Real talk with Larry Bowa: Phillies’ World Series chances, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey everybody, This is Bryan Howard and welcome to The Philly Show.

00:00:09
Speaker 2: Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd Zolecki. It is Friday, September twenty sixth, twenty twenty five. How is everybody? The Phillies and Twins open a three game series on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. It's Aaron Nola against Joe Ryan. The Phillies right now are almost locked into the number two seed for the postseason. Would take a Philly sweep and the Brewers getting swept for the a Phillies to get the number one seed. But we've got a special show for you today. We've got a very special guest and let's talk about him. It's time for the park's first pitch. First pitch is brought to us exclusively by our partners at Parks Casino, Pennsylvania's number one casino. Jim, We've got somebody on the show today that you and I I know for sure, have been wanting to have for a long time, and that is Philly's legend Larry Boa. Larry was the first manager I covered back in two thousand and three. I did not know what that hell I was doing, but you know, so I learned as much as I possibly could from Larry Boa. I always love talking to Larry Boa during the season, and he's always around the ballpark in spring training, and I love those little chats with him on the half field. I know you feel the same way. You've had a long, long relationship with Larry.

00:01:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that was a baptism by fire for you cover Larry ball because you know he can be a little intimidating. He's got that you know, that resume and that that personality. He don't pull no punches. If he don't like one of your questions, he's gonna challenge it. But one of my all time favorite people in baseball. Love talking baseball with him, love talking life with him, just love being around him, love his energy, love his wit. And I go back to what ed Warde said on our podcast five or six weeks ago and again on the night he was enshrined on the Wall of Fame. Ed Wade called Larry Bowa the smartest baseball man he's ever met, ever been around. Smartest baseball man he knows. I would concur I've learned a lot of baseball by watching Larry coach manage and by talking to him. He is a marvel. He's seventy nine years old, he looks thirty nine. He's in great shape, still throws BP and he is currently finishing up and when he's still in uniform before games working with the infielders. Him and Bobby Dickerson, the infield coach, have this great relationship and they work with Bowman, Turner and Stott. And I mean he's out there hitting ground balls, he's working with guys. He's he's chirping, you know, like Larry getting under guys skin, motivating, and that's the way he motivates. But this is his sixtieth sixth zero year in professional baseball, forty one of them with the Phillies, and that's coming to a close. And you're right, we've been wanting to have Larry on for a while, but we wanted to pick the right time, right before the playoffs, because this team wants it bad, the city wants it bad, and and Larry wants it bad. He wants a championship bat. But he walked. He walked the miles in the same spikes that these guys are walking in. He was part of a young nucleus with the Phillies, in the early seventies that came to Flower and won divisions in seventy six, seventy seven, seventy eight, couldn't get over the hump, finally get over the hump in nineteen eighty and won a World Series. So you can see some parallels with this team three straight trips that the postseason has not gotten over the hump. So I think it's an interesting week, interesting timing to talk to Larry as the postseason gets set to begin next week. And one of the things I want to ask him about is how much he believed in this team, because he really did in this twenty twenty five team, and he really does and have an anecdote to kind of prove that going back six or seven months. So I can't wait to talk to him, and I'm sure we'll have a few laughs, and I'm sure we'll learn a little baseball because anytime you tap into that, you know that that well, you come out of there drinking drinking some knowledge.

00:04:42
Speaker 4: Every time every time you talk to Larry, you learn something.

00:04:46
Speaker 3: So that was first pitch and it's presented exclusively by our partners at Parks Casino. That's Pennsylvania's number one Casino Parkscasino dot com is the website. You must be twenty one two participate, and if you have a gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler.

00:05:04
Speaker 2: Jim As you know, we've got the Phillieshowshop dot com. I wanted to mention that real quick scan the QR code on your screen. If you're watching us on YouTube, you can get some Philly Shows swag in time for the postseason.

00:05:15
Speaker 4: Or go to the Phillies show Shop dot com.

00:05:17
Speaker 2: If you're listening to us on Apple and Spotify, want a lot of great stuff on there. We got some more stuff coming, so check that out. All right, without further ado, here is the legend himself, Larry Boa.

00:05:31
Speaker 4: Larry, thanks for joining the show. You're joining it.

00:05:34
Speaker 2: You're talking right now to a couple of your former ball scribes that coveredy I mean, what a thrill for you, Larry.

00:05:40
Speaker 1: Big time. I'm so excited about this. Uh. The last memory I have of Jimmy was me getting ready to throw him into a trash can. He was covering a ball game. I'm just kidding, really, I remember it was. It was one of those questions where I had to scratch my head and I said to myself. I said, Jimmy, you're better than that. But you know what, he was trying to stir the pod a little bit.

00:06:03
Speaker 3: So you know, that's how it was.

00:06:05
Speaker 1: They don't do that anymore. You guys don't do that anymore.

00:06:07
Speaker 3: Well, I remember the day in Fort Myers that you were really mad and you threatened to pick me up and throw me in the stands and we just kind of laughed it off and we were fine. Today that would be big news, but what this reporter i'd be.

00:06:22
Speaker 1: I probably I'd probably get fired for doing that threatening, threatening ascribe.

00:06:29
Speaker 2: But I mean it was so we you know, obviously, my first year on the beat was two thousand and three, so I had I learned. I had to learn everything, uh with you those those first couple of years.

00:06:41
Speaker 4: And that was, uh, you know, I definitely learned a lot.

00:06:44
Speaker 5: You know, I.

00:06:46
Speaker 4: Didn't know what the hell I was doing.

00:06:48
Speaker 1: Larry Jim sort of set the stage for all the writers. You know. He would ask the questions and then step back and get me going and everybody'd be happy. That's how he did it.

00:06:56
Speaker 3: I did. I did know how to push your buttons.

00:06:59
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, you did. That was fun though it was fun. You wouldn't do that now though, because the managers all have answers now, the analytics. This is the reason I made this move. The analytics did this. Back when we did it, there was a lot of second guessing. Why didn't you bring the lefty in? What? What?

00:07:17
Speaker 3: What are you doing?

00:07:18
Speaker 1: You know, it's a game getting out of hand here, you get a left you on a left you. That's what you gotta do. Now, let's whatever the numbers say. That's what we do. And it's a different game, there's no question different.

00:07:29
Speaker 3: You're your your head would have exploded with all these numbers.

00:07:33
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have looked at the number. I looked at them and just put it to the side. Here, you got to go with your gut. You guys know that.

00:07:41
Speaker 4: I mean.

00:07:41
Speaker 1: And analytics are good. There's a lot of good analytics, and there's no question about that. But there's a lot of stuff that's out there. And I'll give you a great example. I'm watching this this last series with the Marlins, and there they're pitching coaches calling every pitch and what were there did three games? Twelve home runs? Uh?

00:08:01
Speaker 4: I just think you gotta.

00:08:02
Speaker 1: Let catchers read swings. You gotta let pitchers read swing. And from the dugout, you don't know if a hitter is moving close to the plate, backing up closer to the mount, you don't know any You can't see that from the dugout. But yet they think that calling pitches is gonna gonna be the answer. It's gonna be interesting how that plays out, because I think this is just me if you have a veteran free agent, even though the Mi's just say Miami has a lot of money to throw around, which they don't, but if they did, they might be a little leery going there with coaches calling every pitch, and that I just that just might get on that.

00:08:37
Speaker 4: Well, you're all right, because think about like J. T.

00:08:40
Speaker 2: Real Muto a free agent and again and say the Marlins had the money to pony up.

00:08:44
Speaker 3: You think JT.

00:08:44
Speaker 2: Real Muto is gonna want to go to uh Miami and not be able to call pitch. He's so good at that, and he loves to read the swings, and he loves to see the positioning in the batter's box.

00:08:54
Speaker 4: And all that stuff.

00:08:55
Speaker 1: There's no question way that's why he's one of the best catchers in baseball. You know, and these catchers they're starting to get like they're very robotic now. They just as soon as the pitch is thrown, they throw it back and they're looking over in the dugout and you know, part of the maturation of a good catcher is being able to read swings. Taking a look at their stance in the box. They like I said, are they close to the player? They off the plate and just say, you have a picture that's got a great breaking ball. And this is we're going to do with this team. We're going to attack this team with breaking balls. What if he can't get it over that night. You got to have a plan B. You got to have a plan see, And I don't know if they have that. You know, I think that this is what we're going to do tonight. Let's see if it works. But we'll see what happens. I know our pitchers and our pitching coach, they do a great job. And JT has a lot to do with that. They're they're definitely ready every game. They know what they want to do, they know how they want to attack hitters. I really like, not only our team, but I really like our coaching is that we got a bunch of coaches that work hard. There's no question about that.

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00:11:00
Speaker 2: Great coaching staff Larly Larry. Three games to go in the regular season and postseason, beginning Game one of the NLDS on October fourth. Where do you think this team stands right now? You know, you get the nationally in baseball.

00:11:14
Speaker 1: If we play the just we don't have to do anything extra, if we play the way we're capable of. I don't see any team beating us internationally. I really don't, and I'm not I'm not just saying that because I've been with the Phillies a long time. I look at our lineup, I look at our pitching. We can beat you one to nothing like we did last night. We can slug with you, we can steal bases, Our starting pitchings off the charts. I don't see any issues. Our big boys got to hit, there's no question about that. But if we go toe to toe with every one of these teams, I don't see any issues there. We just got to play the way we're capable of playing.

00:11:51
Speaker 3: Rubens here, Hey.

00:11:52
Speaker 5: Real's super early. Yeah, so that's how you work.

00:11:59
Speaker 8: Hey, I just had a quick question about and you may have already covered this before I popped on, but trade Turner's made sort of a massive turnaround as far as his overall defensive prowess, and he played a great, great shortstop lately. Talk about that. I know you've worked with him and Bobby Dickerson in spring training, and can you talk about a little bit of the things that he's done that to get him to this space.

00:12:27
Speaker 1: I think starting the first day of spring training, Bobby does a great job with the infielders and he got trade to buy and last year Trey was a little he wasn't all in in his mind. I think this spring he saw the saber, the analytics and where he ranked and everything, and I think he took it very personal. And he's worked extremely hard, getting good jumps on balls, playing under control. His throwing has been very accurate. I think he's done a tremendous job. But Bobby, you got he takes two there. Bobby's got him to work, and Trey was willing to work, and I think that had a lot to do with his success. And I think he's starting to realize, Hey, if I go for four, I can still help us win this game. And that part of the mentality for Trey. He's always been a great offensive player. And I think he thought, maybe, hey I get three hits the night if I make an air, so be it. But I think he's taken a very personal now and he wants he doesn't want to be embarrassed out there. And I think he's done a great job along with Bobby taking him out every single morning in spring training and to this day as we speak, they still go out early and take their ground balls. And hopefully he's ready. You know, I think the biggest thing right now is running. You know, I watched him yesterday. He said he feels okay, but he's not ready mentally to let it go one hundred percent. So we'll see how that plays out to.

00:13:49
Speaker 8: What do you do attribute like the fact that that part of it, the defensive part of it, has not really been brought up. He's been on three or four different organizations now, and why did not happened from the beginning, like when he was San Diego or Washington? Why is it because of his athleticism and his offensive prowess and they just said.

00:14:08
Speaker 5: Hey, you just go do your thing or what what? Why do you think you get an important piece?

00:14:15
Speaker 1: You hit it right on the head. Everyone said, Well, as long as he hits three twenty, you don't worry about it. I really believe that. And you know, last year when he was struggling a little bit, not only offensively but defensively, it was getting to him. And usually he had that safety net. If he was playing bad in the field, he'd get his two or three hits every night, steal a couple bases, make things happen on the on the base pass, and I think mentally he was like, hey, I'm doing all right offensively, and if I make a mistake here, I'll make up for it when I get in in the batter's box. But I think now he's he's he's able to separate the O for three, go out in the field and play defense. And I think that's a big step for him because it's the offense has always be easy for him, and the defense he's going to have to continue to work, and he's willing to work. I think that's the big thing. And there's a big trust there. When you come over to an organization, you have no idea what your infield coach is, what your manager is all about, with what the atmosphere is in the ballpark, And I think it was a big adjustment for him that Bobby really stressed defense with him, and he went out there and worked his butt off and it's paid off. There's no question about that.

00:15:27
Speaker 3: So Larry, going back to spring training this year, I remember talking to you one day and you had just read an article on the website, on the internet or something or a newspaper that picked the Phillies to finish third in the NL East, and you were on fire about it. You were like, are you bleeping kidding me? But we got into this conversation and ended up writing a sorry about it. And I looked up the story this morning and he got a couple quotes out of it, and I want to run him back at you, because they were great on your part. You know, first of all, you said, there's no way we're a third place team. We're the best team in the division. Blah blah blah. You've proven that to be right. And then you said, you know about coming up and coming up short in the playoffs, and your teams did that seventy six, seventy seven, seventy eight, you didn't get there, eighty you get over the hump. So there are those similarities. Anyway you said, it leaves a scar. When you come up short. I don't care how much money you make, it leaves a scar. And then you went on to talk about the need to, you know, win in October and go deep with this particular team, and you said, you only get so many chances that window shuts, and when it shots, it slams hard.

00:16:43
Speaker 1: It does slam hard. And we're all getting in that. We're when I say we our team is getting to that situation right now. I'm not saying there's not more in the tank here, but we can't keep letting these things slip away like this. And it's always, it seems lately. Well last year, it was obviously the bullpen. Before that, it was the offense. We got to put the whole package together here. And as you guys, all all three of you guys know, the best team doesn't always win the World Series. It's a team playing the best and this is a crapshoot right now. You're starting to get into the best of three, the best of five. You can't give games away. You got to take care of business at home if you've got home field advantage, and you can't give away outs. You got to make him earn all twenty seven outs. Pitchers got to keep doing what they're doing. Our pitching staff has been I never seen a pitching staff carry a team this long. I've seen stretches, but this pitching staff has been unbelievable from day one, and hopefully they can continue to do that. And I think that's why our bullpen's are strength for us, because our starters have pitched a lot of innings. I mean, we got Lazarro. Did think Lazaro is going to do what he's done this year unbelievable and Sanchi He's come out of nowhere ranger, and I still believe in Aaron Nola. So I feel good about this team. I would be very disappointed if we don't go where we're supposed to go. I mean that, and I'm not trying to be a homer. I'm just looking at every position. What we do offensively, what we do defensively, are pitching. I don't see anything in our way except ourselves. If we don't hit the way we're supposed to, it could be an issue. There's no question about that.

00:18:27
Speaker 2: What about like the pressure you guys felt in eighty, Like everybody kind of knew if he didn't win, it they were going to make some big time changes and not necessarily this team is going to make big time changes. But you have Schwarberz a free agent, Ria Muta is a free agent. Swarez is free agent. You know, maybe they do make some moves. How did you guys handle that pressure or how much did you feel that pressure going into the eighty postseason? And then how did you know what?

00:18:51
Speaker 1: You know? You know what go over? You know what? Ruly, Carpenter had a meeting with us, the core group of guys, and said, hey, guys, and really he was a great owner. He was really tight with everybody, and he's just he laid it out. He said, if we don't get to where we want to go this year, I'm gonna have to do something drastic. And he says, I'm not making a thing. And really wasn't a guy that says you better win or you guys are out of here. He was very diplomatic about it. He says, you know what, people are getting tired of watching us get to the playoffs and we're coming up short, and you know, you start thinking about He's right, you know, And it didn't matter even the teams we were playing. The Dodgers and the Big Red Machine. They were really good teams. But you know, we felt, especially the third time, we thought we could play with these guys, and it was always a pitch, a play, an umpire, whatever it was. We kept coming up short. And I think this team's starting to get that feeling that you can feel that in the atmosphere and spring training. They want to get to where they want to go. There's no question they're getting tired of coming up short. And you know, as you read that quote Jimmy, that the money's out of the question right now. They don't care. They want to win that ring. You know, you have a team like this dominated and you come up short and don't get to a World Series, that's gonna that's gonna haunt you the rest of till your playing days are over. Because this is a good baseball team. Dave Dombrowski and John Middleton, they've done a great job putting this team together. The pieces are there and now it's up to the players. There's no question about that.

00:20:19
Speaker 3: Right Well, so the Phillies. You know, when I think of the postseason, and I think you're a great guy for me to ask this questions because you were a player, but you also were you know, with the Dodgers and the Yankees, you were in the dugout as a coach on teams that had a lot of expectations and played in the postseason. The Phillies have this great home field advantage. They're like twenty seven games eight games over five hundred home. They sell the place so out. It's a great environment, you know, year after year. But they have actually lost three of their last four home playoff games. And I'm just wondering if the expectations at home, because you know, you want it so bad in the clubhouse and the dugout, and now forty eight thousand people or forty five thousand people, they want it so bad, and if you fall behind earlier, if things don't go well, you can almost feel the tension rise in that building because everybody wants it so bad. I'm wondering if if playing at home, in addition to providing comfort and maybe an advantage over the course of the season, if it can provide some anxiety if things aren't going well in the postseason, and if it does, how do you deal with that?

00:21:34
Speaker 1: You're right, I mean, you don't want to get behind early because the fan base is going to do just like all fan bases do. Here we go again, we do what we're supposed to do during the season, and now the playoffs start. Personally, I would rather start on the road and try to split wherever you're at and then come home because whoever comes here, whether it's a done, this is definitely an home field advantage this ballpark. I'm telling you this, this ballpark. If you're a young team, just say Cincinnati gets in. They're in for an unbelievable welcome when they come here because you got young kids. They have no idea what to expect. But you know, you got to hope that we get the momentum early. If we can get the momentum early and do what we're supposed to do, I don't see any issues here with this baseball team. I really don't.

00:22:30
Speaker 2: Larry rob Thompson has employed like three different platoons. I don't know what he's gonna do in the postseason, and he maybe he goes stot and so said second base, but he's got the platoons and left and right, and does it remind you a little bit of what form he did in ninety three? And just do you see the buy in from it, from these and you know what, that's the big deal, the buy in the guys that are doing it.

00:22:54
Speaker 1: They got to buy in. You know, if you have guys that say I don't want to do this and that that. That team that Jimmy Forgosts he had, they all bought in and they all played the way they're supposed to play. I know Cassie's made a couple of comments personally, if I had a player that wants to play every day, I'd be happy with that. You want your players that want to play every day. But Thoms has done a great job the way he's handled it. That's not an easy job when you have a real good team. I think it's better to manage a team where the expectations are they're there, but they're not like they are with our ball club right now. That's why I think Rob has done a great job with his team, whether it be a giving guys rest, taking pictures out when he's supposed to, bringing in certain flip pitchers, I think he's done a tremendous job. And all those minor league bus trips that he had and coaching under Joe Tory, I'm sure he learned a lot through his experiences there, but I think he's done a tremendous job. When you have this many alpha dogs on a team and you keep the ship afloat, I think that's very and Rob's definitely done that.

00:24:03
Speaker 3: Is there a team that you wouldn't want to play in the postseason? I don't care if.

00:24:12
Speaker 1: Well, you got to look at the Dodgers right now, if they're pitchers, if they pitched the way they're spposted now, Toni and Yamamoto the two pretty good arms right out of the gate. They're bullpens an issue and there's no question about that. If there's one team that plays the game the right is Milwaukee's. Milwaukee could be a tough draw. They just nothing great. They just do everything really good. They move runners, they put the ball in play, they can score from first on doubles, great secondary lead pitchers, throw strikes. They never beat themselves. But with the deception of Yelwich, I can't think of any great players. I mean, Yellwich is the key guy there, and I think that Murphy's done a great job with that ball club. Their mindset and and their ability to what they have to do in certain situation. You see guys in the third inning. I've watched them play a lot. The guy hits a double, you can see him trying to hit a ball to second base. They play the game the right way and if things click for them, they could be a tough out for somebody spook.

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00:26:09
Speaker 5: You know, people don't talk about it during the regular season.

00:26:12
Speaker 8: Obviously, the Milwaukee Brewers and there's some other teams that have maximized that playing baseball the right way.

00:26:19
Speaker 5: Talk about how difficult it is to do that and play that way, and how important it is to play that way in the playoffs, because most teams rely.

00:26:28
Speaker 9: On the home run. The Yankees rely on the home run. Sometimes the Phillies will rely on the home run. There are some teams that rely on their offensive prowess rather than the situational hitting that is necessary or situational pitching that's necessary. Talk about how difficult it is in that setting to try to change the way you play.

00:26:49
Speaker 1: No question, it's really hard, especially when you you go the whole year you don't lay down any sacrifice buns, and now all of a sudden you're in the best of five and you got to move a runner and you put a bunch sign on it, and of course the commentators say, well, there's no way he's gonna bun. He hasn't done in the last three years. Now you expect him to lay down a bunt. That's why it's important to do these little things before you get to the playoffs, because you can't give away outs. You can't leave runners in scoring position at a rate that's unbelievable. You got a manufacture run sometimes, and Reuben, as you said, there's not very many games. It's nine to eight. In the playoffs, you got to win three to two, two to one, whether it be a base, good base running play with a guy stealing a bag, scoring from first, good secondary leads. There's so many ways you can win baseball games besides what we try to put in. These guys heads, hit the ball in the seats, pitchers, strike out everybody. The game is different. You don't start off with a ghost runner now, so you're playing extra innings, you should be able to move a runner. I'm not saying a guy like Harper or Schwarzer. There's certain guys on a ball club that you got to lay down a bunt, lay down the bunt. You got to push a ball to second base right handed. You got to do that. You got to give yourself up. These outs are so important, and when you start giving them away and not taking advantage of bases loaded one out and you don't score a run that comes back and haunt you. Believe me, the whole key to this, especially the first three of these guys play, is momentum. You get a little momentum going on your side. That's why I thought when we played Arizona and all we had to do is come home and win one game, I'd have bet my everything I own that we're going to win one game here. And you saw what happened they We played a team that was hot. They pitched against us like every hitter was Babe Ruth. We were swinging at everything and they beat us and get back at that. You how that happen?

00:28:45
Speaker 8: The follow up question to that is so it begs the question to me, if this those are the most important games and the way to play at the most important games, then why is it not stressed during the course of the season and in the minor leagues throughout baseball? And why have we gotten away from it?

00:29:03
Speaker 1: I agree with you, it's unbelievable. I agree with you one hundred percent on that we don't stress that. When I say we, I'm talking about the industry. We don't stress the little things during the course of the season. But we expect these guys regardless of how much money they're making. You better execute here, You better lay down a bunch. When I put a hit and round, you better put the ball on the ground. We don't stress that, and we expect them. They're human. They go one hundred and sixty two games, they don't do any of that, and all of a sudden they say, oh, man, I got a bum, I gotta lay this ball down, or I got to hit the ball on the right side. You can't expect those guys to do that. That's why I think the minor leagues are especially low A. The two low A teams or one's low A one's higher A. Start getting those guys mindset into playing the game. You can still use analytics. Analytics are important. There's a lot of good analytics, but teach them how to win baseball games. When the games on the line, seventh, eighth, ninth inning. It's not about hitting balls in the seats every night. Those are great. Three run homers are the greatest thing in the world, but they don't happen that much in the in the playoffs, in the World Series. And when you when it does happen, man, you feel like, hey, we got this thing now. But you've got to be able to execute other ways. Like you said, Ruben, make a pitch when you have to. We need a ground ball here, make a pitch. And I think if our pitchers continue to do what they've done. We've done that all year at a consistent level, and I think that's a big strength for us right now moving into the playoffs. Is our starting pitching.

00:30:31
Speaker 2: Larry, you mentioned Kyle Schwarber just a few minutes ago, is one of the big big boys. I know you, your good friend Charlie Manuel could talk baseball for if you had like a baseball telethon, you could talk for like seventy two hours straight. I feel like Kyle schwart I've heard teammates say that Kyle Schwarber, that guy.

00:30:49
Speaker 4: All he does is talk baseball.

00:30:51
Speaker 2: One of your conversations with him been like, and what what have you admired about him as a player and his season?

00:31:00
Speaker 1: First of all, he's really a humble dude. Man, hit this guy. You know, I hit the four home runs in one game and I went, man a nice going, He goes, can you believe I didn't hit that position player? He says, I was trying to hit one in the upper deck and then he had it again the other night and he popped one up too. So he's told me. He says, I'm not going to be a very good draft and slow pitch softball because I can't hit that stuff. But Schwarves are great. He could play twenty years back. He can play twenty years forward. He's accountable. If he goes over for four and strikes out three times. Nobody wants to talk to the media. He'll be front and center. He'll go out there and say, you know what, I stunk tonight, or we got to do this. He's a leader. He's a big time leader in the clubhouse, and the guys sort of gravitate to him. You walk in that clubhouse or always talking baseball. He's just an old school guy that he like. I said, he's very humble. I says, man, I never seen guys hit balls like you. He goes, oh, he says, I just as long as it goes over the fence. And I said, you're eating balls in the third deck. But he's so strong. I've never seen a guy Schmidt. He was really strong bull. But his hands are so strong. And but we need him to we need him to do what he's done all year and get those big hits. But he's again, it's not my money, got I hope he has the pinstripes on for the next three, four or five years because he's a big asset to our organization. What's your prediction there on twur Yeah, well, I don't want to get in trouble, but I think he's going to be winning pinstripes. That's just me, and I know he likes it. Here. Is he going to take the most money?

00:32:40
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:32:40
Speaker 1: You know, he's played it out this far.

00:32:42
Speaker 4: No one swore.

00:32:43
Speaker 1: He wants to go where you've got a chance to win. He wants to win. I think if somebody offered him bookoo bucks for a team that's the second division teams and another team that has a chance to get through the World Series less money, he would go with a team that has a chance to go to the World Series to win.

00:33:00
Speaker 3: We all kind of talked about this a number of times. We all think he's going to be back because there's impact from the batter's box to the clubhouse of the community, and you know, with this ownership group, they ain't going any rebuilds. They're going to keep trying to win and win and win and you need that power and you need that guy and if they do win, Larry. So, they've had two World Series parades in this town and Ruben has ridden in both of them, which is amazing that and you've ridden in one of them.

00:33:31
Speaker 1: One of them.

00:33:32
Speaker 3: Tell us what do you remember about like a great memory from that eighty parade and what you like for these guys.

00:33:39
Speaker 1: It's the greatest feeling in the world. I try to tell these guys, you have no idea what it's like getting on those flat beds or floats, whatever you want to call them. In eighty. I mean literally, we see tears of joy running down people's faces. They're saying, Oh, I wish my mom was still a lie or I wish my dad was alive to see this, because it hasn't happened that much. And we've had some good teams here. Ruben's team was really good, our team was really good. The ninety three team was a good team. It's hard to win everything. Everything's got to go right. And that's why I think this year, the way it's played out so far, we've overcome some adversity with guys getting hurt. We've kept that that momentum going straight ahead. They have no idea what it's like a parade down Broad Street, and you know, you can talk to these guys and I'm sure they're going yeah, right right. It's the greatest feeling in the world. And these fans when they get behind you, it's unbelievable. Are they tough sometimes, no question, But I think in the long run, when you do what you're supposed to do and you play hard for them, they're gonna come out and grows. Like you saw the Eagle Parade and the Philly Parade, the Flyer Parade. Those are things that are est in your mind forever and ever, and I just hope they're able to you experience that, because if they don't, there's going to be a big void in their baseball career. Because this is a team that's capable of having a parade down Broad Street. There's no question about that.

00:35:13
Speaker 2: Just adds to somebody's legacy, you know, like Bryce Harper needs that. You know he's going to make the Hall of Fame, but it's a little extra to be able to say, twenty twenty five World Series Champion, two time nl MVP, whatever, five time All Star whatever.

00:35:27
Speaker 1: He is Zachly. Yeah, those guys, those guys are they're they're great players, but there will there You look back at guys that never played in the World Series that were great players, and you see read articles about that and they say, man, I wish I could have gotten into a World Series. That's the ultimate goal. I mean, you from day one in February all the way till if this thing goes to November and you're battling every single day, you're just scrapping and you're tired, and then you get through it, and then to have that last out and be the last team standing since goosebumps up and down your spine, there's no doubt about that. And front office people putting teams together, they get frustrated. We keep coming up short. And I'm sure that our ownership group right now, as John Middleton said, I want that my blah blah, that trophy back here. He wants that trophy and I hope he gets it this year because they've definitely the owners have gone way beyond the call of duty as far as given the team what they need to do, whether it be in the middle of the season, whether whether it means what they did in the off season, they've put the Phillies in a position to be a world championship team.

00:36:40
Speaker 2: Well, Larry, one last one for me, he kind of touched on a little bit, is what do you think of the additions they made at the trade deadline, specifically Deron and Bader and how they've changed kind of the calculus for this team.

00:36:53
Speaker 1: Unbelievable And I didn't really, I'll be honest with you. I mean, I like Bader as a defensive player, I've watched him, but I'll tell you what offensively he's done unbelievable. And the way he covers ground out there and he brings energy every night, and Duram, I mean, this guy's lights out to have a closer like that, especially moving forward here. You don't want traffic in the ninth in and you want boom boom, get him out, let's get out of here. And we got that right now. So they've done a tremendous job in getting what we need. Every year. It seemed like whatever the deficiency is in our lineup, Dave goes out and fills that hole. You can only do so much. Now the balls in the player's court right now, they got to respond, and I think you know, being around the clubhouse on home games. It's a team. They got a lot of energy right now, and they're getting close and they want to get this thing going. And like I said, I expect some big things here down the stretch.

00:37:57
Speaker 3: Good stuff.

00:38:00
Speaker 4: Thanks, thanks Larry for the time.

00:38:01
Speaker 1: Man, great al right, guys and Jimmy, Yes, sir, beat the questions down now, get good questions. Don't make anybody mad. Good chemistry going in the clubhouse. And you get somebody's face with that mic every now and then, you get a little carried away. So let's keep the boat nice and even keel. Yeah, no tough questions for the players.

00:38:24
Speaker 3: Okay, okay, I'll try to be a whim.

00:38:29
Speaker 1: Kid, you know, I'm just kidding.

00:38:30
Speaker 2: Alright, Thanks again to Larry Boa for the time. Before you go, we've got another awesome giveaway from Shibe Vintage Sports. Check this out, guys, a Phillies Prize pack. You've got a nineteen eighty World Champions of Baseball t shirt, a nineteen eighties Philadelphia Phillies maroon cap, a Phillies photo history book, a Shibe Inventured Sports tote bag, two phil stickers. If you're watching us on YouTube, scan the QR code on your screen, it'll take you to shibesports dot com backslash tps the enter email address you're entered for the contest. Last week it was Martin Bryant from Philadelphia. One again shibesports dot com backslash tps.

00:39:18
Speaker 4: And here's the best part.

00:39:19
Speaker 2: Everyone who enters any weekly giveaway will automatically be entered for the big end of the season prize, which is a year's supply of T shirts from shibesports dot com. I'm sporting one right now. Jim's got a bunch. They're always they're awesome. And here's a thing with ship. Every week we do a This Week in Phillies or Philly Baseball History, and this is a good one because it's like super timely. Jim, September twenty second, This Week in Baseball History, two thousand and six, Ryan Howard hits the fifty eighth home run of the season, a single season franchise record, and it's timely because Kyle sh Warber goes into the final weekend the season sitting on fifty six. He has a chance to tie or break Ryan Howard's record, and we literally coincidentally had Ryan Howard on the show earlier this week on Monday. If you haven't checked that out, definitely go back and listen to it. Jim, what was your favorite part, maybe of the of the Ryan Howard interview.

00:40:22
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, it's you know, anytime I am privileged enough to watch an interview with Ryan, I enjoy it because he's always been a first class gentleman, back to the days he was coming up as a minor leaguer and then hitting home runs for the Phillies, and then you know, with you and Rubin the other day, I don't know. I love hearing Chase Sutley's stories about his little intensity, shall we say, in the batter's box. It was fun to hear him talk about working with Kyle Schwarber a little bit, working out with him in Tampa back in early part of Schwarber's playing days in the latter part of Howard's playing days. So and obviously the big similarity they are two big sluggers, and Schwarber trying to chase him down this weekend, and Ryan, you know, being the gentleman he is and class guy he is, he's pulling for Schwarbur all the way. So that was a very very enjoyable interview.

00:41:16
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was great.

00:41:17
Speaker 2: You know, he hit the fifty eighth home run against Ricky Nalasko. You know, you remember that fifty home run game, Jim. He hit three bombs off of Tim Hudson. You know that was I mean, just just an incredible season by Howard back in six when he won the nl MVP Awards. It'd be interesting to see where Shwarbur ends up for the nl MVP Award show. Hey, like we said earlier this week on the show, he's probably gonna win it. But I you know, I think if there's people pay close attention, Shoorbur should probably hit second. But yeah, Ryan was great, and he was at the ballpark the other day. He might be at the ballpark tonight, so on Friday night, So if Kyle's gonna do it, maybe tonight's. I mean, it was in the house to do it, and he's certainly capable. But anyway, so again, go to shivesports dot com backslash tps for a chance to win that Phillies Prize pack. And again once you enter, you enter for a chance to win a year's supply of T shirts from shivesports dot Com. Thanks to everybody for watching the show. I hope you enjoyed the interview with Larry Boa. The Philly Show will be back next week.

00:42:26
Speaker 3: Smelly Lady, guys, Smellia.

00:42:28
Speaker 2: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.