Team USA SURVIVES, Dominicans outshine Venezuela, Italy wins Pool B

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to a special Foul Territory episode. It is the WBC Postgame presented by Fox One. My name is Elana Rizzo in for Scott Broun. I am along with my friends Todd Frazier, Eric Kratz. You know these two well, and guys, we're gonna get to Italy and Mexico in just a bit, but we are coming off of a really good game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. This was a fun game. It was an exciting game, and we knew you guys going into the game, and Todd will start with you. We knew that both these guys, both of these teams rather were advancing, but it still doesn't take away from the excitement of this particular game tonight. You what is your biggest takeaway from Dr Venezuela, Todd Father.

00:00:48
Speaker 2: Well, first and foremost, I mean, if there was one game that you really wanted to go to, if you had a chance to get on a plane, if you weren't close enough, this was the matchup to go to anytime. The best of Venice went and the best that a Dominican come together and make up a game. It's truly remarkable. I mean, listen, Dominican, they are flying on all cylinders right now. This team is absolutely incredible. The bullpen finally gave up a run and that was on an air that batters are hitting. Wan Soto kicking it off this time, I mean, one of the best hitters in the game. Home runs are coming in the plenty, and their pitching has been phenomenal. They're starting pitching. I mean, everybody talks about their hitting, but their pitching has been truly remarkable. They came, they saw, they conquered in this pool, and everything is looking really good for this team, and they're wearing back ready to go. They have to be the favorite moving forward here.

00:01:42
Speaker 1: It's funny we talked about it the other day and a couple of different shows guys that maybe we weren't given the Dominican Republic Todd and Eric enough credit, and you know what we should be, because they are, as Todd mentioned, just kind of flying through this pool cratzy, and we're talking about it in the chain at biz dot r says dr games more like a party than a game when you can when you're playing like that, it can be a party and up and down the lineup crats. Guys are hitting on all cylinders. They don't have to rely on one big bat because they're doing it up through you know, one through nine. What's your takeaway?

00:02:17
Speaker 3: My takeaway is that don't say the proverbial wee because somebody picked the dr to win this John Now, is it gonna get a little bit tougher for them, Yes, But what I like to see about this unit that is their lineup right now is the fact that, like you said, yes, top to bottom they're doing I think they have two guys that started tonight that have an ops under nine oh, under eight p fifty. They have two guys that are under eight fifty. So you sit there and you go they are There's there's really not many holes in the lineup right now, and so that's one thing that they're able to do that. But to me, it's the bats that they're taking. They're taking their shots and advantage counts. They're doing damage, and then they're also taking their walks. They're they're not just they're not just swinging for the fences and hoping that they can hit a dinger. They're hitting dingers. They're taking me at bat the other way. And once I get to my MVP of the game, I'll let you know who I thought had the best at bats.

00:03:24
Speaker 1: Okay, so we're talking at bats, we're talking dingers, we're talking about just kind of moving down the line, passing the baton. We just saw Fernando Tettis Junior's bat flip. It's funny, guys, you've both participated in the WBC. So when you have a batflip like that, for some reason, it just seems more welcomed, more accepted in the World Baseball Classic than it does just in the ho hum game in Major League Baseball. The energy and I tweeted this before the game even got competitive, I said, man, watching the dr guys play Todd is so exciting. They're having such a good time and that's a lot of fun. But they were also doing exactly what they needed to do to make a point and to win this ball game.

00:04:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's one thing to have fun and there's one thing to play. Well, how about doing both. I mean, it's a culture, it's an atmosphere. If you ever play in the Dominican Republic, you understand the grit and the grind that these guys come up in. All they want to do is play baseball twenty four to seven. They'll do whatever it takes, and guess what, when they do, they have the most fun. And I think a lot of people, a lot of countries can learn from this baseball players as well. I don't care what age you are, eight, twelve, twenty four fifty. The energy these guys bring, it's contagious and I truly believe that. Call it crazy, call it old fast or new fashion. I love every second of this. The crowd is in the game, every pitch, the music is playing. This is how life should be. I mean, I'm dancing in the seat right now thinking about the music. I mean, let's go.

00:05:00
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot of fun, and obviously these two teams have a lot of passion, a lot of energy. It's the music, it's the pomp, it's the circumstance, it's the personality that kind of gets to you know, finally shows. As Mark Uino from the Mets Up podcast comments of the atmosphere at Lone Deep Hill Park for the Venezuelan and versus DR game is absolutely insane. Keep in mind this crowd is eighty percent DR fans. Obviously they are in Miami. That's a big deal. It's it's very much a Latin culture there. Obviously, if Cuba was there, that would be a big thing as well. Most of a lot of folks in southern Florida Miami are of Cuban descent. So people get all over this and they love it and they appreciate it and it's fun. And this is a team, guys, or two teams I should say, Eric, and a game that you're kind of paying attention to because we knew they were advancing. But this could be one of the teams that ends up in the final. And I believe it, Kratz, that were you saying that the dr was going to to be the champion of this World Baseball Classic? And why do you feel that way?

00:06:05
Speaker 3: Just about how the lineup is constructed, About how the fact that you know you have I.

00:06:12
Speaker 4: Mean, we first go to the Juan Soto swing.

00:06:15
Speaker 3: You have different types of hitters that are not just that all or nothing type of hitter. And to me, it's about it's about how do you mesh how do you meld as a lineup to navigate through the fact that they're going to see the best pitching in the world from here on out.

00:06:35
Speaker 4: They're not. They're not afraid of it at all to me. To me, it's different.

00:06:39
Speaker 3: You attack the Dominican Republic lineup way different than you would say, you know, the greatest show in America, the American's lineup US is a lineup that is, you know, showed that, hey, you know what they they're pitching can be hit. The Italians took it to them, But that lineup to me, is just destructed different. I'm not saying one is better, one is worse. It just feels like the way that the dr batters feed off of each other. It gives you a problem as a pitcher because you have a guy like Juan Soto who controls the zone incredibly well. A guy like Vladimir Guerrero also controls the zone. Two guys that walk more than they strike out, and they're batting back to back. So you sit there and you go with two guys that have four hundred on base percentage. One of them is gonna get on now all of a sudden, you got extra traffic. It's tough.

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00:08:35
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00:08:37
Speaker 1: You mentioned one Soto of course you mentioned Vladimir Gurer Junior, but you think about one Soto Todd that goes has a two run home run that gave the DR a two to nothing lead. Cold tell Marte, of course, a home run three to one DR. Vladgerer Junior a home run four to one DR. You also have Nato to teach Junior with that three run home run. We talked about it, the batflip seven to three, the Dominican Republic, the four and zero and pool play, and because of that, they will now face Korea in the quarterfinals. Venezuela still alive. No worries there. They're going to face Japan. That's a tough draw. They're going to face Japan the quarter finals. Well, let's talk about the DR Todd Father against Korea in the quarterfinals. I would imagine your pick is still the Dominican What do you like about that matchup in terms of favoring the DR.

00:09:25
Speaker 6: Yeah, there's a couple things. I mean, we talked about it before.

00:09:28
Speaker 2: The lineup they construe each and every time they go out there. Let's not forget the atmosphere, guys, this is we talked about it before.

00:09:38
Speaker 6: Korea is coming back in here.

00:09:39
Speaker 2: With the atmosphere that Dominican Republic have, it's going to be very hard to hear themselves. Think it's gonna be hard for them, you know, to understand things because when something happens, it's going to get blown out of proportion and it's going to be big. Don't let Dominican Republic score early, and don't let them score often, because it's going to be game over in the first inning if that does happen.

00:10:00
Speaker 6: One.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: On the upside for Korea, they're very poised, they're very disciplined. At the same time, they're very happy to be there. And they played a very hard Japanese team too as well, so they're battle tested. But again that Dominican public has the tools, has everybody there. And one guy I'm looking forward to now in these big games. He was zero for five today, but he's still one of the most prolific hitters is Manny Machado. It's going to be his time to step up and lead this team to as well. Don't think he has to put it all on his back, but watch out for him taking off here coming moving forward.

00:10:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, Manny Minchado a little quiet today, but that's okay. His teammates rallied around him kind of, you know, picked up where he left off. Ranger Suarez Eric Kratz will start for Venezuela against Japan and Yoshinobu yam Mimoto. So let's talk about that quarter final matchup. Venezuela facing off against the defending champion Japan. They've won this thing three different times. Could Venezuela pulling up, Oh, for sure, they definitely can, but they need to get something from the bottom of their lineup.

00:11:07
Speaker 3: You cannot continue to get nothing out of four of your guys from the bottom of your lineup. Are they gonna switch it around? Are they gonna have to pinch hit and match up? I don't know, but the best case scenario for them is that they can get Yoshinobu Yamamoto's pitch count up and possibly get into maybe a weaker spot of Japan's bullpen. I don't know their bullpen very well, but I'm pretty sure they're not gonna quite bring it like Yamamoto is. So to me, I think Venezuela's is in a good spot with Ranger Suarez facing them. I think it is a matchup that Ranger throws things that I throws pitches that I feel like a lot of Team Japan hitters, the guys that I know of struggle with even to the point where you saw Ranger Suarez, Christopher Sanchez and Haysus Wizardo shut down show Heo Tani who doesn't handle for some reason. It's it's actually an there's a number and I don't know what the number is, but lefties that face Sho Heo Tani at this certain angle they don't do as well. But to me, like Japan is you talk about battle tested Japan, it just they figure out how to win this tournament because they're playing together way more. They're prepared. They're not like they don't have blips in the radar. They don't have you know, chances where it's like, oh, you know, I'm just still trying to get my feet under me. They're playing and practicing together, so they're just fundamentals.

00:12:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think ultimately the left on left matchups, that's the keys there are. You're throwing a lefty that has been there before and understands, you know, this type of game and atmosphere too. So listen, put everything aside, put the names out of it.

00:13:00
Speaker 6: It's go time.

00:13:01
Speaker 2: It's the time win, or go back to spring training, or go back to your country and get ready for your season. The pressures are going to be unbelievable, and I'm here.

00:13:12
Speaker 1: For all this, no doubt. I love the World Baseball Classic for a variety of reasons, and Eric kind of teased it at the beginning of the show. Guys, but time now for our MLB Rivals Player of the Game, and we're talking about this game specifically the Dominican Republic versus Venezuela. Is so many different guys that you can choose from Eric specifically on the dr just because there were so many guys offensively getting the job done. But e K will start with you. Who is your MLB Rivals Player of the Game?

00:13:44
Speaker 3: Easy runner up Fernando Tatis, but I'm going to go with Vladimir Guerrero. When you have a guy that can hit a two iron out to left field and then the next at bata take the base hit to right field against a guy that I didn't think was a was a real great matchup for Vladdie. Like to me, he's just shown so many things that we saw in the playoffs. I think a lot of people knew it, but maybe he unlocked something different this past year in the playoffs, in the World Series. It just seems like he's stayed that locked in. Can he do it for the season, I don't know, But tonight I'm going with Vladimir Guerrero Junior.

00:14:23
Speaker 1: All right, Vladimir Guerrero Eric picks at the top of the thirty had that solo shot to give the Dominican a four to one lead. Todd Father, who is your MLB Rivals Player of the game?

00:14:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that was the pick right there, But if there was one, ed, Yeah, Fernando Tattoos Junior. I mean, this guy, he's locked in. He's the straw that stirs the drink. He's that kickstarter, and when he goes day go, he's leading off the games. He's fantastic, looks comfortable, and he is enjoying this World Baseball Classic like nobody else. So again, three RBIs I mean as a leadoff guy, can't ask for anything better?

00:15:05
Speaker 4: All right?

00:15:06
Speaker 1: Of course, two position players would pick a position player to be their player of the game. I thought Saniel Contera did a nice job as well. Perhaps a player of the game for other reasons, But we're going to put a bow on the Dominican versus Venezuela. Of course, both of those teams advance a reminder in the quarterfinals that the Dominican Republic will play Korea on Friday and Venezuela will play Japan on Saturday. Let's take a moment now as we get ready to talk about Italy versus Mexico. All right, guys, so this is the game that a lot of people had their eyes on for good reason, because all of the kerfuffle that happened yesterday with Team USA not knowing what the hell was going on in terms of whether they punched their ticket or not to the quarter finals. So Italy going up against Mexico, whichever team won was automatically going to advance. The US needed Italy to win, and certainly, as soon as Italy made it to four runs, we thought we had a lock, and they did so. Going back to Italy and Mexico, let's talk first, of course, about Aaron Nola pitching for Team Italy. Five shutout innings, eric four hits and five k's. Nola did exactly what he needed to do.

00:16:27
Speaker 3: He did he was spinning that curveball and when he got behind an account. He was running that two seamer back. I think Philly fans should be excited because last year you were seeing a lot of eighty nine to ninety two when he was right before he went on the il, and even when he came back, that.

00:16:45
Speaker 4: Velocity wasn't quite there. He was popping some ninety fives.

00:16:49
Speaker 3: He was sitting consistently ninety two ninety four, and he had the Mexican hitters a little flummixed. I think early they sat there and they went, Okay, it's fine, We're gonna get to Aeron Nola. And all of a sudden, when you have a pitch count, when you have a pitch limit of sixty five pitches in tournaments like this, you're like, you know what, I'm definitely gonna We're gonna get him out by the fourth inning. And for Aaron Nola, to me, the game was over. Besides, when we get to the MVP of the game, that's when the game was over. But when he got out of that fifth inning, when he got through the fifth inning, he had traffic runner got thrown out, and then he got a big round ball out and he was done with the sixty five pitches. That is where Italy Like, to me, that's where the game was. The game was over at that point because they didn't have to go into the softer underbelly of their bullpen, which you saw give up a few runs to a really good US lineup the night before. So when Nola gave him that distance, that was massive the for the squad.

00:17:51
Speaker 1: All right, he did it on the pitching side, But how about Vinnie Pasquentino on the position player side. He was todd the barista in the dugout prior to this game, but he came up massive three home runs, the first home run, first three home run game in World Baseball Classic history. Vini pass Quentino, My god, I mean, you love watching him, you love his energy, I love how he plays just in general. But three home runs, let's go.

00:18:22
Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely fantastic.

00:18:24
Speaker 2: This guy coming through big time, not afraid of the big moment. He's the one that's given the expresso shots. So he said, you know what, I'm a little tired. I'm gonna go him three different ways so I can get my energy up. And guess what, this guy will not be sleeping well tonight because his energy is going to be out the roof. Absolutely beautiful. This team is clicking. They look really good no matter who's playing. I know they had a big injury Keller last night, it didn't matter. They came through and Anna they helped you say out tremendously.

00:18:56
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, they absolutely did. And you have to love what they were able to do undefeated in pool play. It's super cool what team Italy is doing. Obviously, Ned Coletti a shout out to him. He was the assistant general manager for the San Francisco Giants, and of course he was the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers, kind of the architect of that team for quite some time, and then goes on to put together a four to you know, a four win team in Pool B. But Vinnie pas Quentino had a lot to say after this game, guys, and also kind of given a little bit of a kind of a shout out, but kind of like a you're welcome to Team USA.

00:19:34
Speaker 6: Take a listen, go ahead.

00:19:37
Speaker 4: Yes, I'm calfinated, I'm beat up right now, so just yeah, we're in a good spot. That was unbelievable.

00:19:45
Speaker 3: Huh, You're welcome to USA.

00:19:48
Speaker 2: We were thinking of you guys over at your hotel we were thinking of you guys.

00:19:52
Speaker 6: So glad you guys could join us.

00:19:54
Speaker 4: In the party here.

00:19:56
Speaker 1: You gotta love it, you gotta love it. I love his attitude every damn. We needed Italy badly, we needed them badly, and I'm good on them. Are good on USA. I guess for Italy Todd to get out early and not make it as much of a like, we're not sweating it as far as if you're a USA fan, you're not sweating it because Italy kind of shook command early in this game.

00:20:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's what that's what they've been doing. And you saw it yesterday against Team USA. Came out a couple of home runs, kept padding onto that lead and there led to a couple more runs and that was basically it ate nothing. Oh my god, you're like this, this game is going to be a ten run role in USA is going to be out. So ultimately they did, they did, They helped USA out. Sometimes you need a little help from your brethren's over there, like Cratsy would say, and you know, you just keep on moving forward.

00:20:47
Speaker 6: But now you can breathe.

00:20:49
Speaker 2: If your Team USA you appreciate that, you remember that, and it's go time. The rose to get that line up ready baby, because it's time to go.

00:20:58
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00:21:22
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00:21:59
Speaker 1: Eric, let me ask you this. So, Vinnie pass Quentino did not have a hit in this tournament up until that point, and all of a sudden he goes from hitless to three home runs in the game and is such it has such a dominant performance. How does that happen?

00:22:13
Speaker 3: I mean, as Charlie Manuel says, water levels out good hitters figure out how to get hits. And you know what, he was able to do it in different ways, obviously pulling the ball, obviously staying back on a couple breaking balls.

00:22:32
Speaker 4: It happens like he played three games.

00:22:35
Speaker 3: Like people freak out when somebody doesn't do well in these tournaments, because all you have, and I want to pull up his numbers here, all you have are the games. You know, it's the ultimate sample size. So right now Vinnie Pasmentino is hitting.

00:22:49
Speaker 4: One eight eight.

00:22:51
Speaker 3: His ops is eleven hundred. Before tonight he was hitting zero. So like you have one good game in a four game tournament, it and you're good, but you have three stinkers all of a sudden, It's like ah. Man, that's what's so beautiful about international baseball. These tournaments that are put together by WBC, by the you know, the WBC contingent that has even some of the qualifier tournaments. Todd and I both have played in those, and it's like it's just something that you don't get to experience, and they mean so much because you're getting to represent your country, whether it's little, you know, little baseball country like Brazil, large country, little baseball heritage, or it's the United States, or it's the national sport in Japan. Like these players are representing their teams. And so for Vinnie Pasquentino, maybe during the year he might have gone to a dark place. Oh man, I'm three games. I had no hits to start the season. It's terrible. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You don't know, oh what you're doing. You know you stunk early, but you know that the next day you could get one ground ball roller to the right side that scores the winning run and you, guys advance.

00:24:11
Speaker 4: That's the beauty of international baseball.

00:24:14
Speaker 1: It's the beauty of this game. And you have to have a short memory, as you guys know better than anybody having played the length of time that you did. It's Ted Lasso of courses that goldfish have to have short memories, and that's what you have to have as a player. Moving forward to the quarterfinals, we talked about the Dominican and Venezuela. Moving on to their next opponents. Will you take a look at this opponent for the USA coming up? Todd And it's USA versus Canada, which is always what you want, right especially in hockey, but now we get to do it in baseball. And usually the US and Canada are in the same pool to begin the tournament, and obviously they weren't this time, so Canada advancing. Today they did a nice job beating Cuba. So Cuba has been eliminated and Canada moves on. And now the USA will play Canada to on Friday with Logan Web on the mound. How do you like their chances?

00:25:06
Speaker 2: I like their chances a lot for Team USA. I think now it was a little bit of a gut check, a little bit of a worrysome atmosphere. I think they're gonna come together even more, put their best foot forward and have a really good dominating performance. Don't hey, don't get me wrong. This Canada team has been playing well. They beat a really good Puerto Rico team, they beat a really good Cuba team. They had to pretty much win both of those games to kind of solidify them getting into the quarterfinals. It's probably the best group they've had in years. But they're gonna play USA and these dogs are gonna hunt. He man, these boys are ready to go. I think if you're USA, you're very happy right now where you're at, But don't take this team lightly. Go out there and when you when you have them down, keep them down and keep herarning back. I'm home for really good pitching performance from Team USA coming up this game.

00:25:57
Speaker 1: And I know you guys have discussed it at length on Foul Territory and I'm not trying to, uh, you know, belabor this point, but I did want to ask for those of us that are listening right now that maybe didn't watch you guys on Foul Territory today with the whole mix up with Mark de Rosa, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for I think is a very good baseball mind. Okay, but the mix up of like they, oh, we already punched our ticket. Well, now we know that Team USA is in right initially, so we need to do how do you approach this? Let me be the first to congratulate Mark Durosa TM USA for punching their tickets to the quarterfinals. We love it, guys, and we can we can poke fun. But there's a lot of reasons that that whole thing was a mess. But Eric, let me ask you this, what is the mindset need to be for d Row and all of Team USA not just him as the manager, but all of Team USA going up against Team Canada.

00:26:48
Speaker 6: I mean the.

00:26:51
Speaker 3: I'm gonna I'm gonna say the coaching staff. De Row and the coaching staff, they they've made their mistake and there's no more of the you know what, we're going to cruise through this one. I think it's going to it's gonna haunt them. You know, it's gonna make their decisions be more concrete, their decisions more like playoff type of decisions if they're able to make those. With the pitching changes, and I think the lineup is going to be that solidified lineup which they feel is the best lineupbout you know, I'm not sure where they think that is, but I think Bryce Harper's in there. I think Paul Goldschmid can come off the bench. They got him in the at bats. But to me, the team, the team has to understand that they are two separate units. They got the pitchers and they got the hitters. The hitters have to figure out how to continue to drive guys in whatever way that's possible. They have got to have team at bats. I don't feel like against Italy they had team at bats. I felt like Michael Lorenzen made pitches against them, And I think you're I'm not sure who they're going to see. Maybe somebody can tell me who they're gonna see. With Team Canada, I'm not sure. But if they can have team at bats, now, all of a sudden, somebody that it lives on the corners has to come over the middle of the plate. And that's when US does the most damage. If you're facing the team that just throws a billion and they're just trying to shotgun shell the entire strike zone, that's when Team USA is gonna take advantage and they're gonna put together good at bats because it almost is like they lock in better against guys that throw harder but.

00:28:31
Speaker 4: Don't necessarily command the zones.

00:28:33
Speaker 3: Michael Lorenzen put on you don't even have to watch How to Pitch to Team USA. Just go watch, Just go watch Michael Lorenzen's outing. He showed the blueprint of how to beat that team and that lineup needs to figure out how to control the zone to push even the slower pitchers back in the zone.

00:28:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, Michael Lorenzen is the best thing that's happened to the Colorado Rockies. And sometime, if you're just joining us, let's take a look at the BRAC if you will, in terms of who has advanced and where we're going next. As far as this, we've talked about it at length, but we know that the Venezuelan team will play Korea on Friday, that again is in Miami on FS two, and then the United States and Canada on Fox at eight pm that is also on Friday. And then March fourteenth, that is, uh, Puerto Rico will go up against Mexico or Italy excuse me, rather if I could get my flags right, and then Venezuela going up against Japan on March fourteenth, also in Miami. So again all of the action shifts to Miami, and to Houston. It is done in Puerto Rico, it is done in Japan. But this tournament is far from over and still such a blast all right, from the WBC through the World Series guys, to the World Cup, to NASCAR and IndyCar. With Fox One, you'll get it all live. Start your seven day free trial today offers our subject to change. Download Fox one today and stream the World Baseball Classic live now through March seventeenth. Catch USA and can I ended a Friday at eight pm on Fox One. Go to foxwe dot com for complete terms and conditions. Fox one streaming now. All Right, guys, so we talked about it. Are players of the game for Venezuela and the Dominicans? I'm going to ask you the same exact question, and Todd I will start with you for MLB rivals. Who is your player of the game for Italy and Mexico?

00:30:28
Speaker 2: I mean, this has gotta be the second answer for kra and I. I mean this might be the hardest one out there. I mean, Vinnie Pasquortina three home runs. I don't care who it is, Absolutely mammoth shots, Absolutely mammoth person.

00:30:47
Speaker 6: This kid is doing what he does best.

00:30:49
Speaker 2: And we Cratzy kind of hinted on it, struggled in the beginning, came through their fearless leader strikes again, now not with the Express, but with his bat. The lead this team to go four and ero in that pool. You know, no matter what they do from the here on out, that's truly remarkable.

00:31:10
Speaker 4: I can't pick.

00:31:12
Speaker 3: I can't pick vinnp So I got to highlight somebody else, and we already highlighted Aaron Nola, John Birdie.

00:31:20
Speaker 4: John Birdie doesn't have a job yet.

00:31:21
Speaker 3: John Birdie, I think is hitting over four hundred in the WBC, So maybe not the MVP of this game, but definitely their most valuable hitter, coming up with big hits, stealing bags like and I think it was two for three, Yeah, two for three with a walk, just putting together pro at bats, and you know, I think, I think if they're going to do anything, he has to continue to be that kind of table setter in front of the big boys.

00:31:50
Speaker 1: I appreciate MV Rivals for being a part of the show and supporting us here on foul Territory. But let me ask you, guys, this the strongest espresso shot you have ever had. I'm Cuban, and I'm also Italian.

00:32:05
Speaker 6: Okay.

00:32:06
Speaker 1: My father is Italian. My grandparents were born in Sicily. My mom was born in Havana, Cuba. So I had like the second I came out of my mom, I had my ears pierced, and I had an espresso shot. So what is the most the strongest espresso or coffee that you have ever had? Taught?

00:32:24
Speaker 2: Well, listen, it was like this big, and I the only I don't drink much of it. I'm not a big coffee drinker. I'm starting to get in the expresso a little bit more. The most potent and the most electric one I ever had was basically a shot, and it was at the Miami Marlins clubs. Yes whatever whatever those clubbies made, I tell you right now, I took one. I went two. Five minutes later, I went, Who's ready to play? My eyes got locked in, and I'm telling you I had to have an other one the next day. Was That's the only place I know where that expresso got me got me ready to rock?

00:33:07
Speaker 4: Yep, yep.

00:33:09
Speaker 1: All right, what about you, Eric, I'm telling you he's not wrong. The Miami the Visiting clubhouse in Miami.

00:33:18
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, he just yeah, yeah, they they basically they cook it right there.

00:33:24
Speaker 6: They got there.

00:33:25
Speaker 3: The guy that made it for me is was Cuban and he had his little I don't even know what you call.

00:33:32
Speaker 4: I'm sure there's a name for it, but it's like a tin. It looks like a pot.

00:33:36
Speaker 1: But it's like, no, it's the it's the Yeah, is that.

00:33:42
Speaker 4: What it's called. Okay, I didn't know what it was called.

00:33:43
Speaker 1: But the machine itself is the But then you have like the Cuban coffee, and then you have the foam and the whole thing. But thea is that like it's it's that silver like little coffee pot with the black handle, and it's insane.

00:34:01
Speaker 4: Look you'll watch. I did it on the day.

00:34:06
Speaker 3: I wasn't playing because I'm like, I don't drink coffee. I don't drink I don't have I don't have a lot of caffeine. I don't like the taste of coffee. It's actually delicious.

00:34:16
Speaker 4: It was actually delicious, like it felt like they said it's authentic.

00:34:22
Speaker 2: I started talking Spanish after I had my second sip of the thing.

00:34:26
Speaker 6: I'm like, more than bubble, let's go. It was my voice changed. I'm like, what is calling on here.

00:34:32
Speaker 1: That's yep, that's the that's Thefito effect. That is the Coesito effect. Guys, to be with you. The WBC is an absolute blast. I want to say thank you to everybody for watching and dubaie I thank you guys so much for all of it. Enjoy an officially licensed MLB Baseball game anytime, anywhere. Experience the fully integrated MLB schedule, and participate in World Baseball Classic events to earn player cards and special rewards by downloading MLB Rivals in your app store today. We will see you guys manyana on all of the Foul Territory shows.

00:35:10
Speaker 4: Take care