Season 1 Episode 4 Richard Griffin

Richard Griffin joins me opening weekend Major League Baseball 2026 to discuss his time in Montreal some great stories about the late great Pete Rose and his relationship with former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is Walk Off Slams with Greg Zahn on AM 1150.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the latest installment of Walk Off Slams. I'm your host, Greg Zahn. Well, we've had opening day. It has come and gone. Hope springs eternal for all 30 baseball teams, you know, and some people are already looking at their season in complete disarray. There's been some crazy stuff happen already. We've had our first ABS challenge, and the umpires decision was upheld. And uh if you were watching the very first game of the season, Yankees versus the San Francisco Giants, well, maybe you were watching it if you had Netflix, but if not, you probably missed it. But uh Yankees Jose Caballero in a five-nothing game challenged a borderline pitch call by home plate umpire Bill Miller. Now I worked with Bill, he is a uh cantankerous uh chap, to say it mildly. Um and he reacted about as apropos as I imagined he would. So the Yankees are up five-nothing already on the San Francisco Giants, and we're talking about a pitch that according to the computers barely nicks the strike zone in the upper regions of the strike zone. And it was strike one. Now, let's put that into perspective. Your team's up 5-0, you only get two challenges, if you are wrong, you lose one. So Jose Caballero, he challenges strike one, the pitch is upheld, and so now it's strike one, and then the very next pitch is about six inches off the corner, and he can't challenge that one because he's not about to lose both challenges for the Yankees on back-to-back pitches. But as I would expect Bill Miller to do, retaliate um in a negative way, he calls it a strike. I mean, it was clearly a ball. The flawed computer system that is the ABS challenge is clearly marking it as a ball, and yet now it's strike two. So as I look at the situation and I give you my take, I look at it like this completely and utter weak sauce by Jose Caballero. Like, come on, dude. If you're gonna challenge a pitch, you don't challenge strike one unless it's absolutely a huge situation. Your team's already up five-nothing. Like, give me a break. Like, if that had been a close game late and they were missing a challenge, imagine how stupid he would feel. And it it just it really didn't even make any sense, you know. But it it speaks to the bigger issue. You know, where this this whole ABS challenge is a slap in the face to umpires on a global scale. Like literally, everybody's watching this as I would like to put it, close enough strike monitoring system. And and I'm here to tell you, close enough isn't good enough at the Major League level. These machines are flawed, the system is flawed. I've argued on multiple programs now that buildings move, and when these buildings move, if you're off by a millimeter at the muzzle, you're gonna be off by a mile downrange. If you're a shooter, you understand what I'm talking about. But it's absolutely ridiculous to imagine that in the biggest moments in a baseball season when you're in a sold-out stadium and it's rocking and rolling, that these machines are gonna be way off. And I'm telling you, I can sit there and watch a ball game and I can judge the strike zone based on where the catcher sets up, gives his signs, where he puts his mitt. I look at the top of his knees, I look at the bottom of his mask, and I compare that to the hitter that's standing in the box, and I could guarantee you I'm getting 95% plus correct without the help of any sort of computers, lasers, but buildings move, vantage points differ from ballpark to ballpark, and it's absolutely asinine to think that this isn't going to become a problem. My only support of this system is when it's an obvious strike right down the middle, and for whatever reason the umpire has a brain cramp, he doesn't get it right. Obviously, we challenge that call. I mean, heck, we shouldn't even need a challenge system, it should just be fixed. The umpire should go, all right, everybody knows I screwed that one up and just make the call himself. Just fix it. The ones on the edge, come on. It's too too difficult to understand from hitter to hitter, ballpark to ballpark, what's a strike and what's not. Let's get it close, you know, on the edges. But, you know, when we're gonna make this absolute and we're gonna, you know, let these these flawed machines and this flawed system determine the fates of of players and franchises, I I don't know. I'm sorry. It just doesn't really set right with me. Moving on, a lot of people have obviously gotten really excited here in Canada about the Jays, and you know, they want to talk about the Jays' ability to repeat as American League champions. Well, you know, the Blue Jays are a very good ball club. I think they're better on paper than they were last year. But, you know, everything pretty well went right for the Jays last year, and they're gonna need for a bunch more things to go their way this year if they want to be part of the World Series conversation in October. I mean, we have to make certain assumptions. We we have to think based on track record, Vladdy's gonna be Vladdy. In fact, I think there's a lot more up to Vladdy's game. I think Vladdy probably comes back this year and has an even better offensive year. He he tends to get off to a little bit of a slow start, power-wise, and it could take him a little while to get going. Uh we've got to assume that Gaussman's gonna be Gaussman. You know, we we hope we're gonna get as fans, you know, what we expect from Kevin Gaussman. Um, you know, he's he he was your opening day starter. Uh you you hope that over the course of 162 he's gonna give you what you expect. Now, Ponce is an interesting cat. Here's a guy who threw up a sub two air two ERA in Korea. Well, you know, the level of play in Korea is somewhere between double A and triple A, in my opinion. So he should dominate. I mean, when you when you look at the contract they gave this kid, he should be a dominant force in that particular league. So if we get 75% of what he posted last year in Korea, oh the Jays are laughing all the way to the bank. They'll they'll think that's a a pretty darn good investment. But you know, the one thing that they're gonna need probably more than anything is the three guys that are on the shelf to be ready to contribute at some point during this season, you know, and be able to contribute when they're needed. So, you know, they've got three guys that can start that are gonna be, you know, not ready to go in in Barrios, um Yesavage, and Bieber. You expect all three of those guys to come back, but setbacks are setbacks, and things you know happen the way they happened in this game, and we're gonna find out whether or not those guys are able to come back and and make contributions because you you don't see Major League Baseball teams go the full 162 with the same five starters that they opened the season with. It just doesn't happen. Guys are gonna get hurt, somebody's gonna, shall we say, soil the bed to be, you know, somewhat FCC compliant. So we we know that uh these things are gonna happen. The other things that we're gonna need to see from this ball club, in my opinion, are offensive breakout seasons from you know Dalton Varsho, Addison Barger. I mean, he drove in 74 last year, but the I think there's more in the tank. Um and and Andres Jimenez. Now, Andres Jimenez, if he could just be productive, be a productive situational hitter at the bottom of that lineup, maybe once in a while fill in at the top, be the table setter, or be the guy that moves runners in the two spot. I like that. Um, but I'm looking for big things from Dalton Varsho. I've already spoken about the slight mechanical changes that he's made to his hands. He's moving his hands prior to the swing, which I love. He's getting loaded up and ready to hit, which is key. But those guys are gonna need to replace the 94 RBIs that Bo Bichette drove in. So, you know, Barger and Varsho combined for 129 last year. I think they're gonna need 80 plus from each guy. And I think it's highly possible. Um, the Jays are way better defensively than they've been in the past. You know, Bo Bachet, he he was regarded as one of the weakest defensive shortstops in Major League Baseball, whereas Andres Jimenez is one of the best defensive shortstops. When you look at Ernie Clement at second base, another elite defender, the Jays are solid up the middle. They've got Clement, Jimenez, Varsho in center, you know, and even with Alejandro Kirk behind the dish, he does some things that I like back there. He blocks the ball well, he receives pretty darn good, but his game calling and his and his uh caught stealing numbers are gonna have to come up. You know, he posted a 160 ERA with Chris Bassett. Well, Chris Bassett's gone. So he's gonna need to do a similar job with the other guys in the rotation as he did with Chris Bassett, and he's gonna need to learn to use the fastball a lot more. You know, those home runs by Will Smith and Miguel Rojas in game seven of the World Series, obviously they were the the final nails in the coffin for the Blue Jays over the course of that season. Uh he needs to get better at game calling, he needs to get better at throwing guys out. Jeff Hoffman is gonna need to step up and he's gonna have to increase the fastball command, and I think he's gonna need to increase the use of the fastball. You know, big arms like Jabba Chamberlain, Dylan Batansis, Carlos Marmole, these are guys that that could touch triple digits with the heater, but relied on their sliders. Well, once the hitters get used to seeing that slider, they don't swing at the balls that are coming out of their hand at the bottom of the zone and finish out. They're sitting on breaking ball. So they're not at all engaged by anything at the bottom of the zone. Uh Jeff Hoffman needs to make the hitters beat him to the opposite field with his fastball. He needs to get better at at spotting his heater. He needs to understand that 95 plus is 95 plus, and he needs to get busy using it. But uh, you know, those are things that the Blue Jays are gonna have to see come into play if they're gonna be successful, and obviously they're gonna have to go out there and play the games. Now, a couple of things that happened right away in this season that proved my point that you gotta play these games. Your MVP Aaron Judge goes 0 for 5 with a golden sombrero in his opener, and Cy Young Award winner Paul Skeens lasted only two-thirds of an inning against the Mets. Now, pitchers, pay attention. Do not mess with the baseball gods. When your team scores runs, do not go out there and walk the leadoff hitter, especially when they give you a lead. The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up the first inning of their season with a two-run lead for the reigning Cy Young Award winner, Paul Skeens, and he goes out and he walks the leadoff hitter in the bottom half, gives up a hit, a hit batsman. O'Neill Cruz goes blind and has two of the worst plays of his career in center field. And now all of a sudden, Paul Skins is sucking on five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. He literally gave up 20% of the earned runs he surrendered in all of 2025 in two-thirds of an inning, and he's still got 29 starts to go. His ERA after opening day, 67.5. That is unbelievable. And as I said, pitchers, pay attention. Really bad juju. You don't walk the leadoff hitter when your team scores runs for you, especially when it gets you the lead. If what we saw opening weekend is any indication of what 2026 is going to be like, buckle up, it's going to be a fun year. When I come back on Walk Off Slows, I'll have Richard Griffin of Toronto Star Fame, the former media relations director for the Toronto Blue Jays. He's going to tell us some really awesome stories about his time in Montreal, the late great Pete Rhodes, and his relationship with Marcus Strowman.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

You're listening to Walk Off Slams with Greg's on on AM 1150.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Welcome back to the program. Today's guest's career has spans six decades. He is a major league baseball lifer. He's worked for both the Expos, the Blue Jays, he's been in the front office, he's done publicity, public relations, media relations. He's been a TV and radio analyst for TSN. I knew him as the beat writer for the Toronto Star during my days as a Toronto Blue Jay. You know him as Richard Griffin. Welcome to the show, sir.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Thanks, Honnie.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

So glad to have you on. I've been uh really dying to get into a conversation, but you know, I did a little bit of research on you and I and I discovered a few things that uh that actually surprised me. You were actually born in Jamaica in the 50s. So with no internet, no cable, uh likely not a whole lot of print media coverage about baseball. How did you come to fall in love with with baseball?

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Well, yeah, I was um there was no TV. I didn't see TV till I was uh 10 years old and moved to Montreal. So yeah, there was not there was no coverage, but what there was was uh a father, my dad was uh sent, he's Canadian, and he was sent down to Jamaica after World War II to establish a little company called Captain Morgan. So he's he's the original Captain Morgan, and and I think that's why I love my rum so much.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

But uh that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

He he was uh he was during uh World War II, he lived in Montreal, and uh in 1946 he was he was went to see Jackie Robinson play for the Royals at Delorme Stadium, and then he was transferred to Jamaica to do the Captain Morgan thing, and uh we have five kids in our family, they were all born in Jamaica, including myself. And uh I remember in 1960, 61, and 62, we had a scratchy shortwave radio that my dad would make us listen to the World Series games. They were the only ones we could hear. World Series and it was the Yankees every year. So I became a huge Mickey Manil and Yankees fan. Then when we moved to Montreal, I think five years later the expos came into existence, so I got a real major league team. But that was the essence of where my fandom and then a lifetime story began.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

So you attend Concordia University, and then you know, kind of a little bit reminiscent of Alex Anthopolis, you land your first job with the Montreal Expos and ascend to the position of the director of publicity. But like, talk a little bit about those early days and what it was like to be with a brand new organization in Montreal.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Yeah, I joined them on opening day of 1973. The first game that I ever scored, and I scored it off radio, was at Wrigley Field with Mike Torres against Ferguson Jenkins. And uh, and it was a win for the Cubs. Tony LaRussas scored the winning run as a pinch runner, and I still have those score sheets. I I I was doing the arbitration statistics before computers were invented, before, like in the early days of arbitration for the general manager, Jim Fanning, who was a great guy. He was a big part of me being hired because uh he knew I was crazy about stats and I had some good ideas. And so the first few years was that, um, and then we moved to Olympic Stadium in 1977 from Jerry Park. Jerry Park was fun, but it wasn't a major league ballpark. And uh Olympics Stadium, um, Dick Williams came in, who eventually went on to the Hall of Fame. He was not, he was a little cantankerous with his players. There were fights in the clubhouse all the time, and and he was ripping them in the media. And uh yeah, so that was interesting time. But um 76 was the Olympics, so that was the last year of Jerry Park. 646,000 people for uh 81 game home schedule. Um then they signed a bunch of good young players, Gary Carter, Andre Dawson. This was all in about 76. Uh 76, 77. Carter, Andre Dawson, Alice Valentine, Larry Park, Warren from Marty, Steve Rogers, and there were a lot. Like the average age was about 25 years old. And then in 79, we won 95 games with 15 double headers because of the rain coming into a stadium that's supposed to have a roof but didn't have a roof. So 15 double headers, 95 wins, and from 79 to 82, the team that beat the Xbox went on to win the World Series, including 81 uh when with Monday homework in the final game of the uh NLCS. And uh yeah, so that those were interesting, those were great days in Montreal with a young team, and uh everybody wanted to be there, and everybody was it was there were some great teams there.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

Yeah, I really enjoyed my time as a visiting player going to uh Montreal. It was an interesting place. I I never really minded indoor baseball, and you know, Montreal for me as a city was just a a a wondrous place. It was kind of that uh European flair to it. Obviously, you have tons of people speaking French. Uh, you know, and for a kid from California, you know, my first experience in Canada was Trollbriere uh for the 89 World World Championship. So it was French speaking again. Um, so an a really amazing place for me uh to to kind of experience baseball Canadian style. And and so I'm wondering you what stands out to you the most about your time in Montreal and with the Expo's organization?

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I think what stands out the most is the is what I didn't see when I came to uh Toronto and I worked for the star for well. I left in I left the expos uh during the strike in '94, just before the ninety-five season. But I didn't find the same um feeling towards the players in Toronto as I did in Montreal. It was it was tradition. I mean, I was a kid, I was 23 and running the PR department. And uh after games, we would go downtown and there were three or four bars where all the players who were single at they were they were all single at time because they were mid-20s, they were my age. And so that 79 to 82 period where they were contending every year. Uh downtown was a meeting place. All the fans would go downtown and know they would see their exposed players there. And uh, I would go down, I had to be at work at 10 the next morning. It didn't found me. I only lived about three blocks from the bar, so it was great. Um, but just the the feeling of togetherness with those exposed teams, and every exposed player that I've seen, and I was there from really traveling with them from 79 to 94 during the strike. Every player I see since then smiles, hugs, and they love their time in Montreal because of that feeling, uh second language. Um you know, that was one of the things the writers there could get away with a lot because none of the players read what they were writing about them in the papers. So I had to translate some of it, but if it was bad, I I would just uh soften it a little bit, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yeah, the uh the old uh uh Mr. Baseball Japanese interpreter, you were doing it in French for them and in into English. Uh making it sound good. Well, I I mean I know that you know, in my time with the union and You know, getting to be around guys, especially when Jamie Campbell and I were doing spring training broadcasts from Montreal, I got to meet people like you know Warren Cromartie and I I got to meet the contingency of former expos and former front office personnel who were you know politicking for a return of Major League Baseball to the city. Uh do you think the strike killed baseball in Montreal?

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Oh, for sure. There's no doubt in my mind. Um they were working, and uh Bill Stoneman who went on to uh Bill Stoneman who threw two no-hitters as an exposed player in 69 and 72, he became a VP for the club, and he had stadium diagrams for a downtown ballpark, and they were ready to rumble. Uh it it was it would have been like um target field in Minnesota, outdoors, you know, not more than 40,000 seats. Um and that was ready to go. And if the 94 strike hadn't uh ended the season, there is a very good chance because the 94 team was on a roll when the strike hit. And uh if if the Expos had won the World Series that year, there were planned a new stadium would have saved the franchise because um the small businesses that the team was counting on would have stepped forward, bought the uh private boxes in the new stadium, would have been walking distance from the Bell Center where they play hockey right now. And Claude Brochou was the owner after the strike, the day after the strike was settled, um, he got rid of Larry Walker, Cam Hill, John Wetland, Marquise Grissom, got five cents on the dollar in return. And that was the end of that, you know, that was the end of competing. They still had Pedro Martinez and some of the young guys who hadn't reached arbitration age yet. But uh Moises Alu was there and stayed for a while. But that was really the end of it. And Brochure sold to Jeffrey Loria, and then in 02 they tried to contract the Expos and the Minnesota Twins, and that failed because the Minnesota government, uh state government wouldn't allow it, so they couldn't go to an odd number of teams. That's the only thing that saved the expos at that time. And they uh they then went and had a caretaker ownership by MLB who didn't want the team. So they were looking at that point from 02 to 04 to get rid of the team, move it. And so we all knew it was gonna happen. It was just a matter of when. And after the 04 season, it was over.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

Yeah, I was in spring training with the Expos in 04. That's how I ended up with the the Blue Jays, the uh the general manager Omar Mania. He had a very strong desire for Latino players, and it was hilarious to they were talking to me when I went there, and you know, Frank Robinson was the manager at the time, and I remember him basically calling me that winter. And I had known Frank since my first year with the Orioles, he was the acting big league manager at the time, also living in California. Um he called me on the phone and he said, Hey Donnie, I we need you to come catch the expos. And I go from uh being the highest paid backup in the game to the expos and get released the last day of spring training because I wouldn't sign a 30-day waiver. I get I get a phone call from Tony Steagel to come into the office, and I follow that meeting up with uh a walk into Frank's office and I'm like, Frank, you you told me I had a spot. Like you told me as as recently as a week ago that I was gonna take Brian Schneider's spot in the starting lineup if he didn't swing the bat good the first couple weeks of the season. What happened? He goes, Well, you know, I've got no power here, and I'm like, clearly, you know, and then all of a sudden I started hearing stories about him showing up to the ballpark and finding out there were new players coming in.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Yeah, I I covered the last I would go into Montreal a few times and then went to Puerto Rico when they were down there. Maybe that's why they needed Latino ball players, but um I just got the impression that Frank was just showing up for work, you know. Um and I that caretaker manager, caretaker ownership GM who was looking to get back into New York and be an assistant GM, and then uh hopefully for him, for Omar, he was gonna move on, uh move on up. But none of that happened, and it and we all knew it was over. And it was a sad day when I went down to that finale against the Marlins, and uh and they went on the field and they gave speeches and and the fans were crying and the press box was crying. It was it was really an emotional moment.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

I'll bet. I mean it's it's it was such a great, great city, and I think if I remember correctly, it wasn't the the new ballpark plan called Labat Park or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

Yeah, well, the the potential sponsorship changed from time to time. Uh, Labat Park was the the one that they were throwing out to the Quebec government to sort of convince them to show them how important it was, and it was important because I've been back to Montreal probably every year, and the the Jays went and played exhibition games against random teams um every March, and it just wasn't the same without baseball. The Habs are one thing, the the hockey team is one thing, but uh just in terms of uh a three-hour infomercial for Montreal and what it what it is and what it's all about. That was missing, that was gone when the expos left. And uh you'll go to the city and it's just not the same.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Yeah, it's it's it's too bad. I don't know, I'm not sure we're gonna see Major League Baseball in Montreal again, but uh clearly the the end was upon you in in '94, and you you transitioned into being uh the beat writer for the the Toronto Star, which is where I ran into you in Toronto. It's where you know my first uh dealings with you. My rookie year was 95, and I had my first home run in then called Sky Dome, and I remember uh uh being interviewed by you as ear uh early in my career and then coming to play for the Blue Jays. You were the guy that you know, you and Jeff Blair and and Bob Elliott were the three faces that I saw on a regular basis in that in that Blue Jays clubhouse. You know, and and I and I'm kind of wondering, you know, how was that transition? Um and and what was it like for you to to deal with the players on a daily basis down there in the clubhouse, having having to write good and bad things about them?

SPEAKER_01 28:56

Yeah, well that's that's the thing is having to write good and bad things about them. And and to me, I had to make the move because for between 94 and 95, when there was nothing going on because of the strike, it was being I was being told, it's like you and you and Frank, I was being told that in addition to PR, I was gonna be a radio broadcaster, host a talk show, and be the traveling secretary. And they weren't gonna give me any extra money because the club was in financial trouble. So I I had to find something that was more reasonable for, you know, I had four kids, and so uh the star job opened up and they were looking to hire a Canadian. I had never written before, but my game notes were fabulous, I must say. And uh and so I came down and interviewed and they hired me, and I went down to spring training uh while the replacement players were still at spring training. So the real Blue Jays were at high schools and parks in their workout gear, but not no logos or numbers or anything. So I had to go find them, and I didn't know any of them. So that was a bad beginning to a long career. Yeah. Twenty-four twenty-four years there, but I always felt like what something that players didn't understand was that you can't lump every media member into one basket. Like there are good ball players and there are bad ball players. Some have more talent, some aren't, some are great guys, some aren't. And the same thing with media. And I always felt like there was a segment of players that would just say, oh, media, and not take the time to get to know anybody. But the guys that you mentioned, Jeff and Bob and I, you go to spring training, and to me, that was the time to forge any relationships, you know? Yeah. You see them every day, there's nothing on the line, you go over four, it's not a big deal. And it's the time that you can work on getting to know players, writing features that to sort of uh help as the year goes on. And and like you're saying, you you recognize the same faces around the clubhouse, you're more liable to talk to them. And write good, write bad. If it's bad, I always thought you had to write it. Um, but not in a like I needed to look at myself in the mirror in the morning and say, yeah, I wrote that fairly. Um, it wasn't great for the player, it wasn't great for the team. Um, but that's how I handle that.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Yeah. Well, for me it was always about fairness. If the guy was fair and he was willing to have a conversation about it, if I didn't agree with you know the fairness of the article, you know, we have a conversation with it, you know, about men, you know, as men, you know, and and you know, there I I'm sure you've run into a couple of players along the way that were, you know, uh ridiculously sensitive about what was being written, what wasn't being written. And uh, you know, you you you you try to you try to forge a relationship that's mutually beneficial because at the end of the day, you guys are trying to promote the game of baseball. And you know what? We have good days and bad. You know, and as you said, there are good players and bad players, good media, bad media. So we all uh we all find our our what ourselves into a category, so to speak.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

There's a couple I want to tell you about. One one is Marcus Strowman, and one is uh going back to the expos days, is Pete Rose. Um the Marcus Strowman one was uh I think it was I well it was in May of 2017, and he had was having a breakout. He had done the uh comeback from the injury in 15 um and helped in the playoff run. He had been okay in 16, but he started 6-2 by the end of May in 2017. So I wrote a column, you know, telling fans, okay, Stroh is having a great breakout season, but he's not yet you can't consider him an ace at this point. It's still May. It's only 12 starts. Um, so there, you know, you really shouldn't get all that excited about it until it's a full season. And so the next day in the clubhouse, and and this is what you're talking about. If you go face to face, if somebody didn't like what you wrote or if you have an issue with something with a player, uh, but he came over to me in an empty clubhouse during batting practice, and there was five or six other writers there, and I don't know why Josh Donaldson was in in the clubhouse and not well, I guess he was at his locker. And so Stro starts in on me and he says, My mother didn't like your column. And I, oh, okay, well, I I'm just you know, stating facts about this and that. And then he starts to get more and more strident about it. And then he says at one point, and and all this while Donaldson is doing a play-by-play like he's at a a boxing match, like the Jim Lampley or something. And and I do I wasn't aware until the writers told me after. But uh then Stro stopped the conversation by saying, What? I can't be an ace because I'm not six, seven and white. Oh there he goes. That's enough. That's it. Forget it. You know, we were having a conversation and and that's it. And then it didn't it didn't get any better with me and Marcus uh as time went on. Um, you know, he came around a corner. Uh when I was talking to Devin Travis at spring training, I was trying to write a uh sympathetic piece about uh Devin coming back from injury, and Strohl was listening. He came around the corner and he started in on me and telling Devin not to talk to me because all I wanted to do is stir up. And uh, you know, as again, what do you say at that point?

SPEAKER_00 35:00

So no, nothing you can say. I mean, I I had my issues with that guy when I was a broadcaster as well, you know. And if anybody was gonna root for the little guy, it was gonna be me. But when you when you behave poorly, and I and I I was told early on in my career, never let it get personal. Well, I did one time, you know, the day that he was showing up the angels when he was shoving it up their you know what, uh, and he had to go apologize to uh Poohost, Krout, because they were all standing on the top step of the dugout ready to go kill him. Because of his behavior, and and and and I got I let it get personal because I've had enough of his behavior. The kid's unbelievably talented, but there's a reason why he doesn't stay anywhere for very long. And there's a reason why nobody uh spoke up for him when he left the blue jace. You know, it's obvious to everybody that's ever spent any time with the guy. He's got a chip on his children, and that's probably what makes him effective, that's what makes him go. But at the end of the day, you got to be a professional and work with people. And and you know, and I thank you for sharing that with me. It's uh it's it's tough to tough to imagine, you know, these guys are human beings, you know and we're as we all are, you know, and we have we all have good days and bad. But uh, you know, when the behavior is consistent, uh it it lends to to to the character. And uh there was a it follows you.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

There was a there was a moment in 2018 following that, and then obviously word got around that this had happened in the clubhouse. But and obviously he's still spreading the word to other players about talking to me about Kevin Pilar's locker was next to Stroh. So I went, I wrote something about a bad play in the outfield, and it was it wasn't that he wasn't, I didn't say there was something wrong with the way he prepared for games. It was I just said it was a bad play. And uh so I went down to talk to him the next day at his locker, and he says, Well I can't talk to you. Uh I said, I just want to talk to you about what I wrote. And uh so he said, and uh so then Stro, who was sitting next to him, gets up and goes to the training room, and Tilar opens up, he starts talking about the play and everything, and I'm thinking, this guy can't talk to me as long as Stroh's around, you know.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Yeah, no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

It was just typical.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

Yeah, it it's unfortunate, but you know, i i you've seen things in the clubhouse and had to have to have relationships with guys on a totally different level. And you know, I I I experienced you know my my run-ins with with certain media. Uh you know, my time in Toronto was pretty breezy compared to to other stops along the way. You know, I I found everyone to be very fair and you know, knowledgeable and and and all just kind of rowing the boat in the same direction. Um, but you know, obviously certain players they they just they don't see it that way and and it happens.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Yeah, I let me tell you about the uh I I mentioned Pete Rose. Let me tell you about the four, the five months that we had Pete Rose in Montreal. I mean, he had just come off winning World Series with the Phillies, I think. He had gone to the World Series a couple of times, and he is a free agent, and he signed in January. And so the first time I met him uh really as a PR guy was when he showed up in West Palm Beach and the traveling secretary is a friend of mine. We we went out and got him a place at Palm Beach Gardens at uh condo. Uh the next day he comes in and says, you know, guys, I have to change condos. And he said, uh and we said why? He says, The satellite dish isn't big enough. I can't get West Coast basketball. And we didn't know anything at the time. I just thought he was maybe an insomniac or something. But but apparently we now know that he he had some late action on uh uh West Coast Pac-10 basketball movies. But later on in the season, um he and Doug Flynn were oh, that's uh coming out of spring training. Bill Verden, who was my least favorite manager that I ever worked with. I worked with 19 Major League managers in 54 years, and and he's the one I don't like at all. He uh he he had this rule for team charters that uh that only wives could travel on the charter, every charter. And it was because he wanted his wife Shirley to be on the plane with him. So that was his rule. So we come out of spring training, we go to Houston for the opener, then we go to Cincinnati. It's Peak's first time back with obviously with the expo since he just signed, and it's a travel day, and he shows up in a in a suit, in a three-piece suit for the travel day, and he says, I just got married at Reuben Katz's agent's house to Carol Carol, uh, the Eagles cheerleader girlfriend, who was Doug Flynn's Eagles cheerleader's wife's best friend. Now Flynn and Pete and their two wives can travel on every plane, every charter. And he only got married so that he could bring her on the flights. Oh my god. And so I'm wearing, I'm the PR guy, and the this is big crazy news in Cincinnati. All the TV cameras are out there, they're trying to get in the clubhouse, and I'm holding them off. I went to the press box and came back down. I had a nice sports shirt button up, uh short sleeve, and I'm walking, and a nail reaches out and grabs my uh shirt and just rips the shit out of it. And uh, and so I go in the clubhouse and the guys go, What happened to your shirt? I said, Well, I was fighting off some TV guys who were trying to get in and talk to Pete. And I became a hero in the home clubhouse after that.

SPEAKER_00 41:07

Well, I played with his son. I know the personality of of both of those guys. Pete and I had the same birthday. My my funny Pete Rose story is, you know, I got my 500th hit while I was a uh member of the Blue Jays. A buddy of mine's in Vegas, Pete's doing a signing. He walks up to Pete and he says, Hey, you know, Greg's on just got his 500th major league hit. Pete signed a jersey. It's hanging in my uh condo in Kelowna right now. It says, Hey Greg, congratulations on your 500th. Only 3,700 more to catch me.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

Oh, that's his that's his personality, right? Yeah, absolutely. The other one with Pete is um the talk show host, the greatest talk show in Montreal and English, Jeff Rimmer, who went on to, he's now uh play-by-play guy for the Nashville Predators, I believe. And or no, the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's doing play-by-play. Anyway, he was uh it was his afternoon talk show, and he was ripping into Doug Flynn because Doug Flynn was as, you know, you know, Doug. He's a good second baseman, but no bad. He was hitting like 201 or whatever. And so Jeff was saying, you gotta replace this guy. Expo's got to replace him. They can't win with this guy. And so Bill Burden closed the clubhouse except for that brief 40 minutes after games every day. No, not even Duke Snyder could get in the clubhouse, a radio guy. And so after the game, I'm down there riding herd over the media, and Jeff Rimmer walks through, and Pete starts in on him. Pete Rose is yelling at him about staying away from Doug Flynn, and and so Jeff walks over to his locker, and I'm going, uh oh. And so I start sidling over there, and Pete starts to grab him and starts to wrestle with him, and I leaped in and grabbed Pete's right arm, and I'm being swung around the room as they're dancing around, and he's trying to hit Jeff Rimmer. And Doug Flynn walks out of the shower in his towel, and they had lockers next to each other. He didn't say a word, he didn't say anything, he just got dressed and left. And I'm going, why is he defending a guy who doesn't even care that Jeff Rimmer is ripping it? But that was Pete. Pete would take matters into his own hands if he had to, and he often did.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Well, he's he was a beauty, and it's uh unfortunate to see the way he was treated by Major League Baseball all those years. But uh Yeah. You know, I could talk about Pete all day long, you know, Griff. I g I I mean this guy, yeah, he was omnipresent in my life and and in my career and watching, you know, Petey Hustle go. Um and I'm sure you've got hours more stories to discuss. I want to bring you back on once the uh Blue Jays uh get deeper into the season because I I love your takes and and I know you're you're there in the Toronto area. So I want to say thank you for coming on and thanks for sharing these these great stories. These are these are going to live and people are going to really enjoy it. You know who you know who else loves Pete Rose is Terry Franco and yeah well Tito's special guy himself but yeah Pete's Pete's my guy. You know I I I switched my number to 14 now that I'm managing because could because of Pete I wore nine as a player 14 as a manager he's my guy. So I I I will say thank you once again for all the time you've taken in the in the great stories and and your care of those those memories. I really appreciate it Richard thank you so much. Yeah anytime Johnny you got it when we come back walk off slams we'll have the Sunday roast and now the Sunday roast with Greggs on. Rob Manford and Major League Baseball are at it again with some ridiculous and dangerous rule changes that baffle and confuse even the simplest of simpletons. It's now required that base coaches remain in the coaching box a mere 90 feet from home plate. Since 2008 it's been mandatory for base coaches to wear helmets in response to the death of Mike Coolbaugh who was struck by a line drive while coaching first base. For years coaches have been allowed to wander about in foul territory seeking haven from line drives traveling in excess of 100 miles an hour and sometimes certain coaches have been known to peek at a catcher's signs if they're visible. I myself got into a verbal altercation with Larry Boa in New York because I believed he was relaying pitch location to Yankees hitters. It was my prerogative to ask that he remain in the coaching box, but it was almost never enforced. Major League Baseball's reasoning for its new rule enforcement is to stop sign stealing. Really? How many teams do you know that actually give signs anymore? They all seem to be using the electronic system known as pitchcom. So what signs are they actually relaying from the coaching box if they don't put signs between their legs anymore? Most likely it's a case of tipping location, which in itself can sometimes determine the pitch. Certain pitchers only throw certain pitches to certain locations but I'm here to tell you it doesn't really matter whether a hitter knows what's coming if the pitcher executes. Mariana Rivera literally threw one pitch for the better part of 19 seasons and Major League hitters only managed a 211 batting average against him. Wrap your brain around that he threw one pitch the cutter everyone knew it was coming and yet they only batted 211 against him over two decades. All this whining about sign stealing is done by weak minded excuse making crybabies. Part of a player's amateur and minor league development used to be learning and employing increasingly difficult sets of signs from year to year. If you were too stupid to use big league signs, then you got your head kicked in and you deserved it. There should be an accepted level of expectation when it comes to intelligence and ability at the highest level of baseball but now like society Major League Baseball has lowered the level of excellence so everyone can participate. Mentally stunted idiots are now allowed in the show. The hypocrisy of Major League Baseball that prohibits electronic sign stealing allows for electronic sign delivery. You can't monitor the other team electronically but you can communicate electronically with yours when you're too stupid to understand complex signs. Sign stealing in my opinion is good practice. Why should one team be forced to ignore the obvious? Why shouldn't they be allowed to relay the information to each other by any means possible? Signs are events whose presence or occurrence indicate the probable presence or occurrence of something else kind of like lightning and thunder telling you that it's likely going to rain and that you might need to seek shelter why should smart baseball people ignore the mentally challenged inability to function at a major league level? This new rule puts base coaches in greater danger by forcing them to stand in a box when they can easily retreat 10 feet and avoid catastrophic injury. It's bad enough that they already have to duck jagged shards of maple bats because Major League Baseball refuses to ban them. As is their way they'll wait until someone in the ballpark is impaled by one before they take action. Multiple coaches have already spoken out against the new rule. I can only imagine how loud the criticism will be if another base coach dies on the field because of this new rule. The balls are juiced the bats are juiced the players are bigger faster stronger and Major League Baseball wants retired ex players with geriatric reaction times to stand closer to the action and for what? To prevent signs being stolen from morons? Yet another bad idea from the current regime it's Sunday can you smell that roast