninety one vitamins, minerals and whole food sourced ingredients. I also love their complete nutrition bars and those hot and savory pouches are fire too.

00:11:47
Speaker 6: Ftfam give it a shot. Get fifteen percent off with the code foul at hu e l dot com. Unlock a healthier, easier way to eat with fuel nutritionally complete meals in minutes so you can focus on what really matters.

00:12:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it plays so well. People do get fired up when you're when you're screaming at him in the seventh inning and the bases loaded and the relief pictures coming, and they they see Charles on this, on this on the screen and they start screaming with you. So I guess in the moment when you're feeling you're feeling like an idiot, right, because they're like scream louder. You're like you're standing in front of a green screen and yelling about a subway sandwich or yelling go phillies.

00:12:25
Speaker 1: Well you know it.

00:12:27
Speaker 3: And and the thing that's funny when I'm doing subway, I'm in a little box by myself, and I'm in a little and a little room, a little soundproof room, so I have to really scream and really go fast. You're like faster, faster, louder, faster, And it's the same thing you just said with the green screen. I was just standing in the room by myself in front of a green screen, and they're like, louder, more energy, louder more energy. Shut out to Bunny. Bunny.

00:12:58
Speaker 1: You know she does a fabulous job with the Phillies. Uh. She takes care of me when I need stuff.

00:13:04
Speaker 3: I need a new playoff edition shirt, and please don't send me that ugly blue thing, whatever the hell that is.

00:13:13
Speaker 2: You're not a fan of the City Connects.

00:13:15
Speaker 3: I'm not a fan of the City connect I am not. Actually, you know what's great. I've seen them wear them a couple of times this year, the old.

00:13:25
Speaker 1: Old jerseys, the powder blue, no, the.

00:13:30
Speaker 3: The cream colored ones, no, the just the regular going back to the old Phillies days.

00:13:37
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm trying to.

00:13:38
Speaker 1: Think of you'll think which one old? Yeah, I'm not sure. The old pinstripe ones.

00:13:43
Speaker 3: It might be the old Pinstripe ones, but they're really old school. I really enjoyed those. I really love to see those, but they're really old. They're from my date well, because I'm really old.

00:13:55
Speaker 2: Jim.

00:13:56
Speaker 1: Hey, Jim, you know what I mean? I do? He just called you old Jim.

00:14:03
Speaker 5: No, No, we're from the same generation. And I love history, Charles, and I mean you grew up outside of Birmingham, and so did.

00:14:12
Speaker 1: A guy named Willie Mays.

00:14:14
Speaker 5: And Hank Aaron was born in Alabama, and Manty Irvin was born in Alabama, and Billy Billy Williams and Don Sutton and Satchel Paige. I mean we're talking about cream of the crop. We lost Willie Mays this year. Did you have a relationship with I know, different generation. Were you a fan of him? Did you know him well?

00:14:36
Speaker 3: Jim Number one, that's a great question. I had the awesome pleasure. Astley was ironic with Hank Aaron. There's a girl named Bill Marshall, one of my great friends who started with me at the Sixers, became Hank Harron's personal assistant. Oh wow, and his last two years of life. She set up a few meetings with him and it was like royalty because my admiration and respect for him. But Beth Marshall, actually I got to kiss her ass a little bit, Jim, because she has to just got a job at Augusta National. Yes, hey, hey, hey, Rue, I'm gonna be kissing her ass. It's gonna take like tickets, just like chickens. Uh so, So I got a chance to meet mister Aaron and she hooked me up and it was one of the I think I got to meet him five or six times.

00:15:29
Speaker 1: It was like I was in a room.

00:15:31
Speaker 3: And as far as Willie Mays, I got an opportunity to meet him, probably five or six times.

00:15:38
Speaker 1: And man, but Jim, you said something interesting.

00:15:42
Speaker 3: I want all these young guys who make it all this money, especially in the NBA, go back and look at guys like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Money, Irvin, Billy Williams done something. Guys who were much better players than guys today, Guys like you know. Listen, I wouldn't have to play a Bill Russell was or Kareem and Wilt and all those guys. And these guys now, bless them, Bless them. I'm not the old Get off my long, guys. I'm glad you're making all this money, but you should always go back and look and appreciate the guys who did all the heavy lifting. In my opinion, hey man, we can never say thank you to those guys enough. Hey, young guys make all the money.

00:16:26
Speaker 1: Bless y'all. Bless y'all. But let me tell you something.

00:16:30
Speaker 3: Always go back when I when when I tell people man, Moses Malone, Bobby Jones, doctor J Clement Johnson, Andrew Maurice, those guys, Man, I can never thank them enough.

00:16:42
Speaker 1: You know.

00:16:43
Speaker 3: I become one of my mentors now is Billy Cunningham, and he's teaching. He's taught me how to handle my money. He's been a great friend. He's been a great mentor. And I tell people, man, go back and do your history.

00:16:58
Speaker 1: Everybody on the field.

00:16:59
Speaker 3: You know about Mike Schmid, Greg Louzansky, Steve Carlton, Dick Allen, go back and know about all those guys, because man, those guys they did all the heavy lifting to put us in a situation.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: But we can make well.

00:17:15
Speaker 3: They can make all this money today and we should be thankful and know our history.

00:17:20
Speaker 1: That's a great point. It's something that was important to our organization.

00:17:23
Speaker 4: We did that a lot in the minor leagues, Charles, and I think they continue to do that. The respect that and it's interesting we talked about this. The guys that are on the field right now, I think they do have a great deal of respect. And it starts with guys like you know, Vice Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and I think they really do respect the history of the not just history of the game, but also the history of the Philadelphia Phillies, which is kind of cool.

00:17:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really cool.

00:17:48
Speaker 3: And Number one just important because let's be honest, I'm not talking about your Phillies.

00:17:53
Speaker 1: I'm talking about NBA players.

00:17:54
Speaker 3: Some of these guys can't play dead in a Western movie and they're making thirty four They're making thirty four a million dollars a year. They were just boring at the right time. I don't hate on them, it's just fact they can't play some of them.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: They're all good players, don't get me wrong, but.

00:18:09
Speaker 3: They're not good enough to be making twenty five thirty four a million dollars. They were just born in the right situation. And like I say, just appreciate how lucky and blessed you are. And you know, I was on the call with Coach Belichick the other day and people want to know why we're friends because I met Coach Belichick when he was coaching in Cleveland.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: So I've been on the bandwagon way longer than this.

00:18:33
Speaker 3: All the Super Bowls later and the one thing we always talk about because he wanted to have dinner with me, because he appreciated how I played basketball. And I said, the number one thing for me was always Hey, all the other stuff is great, but the number one thing is, man, you got to be the basketball, the football, the baseball has always got to be the most important thing. All that other stuff is great, but man, the most important thing is giving the fans your best. I think that's one of the reasons people have always treated me a greed in Philly. I never cheated the fans when I was in Philadelphia. Now we had a bonehead organization who traded the number one draft pick like idiots in my like fourth year in the league, which actually chased the entire dynamics of my career when we traded the number one pick for Roy Hanson and also we traded Moses for Jeff Rubin, who never even played with me when I was just becoming a star. But they respect me. I went out and gave them everything I had every night.

00:19:37
Speaker 1: Great stuff.

00:19:38
Speaker 4: That's all they That's all the Philly fans want.

00:19:40
Speaker 1: They It's all about effort.

00:19:42
Speaker 4: That's something that I think you'll see pretty much on.

00:19:45
Speaker 1: A nightly basis in Philadelphia.

00:19:47
Speaker 8: You can't cheat.

00:19:47
Speaker 4: The Philly fans.

00:19:48
Speaker 1: Really different here, Charles.

00:19:51
Speaker 5: Are the fans different here or is that?

00:19:54
Speaker 1: I mean?

00:19:54
Speaker 5: I think they're in the Northeast. They're all pretty intense, but you know, you see them all over the country. Are fans different Philadelphia?

00:20:01
Speaker 3: Well, Jim, I was getting ready to I'm glad you said that. I think it's a Northeast thing. I'm not gonna lie. I think in mind. I mean, man, I've been here forty years now in sports, watching all the sports and going to all the cities. I think Philadelphia, New York, and Boston no disrespect to other cities. I think those are the three most intense fan bases. And like I said, that's no particular order. I just think New York, Boston, and Philly. You can stick them in a bucket and pull out one.

00:20:34
Speaker 1: Man.

00:20:35
Speaker 3: They demand that you give one hundred and ten percent, and if you're not doing it, you're not gonna be there long. Like, even if you don't win, if you give everything you got were those three cities will respect you. But if you cheat them, you're gonna have to move. I guarantee that you're gonna have to move.

00:20:55
Speaker 1: Do you think it's.

00:20:56
Speaker 2: Possible to change a when a player comes in. We've seen Phillies players come in and they just cannot handle the criticism and the booze after a bad game or bad stretch. Is it possible to talk to somebody like that, you know, maybe on your former teammate, and just get them to kind of accept how tough Philly is? Or do you think you have to be a certain way, born a certain way to be able to handle this type of atmosphere Philly Sixers, Eagles, whatever, right, you can get killed here?

00:21:22
Speaker 1: Todd.

00:21:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a really good question. Everybody can't handle it. It's not for everybody. And I've had this conversation with a bunch of players. Probably I say yoh, because I remember I did a quick story. The six has called me. They've called me several times back in the day like hey, once you talk to this guy.

00:21:41
Speaker 1: Blah blah blah.

00:21:42
Speaker 3: So Sean Bradley one of my favorite people, and they're like, you need to talk to his wife. I'm like, what she's just she's fighting with the fans. I said, Oh, that's a bad exit. That's not going to end good. That's not going to end good. And I remember telling Sean. I said, yoh, man, you got to tell your wife. She got to sit there. She gotta take it. She can't say anything. And she's like, no, I'm gonna stand up for my man. I said, well, your man ain't gonna be here and you gonna get your feelings hurt. And I mean, and I tell you even a really crazy story. I play and I said, yo, let it go, let it go. And she ended up like, yeah, I can't come to games anymore. So I tried to tell you that you can't feel it. So I played with a guy named Charles Shockefer, great person, decent basketball player. He would get two files the first quarter every game, which is impossible, which is impossible. And finally me and Rick Mahorn like pulled them aside, Yo, man, what the hell is your problem? And he looked at us with a straight faced guy and says, man, I just can't take your abuse. I can't take it if I get two quick files, y'all take me out the game and they don't say anything to me, and we were kind of shocked, and I says, what do you mean? He says, man, there's talking about me they're talking about my family, They're talking about my mom, my dad and everybody. Blah blah blah. They'll call me every name in the book. So I came up with a strategy, which is sad that he felt this. He said, I just go get get two quick files, y'all take me out the game, and they don't say anything else to me. And so, you know, Todd, to answer your question, everybody can't play in Philadelphia or New York or Boston.

00:23:33
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just not for everybody.

00:23:36
Speaker 3: You can't be thin skin, uh, your family can't be getting into it with fans in the stands.

00:23:44
Speaker 1: So man, it's not for everybody. That's a great question.

00:23:49
Speaker 2: Now you're a social media where they can get you on Twitter, they can call you a litte.

00:23:58
Speaker 1: One of the you know, I asked ly.

00:24:00
Speaker 3: Just got social media because I bought a distillery in Alabama.

00:24:06
Speaker 1: Oh cool, Yeah, because I.

00:24:07
Speaker 3: Wanted to own business in Alabama so to give people jobs and economic opportunities. So I bought a vodka and jendicce early like three year ago. So I just got social media. I had always avoided social media because it's the arm pit of America.

00:24:24
Speaker 1: What I thought it was.

00:24:28
Speaker 3: I thought it was the mpit of America. It might It's one every loser behind the keyboard, got an opinion, got to be mean, gott to be nasty, which I've never understood that philosophy. I don't mind people having an opinion or you disagreeing with people, but how you go from zero to sixty where it's got to be really mean, really.

00:24:53
Speaker 1: Nasty, I just have never understood it.

00:24:57
Speaker 3: I tried to stay away from that and only talk about my products and things like that and what I got coming up. But man, these players today, I would tell them stay off the internet. And I think one thing that's really hurt the players even more is the gambling aspect, because I've heard now that these guys are getting criticized they don't get X amount of points, X amount of rebounds, and I'm like, wow, I'm glad I didn't have that type of scrutiny when I played, but some of they. I see some NBA players talking about they're getting death threats and things like that, but they don't have X amount of points and rebounds and I'm like, WHOA. So I'm so glad I didn't play during the social media era.

00:25:50
Speaker 5: Scary yeah, the scambling thing is scary because like you wonder what's next, because nothing ever goes backward, it always goes forward. Here now it's it's it's you know, big revenue source for all these leagues, and what is next?

00:26:06
Speaker 1: And could it get ugly?

00:26:08
Speaker 3: Well, it's gonna get ugly, Jim. First, you know, first of all, make it clear. I'm a gamblet degenerate. I don't want to get on here and act like I'm anti gambling. I love to gamble. I love to gamble.

00:26:22
Speaker 1: I do.

00:26:24
Speaker 3: But some of the stuff that I see now, it's scary to me that you can sit on your phone and bet who's gonna score the next basket, whether guy's.

00:26:37
Speaker 1: Gonna make both free throws.

00:26:41
Speaker 3: I was like, way down that is that is you are real. I'm not you might have if you're betting on the if of whos gonna score the next basket or if a guy gonna make two free throws. Like I said, I want to be clear, I'm a gamblet degenerate and I love it, and I'm gonna keep gambling.

00:26:59
Speaker 1: But man, I don't even do that.

00:27:01
Speaker 3: I don't sit there and say who's gonna score the next basket off, a guy gonna make two free throws, like I know in y'all business.

00:27:08
Speaker 1: Uh I watched golf sometime.

00:27:10
Speaker 3: They're like, you can bet if somebody's gonna make a birdie on this whole h you can met it in your business, like a guy gonna get a hit.

00:27:18
Speaker 1: I was like, man, that's my first and four ene.

00:27:22
Speaker 4: And this was years ago.

00:27:23
Speaker 1: In Venezuela.

00:27:23
Speaker 4: They were literally every single pitch, whether it's gonna be a fastball or curveball, a ball, a strike. I mean, every single pitch was being bet on whether or not the umpire is gonna roll the ball onto the mound or if it's gonna roll off. In between innings when they threw the ball out there, you know, I mean, kind of crazy stuff, but this is the way.

00:27:44
Speaker 1: In the world. But the answer jams point.

00:27:47
Speaker 3: It's kind of like this thing that we screwed up college sports with his ni l and things like that. Uh it, we have ruined college sports the way we know them. She just thought, as one kid, they promised him one hundred thousand dollars and renegged on it, and they're undefeated in the top twenty. And he's like, I'm not playing y'all promise me one hundred thousand, which is.

00:28:12
Speaker 1: Chomp change apparently in that business. I don't know. I hate an I am.

00:28:16
Speaker 3: Personally, But so these kids are never gonna go back and say, hey, you know what, I'm gonna play for free. I was making millions of dollars, but I'm gonna play for free. Now that's never gonna You can never put the toothpaste back.

00:28:29
Speaker 1: In the dude.

00:28:30
Speaker 3: But to answer your original question, Jim, it's gonna get worse and I don't know how you can fix it. I really don't, because man, people are going to gamble and I don't even know how you would regulate it at this point.

00:28:47
Speaker 1: Great point, Yeah, it's Charles. Charles. So you were a basketball player.

00:28:53
Speaker 4: Tell me was there any other sport like if you were, if there is any sports that you could have played?

00:28:59
Speaker 1: What's well?

00:29:02
Speaker 3: You know, being from the South at Alabama, small town leads, you got really one of the big three. Basically your school gonna have baseball, football, and basketball.

00:29:13
Speaker 1: That's it.

00:29:15
Speaker 3: And I played football one day, rude, and I realized these people are fucking nuts.

00:29:23
Speaker 1: I was like, I.

00:29:25
Speaker 3: Remember sitting there, my fingers are bleeding, my head is heard, and I'm down and I'm dirty and nasty.

00:29:33
Speaker 1: I got grass things.

00:29:34
Speaker 3: Everywhere, and I got my head down because I'm physically exhausted. And the coach says, I'll see y'all tomorrow. I said, wait, we got to do this again tomorrow. I said no, no, no, no, no no no. So I took my time and wait to everybody left, and I say, hey, coach, I appreciate the opportunity, but I'm not doing this shit ever at Burn and he said what do you mean? I said, I just ran full He put me a defensive tackle and I said, I just ran full speed into a guy for two hours and I didn't get anything out of it but beat up. I don't know what he got out of it. But I'm not doing this all the time. This is the stupidest thing ever. And so I played the football, And this is the true story. I played football at one day and all of a sudden, I said, hey, let me try this basketball thing. And what's really ironic about the basketball thing. I wasn't any good at basketball. I was a five to ten backup point guard. And I have zero idea what happened. The next sung went home for the summer, and I came back and I was six five, And what's really weird that people said, Man, did you feel your body? Did you feel your body hurt and your bones aching? I'm like, I didn't actually feel anything. I got back to school and the coaches tall of you, I says, I don't know. He says, when you left for the summer, you were five ten, five eleven. He said, how tall are you now? It's like, I don't know who goes around kicking their.

00:31:10
Speaker 9: Height in a small town in Alabama. All I all I'm doing is playing playing rocks, which is the stupidest shit ever. If y'all ever played rocks, you just throw rocks at each other.

00:31:25
Speaker 3: That when you're in a small town, you play marbles. You probably know what marble, but rocks is. You just hide behind trees and throw rocks at each other. That's how stupid it is when you're in a small town.

00:31:37
Speaker 1: Yet, probably no snow, so it'll be like a snowball plight with rocks.

00:31:40
Speaker 3: Dude, we don't get snow in Alabama.

00:31:44
Speaker 2: Did you play baseball at all growing up?

00:31:46
Speaker 1: Or at all?

00:31:47
Speaker 2: Like no, because I know I saw you take VP at the ballpark in system Bank Park in twenty sixteen, he took some VP.

00:31:54
Speaker 1: Is that when you do that stuff?

00:31:56
Speaker 3: No, that's not fun because you know, one of my great friends is Rick Cliff and he was screwing around and they were throwing curveballs at my head and I was back in the dugout. They just came right across the plate because I you know that curveball is dangerous and when you hit the thing was crazy. When he would throw me a fastball, I could hear the mid hit then I would swing.

00:32:17
Speaker 1: I was like, damn, this is a hard sport. It was so crazy.

00:32:22
Speaker 3: As I was like, I think I can hit some pitches, he like, you can't chuck. You can't be cause I took him golfer that day and it's weird. I could hear a split sucking before I swung the bat. I could hear the mid hit. I was like, dam this thing is And this wasn't even like a real pitcher. I forget. I want to say, Doug de Vincenzo. He was like a shortstop pitch. Yes, yes, but no. I never played baseball, man, but thank god, I grew from five ten to six five in.

00:32:51
Speaker 5: One year and got lucky so in your you know, your experience is taking some batting practice with the Cubs and then the Phillies.

00:32:59
Speaker 1: Do you do you agree with.

00:33:01
Speaker 5: The widely held observation that hitting a round ball with a round bat is the toughest thing to do in sports.

00:33:11
Speaker 3: It's right up there with hitting golf balls because of hitting a golf ball is hard, which is well, baseball is probably harder first and foremost because that ball is actually just sitting there in golf. But to hit it perfectly, which Jack Nicholas said at one time, he said I only hit. He says I only have about ten percent of shots I hit perfectly, and he's like the second greatest player in my opinion, after Tiger. He says, I only hit ten percent of perfect shots. Can you can imagine how it is for us hacks. I mean, we probably hit one solid shot or two solid shots per round.

00:33:52
Speaker 1: But I love the game. It's amazing.

00:33:54
Speaker 3: But all the sports are different, Jim. Because the football is my favorite sport. It takes tremendous courage to go out there. I tell people, I've said it for years. Boxing and football are my two favorite sports. Football is one Boxing's one aid because if you step on a football field, you better be all in committed, And if you step in a boxing ring, you better be all in committed. You can cheat in other sports, but when you go on a football field or you go in a boxing ring, something bad can really happen to you. But it's for a person talent standpoint, Probably hidding a baseball is probably one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing to do.

00:34:38
Speaker 1: In the world.

00:34:41
Speaker 2: Now everybody's hitting a hundred or throwing a hundred.

00:34:44
Speaker 3: And yeah, that cause they damn idiots, Todd, I just had you don't seriously, you know. One cool thing about my job is like when we're in Atlanta for the playoffs, I got Wayne Gretzky is sitting with me doing hockey in the same we all sitting around. I got Paedro Railroad, Jimmy Rollins and Curtis Granderson, and I got a bull uh I forget his name, bench Paul Busin that and me and Shaq and Ken. We're all sitting in the room. We got three studios that are right together. And Patro's thing is because I really want to know about other sports always, I try to because I don't never want to be one of those idiots who go on other networks and not like y'all know what a good picture is or a good hitter.

00:35:33
Speaker 1: What's a good hockey player?

00:35:34
Speaker 3: I asked those guys, and Patri's like, Patrick, why are all these guys blowing out their arms?

00:35:40
Speaker 1: He says, they're a bunch of idiots, Chuck.

00:35:42
Speaker 3: They all out here trying to throw as hard as they can on every pitch. And I say what, He says, there's a reason there's more injuries to dayan it's ever been. You don't have to throw the ball one hundred miles an hour every pitch, he says. You look at some of the greatest players ever, he says, and he said, I'm gonna be humble.

00:36:03
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna count myself.

00:36:04
Speaker 3: You look at Maddox, you look at Glavin, you look at guys like that, he says. The guys didn't throw the ball one hundred miles an hour every play. He said, go back, and he says, if these guys would learn how to pitch instead of just rearing back and throwing as hard as they can every pitch, they wouldn't break down as much. And so that's why your point taught about. Yeah, these guys just go out there and just throw it as hard as they can every single play. And I'm like, that's like a basketball player. Like, yo, man, I don't jump as hard as I can every single time. Like there's no traffic around me, I'm not gonna get hit. I'm gonna ease and I'm not gonna go full power. Like if I'm in congested traffic where i can get hit knocked on ballots, I'm gonna jump as hard and be as strong as possible.

00:36:57
Speaker 1: But if I'm by myself, I'm gonna kind of just ease it.

00:37:00
Speaker 3: You can't tail, but I'm not going down and exploding as hard as I can. You gotta have some common sense as a as a player.

00:37:11
Speaker 1: H Amen, Amen, Charles.

00:37:16
Speaker 5: If I wanted to ask you about expectations on a team, on a good team and whether they can engulf a team, because this Phillies team, I mean, this is a baseball podcast. This Phillies team has huge expectations, a huge payroll, big star power, playoff experience. Now they're going back. The feel in town is you gotta win one of these can can expectations like that eat up a team and cause it not to perform at peak level.

00:37:57
Speaker 1: Yes, yes. To answer you a question, how do you avoid that? How do you avoid not?

00:38:02
Speaker 3: You know, there's nothing you can do about it because there's a double standard. And Rube know this from playing. There's only in the NBA there's eight teams. No, that's too many. There's six teams that can win the championship. They're just trying to get through the regular season because having the best record during the regular season or being a high seed don't mean jack. They're like, we have to win the championship or our seasons of failures, it's a great thing to have. The Phillies are in that boat gym. They've been there probably there's probably the third or fourth year like we got to win the World Series or our seasons not a success and it can. I actually give them credit because I think right now they got a one game over the Dodgers, if I'm correct, I was looking at that last night.

00:39:04
Speaker 4: I think the Dodgers a half game or one game.

00:39:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, but so I think they handle the expectations. But Ruben knows this first hand.

00:39:16
Speaker 1: Man.

00:39:18
Speaker 3: When the playoffs start, that's when the pressure is really ratchet up, because one game, two games, it's over I mean it is over. You don't get hit or you get a guy who pitches ass off in one game, the pressure is really on you. It's on you all season, but it really ratches up. And the Phillies are on the Phillies, the Dodgers, trying to think the Yankees, they're probably if y'all can name it anymore, they're probably the only three teams in baseball in my opinion, always say, in my opinion, they have to win the World Series or the seasons not a success.

00:40:05
Speaker 1: Is there another one, Rubiny? Probably not?

00:40:09
Speaker 4: Probably not, Okay, of those three teams, You're probably right about those three teams that.

00:40:16
Speaker 3: They have to win the World Series or people like they underachieved. Those are the only three teams. Like if the Guardians, if they get to the World Series or win a Cup round, it's a great season. Like last year the Diamondbacks incredible, incredible series.

00:40:36
Speaker 1: They had a great year.

00:40:38
Speaker 3: But I don't think most people think they're getting back to the World Series this year.

00:40:44
Speaker 1: Uh, but then.

00:40:45
Speaker 3: Going forward they gonna be like, hey, y'all, guys got to win the World Series. So it's that pressure is immense and it's yes, Jim, is it can you have to have a bunch of guys who gonna like they're like I say, the Phillips have handled the pressure they've gotten through the regular season, and now presser just ramps up in the playoffs.

00:41:12
Speaker 2: Do you ever find yourself when you were playing your down two zero in a series, how do you not panic?

00:41:18
Speaker 3: Well, you can't panic until you lose a home game. Baseball's different, number one. But when you down to Zip, you just sending yourself, guys, we just got to get these next two.

00:41:32
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, you got to get game three. For sure.

00:41:34
Speaker 3: If you get game four, all the pressure goes back to that team is home because they know they gotta win game five. They know they gotta win game five because if they if they lost them, they won them first to and lost them next to. If they lose game three, they're not gonna win game six. Excuse me that they lose game five. They're not gonna win game six on the road. So when you're down to Zip, you're like, Okay, don't panic. We're good. They they we call it. They helped. They had the home court for a reason. They earned that. Now we got to get these next two. That's all you're thinking about. That's all you're thinking about.

00:42:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, Charles, thanks a lot man for the time. We appreciate and that we'll see, if we'll see, if you'll talk listen.

00:42:23
Speaker 3: I'm trying to do trying to do as many things as I can because I got to put you know, we're gonna get fired out the next year, so I'm trying to get all this stuff to put on my LinkedIn profile.

00:42:35
Speaker 2: Charles, if you want to work on yours, Charles, if you want to put the Philly Show on your LinkedIn we would be we would be all about it, believe men, Tod you know I was.

00:42:44
Speaker 3: I've been joking with my friends. They're like, what are you gonna put on your LinkedIn profile? You ain't never had no real job. I said, well that's a really good point. What's your what's your work experience? I'm like, Ship, i ain't never had a real job. So I I got to figure out what I'm gonna put on my LinkedIn profile out the next year.

00:43:03
Speaker 1: But I hey, Rubens.

00:43:05
Speaker 3: Since I ay tied and Jim, no disrespect Rubin, I'm gonna put you on my resume.

00:43:09
Speaker 4: Okay, you can use me as a reference anytime.

00:43:15
Speaker 1: My friend. Okay, go ahead.

00:43:16
Speaker 5: When when you're in Atlanta in the studio with Gretzky, I mean, Charles Barkley, Wayne Gretzky, do you guys ever walk over the Varsity and get a couple go a couple of hot dogs, a couple of hamburgers.

00:43:30
Speaker 3: No, no, you know no, but we make up for it with the alcoholic beverages. You know. Hey, I love Hey. Let me tell you something. You cannot drink with Canadians. That's what that's bad for your brothers. The Canadians can put they got like real alcohol people. They got the Bats and most and this got like real alcohol content. I said, yo, man, I'm out here drinking bud Light and Ultra and things like that. It's got like eight water. You grab a few of them Moslims and Labats. You're like, man, this is good, but it's dangerous.

00:44:10
Speaker 1: That's tremendous child.

00:44:11
Speaker 2: Thanks again, man, we appreciate it.

00:44:13
Speaker 3: Hey, my pleasure. Guys, y'all take care of youself. I'll see y'all doing the playoffs.

00:44:17
Speaker 2: Thanks again to Charles Barkley for the time. That was a lot of fun. I am positive you guys enjoyed that one. He is so much fun to talk to. We will be back later this week. We've got more guests coming. Specifically, we've got the Armantani Brothers. They are the guys from Northeast Philly. They went to Holy Ghost Prep and they are the DJs that have constructed this post game win Clinch playlist that you heard blaring in the Phillies Clubhouse on Monday night. Uh, lifelong Phillies fans. I thought it would be fun to have them on it and talk about that experience and just being kind of part of what the Phillies there Armantani Brothers and what Phillies fans hope will be a very long, fun month of October, maybe even stretching it into early November. So look for that episode later this week, and also look for more Phillies talk from Ruben, Jim and I as we break down the NLDS. Thanks everybody, This is The Phillies Show. If you haven't already, please subscribe to The Philly Show wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch us on our YouTube channel. If you like what we do, give us a review, tell a friend. Catch Ruben, Jim and Me on Phillies Nation TV. Presented by Valley Forge Tourism. New episodes air an hour before every Saturday Phillies game on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Replays air throughout the week and on Philliesnation dot com. Get more of Ruben's analysis during before and after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network Reajim. I'm at the Allcity Network at all pH l y dot com. Find more of me at MLB dot com, the Phillies b Newsletter, and occasionally on MLB Network