The Best of The Dan Patrick Show

00:00:00
Speaker 1: You are listening to the Dan Patrick Show on Fox Sports Radio.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: The Yankees on the brink. They were down five, they come back and win it, and Aaron Judge goes three for four, game tying home run and four runs batted in. So far, he's seven for eleven in the series. The home run that he hit, I won't say it's impossible, but it's nearly impossible to turn on that pitch that is so inside, it's out of the strike zone. And I like that. You had people who were second guessing, like why would you pitch to him? They didn't. He was down oh two. They threw a great pitch inside that most mortals will strike out on, and he turned on a ninety nine mile an hour fastball that was the only other person I've ever seen that was Barry Bonds. Where it's inside, so inside, but he turned on it and kept it fair and hit a home run. Magical, Magical, it's going to be so. I know the votes are already in, but I don't think there's a wrong choice in MVP. And cal Raley hit a home run last night, his sixty first on the year, and I just I think this is going to be one of those really really close votes and it'd be a shame. I don't know if cal Raley ever gets this chance again. Aaron Judge feels like, we'll get this chance again. But this is one of those almost like Mike Greenwell, you remember him with the Red Sox and he lost out I think the Jose Canseco and then all the steroid stuff came out and Mike Greenwell was a really good player, but he was never going to get a chance again. It's a magical season, a magical season for the team as well. And I had a baseball analyst who said, how's baseball and baseball fans going to react if you have the Blue Jays and the Mariners playing? You know that? Are we going to be like, oh what are we doing with our small market teams here? And I'm like, I don't know why we get We always come to this conclusion like, oh, who's gonna watch? Like I don't care. You know, it's you're getting to see some good baseball. You're getting to see some big stars. And if it's Seattle, it's a great story. Toronto is a great story as well. I know we love the big markets, but Mariners are up to one on Detroit and uh, you know, the Yankees down to to one. You got the Dodgers who might be able to sweep the Phillies coming up later on tonight, and then the Brewers and the Cubs. Kind of an oh, by the way series, but the Brewers favored in that series.

00:02:33
Speaker 3: Yes, Marvin, that's always that always kind of boggles me when people talk about the small markets. Isn't it about big, big time stars. Because you have Cal Rawley on one side, and if it's the Blue Jays you have George Springer and Vaguerrero Junior. Isn't that what you want? You want big stars so people can see them instead of just relying just on Dodgers and Yankees.

00:02:51
Speaker 2: We don't do that in the NFL. Like green Bay's the smallest market. If Green Bay goes to the Super Bowl, nobody's gonna complain. They're just not And I think we get caught up in who's going to watch. You know, Baseball struck gold last year with the Yankees and Dodgers, even though it wasn't a competitive World Series. You had the big markets, the big teams. But all I want to see is great, you know, we get to March madness I don't know. Do you really care if Butler goes to a championship game, George Mason goes to the Final four. I think if you get good matchups, that's all we're asking for. And a lot of times you can even have the big markets like we did last year and LA won four out of the five games.

00:03:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, Paulie, But I think the issue is, and I love, I don't care who's in the World Series, I'm gonna watch. But when you have a World Series where it's like the Diamondbacks, it's almost like work for the casual fan. You have to learn the players, you have to learn the manager. When you have Yankees versus the Dodgers in the World Series, you know the stars already and you know the history of these franchises. It's like going into a movie where you know the entire cast, as opposed to like an independent film. It's more work when there's a team like where you just know a few players.

00:04:03
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:04:03
Speaker 2: But if I go back to Arizona when they had Shilling and Randy Johnson, Luis Gonzales and Mark Grace, we knew that team, We knew those stars. I think sometimes you'll get a smaller market or a less covered team. You know Rangers two years ago, and people probably didn't know much about the Rangers. But I don't get caught up in, you know, the ratings. The Blue Jays and Mariners both came into the American League in nineteen seventy seven as expansion teams, and here they are on the cusp of moving on to the championship series. All right, seton pull question today, at least for the first hour.

00:04:43
Speaker 6: Let's see you want to start. How about we start football wise. This one's from Marvin after the Joe Flacco trade, what should the realistic expectations for the Bengals be Division title, wild card, AFC Championship game or no playoffs?

00:05:02
Speaker 2: Well, they have two wins, so I would say, you know, a playoff appearance that you know, Flacco obviously is nowhere near Joe Burrow, but you still have these offensive weapons and he will at least be able to take advantage of them, far more than Jake Browning did. I would say wild card because I don't know what the Ravens are going to do. We know what the Browns are going to do, and the Steelers are going to be a playoff team. I don't know if they're a great team. So if I'm a Bengal fan, I have to be realistic and say, can we get nine wins? Can we get ten wins? And I'd say yeah, I'd say that's realistic. By the way, we want to be fair to Dave Simms, the Yankee play by play voice. He was with us yesterday and Fritzi, of course, had issues with Dave and his lack of enthusiasm on a Vlad Guerrero grand slam. Here is Dave Simms on the Aaron Judge home run last night.

00:05:55
Speaker 7: There's the pitch, high flight ball the left field, down the left field.

00:06:00
Speaker 6: It is off the fair pole. Hey, now, hey, now, hey, now forever got this game is tired?

00:06:09
Speaker 1: It's six sex.

00:06:11
Speaker 2: Did you want him to sound like that for vide Guerrero? That's what the fans want.

00:06:14
Speaker 8: Did he hear?

00:06:15
Speaker 9: It was a huge moment for the Yankees.

00:06:17
Speaker 2: Okay, but you wanted enthusiasm for Vlad Guerrero the visits.

00:06:21
Speaker 7: I would understand if he didn't have quite that much this enthusiasm for the other team. I could appreciate that for the Yankee listeners.

00:06:27
Speaker 2: Uh, nice call. That was tough to see though, it's down the line, and that's where Judge isn't even leaving the batter's box. He's like, well, it's either a home run or it's foul, so I don't have to worry about I got to hustle into second base with a stand up double. But all right, see back to our regularly scheduled programming.

00:06:45
Speaker 6: The pole question, Yeah, the other pole question is we haven't had one of these in a while. From paul A, bathroom can wait most BCW in sports right now or just in baseball, maybe Judge Otani Raley other.

00:07:01
Speaker 2: So bathroom can wait when they're at the plate.

00:07:04
Speaker 6: Yeah, they're at the plate and you really got to go to the bathroom. And she's like, you know what, I'm gonna wait until after this.

00:07:09
Speaker 2: At bat Well, Judge definitely, Judge. I don't know if cal Rawly has entered that picture. Maybe it's a temporary bathroom can wait for him, but Aaron Judge definitely, it's just I think just seeing him at the plate. Somebody that big, and I don't know who we had on This is years ago and Paulie was bringing this up that we were talking about tall guys who have long swings and you know, you're not going to be able to get around on that fastball. You know, that's big looping swing. And but Aaron Judge has been so good at being selective and he doesn't you know, there's pitches that he used to go for. Now he knows exactly what the strike zone is. And that is the I mean a credit to him, because, yeah, as you get older, your swing is going to slow down, but you you have to be able to somehow compromise what you're going to do with the plate. And I thought that you can't help you can't help the pitcher by widening your strike zone. And that's what I think he did earlier in his career. Yeah, Paulin.

00:08:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, if you look at Aaron Judge after the age of thirty, every year his strike cuts are going down and his walks are going up. His eye is getting better. His stats after age thirty are better than his stats before age thirty.

00:08:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's impressive though, when he comes to the plate and he's played a great series here, this is what we wanted, This is what you want out of your MVP candidates. What else do we have, Seaton?

00:08:42
Speaker 6: Yeah, we're throwing those two up right now. As we speak, the Joe Flacco Floco and uh.

00:08:49
Speaker 4: Is it Floco or Flacco fla.

00:08:51
Speaker 2: I think it's Fla.

00:08:52
Speaker 6: I think it's Flacco.

00:08:53
Speaker 1: Oh, I was gonna say it.

00:08:54
Speaker 2: You might have been right. Yeah, like flo he says flocko. He does, It's Joe Flaka Joe Flocko. By the way, I think PAULI called this when the Browns were going to go to Dylan Gabriel and we wondered what was going to happen. I think it's more than giving too much credit.

00:09:13
Speaker 4: No, probably too much credit. I just remember talking about it. We were discussing why didn't the Bengals go after Russ Wilson when he got benched, and then we said, as soon as Dylan Gabriel got to start, they should just ship Joe Flacco across the state.

00:09:27
Speaker 2: M Yeah, I mean it's interesting. You know, I'm sure, I'm probably sure that he would just drive down to Cincinnati take you know, three and a half hours or so, and you know, it's an upgrade going to Cincinnati over Cleveland, of course, my hometown.

00:09:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, Paul, Now, if you're the Browns that you lived in the state, Dan, any chance you're helping out your cross state rival here or is.

00:09:51
Speaker 2: It no danger? No, no, you are helping them. Shouldn't do that? Well, I think it all well, So this is what the Browns should have done to begin with. If you're going to have these young quarterbacks, let these quarterbacks have a chance to prove if they can play or not. And you know, you got Flacco and maybe he did help these guys prepare. Now they've gotten to the point. I just want to see if they can play, because I don't want this to be a situation where at the end of the season the Browns are going to go into the draft and take a quarterback and these kids didn't get a chance to really play. And Dylan Gabriel played pretty well in London. Maybe Shoudoor Sanders gets a chance to play as well. And by the way, for everybody who said, oh boy, there's a quarterback rich draft coming up, I don't know about that. It feels like every year it's that next year, that quarterback draft. Oh it's deep. I don't know if a quarterback is going number one overall this year. I get the feeling it'll be an edge rusher, But I don't know if these quarterbacks are great. Maybe we're still trying to figure out who's the Heisman Trophy candidate, the leading one.

00:11:00
Speaker 4: Yeah, Paul, it happens every couple of years, or maybe more than that. Twenty twenty two, the first pick of the draft that was a quarterback was the twentieth pick. Can He Picket out of Pittsburgh And it was like Desmond Ritter, Malik Willis and a couple of years before that, I think it was. Yeah, like it happens once in a while, whether there's that just nobody goes early.

00:11:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it feels like every year we always talk about the next year, like, oh my gosh, there's a lot of quarterbacks there. I'm like, I don't know, because you have the Rams with two first round picks and the Browns with two first round picks, and you know, Stafford's probably not going to play after this season. And the brown situation, I mean, maybe they got a starting quarterback there. But now is when you find out instead of playing Joe Flacco.

00:11:44
Speaker 9: Yeah.

00:11:44
Speaker 3: More, there's a mock draft I'm looking at right now on CBS Sports, Mike Renner has a quarterback going number one overall. Do we want to guess who the quarterback is?

00:11:54
Speaker 2: Does he play at Oregon?

00:11:56
Speaker 3: He does not.

00:11:57
Speaker 2: Okay, does he play it Indiana? He does, okay quickly. Fernando Mendoza three hot weeks. Yeah yeah, I still go back to Kirk kurb Street talking about Fernando Mendoza starting the season. Keep an eye on him. Fernando and Indiana's played well, Yes, Paul.

00:12:21
Speaker 4: Just remember though these mock drafts, the editors encourage you to put quarterbacks in the top ten all over the place.

00:12:27
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, nobody wants to, you know, click on a mock draft that's got an edge rusher out of Georgia. Sorry, they just don't. It's like, when's the first quarterback used to be running backs? Oh, I have let me see if I can find it.

00:12:44
Speaker 3: Yes, morbon I was gonna say for the Mendoza family, don't get too excited because I'm sure sure Door Sanders was the number one picking somebody's mock draft a year of goal.

00:12:51
Speaker 2: So I remember when we had Dion, he joined us at the Super Bowl and we were talking about, you know, his son would and wouldn't go, And it almost felt like Dion thought that his son was gonna go top five, not top five rounds, top five, and hey, there's certain teams we're gonna steer clear of, and then all of a sudden, what unfolded.

00:13:16
Speaker 1: Be sure to catch the live edition of The Dan Patrick Show weekdays at nine am Eastern six am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio WAPP.

00:13:25
Speaker 10: He's Mike Krman, I'm Dan Byer. We have a brand new fantasy football podcast called I Want Your Flex. Twice a week, every Tuesday and Friday, we come up with new episodes to not only look back at what happened, what you need to do at that minute, and also look ahead of what's coming up in the fantasy football world.

00:13:44
Speaker 1: That's right, Dan.

00:13:45
Speaker 8: Every week we're gonna scour the waiver wire to find the pickups to turbot boost your fantasy lineup six starts fantasy football players rankings to get you ready to dominate the competition.

00:13:56
Speaker 10: Listen to I Want Your Flex with Mike Carman and met Dan Byer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

00:14:04
Speaker 2: He's Mike Greenberg. He is ESPN's host of Get Up, also Sunday NFL Countdown, and has a new book out called Got Your Legends. Ranking America's sports franchises and their most iconic figures. He collaborated with his great producer, Himbo, and he's ranking the NFL, NBA, Baseball, NHL franchises from best to worst, and a mount rushmore of legends for each The book Got your Legends, Greeney, Good to talk to you again, Dan suld come up with the idea about this.

00:14:36
Speaker 11: Well, I'll tell you all about the book in the second. But first and foremost, it is always a thrill and an honor for me to be on here with you and the guy. So hello to everybody. And second, I need you to settle a bet for me. Were you at the Nate Bargatsey concert at Madison Square Garden two weeks ago?

00:14:54
Speaker 5: Yes, okay, I thought so.

00:14:56
Speaker 11: So I was sitting there and someone walked by and I said, I'm n nine percent sure that's Dan Patrick, and stay said go find you know, go say hello, and I said I will, and I got up and I.

00:15:06
Speaker 9: Couldn't find you.

00:15:07
Speaker 11: You had walked in and you kind of walked you made like a turn you want around a curve. I don't know where you went, And then I couldn't find you and the people I was with said that wasn't Dan Patrick. And you don't know, Dad, if you went over to talk to Dan Patrick, you wouldn't even know who you were. And I said, I guarantee you Dan Patrick would know who I was.

00:15:23
Speaker 9: I'm going to find him.

00:15:24
Speaker 11: And I spent I was distracted through the entire Jimmy Fallon portion of the evening trying to find you, and I never did again. So I am now confirming on the record that was indeed you.

00:15:37
Speaker 2: Yes, it was. I went with my family, had a great time, and his dad was great up there. Jimmy Fallon was great up there. And I had not seen Nate. I'd seen his stand up on Netflix. And my daughter's the one who said, Dad, you'll love him because it's just everyday situations that he's talking about that we can all relate to. But he does it in a, you know, an impressive way. And I met him backstage afterwards. And you see Chris Rock there, Well, that's testament to how good you are that Chris is coming out to watch you perform.

00:16:10
Speaker 9: So Jimmy Fallon is opening for you. You know that you know something. And we saw him.

00:16:17
Speaker 11: We had friends who had been turned on to him and so we went to see him at Radio City maybe a year and a half or so ago before he blew up so big that he's now hosting the Emmys and all of that. And it sort of led to an interesting debate, which is can you laugh too loudly at a comedy show? My wife yelled at me, here's another of those that I was laughing too loudly, And I said, you know, honey, I really think the comedian probably likes it when you laugh loudly, sort of the idea of the entire exercise. So I got chastened for laughing too much at the Nate Bargatsy concert.

00:16:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm sure Nate would be fine, although there are times when you can hear a stand up act and you can hear a after that might be annoying. Yes, like there's now I don't know if if it was hype. I don't know how your laugh is, but if it's high pitched or something, then he probably would have singled you out and made fun of you.

00:17:13
Speaker 11: Yeah, And I was not close enough to the stage at Radio City that he would have heard it. She was convinced I was drowning him out for the people around us. Anyway, I'm glad that we settle that. Thank you for taking care of that for me. How's everything else going?

00:17:27
Speaker 2: Everything spectacular? So you dive into this topic not an easy topic to kind of well, it's not one topic, it's a variety of them. But when did you decide that, all right, America needs this?

00:17:41
Speaker 9: So I had this idea. It's the third book that we've done Hambo and I. So if you know Himbo, his.

00:17:48
Speaker 11: Research is ridiculous, Like he is whatever the geniuses are at NASA that like put are eventually going to put a man on Jupiter.

00:17:57
Speaker 9: That's what Himbo is to sports research. And during COVID, I had this idea.

00:18:03
Speaker 11: It just came up from an idle conversation we were having with someone you'll remember, Pete mcconvill from ESPN, who's one of the few people who has been around.

00:18:10
Speaker 9: As long as you and I.

00:18:12
Speaker 11: And which players own each individual numbers like the uniform numbers like twenty three clearly belongs to Michael Jordan and ninety nine belongs to Wayne Gretzky, But how about all these other numbers?

00:18:23
Speaker 9: Who owns them?

00:18:23
Speaker 11: And I thought that might make an interesting book, So we did a book called Got Your Number, in which we assigned that who owns every number from one to one hundred, and candidly, it sold better than the publisher expected it too, so they said, come up with another idea. So then I figured, I've been doing sports talk for thirty years, so we came up with a book. The second one was called Got Your Answers, in which we picked the one hundred best sports debate topics and sort of using his research, answered them, and that also did well.

00:18:52
Speaker 9: So we had another idea.

00:18:54
Speaker 11: Heimbo said, let's do the mount rushmorees you and I have both done and so as every sports fan, and frankly it goes beyond sport. I watched the mount Rushmore of this, What's the mount Rushmore of rock guitarists? What's the mount rush More of stand up comedians? The mount Rushmore of this or that or the other.

00:19:08
Speaker 9: So we decided, using.

00:19:10
Speaker 11: His research, to come up with the mount Rushmore of every team in the fourth parts, as you just said, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and Major League Baseball, and so we chose those and then it was my job to write it. The way we do the books is he does the research and then I do the writing. I sat down to write it, and I realized, we don't really have a construct for how we're going to lay them out. So do we just do them by sport? Do we do them alphabetically?

00:19:33
Speaker 9: Neither of those.

00:19:34
Speaker 11: None of the ideas I had seemed interesting. So we said, well, hell with it. Let's just rank all of the teams from the best one to the bottom one. So the best one is the Yankees, and some of the teams that have just come into existence are down at the bottom and using winning percentage and championships and all sorts of other things. So the book sort of has two separate areas for debate, which is, did you agree with the people that we chose to be the Mount Rushmoores of literally every team? And then do you agree with the way that we ranked them? And whether you agree or disagree. Hopefully it'll be fun to read. And what I like the most about it because I Dan grew up reading a ton of sports history books.

00:20:10
Speaker 9: I read a lot about sports history.

00:20:12
Speaker 11: And I feel like that's sort of a lost art, if indeed that is an art.

00:20:17
Speaker 9: Not enough of that going on.

00:20:19
Speaker 11: So there's a ton of sports history, and it there's a Ton with his research, there's a ton You will learn a ton about athletes you may not know a whole lot about because some of them are contemporary, but some of them are played decades and in some cases even a century ago. So hopefully, whether you agree or disagree, you'll learn some stuff about some of the great athletes of all time.

00:20:37
Speaker 2: What's the sports debate that leaves you frustrated?

00:20:45
Speaker 9: Well, I mean the contemporary ones.

00:20:47
Speaker 11: Like what my mind goes to when you ask me that question, are what are the go tos that those of us who did sports talk that depended on phone calls, which is what I used to do before before I came to ESPN. I started out and you were working your way up, like as a TV guy CNN and ESPN and Sports Center and everything.

00:21:07
Speaker 9: I came a different route.

00:21:08
Speaker 11: I came from sort of the traditional you call this number right now and let's have this argument.

00:21:13
Speaker 9: So I go back to the ones that were just like on.

00:21:16
Speaker 11: A slow day, you just throw this question out and they would do your show for you. So the big one in the nineties was does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame or not?

00:21:25
Speaker 9: So I don't know if it frustrates me.

00:21:27
Speaker 11: But it's a question that people are so divided on the people on either side of it feel so strongly and passionately about their respective sides. And this, of course was long before Pete died, so that it was a really good, fun, easy debate to throw out there. The Michael versus Lebron thing, now, I guess, is sort of this generation's debate. And I can tell you that my son is a crazy basketball fan, grew up playing nothing but basketball.

00:21:55
Speaker 9: He's twenty two and he never stops telling me that Lebron is the great player of all time.

00:22:00
Speaker 11: And you know it makes me crazy, but you just have to have seen it. I will forever be a Michael guy. I remember sitting with you in the bowels of the old Chicago Stadium when I was covering those Bulls teams because I worked locally in Chicago and you would be in town to cover the finals.

00:22:17
Speaker 9: And you'll remember hanging out with.

00:22:19
Speaker 11: Like Terry Bores and Jesse Rodgers, all those guys you used to hang out with, and those were my friends, and so you were there.

00:22:25
Speaker 9: And I was like, Wow, Dan Patrick is here, and I.

00:22:27
Speaker 11: Would just sit at the table and listen Anyway, the point is I always tell younger people, if you didn't watch Michael Jordan play, then I can understand why you don't know the answer to this question.

00:22:37
Speaker 9: But maybe the best way I can explain it is if there was one game of.

00:22:41
Speaker 11: Basketball being played and my life depended upon the outcome, I would pick Michael Jordan first, and then I would make whatever plans you want to make for the extended future, because he was going to find a way to win better than anyone else would. So anyway, those are the two that jumped to my mind when you ask the question. I don't know if it's exactly what you meant, but that's sort of where my head went.

00:23:03
Speaker 2: But do you provide information? Does Heimbo provide information so you can win your sports debates?

00:23:10
Speaker 5: One hundred percent?

00:23:11
Speaker 11: That's the idea here is that our debates, particularly in the second book and in this one as well, every argument we.

00:23:20
Speaker 9: Make is based on all of this data.

00:23:22
Speaker 11: I mean, in this day and age, there was so much data and information that's available inside and outside of sports that we're not really debating.

00:23:30
Speaker 9: We're telling you.

00:23:32
Speaker 11: The data says these four people are the best, or the data says this guy was the best at this or that now, as you and I both know, no matter how weld you, I think younger people have a greater appreciation of data now than people our age. But at the same time, no one, I don't think anyone thinks that the numbers tell the entire story. You know, there's a science to it, and that's really what is provided in the book.

00:23:55
Speaker 9: Hopefully the writing adds.

00:23:57
Speaker 11: A little bit of the art to it, because in the judgment of anything, there's both of those. But yes, every single argument that we make in all three of the books, and especially this one, because we're literally talking about four people from one hundred and twenty four different teams, every single one of them is based, for the most part on the research that Heimbo does, which on some level is almost indisputable.

00:24:22
Speaker 2: Talking to Mike Greenberg, he has a new book out. It's called Got Your Legends, ranking America's sports franchises and their most iconic figures. Give me the team that was the toughest to come up with, it's Mount Rushmore.

00:24:36
Speaker 11: Well, the toughest and easiest at the same time probably was the top team, which is the Yankees, Which is to.

00:24:43
Speaker 9: Say, when you do the Mount Rushmore of the Yankees, the people you're leaving off.

00:24:48
Speaker 11: If you pick the top four people that you're leaving off, they would probably be better than the Mount Rushmore of almost any other team in sports.

00:24:56
Speaker 9: So for I'll just tell you that.

00:24:58
Speaker 11: Four people not on the Yankees Mount Rushmore are the only player ever unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame, which is Mariano Rivera, the face of the sport for two decades, which is Derek Jeter, the player who won the most World Series of any in history, which is Yogi Bera, And the most infamous, notorious, significant important owner in sports for a generation, which is George Steinbrenner.

00:25:22
Speaker 9: So that foursome would probably be as almost.

00:25:25
Speaker 11: As good as just about once you get passed like the you know, the Lakers and a few of the others, that.

00:25:30
Speaker 9: Would probably be better than the Mount Rushmore of any other team.

00:25:33
Speaker 11: But the Yankees had Babe Ruth, Luke Garrit, Joe Demanagio, and Mickey Mantle, and so there's just no in my opinion, there's no debating those. So that was it was both It was painful to leave the people off that we left off, but it was easy to choose I'll tell you what was hard, because we did include some announcers like Vin Scully is on the Dodgers Mount Rushmore, Bob Yuker is on the Milwaukee Brewers Mount Rushmore. But we decided in all cases we would break a tie in the favor of players. There were managers, there were coaches, there were executives. But in all cases, if oh, the light just went out of my office.

00:26:06
Speaker 9: Because I didn't move hold on a second, let me sorry. I didn't know that would happen.

00:26:10
Speaker 2: Hold On, times are tough there at the Mothership.

00:26:14
Speaker 11: Just yes, if they think they think the office is empty, sorry about that.

00:26:19
Speaker 9: Leaving like Jack Buck off of the Saint Louis.

00:26:21
Speaker 11: I've had a lot of people from Saint Louis that are mad that we left Jack Buck off of the Cardinals list and some of the other anouncers that if we were going to include any announces, we should have gone all the way and put on those like Ernie Harwell isn't on the Tiger's List, and Jack buck isn't on the Cardinals list, and there are a few others.

00:26:38
Speaker 9: And again, that was really and we write about it.

00:26:41
Speaker 11: I mean I write chapters on every one of these, so their names are mentioned in all of them. But those were tough decisions to make. I'll tell you another one. I have some Green Bay Packer fans, like people who really know the history of that franchise that are upset that we didn't include Curly Lambeau.

00:26:56
Speaker 9: And we do write a lot about him.

00:26:58
Speaker 11: Obviously his name is on the stadium, but we I mean, you had to put Lombardi on the list, and then we put the three quarterbacks.

00:27:08
Speaker 9: It just seems You've.

00:27:09
Speaker 11: Got Bart Starr, you got Brett Fave, you got Aaron Rodgers, all the MVPs that they won. Stars still has the best postseason winning record of any quarterback in history and is the only quarterback in the modern era to win three straight championships. People think it's never been done, but that's wrong. They just didn't call it the super Bowl when he won the first of those three, but he won three in a row.

00:27:30
Speaker 9: It felt like those three had to be on.

00:27:32
Speaker 11: But there are a lot of people who think, if you don't include Curly Lambeau, you're making a mistake.

00:27:36
Speaker 9: So we've had a lot of pushback.

00:27:38
Speaker 11: You know, they're really passionate fans of different places will have pretty strong opinions.

00:27:43
Speaker 2: I know that you're a pronounced Jets fan, but oh god, now I don't have any allegiance anymore. When I got to Sports Center, I shed my allegiance to anything with the Bengals or the Reds. I just it was easier for me to do it that way. But you go to work on that much after a Sunday with the Jets or after I mean, there's sports depression, but you still have to do your job, like there's no loss that affects me with the Reds or the Bengals, the teams that I grew up rooting for where I go into that next day, But you do. You just absorb it like you are, you conditioned. You just go, Okay, this is what it means to be a Jets fan.

00:28:25
Speaker 9: At this point.

00:28:25
Speaker 11: I think my sports soul is calloused enough to sort of absorb that the depression that is being a Jet fan.

00:28:33
Speaker 9: It's interesting because I host two different.

00:28:35
Speaker 11: Shows, and this has always been my philosophy. Dan, and I'm not sure how you see it, but when you're hosting a show like Sports Center, as you did for all those years, as well as anyone ever did, or in my case, when I host the Sunday Morning Countdown show or when I host the NFL Draft, those are shows people are not watching because I'm on them. They're watching them because they're fans of the sport. When I was hosting the NBA, they're watching because they're of the sport. No one but my mother is watching because they want to hear what I have to say. And so in those cases, I don't bring my fandom to that conversation at all.

00:29:08
Speaker 9: I don't treat the Jets or any other.

00:29:10
Speaker 11: Team that I pay attention to any differently than I do any other team on talk shows that are.

00:29:16
Speaker 9: My own shows.

00:29:16
Speaker 11: So when we were doing Mike and Mike or now when I do get up, I figure the reason people are watching is because of your personality. It is because of who you are. They're tuning in to hear what you have to say about things. And in those like that's how I got to this. I didn't play, you know, I didn't I was I'm not a former athlete.

00:29:32
Speaker 9: I'm just a fan. I'm just a cute who.

00:29:34
Speaker 11: Grew up loving sports in the nineteen seventies, and those are my teams. So I've never made any secret. I don't know if I've ever told you this, but the way that started was your friend and mine, Robin Roberts on the Old on a Saturday morning sports center. Right before Robin left to do GMA, I was hosting a Saturday morning Sports center with her, and the Jets were playing a playoff game that night. And this was before there was Mike and Mike, This before any of that, and I had never acknowledged what team I rooted for. I would have thought that that would be totally Forbotten, that I would, you know, Norby would call me in and fire me if that came up on the air.

00:30:11
Speaker 9: And in my own little private way, I wore a green tie that day. That's it.

00:30:15
Speaker 11: Said nothing of it, just as wearing a green tie. And then in one of those little moments that you have for chit chat on Sports Center, you know where they would be like that little interaction, Robin says, greeny, I.

00:30:26
Speaker 9: See that green tie. Obviously you got that on for the big Jets game tonight.

00:30:29
Speaker 11: And I thought, oh my god, this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me. Here I am, I'm anchoring ESPN News five days a week. They put me on Sports Center, like once a month, I'm getting this chance, and now I'm getting, you know, outed as a fan of a team.

00:30:42
Speaker 9: This is going to be the worst.

00:30:43
Speaker 11: Thing that ever happened to me. And obviously nothing terrible happened. And then it wasn't until we started doing Mike and Mike that I thought, well, what am I going to sit here talking about? You know, like, what is the We can't just sit here and analyze in a dry way all the ex's and of all these games. People want to hear what your passion is. So we talked about that, and there's no question I talk about the Jets differently than I do other bad teams in the sport. It's just the way it's going to be.

00:31:12
Speaker 2: Before I let you go, Fritzi, who you know well, wants to try out as an announcer for Get Up and he has a get Up tease that he would like to read for you. So Todd, Todd, you ready, let's do it?

00:31:25
Speaker 9: Okay, good morning.

00:31:27
Speaker 7: You thought the Yankees were done, but who are we to judge? The captain spread some Tuesday night fever as the Bronx bombers are staying alive. It took a while to get things racing in the Motor City and then Seattle slew did Lebron make the wrong decision again? Wait until you Henna see the reaction would be a sobering end for the Cubs with old Milwaukee brotherly glove? Can the Fills catch up with those artful Dodgers? And angry Bird is fined in Arizona? And are you fine with Jerry's bird flip explanation? If a puck dropped on the ice and no one saw it, did it really happen? Yes, the NHL is underway and he got rescued from the dog pat in Cleveland by Cincinnati will tell you why. It's not whack though for the Bengals to buy into Flaco, it's time to get up.

00:32:09
Speaker 11: That is very well done, Fritzy. You only missed one thing. Somehow, some way. You have to get the cowboys in. I mean you can't. We can't possibly do it.

00:32:17
Speaker 2: It's true, you can't. Well, no, we have Jerry's Jerry flipping off the crowd. So we did squeeze in a cowboy. Didn't get Dack in, but you got you got Jerry.

00:32:27
Speaker 11: And oh I miss I must have been laughing over that one.

00:32:29
Speaker 9: That's extraordinarily well done. I will steal most of those puns from you. I particularly like Seattle slew. That one goes for those who remember. That's a very well played one.

00:32:40
Speaker 2: Thanks but uh, Greene, good to talk to you, Good luck with the book, and thanks for joining us.

00:32:45
Speaker 9: Great to see you call. It is a delight to be on. Great to see you, Dan and everybody, Thank you.

00:32:50
Speaker 2: Thank you Greenie.

00:32:51
Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Foxsports Radio dot com and within the iHeartRadio search FSR to listen live.

00:33:02
Speaker 2: Marvin sent me a note last night when he realized Jimmy Rollins was going to join us, and he said, you know that Jimmy wore air jordans. Was he the first baseball player to wear air jordans? Marvin?

00:33:15
Speaker 3: I think I think it was Derek Gear, but I think Jimmy Ronalds was a part of the next wave like him and CC Sabbathian guys like that.

00:33:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, let's ask Jimmy. The National League Divisional Series continues on TBS. Game three Brewers Cubs, that's a five Eastern and then the Phillies at the Dodgers pregame coverage starts at four point thirty with Jimmy Pedro, Curtis Granderson, and the host Adam lefco Jimmy, good to have you back on? Was Jeter the first to wear the air Jordan?

00:33:44
Speaker 12: That is correct, Jita was the first, and I think it was followed by Andrew, and they had a domination on brand Jordan. No one else can really get in, and then they finally opened up the floodgates and let myself in CC.

00:33:58
Speaker 5: I think we both came.

00:33:59
Speaker 12: In around oait oh nine, around that time, and then now it is a brand in baseball.

00:34:06
Speaker 5: And it was a fun run to be with those guys.

00:34:09
Speaker 2: What was it like first time you met Jordan?

00:34:14
Speaker 12: You know they say when you meet someone and you're in ahe and you know, I've met a number of people, you don't really get that. It happened a couple of times. The first time I met jay Z, the first time you met Mike. But Mike breaks through that ice like you know, he's Michael, and it's like do I say something?

00:34:32
Speaker 5: You know, we talked trashy or all the stories.

00:34:34
Speaker 12: So first time I ran in to him, I just went up to him like, Mike, you know what's happened. I didn't get the I didn't get my contract this year. He looked at me. It's like, oh, you didn't get the memo. All right, bet we'll make it happen. Two years later I went into him again, like Mike, I still don't have my cleats.

00:34:49
Speaker 5: Next year I was in him.

00:34:53
Speaker 2: Al Alan Iverson said, when he was around Jordan, Jordan has a glow about him.

00:34:58
Speaker 12: Yes, I agree, And then it's it's hard to explain because do you physically see it. No, but there is an aura and energy about him, and it's almost like if you get too close, you step into his energy. So you let there be that personal space. But you know, but when the more you hang around him, you see him, you understand.

00:35:18
Speaker 5: He's just a guy. He loves that fun.

00:35:21
Speaker 12: He serious about his business and obviously we know how serious he is about his golf. But when you're in his presence, be ready to talk trash, be ready to be able to give it back because he like, he likes that jabberin back and forth, and it's almost like he's still in uniform, but his uniform has just changed.

00:35:38
Speaker 2: Who is the Jordan in baseball? Or who was the Jordan.

00:35:42
Speaker 12: I mean, we can say who is I mean, that's show Hey, Show Hey is the Jordan in baseball as we saw last year, you know, when he wasn't pitching, he said, Okay, I can let me go out and do a fifty to fifty campaign, and he went out and did that Prior to that, he's one of the MVPs. He's a cy young candidate if you really want to put him, you know, on the mound all the time. It's almost he can be whoever he wants when he wants. And we saw that with Mike when he was playing, when it was time to turn up the defense, he would lock you down. But you know he was still going out there scoring twenty eight, twenty nine, averaging and plus. So when it comes to winning Show, Hay has a lot more to do, but he's definitely on the right track. He has a team and he's going to be the guy that leads that team. Mike led the Bulls, he did it for three straight seasons, took some years off and go play minor league baseball, came back and won three more.

00:36:32
Speaker 5: That's the impact that show he has. He sells jerseys, he moves.

00:36:37
Speaker 12: He moves ticket prices, season holder season ticket holders will for sure repurchase.

00:36:43
Speaker 5: Those tickets as long as he's on that team.

00:36:45
Speaker 12: And just what he's done for the game expanded it globally the way Mike did for basketball.

00:36:49
Speaker 5: It's crazy to see.

00:36:51
Speaker 2: Did you make fun of Michael's baseball ability around him?

00:36:56
Speaker 5: You know what?

00:36:56
Speaker 12: I did not, because I understand how difficult it was, and it was admirable that he went back to try to go do something that he loved as a child. Now, did he have the best wing, No, But I don't think it was about that for Mike. Did he have the best defense?

00:37:11
Speaker 5: No, I don't think it was about that for Mike.

00:37:12
Speaker 12: I think it was about attempting something that he had put aside, for something that he was successful in, to prove that he could also do it, not just on the basketball court, but on a baseball field. Now did it happen, No, it wasn't grateful the kids I got to play with them, I think, so they got to hang with the legend. They got to get on the customized bus because you know those bus rides in between minor league cities, know they can be something.

00:37:33
Speaker 5: But being able to step away and.

00:37:36
Speaker 12: I think he had to prove something to himself that he can do anything that he put his mind to, even if it's not the level that he wanted to achieve. Going out there, putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, it's something that if you're someone that wants to try something, he's a great example.

00:37:54
Speaker 5: You don't have to be the best. If you try, anything can happen.

00:37:57
Speaker 2: He's Jimmy Rollins. He's working with TBMs covering the nlds. He's got Brewers Cubs, and then there'll be the Phillies at the Dodgers. Everybody throws a hundred now right, nobody's worried about striking out. Like you played in an era where that walk of shame back to the dugout it hurt. But these guys, you know, it's like, hey, I got my cuts, man, so what if I struck out?

00:38:23
Speaker 12: You know, my rookie year, I want to say I strike out one hundred and like.

00:38:29
Speaker 5: Ten or fifteen times.

00:38:31
Speaker 12: When I got the spring tran in the next year, John Vukevich came up to me, is like, we got to work on this.

00:38:36
Speaker 5: There's no way in.

00:38:37
Speaker 12: The world you with your skills should strike out one hundred times ever, and that became my mission to not strike out one hundred times.

00:38:44
Speaker 5: Because it was embarrassing.

00:38:46
Speaker 12: Like I said, that walk of shame, it was we understand striking out as part of the game, but as the leadoff hitter, my job is to put the ball in play, make something happen. Use must feed, as they would like to say, and that's something I can argue against. But in today's game, they want you to get your a swing off twelve to fifteen times the game. And they figure, you know, with the analytics that if you're getting your aight swing off and you're doing this twelve to fifteen times a game, that's going to correlate to thirty to forty home runs with runners on.

00:39:16
Speaker 5: How many more runs are you driving in et cetera.

00:39:19
Speaker 12: But it's almost like they don't account for how many bets you don't hit.

00:39:23
Speaker 5: A home run.

00:39:24
Speaker 12: If you hit fifty home runs, shoe Hay's done, you hit sixty barriers, hit seventy three, there are still three hundred four hundred at.

00:39:30
Speaker 5: Best that you're not hitting the home run.

00:39:32
Speaker 12: And if those three hundred four unit of bets you don't hit a home run, you strike out.

00:39:35
Speaker 5: One hundred and fifty of them. That's not good, that's not productive at all.

00:39:40
Speaker 12: But that's the way the game has come to be, at least in the regular season, because we're seeing in the postseason that strategy doesn't work. You have to apply pressure. You have to consistently get guys on base, get the picture in the stretch for numbers, for getting contracts. This is how they're going to evaluate. But to win a championship you have to have other parts of the game. And when you get to the playoffs, you're not all of a sudden going to change who you are.

00:40:04
Speaker 2: Why are the Phillies in trouble.

00:40:07
Speaker 12: They're not hitting. They're simply not hitting. I think their pitching has been good. They're team that definitely relies on big swings, big moments. Schwarber had a great season chasing Ryan Howards on run record, Harper, big swing Harper, Trey Turner, who unfortunately got injured at the end so he's kind of out of rhythm. But they're guys that relied literally on the big swing, and they can't play a different stele of baseball. We've seen it at times, but their game is built around that three run home run and when you're facing pitching like the Dodgers, half that's not gonna happen too often. Yes, you're gonna face guys and they're gonna have an off day. But in the playoffs, you assume that everybody's going to be sharp, and Dodger pitching has been sharp, especially the starters. I mean two games and we're getting into the fifth and sixth and and before we even get a runner on base.

00:41:00
Speaker 5: Have to win ball games.

00:41:02
Speaker 2: Take me into that home running bat by Aaron Judge last night, because man seemed like they did exactly what they wanted to do, and that pitch is a pitch where you want to put it.

00:41:14
Speaker 12: I think I was a razed, but yeah, it was a two strike pitch that almost hit him in a chest, you know, And for him.

00:41:23
Speaker 5: To keep that ball fair.

00:41:24
Speaker 12: There are a few guys that I've played against that can do that. There were power hitters, one was bare, the other with Chef. You can never bring the ball in far enough because they know how to bring their hands inside the ball and they're strong enough that if they get the barrel to it, obviously it is going to go a long ways. But thinking about it and last night and watching it. I was over at Pedro's house. We were on the lake hanging out and came back to watch the rest of the game. I was glad to see him have this moment. We know the struggles that he's had, not getting that big home run in the big moments, but you know they had him where he wanted to.

00:41:58
Speaker 5: You threw a fast ball for strike two up out over.

00:42:01
Speaker 12: The plate, you see a swing underneath it, and you're saying, yes, this is what we want.

00:42:05
Speaker 5: He's swinging underneath the ball elevated.

00:42:08
Speaker 12: But I think with pictures, and I'm not on the mountain, but just looking at it, what is a high fastball to Aaron Judge?

00:42:16
Speaker 5: It's different to someone else.

00:42:18
Speaker 12: You throw a chest high to me, Throw a chest hike to Curtis Grandison or a guy even six' three's that that's a good. Pitch but The Aaron judge at six seven that ends up belt. High so as a, picture how do you say to, YOURSELF i have to throw it basically head high to, him which would if you, know if the catcher doesn't get, it it's a pass ball off the.

00:42:39
Speaker 5: Net it's a different.

00:42:40
Speaker 12: Thing but to see him have that, moment knowing that he hasn't had that moment to keep it.

00:42:46
Speaker 5: FAIR i think he can finally take that deep.

00:42:48
Speaker 12: Breath and he saw off the home running games to the camera and he gave it a double look like is this what you were asking?

00:42:53
Speaker 5: For he answered that.

00:42:54
Speaker 12: Bell so it was a great moment for him and, hopefully you, know he can get those demons out the.

00:43:00
Speaker 2: Way, okay let me go back to you were At Pedro martinez's. House you said yes last, Night, yes, Yes, okay is it like of all the baller houses you've been, In, like what's the what's the most baller house that you've ever been?

00:43:14
Speaker 12: In, wow the most baller House i've ever been? IN i would, WOULD i, WOULD i would honestly have to give it To Ryan howard his house that he had down in The Indian rocks area that was on a, beach bowling, alley a, pool a, lagoon a lazy. River it WAS i think the main house was shoot the main house may have been twenty thousand square feet and the guest house was eight, thousand and it was a.

00:43:46
Speaker 5: Hallway it was.

00:43:47
Speaker 12: Just everything you can imagine it was in that. House and it was on the beach like it was on you stepped, out you see turtles, nesting you had the speed boats coming by DOING tmz down In Clearwater.

00:44:00
Speaker 5: Beach that was probably the.

00:44:02
Speaker 12: Craziest and you walk in And ryan's a big, guy so everything he had was, big and you walk in in his thirty foot high cents And i'm only five, seven SO i felt like a really small person walking in that.

00:44:15
Speaker 2: HOUSE i bring this up a lot with my guys that there's certain sounds in. Sports you, know it could be the ball going in a cup if you're playing, golf or the you, know the net When Steph curry hits a, shut when the ball Leaves otani's, bat it sounds different than anybody. Else and as a, guy you know who's out there at. Shortstop you're not very far from the, picture and the picture knows there's certain sounds like, DAMN i just gave up a home. Run can you? Remember like who had that? Sound where you go that's.

00:44:51
Speaker 12: Gone there are a few GUYS i played with One Ryan, HOWARD i.

00:44:57
Speaker 5: Played against One Barry Chef, chipper and it's it's it's.

00:45:06
Speaker 12: Hard it's hard to explain and describe the, sound but when you hear, it you know it it's.

00:45:12
Speaker 5: Loud it's an.

00:45:12
Speaker 12: Explosion you can hear the back compressing the core center of the, ball and people used to laugh at, me especially my Teammates.

00:45:20
Speaker 5: Ryan i'm an.

00:45:22
Speaker 12: Infielder there's a velocity and a trajectory that the ball goes over my head that there's no doubt that it's.

00:45:28
Speaker 5: Gone i'm watching the. HITTER i want to see what they're.

00:45:31
Speaker 12: Doing and then right before the ball you know it's caught or goes into the.

00:45:35
Speaker 5: STANDS i kind of give it a.

00:45:36
Speaker 12: Look but there are a couple of times THAT i have to take the. EXCEPTIONS i want to watch the whole flight of the. Ball and one was When barry hit the ball off the McDonald's sign in right center field And John lieber's. Pitching so before the, Game libra comes in is, Like, hey If barry gets up and nobody, On i'm going to get over with and so we're all, like what are you talking. About he's, Like i'm not going to waste any pitches On. Barry every time my face, him he hits the home. Runs so if there's nobody, On i'm throwing a fastball right down the.

00:46:03
Speaker 5: Middle get it up. With and so we.

00:46:05
Speaker 12: All kind of look at each other like there's no way THERE'S i hear, you but there's no way you're gonna do.

00:46:10
Speaker 5: That no one's.

00:46:11
Speaker 12: Whatever, John so get the first batter, out get the second batter, out and so we ALL i look At, CHASE i look At, RYAN i forget it was that third and me Being Pedro no Maybe pedro fleez or plosi the plank and we all kind of.

00:46:24
Speaker 5: Look at each other, like if this is really gonna, happen.

00:46:26
Speaker 12: We shift over first pitch like cow AND i just turned over my head and it hit the McDonald's. Sign that was the only thing that kept it from leaving the entire. Ballpark and don't get me, wrong it was. AMAZING i was surprised that he actually. Did and we all looked at each other like this dude got some big. Honess he, Said i'm gonna throw him a, fastball get it over, with and he, did And barry did what he was supposed to. Do so there are a couple of guys that made that, sound but that one in, particular that was that was one of the most amazing. Things That john lived up to his word And barry hit it off McDonald's.

00:47:02
Speaker 2: EYE i was always amazed With bonds that he might get one pitch per it, Bat mike get one pitch per, bat but he could make you pay with that and his strike. Zone so he never went out of this like he knew that he had like a red, box maybe a. Microwave it wasn't very large, there but if you're in, There i'm Gonna i'm gonna make you. Pay And i'd still marvel at that ability to be patient and not, go you, know fishing and pressing for. This you, know judge who's doing this, now he's really got that strike zone. Compact and that's when you see these guys go from good to great to great The hall Of. Famer But bonds would no doubt about. It pitch maybe maybe.

00:47:45
Speaker 5: No doubt about. It and as you said, that that was the amazing thing that he wasn't striking. Out he was patient enough to take the.

00:47:52
Speaker 12: Walk the times that they would pitch to, him and the number of times that he wouldn't even get a chance to. Swing nobody on tie game comes up intentional. Walk he wasn't even getting a chance to swing the. Bat so the times that he did the proficiency.

00:48:06
Speaker 5: Of what he did it was.

00:48:07
Speaker 12: Crazy even the year he had seventy, THREE i think he had one hundred and thirty intentional. Walks there's no doubt in my mind he has one hundred home. Runs it's that, crazy AND i mean it. Is if they pitched to him the way they pitch these guys, now and it's almost like analytics say we know how to get you. Out, analytics THEN i think they would have had to, say we understand. That but the human element, says this pitch is not going to execute that. Pitch and if we, don't that robot in a box he's going to make sure it's one, nothing two, nothing three, nothing or a Grand. Slam and that's how Crazy Barry bonds. Is and he you, know everybody compares who's the, goat and they want to lick At judge's, numbers Lickuld Show hayes, numbers and then we put them next To. Berry's it's a different. Story and it's AND i know kids didn't grow up Watching. Bearry they're watching these guys. Now but for us that we're fortunate enough to play with against, him Watch.

00:49:00
Speaker 5: Barry it was it was.

00:49:02
Speaker 2: Unworldly but even with the performance enhancing, Drugs he's still if we leveled the playing, Field jimmy AND i, said everybody can use whatever they want to. Use he would he would have and you got a pitch to. Him it's Like Lance armstrong in The tour De. France it felt like everybody else was cheating in The tour De. Franz he was just that much better than. Everybody And, bonds you, know you can put an asterisk by, it but you still he still had to hit that ball and he got that one, PITCH i, mean still. Made he would have hit one hundred home, runs but he one year he was he got walked over two hundred and thirty.

00:49:40
Speaker 5: TIMES i can't imagine. THAT i can't imagine that.

00:49:44
Speaker 12: Amazing AND i can't imagine you think guys striking out twenty thirty times now thirty?

00:49:50
Speaker 2: TIMES i, KNOW i, Know, uh a great job so far during the. Postseason hope you're enjoying it and we appreciate your.

00:49:57
Speaker 5: Time, Jimmy, NO i appreciate A.

00:49:59
Speaker 2: Dp thank you, Them Jimmy rawlins