Josh Donaldson and Russ explain what's VERY wrong with the Blue Jays... GIDL EP3

On this episode of GET IT DONE LEAGUE, Russ Martin, Josh Donaldson and Arash Madani explain exactly what's wrong with the Blue Jays, while recapping news across the Baseball world!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

I'd be in the bullpen and and there's days where he's like, okay, Russ, I don't want you to move your glove, no matter what. And like, and and I'm like, okay. And it's like, uh, all right, dude, I'm gonna do it. And then he'd he'd hit me right in the glove, like every time. And sometimes they would hit my palm, and then I would, I'd kind of clank it, and then he'd just start laughing. He's like, Oh, I'm sorry, I missed a little bit. I'm like, dude, you're unbelievable. Like, insane.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

This isn't the tri league.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

That's again hard. Yeah, this is the get it done league. Get it done league! We are back. It's another week. Both holiday weekends, north and south of the border, are in the books. It's get it done league. I'm your host, Arash Madani. There is Josh Donaldson, and there is a proud Montrealer living in the United States rocking the Blue Blanc Rouge in Chrome. Uh, Russ, the floor before we get into baseball, the floor is yours. Your team in the Eastern Conference Finals making a statement.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

The boys, the boys are looking good. The boys are looking good. They, you know, they they had a good show in up in Carolina there. Uh, you know, high energy. They got scored on quickly, but then they just kind of showed their skill, their ability. I mean, it's they've been a pleasure to watch all season. They got a nice, you know, a nice combination of you know, young and and um just a couple veterans. You know, they're they're they're one of the youngest teams in the league, I think, but they they're so skilled and so fun to watch. I don't want to jinx them, so I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna go overboard on this, but uh uh they've been fun to watch. Two game sevens. I mean, they've been tested, so we'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

It's cool that like you can be a fan. You know, I've always wondered with you guys does the fan almost kind of come out of you because you're so around it all the time. Like, we'd you'd be at batting practice and you kind of look over. Oh, there's you know, quarterback of the bills is here, and a bunch of the leafs are here, and there's Kawhi over there. Like you almost become immune to it. There's this athlete kind of thing, JD. Can you be a fan of anybody these days, or how does that work for a pro athlete?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Yeah, I mean, I definitely think uh I grew up watching sports, I watched them all, so I definitely was a fan of teams, players, um, and so forth. So now I mean, now that I'm done playing, like you just you enjoy and you appreciate guys that play at a high level, so it's always fun to watch that.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

You just uh you went back to your alma mater. You were back at Auburn, they honored you, man. The whole fam was there, you're on the field. Um, what was that deal like?

SPEAKER_01 2:59

It was pretty special for my family and for myself, and uh to all be there and kind of take part in that. It was a huge, huge series of Auburn versus Georgia. Uh, Georgia's number two in the country right now. So, and you know, it was kind of full circle for me with the head coach there is Butch Thompson. He was there when I was in college there. The third base coach, Carl Donamaker, uh, and the heading coach Gabe Gross, who was with me when I made my debut with the A's. And then on the other side, the Georgia side, the head coach was my pitching coach when I was in Minnesota. So it's kind of crazy how it all kind of came full circle. And um, it was special. And to be the group of those four guys that are uh retired with me. Um, you know, those are those are some big time names in the in sports. Talk about who else are the guys.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Who else are the guys that got their their jerseys retired over there?

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Uh Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson, Tim Hudson, and Greg Olson.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Dude, that's a murderer's row, you're a part of, man.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Like Frank, Frank's one thing, but Bo's another. Like when you're in the same class as Bo Jackson.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like I think he was a decent athlete. Yeah, yeah, he's he's pretty solid. He's probably the second best athlete in Auburn.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Isn't there a story? Hey.

SPEAKER_03 4:38

Hey, what's the story about Bo? What's the story about Bo when he's like everybody's going to the weight room after practice or something?

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, um, there's a great story. He was he was with Kansas City, and their practice was over for that day. And so he they were leaving, and a couple of the guys, some of the pitchers and stuff were there. They were doing bench press, so they had like 225 on the bar. Well, I don't know if uh you can't look at Bo when he was playing, and he didn't really work out from everything that I was told. Like he never really lifted weights. And um, so Bo's walking, he's got his polo shirt on, he's got his jeans on, boat shoes on, and he looks at the guys. He says, Hey, what are you guys doing? It's like, uh, Boe, no, you don't do bench press. We know you don't work out. No, seriously, what is that? How much weight is that? Like, ah, it's 225 pounds. And Bo's like, uh uh uh can I try? Because Bo has a little bit of a stutter, and uh they're like, Yeah, whatever, get it down there. Bo gets underneath the rack and reps out like 10 or 12 and puts it back up. He's like, All right, guys, I think you need to go work out some more. I'll see you later. That was a story that's been kind of passed down from to me.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

So if that's 100% accurate, who knows, but yeah, he he he definitely didn't need to lift, I don't think.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Who's who's the craziest athlete you guys have played with? Like natural, country strong, you know, could just roll out of bed and lift, roll out of bed and run, roll out of bed and rake.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Oh I mean, I I remember a guy back in the minor leagues, his name was Reggie Abercrombie.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Oh wow, he ended up playing in Winnipeg Russ.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

Did he? Yeah, yeah. He was a stud athlete, but just kind of just gifted. Not that he was like overly strong, but just he he looked like he could go, he could have played any sport, you know, could have been a quarterback, could have been a wide receiver, could have played basketball. Um but I would you know Matt Kemp. Matt Kemp would be up there. He he could have played some basketball in college. Um, you know, definitely fast enough, big enough to play somewhere you know in the NFL, probably. Um but yeah, I mean I I can't really you know think of anybody else, but Matt Kemp was you know, they call him the bison. The bison, the bison.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

JD, how about you?

SPEAKER_01 7:25

I mean, not that I got to see this type of athleticism out of them, but probably John Carlos Stanton. I mean, he you know, he was him or Judge. I mean, they gotta be kind of up there, right? Yeah, no question. To be that big, to move as well as they do, and you know, they they're pretty pretty special athletes.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Uh it's episode three of the get it done league. Josh Johnson, Russell Martin. I'm your host, Arash Madani. Guys, let's talk a little Jays right now. It's an offense that's still trying to figure it out. Here we are in late May, usually as the calendar flips to June, you're trying to fit, you know, you're really trying to see who and what you are as a ball club this time of year. They're chasing a lot of pitches early in counts, and teams are picking up on it. That's become real obvious. When when you end up in this kind of cat and mouse game, JD, what is a hitter? You know, we hear about plate discipline all the time, sure. But what what really matters for a hitter and what happens when you're in a little bit of a funk and you start to chase? How do you get yourself out of it?

SPEAKER_01 8:32

I mean, I think as a whole, if the league is gonna pay attention and see what they did um from the World Series. And I mean, I think they're that's who they were last year as a team. They wanted to swing first, kind of ask questions later. And in the playoffs, when teams are pitching to contact, you can get away with that. Uh, but in the postseason, when pitchers kind of I'm not gonna say they don't care if they don't walk you, but I'm gonna say they don't really care if they walk you in certain instances, and they can afford to, you know, see test the waters a little bit more. Um, but you have to make it adjustments as a hitter. Like I was telling this to Kevin Millar and uh his two sons the other day. I was helping them in the cages uh when we were down in Georgia, and I told him, I said, when you stop making adjustments as a hitter, that's when you're on the couch. Or when you and when that's when you learn, or if you lose the ability to make adjustments, you're also on the couch. So as a team, they have to start doing a little bit better job of um being passive aggressive because that's kind of what hitting is is selective aggressiveness. And if they're wasting pitches early in the count, then you know, teams are gonna you know test the waters to see, especially with guys that really want to swing the bat, like can I walk you? That would be a question. Can I walk you or are you just gonna keep swinging?

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Russ, I remember you telling me over and over again strike one is the most important pitch in the count. You know what like why is that in the lens of what we're talking about here?

SPEAKER_03 10:21

It definitely is the most important pitch. If the pitcher can get strike one, he he has an advantage. If the hitter gets ball one, he has the advantage, right? It's just that's that's the way baseball has always been. And it's most simplest form of what's important in baseball, strike one. But as a hitter, if you're chasing out of the zone, chasing a pitch that you can't do anything with, then you're helping the pitcher out. So kind of like, do you want to be aggressive, but you want to be aggressive to something that you can do damage with. You don't want to just give away strike one to the pitcher because then he's got you right where he wants him. And that kind of just makes me think how valuable Alejandro Kirk is. Like he's he's a bat-to-ball guy. Like he's that guy that can put the ball in play. He can, he can hit, he can hit pitchers pitches, like he he's that good when it comes to contact. And then you think of, you know, that they have a different lineup than they had last year. They they lost, you know, they lost a few guys that that have that ability to just, you know, battle through at bats and and hit the ball the other way if they need to. I'm I'm thinking of Bichette. He's another contact kind of guy when he's seeing the ball well. Um, so I don't know if it's just the makeup of the lineup now. They have just more free swingers, and it's it's hard to it's hard to change who you are as as a hitter and and and your approach. It's it's something that you can develop it over time, but if it's not your natural way of hitting, if you're just a free swinger type, you you know, you feast on mistakes. And if and if guys, and if you're not in the zone, you're chasing a little bit. And you know, if people recognize that and and they know that you just want to swing the bat, you're not gonna take your walk, you're not gonna get anything to hit. Um, and I think that's kind of what we're seeing. Like the the guys just they want to swing the bat. But like you have to be able to take your walks in this game and and and have the next guy make them pay the price. And if you can do that, that's when you have success. And and right now, I it's it's like everybody wants to be the guy that you know creates damage and and and has an impact. But you have to be able to move the baton through the lineup. Um, and I feel like when we were playing, that's what we did as a unit. You know, we we would grind through at bats, battle, and um, and and and even sometimes like a 12 pitch at bat that ends up in a strikeout, that could be you know the difference between the next guy getting a hanging slider and then doing damage on it. Um, and that's kind of what like what I'd like to see a little bit more from the Jays right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Yeah, Jimenez had an 11 pitch at bat in New York over the weekend, and Schneider was raving about it. You know, though those matter so much just within the context of you know a game and and a season. But JD, I want to dig in a little bit on the adjustment front. We hear that all the time, right? Like in football, it's halftime adjustments. And in basketball, what are you gonna do on Shea? What are you gonna do on Wemby? What kind of adjustment is required within like what does it mean to make an adjustment as a hitter within the confines of a game, a series, a season, a matchup, all of that?

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Yeah, I mean, to me, as uh as from the hitting side of it, you're trying to make the windows as small as possible. To me, guys that are free swingers, they have a big window. So, like if the arm the pitcher's arms coming out of here, they're looking at a big window of pitches that are coming out here versus guys that are selective and have that selective aggressiveness. Like, I'm gonna try to make your window like this small, right? And then, like, I like if I get you know two low, I might make it a little bit bigger just to be like I he the chances of him making a mistake here are gonna be greater, and I'm gonna make it a little bit bigger to the big part of the plate that I want to work with. Uh, that's where I'm gonna err on that side because I know if I miss, I still have it, you know, I'm still in a good count. Um, that is the biggest window. It's hard to figure out. And in today's game, you have guys that throw low slot, like four-seamers, to where that used to always kind of be like sinkers, either they have the ability to go low slot uh or high slot. Now they're throwing the power sinker, four seam cutter. So to me, what you have to do in today's game, depending on the guy's arsenal, is you gotta what pitches are gonna fit into what you do well. And the the biggest part of the equation is where do they have to start? You have to figure out where they have to start at, and then when the when it shows up in that area, now you have to be um ready to pull the trigger, and that's where mechanics come in is um into being able to say yes, yes, no. Like that was one thing that you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:15

What does that mean? What does yes, yes, no mean?

SPEAKER_01 15:17

I'm gonna explain that. So yes, yes, no, like everybody talks about being a yes, yes, yes hitter, or yes, yes, no. Yes, yes, no means I have the ability to say yes and then at the last second shut it off and say no. So like that's like guys that are very pushy and handsy with their swings, they can't stop because they have to commit early. Those guys are you know, they're those are your two 20 to 250 hitters with you know not a lot of you know damage, and you know, guys that end up learning how to turn the barrel behind their shoulder this way.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

But to explain it to somebody who hasn't played the game, what Josh is saying is as the ball is being delivered out of the pitcher's hand, you're in yes mode. Like I am ready to hit this pitch. You're going, you're about to go, and then as you're recognizing the pitch as it's coming to you, there's a point where you realize either it's it started a little bit too in, or you you see spin and it's getting below that you know damage zone, and then you shut your swing down. That's that's that's what he means. It's like there there's there's a point in time as you're looking at the ball come in, you're committing to either you're gonna you know let let everything go in in your swing and your mechanics, and there's that point where you can kind of just hold yourself. So, you know, just for somebody who hasn't really played to understand.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Yeah, and and to like parlay on that is most guys when they're at the plate, they've already kibidted as the ball's halfway there, whether or not they're gonna swing. For myself, for a lot of guys that are you know have the ability to stop. Like I felt like I could stop probably four feet in front of home plate. No kidding, yeah, 100%. And so the other thing that I talked to a lot of guys, and you know, when I talk to former players and stuff like that, I felt like my superpower was to be able to say no later than everybody else. So, like I in my head, even if I didn't swing the bat, I could take a full swing and stop my back shoulder from committing and not end up taking a swing. But like my lower half, all my movements were working as though the same way if I was about to just let the barrel go and take a take a swing. And at the last I guess could say, Nope.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

Russ, you saw a lot of guys up close. How like what's the percentage of dudes who can do that in the show?

SPEAKER_03 18:07

There's not many. Yeah, usually it's it's it's usually it's the guys that have high on base percentage, you know, and that and that can create some damage. You know, those guys are the ones that get to they get to just wait that extra fraction of a second a little bit longer, you know, before they decide, before they commit to the pitch. Um, you know, I'm thinking like Pool Holes, you know, Miguel Cabrera, um, Barry Bonds, like those guys, they just they could just let the ball get a little bit deeper before they had need they needed to commit. And um, you know, they those are the special players.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

I I actually have a story about this. About I got Joe Madden kicked out of a game. Tampa days when he was in Tampa and I was in Oakland. All right. I had a 3-1, 3-1 or 3-2 count on me, and the guy throws me like a up it in two seam. But as I said, I was going, and especially like 3-2, like I'm really hanging in there for a long time before I commit to saying yes, but I'm in my head, I'm swinging every time, and then I'm gonna let my eyes tell me no. And this thing was over the plate for a long time and then just kind of took off late, and I tried to like move out of the way with my chest, and I was like stopping my back shoulder at the same time. Well, I stopped and I popped it so hard back here to stop it that I let go of it with my bat, and my bat went flying down into foul territory towards first base, like five feet. Wow, and they appealed down to first, and the umpire says, Safe. And Joe Madden, he comes running out. How the hell are you gonna say he's safe? He threw his bat and and to the umpire's favor and to for my favor, but to his knowledge of like my barrel never committed to the zone, right? So I snapped it back here to where I needed to snap it here to say, yeah, that I went, but I snapped it right here and I let go of it and it flew that way, and then he ended up getting ejected, and I got a walk.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

That's a win. That's a win. That's a win. Um, all right. Let's I I want to talk about the Barrios thing. That this is this this whole thing is weird to me, just the sequence of events. Okay, like obviously he's not on the postseason roster, he's not happy. They'd moved him to the bullpen before that. He leaves, uh, goes home in October. Okay. Then he passes the physical going into spring, and he pitches in some Grapefruit League games. And only when he wanted to go to the WBC was he not cleared to play, and they do a bunch of tests only because it got flagged there, and they end up finding a stress fracture in the elbow, and then that turns into a torn ligament, etc. I like I don't understand how that that sequence of events kind of happens that like this would be missed in in the pre-Donedon physical. Like, what you guys have been through it, you you've you've lived it. JD, what what do you make of that whole thing?

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Uh well, first off, to speak on Beerus, who's a former teammate of mine in Minnesota, like the guy is a great kid, and he works his freaking tail off. I'll say that first off. Um so and the other thing is he always wants the ball. He's that guy, like he's not he doesn't run from pitching, uh, taking the ball every fifth day. So I'm sure this last few. Time not being on the playoff roster, missing time last year is probably taking a toll on them. And what they try to do, especially in some instances like this, I'm not saying this happened, but they'll try to do like a PRP shot or something like that to see if they can get some healing in that way, to take some inflammation out, whatnot, uh, before they have to exhaust the Tommy John uh surgery. Because now because now that we know he's gonna be done for 12 to 18 months, right? Yeah. For the for the most, unless he's you know, super, unless he's Wolverine. But so that would be maybe part of the delay. I'm not understanding the part of like, oh hey, he was fine to pitch cleared, then they shut him down for WBC, unless like he was complaining of something hurting, and they went and got another MRI and they found that. Uh, but yeah, there's a lot of stuff. I gotta tell you, in the sports world, the uh doctors and um aren't as good as what they should be at their job at as far as in the sports world. Like I've seen some stuff overseas of what they do for athletes, and it's way better than what I hear a lot of guys here.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yeah, you hear so often dudes going over to Europe to get some different kinds of treatments and stem cell stuff that's just that's just not allowed here.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

FDA stuff too, so it's like yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Russ, when you saw that, what'd you think?

SPEAKER_03 23:34

I I just so sometimes you get looked at, team doctors do their thing, they go through it, they don't say anything. If you know you're not right, the best thing you can do as a player is go get a second opinion. If you know something, like if you know you don't feel right or something's off, and I don't know if this is what happened in this circumstance. Um, what I do know is that when you're going to the WBC, the insurance policy, they want to make sure that you are going in healthy. Right. Because if something happens, then the insurance it's like on, I don't know who it falls on, but they make sure that you know you you're good to go. Um they don't like they they they don't like letting players who are banged up go to the WBC and the last thing you want to do is is see a player get hurt when he's not wearing your uniform. Right. Right. So so I I I you know I don't know what happened. Um but they they want to make sure that you're 100% okay when you're going to the WBC because you know they want this thing to look good. They don't they don't you know it's not it's not a good look it if a bunch of guys go to the WBC and then they get hurt and then they can't, you know, go play for the team that's you know paying their contract, right?

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So um but like the closure from the Mets a couple years ago. Edwin Diaz when he broke his leg or ACL or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

You see it happen, and and just just the timing of the WBC, in my opinion, is like it's tough. It's tough on pitchers, it's tough on like you're asking guys to go into playoffs at playoff atmosphere and you know pretend like it's still like you know, like oh, I'm still practicing, I'm still building up. Like you're not building up, you're like the fans are cheering, like you got your country behind you, like you're going all out, you're going game seven world series is what it feels like.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

It's it's uh so you know, guys guys are gonna get is there any merit to making the WBC a 10-day event during the all-star break and removing the all-star game? And for the dudes, like for the dudes who are playing, they're obviously in it, they're in mid-season form, etc. The players who aren't there, they get a break, and then they can go to you know a spring training facility or something like that if they want to stay sharp. What do you guys think of that idea?

SPEAKER_03 25:57

I think I mean, I think the competition in the WBC, it's it's way more fun to watch WBC than it is to watch the all-star game. Oh, sure. And I think everybody would agree on that. Like, I haven't watched an all-star game in in I don't know how long. Like they there needs they need to find a way to make this thing fun, either really fun or exciting. And right now it's just you know, a bunch of the best players that wish they had a couple days off that are going and playing in this game that is, you know, it's kind of it's kind of meaningless. Um so, but the WBC is it's like, you know, watching, yeah, it's like watching you know the FIFA World Cup or whatever. It's the guys care. You see the emotion, you know, you you see the guys care and and and play hard. And so um I still think they play hard, but I I think you can all-star game.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Um I think pitchers do. Like, I mean, they're still throwing 98 to 100, like it's like, oh, they're not going easy.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

Yeah, no, I mean they don't want to give up Homer.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. But they only have they only have one inning.

SPEAKER_03 27:09

I mean, but it's not like back in the day when Pete Rose ran over the catcher in the all-star game. Like, it's it's not the same as it used to be.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Ray Fossey pretty much not didn't end his career, but he was our radio guy with the A's, and uh that's who Pete Rose ran over. Rest in peace, he passed away not too long ago.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

That's it. That's it. What do you think of that, JD, though? Like, would you would you be in favor of that as a player or not?

SPEAKER_01 27:38

I I would say yes and no. I would say yes, I would be in favor of it because like you could actually get guys at their full capacity, right? Yeah, and I'd also say no because it's like you already kind of you've you've already had 80 games, you still got another 40, 50, like the letdown from the WBC after that that would be like winning the World Series and then now going and playing more games after, right? Yeah, it's fair.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

So, what do you guys think about like the all-star game is right in the middle of the season? And how many times have you seen guys tear up the second the second half? Shouldn't it just be like an after season award? Like 100%. Man, I'm like, oh, he's a 12-time all-star. Like, great, like tip of the cap for sure. But how many of those guys had were all-stars all the way through the season? Probably a bunch of them. Like, if you get 12 all-stars, you're a good player. But I feel like there should be something about what have you done in the full season? Because there's so many guys that get snubbed and then end up playing really well all the way through, and you're like, what, you weren't an all-star this year?

SPEAKER_01 28:50

Like, what 2012? I finished fourth or 13. Sorry, 2013. I finished fourth in the MVP voting. Did not make the all-star game. Did not make the all-star team. My first half was just as good as my second half, but yeah, I think there should be some.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

There should be something it's the end of the year.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

It's the end of the year.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

I agree. It's gotta be 100%.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

It's gotta be. But nobody's showing up for an all-star game at the end of 162. No, I you don't get the all-star.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Yeah, you don't make it, you don't make it a game, you just make it like a like an award.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

You get like the right prestige of of having the all-star nod, which is or you just do like a skills competition of like uh you know, make it a home run derby, make it I don't know, something for the pitchers, like where they could hit targets with a ball, or I don't know, like they could be creative, you have playoffs, and then like all the teams who aren't in the playoffs, then you could do something there with all the guys who agree are not in the playoffs. You could do something cool with that. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

I don't know. All right, so JD mentioned, unless you're Wolverine on the mound. Who are a couple of teammates you guys have had who, in the biggest spot, you just wanted them to have the ball. If they're if their arms just hanging off, he's the pitcher, he's the pit bull, he's the dude, he's the guy. He I have full trust, full bore. I want him to get it in this situation with it all on the line. Who's the dude and why? Josh, let's start with you.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

I I mean, if uh like for a starting pitcher, I mean Stroh's gonna be up there for me.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Yeah, huh?

SPEAKER_01 30:40

Just because like he like he thrived, like his game elevated it in that that time where a lot of guys they can't elevate it. I mean, having Garrett Cole with the Yankees was nice. I mean, he was he's like your prototypical one. He's your horse, he's your horse, like it's nice to have a horse. I would say he was probably like the top horse that I ever played with um as a starting pitcher. Um, and then as a reliever, I mean it was kind of hard to go against Ozuna. I mean, yeah, he just did like he his whole persona, I loved everything about it. Like in between pitches, he was throwing 50 miles an hour, just and I would just be over there at their base. I'm like, shit, I don't know, is he is his arm there today or not? And then the first pitch like 96, 97. I'm like, yep, okay, there it is. Dotted. I'm like, he just like he's well, what is cleach used to say, Russ? No panic, no panic, and that's what it is. He never had his no panic.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

He's called, I mean, there's there's some cold-blooded dudes that just they're just not afraid, you know. They've they've been through harder things in life than than being on the mound. You know, he's seen he's seen you know stuff that you know you you you see in movies probably.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Um what's so interesting about the closer thing is dudes who haven't done it before who just get thrown into it. Like I've literally seen players hyperventilating in a dugout after closing a game. And then actual closers, it's just another day at the office, you know? They just finished at the at the driving range or the putting green after after some of these uh after some of these saves. What what is it about that, Russ?

SPEAKER_03 32:33

I I wish I wish I knew. I mean, I got I got a chance to catch Mariano Rivera in in New York, and and he was as cold-blooded as you could get. Yeah. Like it's just another day in the and you know, another walk in the park for him. Just no matter how big the moment, it's the same delivery, you know, same rhythm, and same command, and he's just it just it's it's gotta be just a self-belief that I'm just that good, you know, like I'm better than you. And uh, you know, it's just it has to come with a confidence. Um, but that's the thing about like I never saw somebody repeat their delivery as much as Mariano. It was if you overlapped every single pitch that he threw, it was it looked like it was one delivery, it's wild. Him, Greg Maddox is another guy. I mean, I caught him when he was older, but they just had so much control of what they were doing. One day I'm catching Maddox in in LA and uh he calls me out to the mound real quick. He's like, Hey Russ, I want you to set up outside right here. And um, and I feel like they're reeling the signs from the dugout, they're reeling location. If I because I he wanted me to set up early every time, either on one side of the plate or the other side. He's like, I'm gonna want you to set up on, you know, set up on the away side. It's a righty hitter. I forget who it was, but he's like, I'm gonna throw a two-seamer up and in, and I'm gonna break his bat, and he's gonna roll over to the third baseman, and we're gonna get out of this inning. And I'm like, I'm I turn around and I'm like, this guy's crazy. Like, what the hell is he talking about? If you say so, Greg, whatever you say, Greg. So I go back there and I set up really early, and then I hear him that I go, like, you know, it's like a or like something like something like that. He throws that he throws a two-seamer, breaks the guy's bat, ground ball to third base, we get out of the inning, and I'm just laughing. And he he always used to put his glove in front of his face because he would laugh all the time, and he's just laughing on the way in. And then the other day I saw something on Instagram, and it was kind of the same thing. And it was, I think it was Luis Gonzalez was hitting, and um, and and Bobby wanted to wanted to walk him intentionally, and Greg's like, no, no, I think I got this guy. And he's like, I'm gonna throw a change up first pitch, and then I'm gonna throw him a cutter up and in, and we're gonna I'm gonna fly him out to Chipper. And sure enough, executed the change up next pitch, throws a little cutter, pops him up to Chipper Jones at third base, and and Bobby and I forget who his bench coaster, they're just laughing on on the bench, and and that was Greg Maddox. Like he was he was so smart, the professor unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Yeah, look like you're looked like your local agent from state farm, but you know, just was able just to make that ball do what he wanted to do.

SPEAKER_03 35:29

Whatever he wanted to do. So I would be I'd be in the bullpen, and and there's days where he's like, Okay, Russ, I don't want you to move your glove, no matter what. And like, and and I'm like, okay. And it's like, uh all right, dude, I'm gonna do it. And then he'd he'd hit me right in the glove, like every time. And sometimes they would hit my palm, and then I would I'd kind of clank it, and then he'd just start laughing. He's like, I'm sorry, I missed a little bit. I'm like, dude, you're unbelievable, like insane.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

It's almost like he had his own game for himself that he was going through, like he had to challenge himself. The command.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Just go look up how many times he got to a 3-0 count in his entire career. Yeah, it's like less than like 40.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

That's incredible. It's incredible. That's incredible. Um, all right. What what's coming up this week? Like, I feel like you guys are all over the place. Josh, you're getting your number retired. Russ, you're you're all over the hockey team. What's on the docket for both of you guys coming up?

SPEAKER_03 36:38

Oh, we got a uh we got a golf tournament coming up, the Joe Carter Classic. And um, I think, you know, I think we we might be able to get some content over there. Me and Josh will be in the golf cart together. You'll get to see probably Josh hit some 360-yard drives effortlessly. How how far are you gonna hit and then you'll see me 80 yards behind him? We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Hey, hey, I gotta, I gotta, well, on that note, I got a story for you.

SPEAKER_00 37:07

I like it. Let's wrap with this.

SPEAKER_01 37:09

So we're we're uh we're sitting outside by the pool, and uh Greg Litton.

SPEAKER_03 37:19

Greg Litton.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Greg Litton is sitting out. I already know where this is going. Yeah, he's out there and I was like, he's talking about his round with Russ. He's like, Yeah, I outdrove Russ today. I said, Jesus, Russ, I go, you're the only position player that everybody tells me that they outdrive. And he goes, Yeah, to make it worse, I'm 70 years old.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

First of all, first of all, he may have outdrown me on one hole. Anyway, he's like 63. All right, he's not 70. The age matters, huh? On another note, with me and Moo and Josh had a bet on the last round who was gonna score the best.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

And um I'm his lucky charm. I'm his lucky charm. Yeah, just lucky charm, dude. Anytime I better be.

SPEAKER_03 38:13

I took Josh's money and he's still mad about it. He's hiding it right now, but he's he's still mad. That's why he told this story.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

What pla what place did you finish? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Let's not talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 38:24

Next week, next week, we're gonna hear more about you two on the golf course because I want to hear about the bets and I want to hear about some of the some of the messing around that uh that goes on. Next week, we'll also get our fan first question. Um, look forward to our crews being outside the ballpark in Toronto um for all those. Fellas, it's been great. Donaldson in the A's hat, Russ representing the Habs, Rash Madani. We'll see you next week on Get It Done League.