Episode 38 - Cora & Thomson gone, Mattingly & Bazzana up, and adults stealing home run balls

Mo and Will talk through a crazy week in the managerial world: Alex Cora was fired in Boston, then offered the job in Philly after they fired Rob Thomson. Is MLB becoming too much like the NFL? Travis Bazzana gets the call to the majors and a guy steals a home run ball from a little girl.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

MVP, the Mo Vaughn podcast, presented by Vaughn Sports Academy and perfect game. I'm Will Burgeon here with me as always. The man himself did dog Mo Vaughn. How we feeling today, Mo? You said it's hot down there in Southern Florida, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

It's it's smoking somewhat like what's going on in the manager's realm right now with the with a few teams and organizations. Uh wow, we got a last few, you know, few days, a couple hours. A lot of stuff has transpired.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yeah, we're gonna talk, we're gonna go through a lot of this. I know by the time people hear this, it'll be Thursday morning. We're recording this on Tuesday. Um the Red Sox uh Fire Now's Corps will have been about five days old or so, but I definitely want to get your perspective on that and some of the quotes that we've been hearing coming out. But now there's a whole new wrinkle to it, right? Because right before we went to record, um there's another casualty in the coaching ranks, the managing ranks. And the Philadelphia Phillies have fired Rob Thompson following a 9-19 start. Um, and he will be replaced by bench coach Don Mattingley, which there's a cool part to that story, which we'll get to later. Um, but we're gonna get to some other stuff too. There's uh a huge prospect that just got called up that is kind of the last big name in a recent draft. Um, I want to ask you about kind of that, how it relates to this. But let's start right there with the Red Sox and Alex Cora first. What were your thoughts there? It doesn't feel like everybody is that surprised about it, but you know, there's high expectations for this Red Sox team coming into the year, and they definitely underperformed.

SPEAKER_00 1:36

All right, so I'm gonna break down a couple of things. First of all, the whole offseason for the Red Sox, not being able to sign players has contributed to their start. You need players. I think the fan base in Boston has been clamoring for a few years now, looking back at all the players that have let have that have that have been let go, playing well in other places, doing a lot of things. So there's been a lot of backlash on the fan side. Um me personally, I I I think Boston is a very, very tough place to play. When you have players that understand how to play in that environment and play under that stress and understand what it means to be in that Red Sox organization trying to win. I just, you know, I know there's uh money constraints and and things things happen and you know, owners want to save money at times, and but we haven't played paid any of our any of our, and I say our, you know, I've you know had a little bit of tenure there in Boston, haven't paid the players that have been successful in that environment. So it's very, very tough to to to continuously have turnover and be successful. And then you have a team that is very, very young with high expectations. On the second part of that is Breslau, the GM, didn't pick Cora as his manager. So you knew that that's that's that's like almost like friendly fire. Something goes wrong, and my name's on the line, and and and I'm gonna put the guys in place that I want. So in in in some instance, I'm not surprised at that. It's it's it's it's the price of doing business. GMs want guys that that that they understand and that they like that think like them, and you know that that combination is is needs to feel right from both parties, and a change was made. And and the Red Sox have won some games. So um on that note, uh, that's not so so surprising at all. But you need to field a team, veteran leadership, veteran players to be successful, and ownership didn't do that, you know, this past offseason.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Yeah, you know, it's funny because Core is obviously extremely well liked around Major League Baseball. I mean, this is a guy, he is he is one of the more popular guys. So you can, in the coverage of this firing, you can actually feel that. You can feel from some of the reporters and stuff. There's there's um there's some visceral anger as to how this all went down. But and I just to play devil's advocate, and I'm not saying anybody should be fired, but if you are if you are Breslau and you look at the history of how GMs have been kind of they get about four years in Boston now. That's all you get, right? And that's kind of why they had some issues uh last time they did the GM search is because people were like, hey man, I'm not gonna come and get ran out four or less years. Epstein got five, obviously very successful there, but then Charrington 20, 12 to 15, Hazen 15 to 16, um uh uh Halloran uh 19 to 23. Breslau might be on his last leg here because so if he's if he's gonna go down, he's gonna want to go down with his own guy, right? It doesn't mean it's right. It doesn't mean it's fair. Corey kind of did get dealt a bad hand, but this is kind of the business of baseball, ain't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:09

Listen, it's it's almost like we were talking earlier. It's almost like the NFL. If you're not winning right away in our league, in MLB, and there's an opportunity to make a change to make winning happen, it's gonna happen. And I think in this situation, even more, when you have a GM that's maybe on his last leg, like you said, he's gonna want to go down with his guy. So, you know, whether he, you know, at that at this point in time, it didn't really matter how everybody felt about Alex Cora. It didn't, you know, and and you're right, he's got rave reviews and and and great respect. But in this situation, Breslau's thinking, if I'm gonna get fired at the end of this year, at least it's gonna be with the guys that that I put in place.

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Yeah, I mean, this is kind of ends a war that had been bubbling behind the scenes, and it wasn't very well kept, right? I mean, I think everybody kind of knew there was two schools of thought here that Breslo and his front office said, hey, this is how we want to, this is how we construct the lineup, this is how we want it played. For anybody who's ever seen Moneyball, this feels very similar to that, but like the opposite, you know, uh um in the beginning of the movie before they fire the manager. And and uh I don't know, it just they there was a big fight over the two-hole, right? That was the whole thing this year. Who's gonna bat second in this lineup? And it feels crazy to boil down to something that simple, but at some point there is a final straw, and you go, okay, you know, if you're not gonna listen to what I have to say, you've got to go. And then at the same time, Cor is not gonna be, I mean, we're gonna get to it, but Cor was already being you know, courted for another job. It's not gonna he like he's gonna be out of work long.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Listen, you know, uh, we we at times all work for somebody. If there's gonna be they're gonna be butting heads by positioning or players or who's brought in and who's not, the guy with the upper hand is gonna make a decision, and that's that's what happened. And don't get me wrong, listen, uh ownership has created this. This whole three, four years, every three, four years since uh since Theo creates this. If to me you look at you look at some good teams and some great teams, there seems like to be there is a tremendous amount of consistency. And there's been a lot of inconsistency in Boston in their price in their process at that leadership spot. So this is this is what happens. And I've always said this none of these decisions are gonna be made without ownership backing the process. We can talk all in all about Alex. He was the great great manager, he he you know, the Red Sox got him players, he won. And you can't win without players. But all of this to me stops and starts with ownership. And and that's where where where the where the where the sun rises and falls is falls in these decisions. And Breslow's only gonna make these decisions without the backing of Mr. Henry.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

How do you feel about do you think, and we always say like there's a million different ways it's gonna cat from a manager's perspective in a dugout, right? We've seen the rah-rah guys, we've seen the players' managers like a Tito, we've seen guys who are kind of more separated from the team and just kind of uh let them do the guys who like lean towards younger players, the guys who lean towards veterans. There's a million ways to do it that way. Do you buy that there's multiple ways to do it as a full organization, though? Because if you look at the way, I hate to say because the Dodgers are spending just the ungodly amounts of money, but Dave Roberts in that front office is a very collaborative effort there. It's very well known that they all work together. They sit down, they're looking over the numbers, then they're going with, you know, who he's saying is hot and who's having, who's up and who's down in the clubhouse. Then you go to Boston, where this feels very much like Breslau is like, hey, this is how it needs to be done, and you're gonna do it this way. And if you guys don't, not only are you gone, Cora, but they wipe the whole coaching staff out, basically. I mean, everybody Veritek was there 30 years and he's gone. So is there multiple ways to get this done? Or do you think that people need to start looking more at like what LA's doing, where it needs to be more collaborative? You gotta have the nerds in the room with the numbers, and you gotta have the old school baseball guys in there too, and you come up with one cohesive game plan.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

I like a lot of guys, but I also like a lot of old school guys, I think, because I've been around a lot of old school guys, but my main guy that I like is Dusty Baker because he's gonna give you the old-time manager style, but he's a tremendous communicator. You gotta be able to talk to your players. You you know, you know, everybody seems to, you know, just looking for a far from afar with him. Everybody understand who is the boss, but he also brought you in and he clearly defined your role. It seemed like everybody would run through a wall with for this guy and guys would play. I think there's a little bit of uh you know, analytics, there's a little bit of old time, there's a big uh factor of communication that has to happen. So everybody knows their place in their process. And you put those three things together and you have a good working partnership. I'm not so sure it could all be analytics, and I'm not so sure it could all be old school. I think it all comes together, but I think Dusty was the guy, and I think Dave Roberts has taken over that role. We had him on with us. He's a tremendous, he knows the X and O's. He has great feel for his players, but I also know that he's bringing buys in and saying, This is what I need you to do. This is what your role is gonna be. This is how I need you to affect, this is where we plan on using you. And when you do that, everybody is in the clear and they understand they might not like it, but at least you know where you stand, and then you can go forth as a team collectively.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

That's still a relatively young clubhouse in Boston. There's a lot of young guys there, and a couple of them have been there a couple years, but they're still young. If you were in that clubhouse with those guys, how do you as a team, is it just, hey, business as usual, we loved Alex, next man up, or is it one of those things where you're like, you're kind of side-eye in the front office? What walk me through the mentality of what that's got to be like in that clubhouse right now?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

I played for Joe Morgan, then Butch Hobson, then I played for Kevin Kennedy, I played for Jimmy Williams, and then I was gone. So in the nine, eight, nine years I was there, I played for five different guys. And you you you gained, you know, we had a great, we we won the division in '95. We woke up the next year, Kevin Kennedy was gone. Um I don't know, maybe he wasn't there to get to catch guy. I don't know why. But there was just a lot of that, a lot of that happening. But that's as players, after all that, and you and you're gonna feel some pain, you gotta go out and do a job. There's a job to be done. It's only middle, beginning of May. You got June, July, August, September. And I tell people all the time, I've been on some bad teams after the all-star break. And when it's that bad, I don't care what job you're doing, you hate coming to the ballpark. It's just like it's like a like a gorilla sitting on your back, you know, in that position. So whatever the Red Sox have to do to get themselves back in it. So after the all-star break, you gotta close, you're close and things mean something, is what you're trying to do. But as professionals, you gotta go out there and put your numbers up. You gotta go out there and play, you know, in front of the crowd. Right now, the fan base at Flamway Park is coming to boo their team. And you gotta change that. They're coming to let the let you all know how they feel about what is happening. So the only way you're gonna change that is to start going out there playing ball the way that they expect you to do. And you as a as a player have to look at, man, I got four plus months of this season left. I don't want this thing to go get sour so fast that after the all-star break, it's you're like you're you're just slugging and sledging uphill and everything so hard.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Look, it nothing's done this early in the year, but the Yankees have won nine to ten as of Tuesday. There's seven games up in the East. You know, that feels like cause for alarm if you want to win the division. But the Red Sox are only two games out of the wild card, right? There's the entire season's in front of them. So, like, I don't think anybody's hanging their head and quitting on the year. That's that's not happening in that clubhouse there. It like you said, it's unfortunate, but there's a lot of young guys. A lot of guys are still trying to prove something, too. So you got to think they're probably gonna be going out there running through a brick wall trying to get this thing done.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Bro, you got opportunities. You're gonna be on the field now, you're gonna have an opportunity to, you know, to stay in the big leagues. They, you know, now they, you know, we talked about this now. It seems like a young, young player's game where they're calling you up, you know, we talked about this early and and throwing you in the fire. Damn it. You're you're out there. Go take advantage, figure it out. I tell people all the time, these young hitters, figure out what your structure is at three, four, five, six o'clock. So that gets you consistent at seven o'clock. Now you have that time. You're in the, you're, you're, you're, you're on the field, you know you're going to play. Figure out what you got to do in the cage. Figure out what drills you need to do. So now when it's seven o'clock, you got a good chance, and that's how you become a pro.

SPEAKER_02 14:55

Yeah, we're gonna get some more young guys, and there's another call-up coming here in just a little bit, but there was another firing that just happened right before the podcast. The Phillies um they fire Rob Thompson, uh, who's four straight playoff appearances, including that World Series in 22. Um, obviously not off to a great start there, I think 9-19. He'll be replaced by Don Mattingley, uh, be the interim manager there, who obviously we love Don Mattingley. Um, but that's still crazy. This is early in the year to be firing all these managers here, but part here's the other part of the storyline. And Buster only had been teasing this on his podcast. He said, he I believe he even threw out the idea that the Phillies maybe would try to trade for Cora uh because they were they liked him so much. So they they fired Rob Thompson. A report just came out a little bit ago that they offered that job straight to Cora right away. So it feels like that might be connected. And Cora turned it down and said he's gonna spend some time with his family. So if you're the Phillies, I know you're in a bad spot at 9 and 19, things aren't looking great, but if you if that really just happened, and they really just fired their manager thinking they were gonna be able to grab Cora and he says no to him, man, that that's I don't know, man. That one feels a little dicey to me.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Oh man, that's that's that's rough on on everybody. That's rough. That's that's hellish treatment on Rob Thompson. It's it's it's crazy uh a thought to even go after Cora, but this game has just gotten to that. But I'm gonna say this too. Uh Dave Dombrowski probably was saying, all right, well, listen, let's go back. The Phillies were looking like the Red Sox. So once Cora got fired, you started to feel this could happen in other places. Yep. No doubt in my mind, okay? So now they got a they got a guy that they think is a good guy that comes up in Cora. Phillies do. They go, okay, so maybe we take this guy. But also in the back of their mind, they if he says no, Don Matley's not a bad guy to put to put in put in place either. You know, we love him. I love him. He's he's great, and and I hope success for him. Um but there may be a little bit of wrangling going on, but you know, and you know, in Dombrowski's mind, hey, I'm gonna take a stab at this. If I don't, I always I still got I still got Madalie in my back pocket. You never know how what that feeling is, but it just goes to show like wow, like Thompson, four years in a row in the playoffs, and I know it looks bad, but damn it, Zach Wheeler is just coming back. And this is another thing on on Dombrowski. If Ranger Suarez was successful for you in Philly, knowing the situation, knowing the fan base, knowing the media, all those guys that are successful with the media, I don't know why we don't keep those guys. They know how to do it under pressure. And then you're bringing in new people that that may not have ever been in the situation, and now they're thrust into it and and they got the they got the deer in their headlights eyes. You know those eyes. Oh, yeah. All right, and those eyes in Philly, Boston, and New York do not work. When you got the eyes of the guy with the eyes of a Cylon, you keep those guys because they know what they're doing. But Wheeler's coming back, okay? Mattingly, we know his pedigree. He's a Yankee. He's gonna bring that that that that that mindset and he will steady the ship. He will steady the ship. He's always will have good things to say with Kevin Long offensively. I think he will he will, you know, he will step to the forefront and maybe we have a little turn to get the starter back and and they could get going. But it's man, it it's crazy. Like, what is happening is is is is the guy in in New York, the Mets guy, you know, Mendoza, is he next? You know, with this whole thing, you you you never know. People are getting fired now for this.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

People thought he might have been the first domino to fall. Now all of a sudden he could be third in this line. Look, A Philly, you're right. The start was very similar between Boston and Philly, but here's the difference between those two places is we just talk about the wild card for Boston. They're only two out. And if you look at the teams above them, right, besides the Mariners, there really isn't a team in probably probably the Blue Jays, right? There really isn't teams that you would look at and say, hey, they're head and shoulders more talented than the Red Sox. There's a ton of young talent in the Red Sox. Look, the Rays are always scrappy, but we know where they're gonna, they're gonna hover just above 500. That's kind of who they are. The Guardians, exact same thing. Rangers, Orioles, these teams. If you go to the Phillies side in the NL, the Phillies are six and a half. Bro, they're six and a half back of the wild card, and you got the Padres who aren't going anywhere. I mean, they look damn good and they got all the talent in the world. The Cubs are above you. Um, obviously the Pirates are young, but the Brewers and Cardinals are gonna be hanging up. There's a lot of teams you got to climb over to get back up there into the mix. And at the same time, the New York Mets are sitting there six and a half back, exact same as you. They could be making managerial move, and they got a ton of talent there as well. I mean, that's a that's a tough hill to climb. If anybody could do it, I like Don Mattingley's odds of it. But man, that is a that's a tough hill to climb over then in the NL.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Listen, I I agree with you. That NL that NL is strong this year. Yeah. Um, if you want to do something, you can't wait too long. Um, but Rob Thompson is a is a great guy, um, great reputation. Um hopefully he'll get another spot to get back around. But you gotta win, man. You gotta win. It's like the NFL. You have got to win these games, man, and and and be competing, you know, with the Dodgers. Everybody's jealous of the Dodgers and what they do, but they seem to be, you know, people just say oh they're oh they're you know, they're just buying talent. They're not just buying talent because they're developing, they got young guys that come up and know how to play. So it's they're developing it also, but the Dodgers are putting pressure on everybody to compete and and do things. And for that, I like it. It's it's it's I I like having a team out there out front who everybody's chasing to be like, and it makes everybody better in the long run.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Hey, you need evil villains, right? And what better evil villains than LA New York? LA New York on both sides right now. All right, so now that Don Mattingly and his son become the first ever manager GM combination, I need you to tell me which what's more impressive to you, Movon? Is it the first ever manager son GM manager combination, or is it LeBron and Brawny him throwing Aliub to him in a playoff game? Which one of those two things is more impressive to you as a father? Because those are both insane, both are insane.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Oh man, that's that's tough. That's tough. I think I think the GM I'm going with baseball.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

I'm going with the GM and the and the and the dad being a manager. Um because to me the the the the dad was such a great player, and then his son was able to become the greatest administrator in the game. He had to live and probably taught him a lot and understood how to how to scout and how to look at players and brought them up to, you know, went through the ranks and you know, just like his dad did as a player, I'm going with baseball. I think that's that's the greatest, greatest thing.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

They're both crazy, though. They are they listen that Ali Woo! Wow. That's awesome too. I don't know how he didn't cry. I coached my son's, I don't even know what year it was. It was like a second their first year of basketball. He had never scored a basket yet. We had a really it was like a three-age range. He was the youngest kid on the team. I teared up the second he scored his first basket. I don't know how you're throwing an Ollie Oop in a playoff game and you don't get a little choked up over that.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

That's that's listen, every dad would like would love to be in that situation. Every dad and any dad.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Yeah, it's been a cool story out there in LA, and we'll keep an eye on the rest of it. There may be some more firings coming to MLB. We hope not. We want everybody to keep their job, but you just don't know. Once these dominoes start falling, man, you just don't know. Um, you brought it up earlier, Mo, that MLB is starting to pace more like the NFL. The NFL, you know, they say not for long is what it stands for. You get into a job, you become a GM, you become a coach, you become a quarterback for a team. You don't win, your ass is gone. They will get rid of you in a heartbeat. It's quickly, it's very quick. Rookies come in, they play right away. They don't care. You're going in, quarterbacks come in, you're playing right away. We're starting to get more of that in baseball. Obviously, you're seeing the firings on that side. And now the first class where it was like everybody was on board. We're getting these guys the major leagues quickly was the 2024 draft. Um, and we've seen, look, Nick Kurtz already AL rookie of the year, right? Kurt Griffin Mitch. Yes, yes. Uh Connor Griffin, huge contract, obviously a lot of hype around him. Um, you've got JJ Weatherhole, you got uh Chase Burns, Jack Caglione. Well, now the number one pick of that draft is getting called up to the Guardians, Travis Bazana. And if you want to talk about some pressure, Mo, talk about a kid who not only now has to compete with all those names who've already had success at the major league level, and he was supposedly the quote unquote most pro-ready coming out, but he also has a whole damn country on his back. The entire country of Australia, this kid is like put up there and they're expecting him to be their guy. Imagine that type of pressure walking into a clubhouse. Now, he's a grinder, he's a crazy person. I've ever seen him. He's he's got a couple screws loose, he loves baseball, he's always learning, he's yelling, he's hyped up, but man, that's that's still a lot of pressure. I don't care what kind of mentality you got.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

Look, I've always felt, first of all, that's awesome. Um the fact that these young guys are getting the opportunity, that's great. But I'm just gonna say, I think PG, we get these boys ready. These boys are coming to our tournaments at the end of the summer, WBA, right out here where I am in in West Palm and Jupiter, and there's 30 scouts there watching. I remember, I told you, I remember when I had eight scouts at the game, it seemed like a a the stress was on. These guys, with the opportunities that PG brings to them, they are ready. He's he's he's just a little off in his in in his in his mental toughness to not even care and just go out there and play and and take all of that all of that wind that he's got blown over there from you know across the water from Australia pushing him. He's the type of guy that's just gonna take off. But I just I used to wonder until you know I really got into PG and understood what it was really about, how these guys were so ready. If they're ready because of the positioning that we're putting them in at such a young age, then when they get to the big leagues, Pete Rose, Pete Rose always used to say, it's easier to play in the big leagues than it is in the minor leagues. Why? The lights are better. You see the same pitchers throw more strikes. You see the same pitchers, you gotta, you gotta you gotta you got a uh a Scotty report. He was saying it's easier. And when he said that, I was like, I was a rookie. He said that to me one time in 1993. I was with a I was in a card show. I told you, Joe Morgan, Sparky Anderson, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, and Tony, Tony Perez, and me in the middle, I got beat up. But he talked, he talked like that. It's easier when you get when you get from the minor leagues to the big league. Everything's better. And you see more, better baseballs, the balls go farther, but these guys, I think, from the atmosphere that we created, PG, are ready to go when they get there.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

I mean, think about last year's WWBA that when striker Pence started that game, 16 years old playing up, and there was radar guns. Joe Moe, there might have been 70 radar guns on that field. Listen, I was right.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

I was right there. There was everybody's got the golf carts laying back. It was it was unbelievable. And the boys, they just go out there and play. I marvel at that. I think that that's great. I think that that's what it should be. They've been in the fire so long that nothing, nothing faces them anymore. They're ready.

SPEAKER_02 27:43

You're seeing at the Major League level. These guys are producing right away, um, not just because I'm a Cleveland guy, but we want Travis Bozana to have a good career. But, you know, I think he's got the mentality to do it too. I heard a crazy story. Um, I was listening to uh the Selbia's Godcast. Shout out to my boys uh TJ and Zach's, probably the best Guardians podcast out there. And they were talking about how when he was a freshman at Oregon State, he walked in and asked uh if he could shadow the seniors, which was like Stephen Kwan and some of those guys. And they were like, Yeah, sure, whatever. And he followed him around and they said he was so annoying because he asked eight million questions. He asked about everything they were doing, every little thing. He wanted to know the mentality behind it. What's the thought process? Why are you doing it? And then he gets the minors mode. He goes to uh Lake County here in Cleveland, he gets called up to um out of rookie ball into low A. And he went to the front office. He goes, Can I have a scouting report on the entire next team, which you don't always get, not at that level? And can I have a scouting report on all my teammates, just in case I see something I can help them with? And they were like, I've never heard anybody ask that before.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

That's the leadership scalp.

SPEAKER_02 28:45

Yeah, and that's why they took him number one overall. And that's this day and age, as you know, everybody's got talent. What's differentiating those guys the top mental one, yeah, exactly. And you and then do they match up with the you know your organization, your beliefs, and that stuff? But that's that's really cool to hear.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

That's all listen, uh, I I I marvel at that. I would I would hope that, you know, you know, you hear from teachers all the time, ask questions. It's the same thing in baseball, ask questions. That kid went up there and asked questions. And what that does is it puts people on alert that you're open-minded for information. And when you're that, you got an opportunity, and and you you you have that open mind, and then you match that with a little bit of skill, you got a bomb, and you got a guy ready to go right now.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

I got two more things for you, Mo. This one's this one's fun. This is a guy who's been around a long time. A guy's produced at a high level for a long time, a guy with a big name, who has been cool about them moving around to the lineup, just plays where he needs to play. He's a Mr. Automatic, goes out there and does his thing. Freddie Freeman is creeping up on 3,000 hits fairly quickly here. I mean, he's still got a couple seasons ahead of him. Um 540 away from 3,000 hits. He's 36 years old. He continues at this pace. It's going to happen within the next three to four seasons, right? Um, first of all, how awesome would that be to see Freddie Freeman get there? And then I want to know from you, you know, closest behind him, I think, is like Altuve. He's on that, obviously on that projection if he can stay out there. And then there's some young guys, Acunya Soto, some of them uh younger guys that aren't anywhere near it, but if they keep healthy and they stay at the level they're at, some of that stuff. But I feel like with us going more and more towards, you know, launch angle and home runs, and they don't care if you strike out, 3,000 hits is becoming more and more a rare thing in baseball.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

First of all, as I said before on our show, I got a son, he's a left-handed hitter. If there's one guy you would want him to emulate, is that guy, Freddie Friedman. Because he just does everything right. He doesn't break from his preparation, he doesn't break from his philosophy, and he stays over that ball, hits the ball the other way with power. You may he he he decides when he wants to pull, you know, you know, when he's gonna do certain things, when he's gonna change up his plan. But just a controlled, consistent approach of the hitter. I would love for for my son to adopt some of that stuff. I I you know I just marvel at that. I think that that's tremendous. And it couldn't happen to a better guy um in terms of a winner, a guy who's got multiple world championships, got an MVP, I think, in a world championship, has come up with big hits, has played hurt, has done everything. It doesn't matter. That's why the Dodgers are successful because Otani can bat at the top of the lawn uh of the order, but you got Freeman in there in that third spot, fourth spot, or fifth spot catching up and making those big hits. This guy is a bona fide Hall of Famer, and you're correct with all the different things going on, he may be one of the last guys to hit, you know, get 3,000 hits because of his approach. But it's tremendous, man. I love watching him. I'm a fan, um I know what he's trying to do. I try to do some of those things. I wasn't as good as him, yo, but I just enjoy watching him go to home play, have an approach in that bat, and then strike. It's just could to me, it could happen to a better guy. We gotta get their guy on the show.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

We do, Greg, gotta get on that. We need Freddie Freeman on the show. That's right. Absolutely. We gotta get him on the show. Uh, how about this? Jose Altuve, he's the next closest, 35 years old. Um he's got he needs 585 more to hit 3,000. You think Jose gets there?

SPEAKER_00 33:00

Yes. And I'm gonna tell you why. Because he's swinging. He's he's uh he's he's attacking everything. And he's always barreling, barreling up stuff. You you you know his spray chart is straight up. You you don't know what to, you know, you don't know where to defend him because he's barreling everything. And I just think that the way, you know, I think that he'll stay healthy. You know, he's he's down here um in you know over in over in West Palm. I get to see him a lot. He's a great guy, good dude, um, great attitude, comes to play every day. I think he's I think he's gonna get it. And his style is just straight up. I'm aggressive, I'm ready to hit, I'm gonna get my 200 hits, you know, 180, 200 hits every season. He'll get there. Yeah, I think so too.

SPEAKER_02 33:51

He also is those guys, he's taking an extra bag, he's doing the little things out on the field. Yeah. Tito Francona called Jason Kipnis uh dirtbag once, and it's stuck hard. He goes, he put he's a dirt bag out on the field. And you meant in the nicest way, not like he's he's he's like that guy's always dirty, he's always taking the extra bases. That's Jose Altuve is that times 10. You know what I mean? Right, correct. Um, all right, I got one last thing for you, Mo. I don't know if you saw this clip, and it was out, it went crazy viral this morning. It was out of Cleveland last night. Uh home run to the bleachers in left field. All right, I'm gonna walk you through this. Home run to the bleachers in left field. A guy, grown man, I would say in his 40s, easy, goes to catch the home run ball, goes off his hands, bounces a couple feet to the left. About a 10-year-old little girl goes to grab it, and this dude runs over, wrestles the ball away from her, and then stands there and puts it above his head. This is, I swear, I'll send you the video. And he's going crazy viral today. I gotta find out your opinion on those guys. The the guys like that in the field taking the balls from the kids, the autographed people stand outside bumping little kids out of the way when they're trying to resell them. There's a whole breed of these people that I don't understand them, Mo. I don't get it.

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Look, man, as I've I as as I've gotten older, I feel very lucky. I was out of the game in 03. It's now 20, 26, and people still come up and ask me for an autograph. I think that that's I'm lucky to be in that position. And I always sign and I always put my arm around the kids because I just did it the other day. We were up in Fort Pierce. A little uh guy came to me and goes, Did you play in the major leagues? Just really cute, like a cute little he had red hair with freckles, and he was sitting, and I was like, Yeah, man, you need it, you need an autograph. All right, come on, let's go. Let's let's do this. Why are you knocking peep young little kids out of the way for a baseball? Come on, people. We are better than all of that. Let the young people get what they deserve and be in the front and help them uh achieve their dreams. You're old. Get out the way. Get out the way. You're old, get the hell out the way. All right, and and let the let the young people get it, man. Like help them get, you know, this world right now is is is is is so divisive and mean. Stop it, man. You if we can't be mean, if we can't be good to children, who are we gonna be good to? So come on, man. Let's let's get get out the way and let the young people enjoy what they should enjoy.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

There was a happy ending to it. There was the Rays broadcast um that was on FS1, and the Rays uh sideline reporter went and got a baseball and brought it to the little girl after the next inning, and the mom made a nice post thanking him, and that was a very, very classy move on their part. But man, I gotta tell you, I that guy, I there's two parts of this. One is that guy's an idiot. You should never do that. You're a douche. The second part is though, I don't ever want to be on the receiving end of what he's probably got going on through the internet right now because them that dude's getting dragged today. And that's your whole life gets flips up upside down. So you always gotta remember what you're doing out there. People, there's cameras everywhere these days, Mo. Everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Listen, it's it's you're right. There's cameras everywhere. You we you and I both have sons. We tell them be careful when you press that send button because it doesn't come back. You have to be careful. And someone there's always in in an eye watching, and you know, just just make just do the right thing. It's it's it's it's not that hard. Just when you can do the right thing, it'll keep you, you know, inside the lines and and hopefully you make the right decisions when it's time to make a decision. Do the right thing. It's not that hard.

SPEAKER_02 37:55

And he's not gonna he's not gonna pat himself on the back, but I do want to give you a shout out, Mo, because about eight feet away from where you're broadcasting right now, there is a giant L table that is covered in baseball cards and things assigned that people send Mo. And he takes the time out every single week. He gets hand cramps, he gets wrist cramps, he's out there knocking out signatures. But that's cool. A lot of people, you know, and I get it. Some people were just like, hey man, I don't have the time to do it or whatever. It's cool that you make the time to do it because I know a lot of those people who send those out to you. You're probably a hero, you know, in your playing days, and they found that baseball card in their attic, and they're like, man, I wonder if Moe would ever sign this. And then can you imagine the feeling they probably get when that thing comes back to them sign? That's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Listen, there's there's cards that have been there three, four, five years. It just goes, it gets it gets it gets so thick and heavy, it does, but you could take a little time. I think you learn that with appreciation. I think you learn that over time. I think you learn that when you have kids, I think you learn to understand and respect some of the little things in life and realize that you can put a smile on somebody's face. And you, if you have the opportunity, try to do that, man. It it goes a long way.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

It certainly does. It certainly does. We got some big guests coming up, Mo. I don't, I'm not even gonna I'm gonna say them because I I'm we're not gonna drink. So we're gonna have McCole Hamels is gonna joining us, I believe, next week. We're going with him. Uh Jerry Ferrara from uh Turtle from Entourage. Um he's a big Yankees guy, so I know he's gonna you've you you probably go at it a little bit. Yeah, 100%, 100%. And then uh we gotta get Freddie Freeman on. I'm putting Greg on the screen.

SPEAKER_00 39:32

I get Freddie Freeman, and I got my my um I gotta give flowers to this guy, my captain at Seton Hall University, Craig Biggio. I can't wait to get him on just to talk to him and and give him the appreciation of what he deserves for what he did for me when we were at Seton Hall. So I'm I'm I'm hoping to get Craig on on very, very soon, too. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Gotta tell you, a lot of a lot of positive feedback out here in Cleveland on the podcast, Mo. People love hearing you. Uh, they miss your name up on the shipping container in right field.

SPEAKER_00 40:04

I know I had it there. But yeah, Mau Vaughn Transport. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

So Mo, always fun, brother. Always good to talk to you. Great stuff as always. When we get back next week, we'll have another week of the season gone. We'll have some good interviews and we'll have a little more perspective. Hopefully, no more firings. Well, you never know. There could be some more fireworks.

SPEAKER_00 40:23

You know, things happen in threes. You know what I mean? So let's let's hope uh let's hope the Mets can let's I let's hope the Mets can get it going, turning around. You get, you know, um our short get the shortstop back and get him in the lineup and get him going. Only thing that I say about that Mets, Phillies, you know, you know, Red Sox, I know how it feels in the clubhouse when it's like this. It's hard. So I never want this for any any of the type of players. Let's hope they can all get a transformation and and and and and and let let let this theme come off of them a little bit so they can play the game.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

Everybody needs to be employed next week, including me. We're all still employed next week. That's what we're over for. All right, Mo, we'll talk to them next week, all right?