Ken Babby's successes, Sternberg's Legacy, & Stadium Design talk with Yale students

317 BaseballBiz On Deck -

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett, and of course, Mr. Mat Germain is here and we are here to entertain you with all things baseball. And as we've seen those 162 games come to a close, there's still some postseason activity going on. And I, I'm going to see if we could get the other, uh, I've sent out a message, Matt, to, um.

[00:00:23] 30 guys and I told 'em I wanted to invite them to Tampa, Florida. They needed to be here. 'cause I was gonna tell 'em what it was like for the owner ethos to know and to, to be a good owner. But, uh, it didn't, didn't work out that way. They said I was too fat and they weren't gonna listen to me after all. So there you go.

[00:00:41] How you been Mat? 

[00:00:43] Mat Germain: I, I've been living the , Fall dream. So everything is pumpkin spice this, pumpkin spice that, and, uh, getting used to thanksgiving cropping up around the corner. 'cause for us it's in. What, 12 days? Uh, I know yours is in November, but, uh, so starting [00:01:00] to, I, I can feel my body starting to scream for pie and stuffing and all kinds of things.

[00:01:06] I shouldn't be putting in it, but it's coming. I can feel it and, uh, play off. Baseball definitely goes along with that. Oh man. 

[00:01:14] Mark Corbett: Did, do you get, do you get the pumpkin spice coffee and 

[00:01:17] Mat Germain: all that then? No, I'm black. No sugar, no milk. That's, that's me. 

[00:01:22] Mark Corbett: Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I'll take it intravenously too, just like that.

[00:01:26] Just would you, would you like milk with that? I said, no, I don't want a milkshake. Thank you. But it's, it's, uh, yeah, I don't, and to see it's difficult. 'cause when I'm down in Ybor and we got all this great culture from, uh, Cuba and other Latin cultures and ca uh, cafe con leche is part of it. But I'm like, yeah.

[00:01:43] I'm glad you got that. Just gimme the espresso and we'll be akay. Wow. It has been fun. You know, it's interesting week for all of us Rays fans because we now have new owners of the team. Man, this is something I think [00:02:00] most fans have been looking to for a long time. However, you have pointed out some things, online, that we should, you know, respect the organization that was there before, and specifically the things they've achieved.

[00:02:18] One of your postings was talking about the great talent of the front office. That's been basically people have picked from time and time again from other teams. It's because they're doing something right. And so that has been great, , great to see that. So that, and you, you know, you look at it, Stu, it was just look at those numbers the other day.

[00:02:36] I think you may have said something about these two and whenever he got the team with, a couple years later they're, they're dropping the devil on the devil Rays. And then we just had winning season after winning season and where we'd been fifth out of five and the AL East, we start popping up here in the top spot.

[00:02:54] Some of those I was like, wow, there's a lot to celebrate for the, the. Stu [00:03:00] Sternberg what he's done. I mean, there will always be people who'd be upset about things. They expected this, that, and the others certainly was the stadium, but, uh, the achievements were phenomenal. 

[00:03:11] Mat Germain: Yeah, I, I think it's definitely worthwhile for all fans that are, you know, hey, they may or may not be point, uh, paying attention to the off season right now, or the postseason.

[00:03:20] , But if you reflect back on on the time that Stu Sternberg was owner, I think generally speaking, you have to be satisfied that one, he made it interesting. Two, he made the team worth watching and respected across MLB for the most part. Three. He brought in like some. Great moments. You think about the Longo Home Run, you think about Mike Brosseau.

[00:03:43] You think about, uh, you know, Randy Arozarena and Brett Phillips, all that, you know, there's, there's moments that are key and, and set in stone in people's minds that are, even if they're not Rays fans, they will remember that relay from Kiermaier to, to [00:04:00] Willy Adames to home, right? Like, there are the things that you just know, .

[00:04:04] He was able to bring to the city and, and the one thing that I still kind of find fascinating, because he came close theoretically hundreds of times, but he never once really seemed set on selling out the franchise to another city. Sure. Right. So that has to be a, a notch in his belt that people can come back to and say, you know what?

[00:04:31] He may have tried to split the, the, the season between with, you know, with another city that's not really taking the franchise away from the city. 'cause if MLB at that point would have to choose between the two, it would go back to the Rays. More than likely. I see it more as a. A business person who tried to leverage everything that he could to get what he wanted.

[00:04:51] And then, you know, eventually he got what he wanted, which was the sale of the Rays. And I think now we should focus on that new group and really [00:05:00] examine where they come from. 'cause Mark, I've been doing some research so I know everybody's focused on Patrick, right? As the main owner.

[00:05:08] Yeah. But to me, he is not the key, the one who's gonna be running the show. Right. And you know who it is? It it is. The CEO is gonna be Ken Babby is j, that's who is actually going to do the dirty work in terms of heading the franchise and making sure it goes down the right path. , And I don't know how much you know about Ken Babby, but his dad, right?

[00:05:33] Lou Babby. Was the, uh, president of the Phoenix Suns. He was also an agent for a lot of prominent, uh, basketball players and baseball players and hockey players. he spent five years as the president of basketball operations for the Phoenix Suns. Um, the year he left the Phoenix Suns as president is when Ken Babby purchased the Jacksonville Ja.

[00:05:59] . Jumbo. Shrimp. [00:06:00] Shrimp, who he rebranded at, at the time. They weren't in AAA, they were in aa, I believe. And so he did a whole rebranding thing and reconnecting with the community and spent a lot of money, maybe his dad's money, I don't know, into the stadium and, and got a whole bunch of upgrades put in and yada yada.

[00:06:19] And he turned things around for them. Uh, he's part of a lot of different organizations as a result in Jacksonville area. And, uh, and, and one thing that we'll have to ask, uh, you know, one of the people that we're interviewing soon, I believe is, is he spent some time at the Washington Post as well.

[00:06:37] So maybe they rubbed shoulders a little bit and something can be said about that. But, um, he also, uh, purchased the AA team, which is, uh, the Akron Arrows. Um, and then he renamed them as well. He, so he did two rebranding. Like in both cases he went in there and rebranded. Now, the Rays, I don't know how many split [00:07:00] personalities they have now with the City Connects and everything else.

[00:07:03] And the Devil Rays. And the rays, like you mentioned before, the Starburst, no, Starburst. There's a whole bunch of, I don't know how much rebranding you can do with the Ray, right? But this is just part of the. Processes that he's shown in two cases. , And he's part of the boards in, in a lot of the things that those cities are doing in Cleveland and in Jacksonville.

[00:07:24] So I don't know how much of that he's going to let go as he takes the, the helm of the rays and, and how much he can be a part of. But as far as I know, if you're on the board of this or the board of that, they meet once every four to six months. You're not there constantly. You're just sort of keeping your finger on the pulse, right?

[00:07:42] And, and making, making sure that your, your interests are valued in all decisions that are made. Um, so anyways, all that to say that, success that the Jacksonville. Jumbo shrimp I've had and they won the National Triple A Championship this year [00:08:00] and, and I'm talking more about the success of reconnecting the team with the city in Jacksonville and taking some pride into that all comes from their Fast Forward Sport Group.

[00:08:13] Which is, you know, the way that they transform the sales, right. Of, of how they operate and what they do. And, and I just wanna read a, a quick thing if I can about , their philosophy. It speaks a lot to how they view things and, and I think most people will agree that they'll find that a little bit refreshing from the Stu Sternberg days.

[00:08:32] Okay. That's why I wanna read it. So he says, , that the families and corporate groups come to the games for the memories, not just for the wins and losses. It's about affordable family, fun, community engagement, and creating moments that last, we never use the word baseball in our value proposition. Now, that is, that is a striking.

[00:08:58] [00:09:00] Contrast to the Stu Sternberg way of mode of operation, generally speaking, right? He says the Fast Forward Sales Team is is selling an idea, a feeling, a partnership. What they needed wasn't just better sales techniques. They needed a systematic way to develop their sales team into trusted advisors and community leaders.

[00:09:22] That's why it's turned to next level, which is a top ranked, uh. Organization, et cetera, in terms of operating with them and learning from them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Long story short, I think. You know, if you're looking for positives in this whole, shakeup thing, it's that I think you're gonna see a shift in focus to really making strong community relations.

[00:09:49] And as we're talking about where the stadium is gonna be, where the investments are gonna come from, how they're gonna fund things, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That's the [00:10:00] kind of mentality you have to go into it with. Not the abrasive nature that was to Sternberg was just more of a petulant child saying, I want my money, I want it now, and this is how I want it.

[00:10:12] And you better have it in briefcases that have the little styles and I can just type 7, 7, 7 and I've won the lottery. Right. Um, so. I'm, I'm crossing my fingers, Mark, that it's gonna lead to some positive news and that they'll have a stadium funding plan, et cetera, et cetera, fairly quickly. 

[00:10:32] Mark Corbett: Well, I, I like that when, especially your focus on, because of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and the other team as well, the Double A team one.

[00:10:41] That the shrimp did win their, their, uh, their tournament. And the other thing too is his sense of community already is there. If you've got AAA team, you're tied into community. So even. After all the things you, you know, you, he said you [00:11:00] could tell even just from what he's done, the commitment to that particular, you know, strategy.

[00:11:05] So I'm very excited about that. Uh, I think that they're gonna do a fantastic job with it and I do feel for 'em because, you know, the first thing that's gonna be a lot of folks, this whole, so tell me, where are you gonna put that new stadium? Dude, I just walked in the door. Okay. I just, I just walked in the door.

[00:11:22] I finished cutting the check. I'm newly minted I, and he hasn't, he's had the job maybe 24 hours now, but I'm sure everybody and their brother is gonna be coming at him with that. And you, it's, it's gonna be interesting to see what they do come up with. But let's all give him, take a breath and give him. Of breath to, to settle in a little bit, but it, it looks all positive, Mat.

[00:11:43] I mean, everything about this fella and, uh, everything that they've done with the shrimp, and I, I'd love to see that come here. So it, and if. It's a good time for it too. I mean, if you have to, you can recreate because of [00:12:00] the, the need for a new stadium. You can kind of put your brand even on that stadium.

[00:12:04] You're not cemented into an agreement with the stadium for another 20 or 10, whatever number of years you are cemented into the amount of time it takes to find and build another one, you know, 2, 3, 5 years from now. Still, it gets to put the thumBPrint of the new ownership on what that looks like and what it's gonna be like for the fans.

[00:12:23] Mat Germain: Right. And I just wanna speak to the numbers, right? 'cause people can relate to the numbers. That's what they focus on, right? They want, I wanna know the data. Where's the data? So you're looking at the Jacksonville team that he's purchased. He was able to rebrand it and add 61,000 fans to their season as a result, right?

[00:12:43] And including all the. Different machinery that he had going on. So that's when they were in aa. So that resulted in, in a very quick amount of time to a 23% rise in their attendance numbers. Right. But that's huge, just in, in terms [00:13:00] of, of improving a few things. Changing the, the, the focus of the team, making it a more fun sounding name.

[00:13:06] Uh, probably more kid friendly. Like if you look at the two names, the jumbo shrimps and the rubber ducks, right? Like there's a, there's a clear kid family focus Yeah. To this, you know, uh, mode of operation. So I'm just waiting for what he's gonna put in front of Rays. To make it work. Is it gonna be thunder Rays?

[00:13:27] Is it gonna be, you know, there's something coming. That's all I'm saying. It's not gonna be devil more than likely. 

[00:13:34] Mark Corbett: Uh, 

[00:13:34] Mat Germain: so anyways, we'll, we'll see how it goes, but, um, I think, you know, the, the, the clear thing is, is in both cases he, he dealt right away with stadium upgrades. So he's very familiar with the stadium upgrade demands, right.

[00:13:49] And processes. Right. Um. In both cases, those upgrades resulted in, in immediate successes. So he knew after the upgrades were done [00:14:00] how to get people in those seats. Mm-hmm. So, so those are two right away you're like, yep. Yep. That Rays need that. Yep. The rays need that. So, so you're checking off the boxes of the list of things that you would wanna have in A CEO.

[00:14:14] Right. Um, so. I, and then I think, you know, you know, like I do, if you're, even if you're a, a 12-year-old boy or you're a 50-year-old man, you're still gonna go to your dad for advice at, on occasion, as long as he's living. Right. And, and I have no doubt in my mind that when, you know, push comes to shove in certain situations, if he needs to lean on his dad, who has experience in all kinds of sports, and, and, and I mean his family is, is.

[00:14:43] All full of people that seem to be very intelligent and, and, you know, his spouse is, uh, she's an executive at Spectrum. I haven't dove into what Spectrum is yet. Uh, and his mom is an author, so they, they all have, you know, , some [00:15:00] overachievers, I guess is the best way to put it in, in the, uh, in the family.

[00:15:04] And, uh, I, I. I think that I, I'm looking forward to see what the first six months are, because I think to me, you can usually tell a lot of what kind of, uh, extreme home makeover you're looking at. Um, so in this, in this case, right, you're looking at the three pillars for the Rays. You have Erik Neander, you have Kevin Cash, and you have Kyle, right?

[00:15:33] The pitching coach. Yeah. So with those three. Are they gonna make any changes or are they gonna keep the status quo? Are they going to force them to decide on one GM instead of a group of GMs? Well, like they have four or five of them right now. Like there's no decision made. And I think some are gonna get plucked all again this off season, even from those five.

[00:15:56] I think, you know, the, the whole, we, we spoke about the [00:16:00] affiliates and where they are and how they operate, uh, how quickly they move players around. Yeah. Where they establish them at first, how they change the scouting department, if they change any at all. How they change the promotions. 'cause now they know they're gonna be at the Trop for a year, maybe two, maybe three.

[00:16:18] So. What are the promotions going to look like and how much will they differ from what Stu had, you know, going on? Um, it's going to be very interesting to see, you know, when February March come around, what gets announced and what they decide to go with, um, to, to set the tone on their ownership. Wow. Wow.

[00:16:37] Mark Corbett: Wow. You know, you, you brought up his history and I think his father was actually, um, was. A lawyer for the, you may have said this, Washington, the Washington, uh, football team. Mm-hmm. And. It's interesting too because I think when his father was working, I think maybe with the Baltimore Orioles as well.

[00:16:59] So [00:17:00] he had been around there. I mean, this isn't nothing, this isn't a new game for this man sports, and as you pointed out, the whole history from his father and everything else proceeding this. So he has a sense of that. He has a sense of a good business model, and I do, I'll say it again. The whole idea of coming up from a triple-A background, I think is gonna make it better because I, I will talk about it in a minute about the, uh, the folks who came into Tampa recently, some Yale students in architecture, and how some of that might blend.

[00:17:30] Well, let's, let's go ahead and talk about it now. As a matter of fact, yesterday. Janet Marie Smith, who we've had on the show here before and who did a great job explaining a lot about baseball, talking about the Orioles, Camden Yards, and things she's done with the Dodger Stadium, et cetera, and just her, the mindset, well, this woman I knew was greatly respected before for what she's achieved and she's in, um, in high demand.

[00:17:59] But she's [00:18:00] also a professor at Yale with sports architecture, and she has a class of, I don't know, 12, 14 students. And as part of this class, they are now touring different parts of, uh, the Gulf Coast to see different stadiums and they're, they're putting together their own designs. So yesterday I got to meet a lot of those students and, and Janet Marie, who I've talked with before, actually can't meet her in person.

[00:18:26] It was really cool. And it was interesting because they had been to Marlin Stadium and had, had their results. They determined from that. Then when they came here to Tampa, they stopped by the baseball museum and, , the CEO Arminda Mata. She gave a breakdown of Ybor where the museum is located centrally in Tampa and the.

[00:18:51] Basically how all the immigrants came here, how it was all community, how it was the neighborhood. And then, uh, Josh, he came in and he talked a little bit more about the teams that [00:19:00] were emerging from some of those, the inter social leagues, et cetera, where baseball was such a fabric of, of this community.

[00:19:08] And then. I came in and I gave an explanation of the Ray Stadium history. I'm writing a book, Matt. Uh, but it was, it was interesting 'cause there was, I had six different examples to show 'em. I didn't realize going into this 'cause Janet Marie, I, I'd send her a couple things, says, you mind giving a presentation?

[00:19:28] I said, sure, yeah. And lastly was, nights later I'd put something together, so. We looked at the history from before there was a trop. We know you and I know that they, it. The stadium was built with the intent of attracting either, uh, an existing team or an expansion team. And it took a few years to get there, so I, I, I'm not gonna do the whole presentation, but I walked through that and talked about how we'd had everything from graduations, the, uh, [00:20:00] WWE and there to having hockey in there for a couple years and, and naming it from the Florida Suncoast Dome to the, the Thunderdome.

[00:20:08] And when. I love this one description. One of the people who had been involved at the very beginning talked about the this Florida Suncoast Dome, which is tr now, and they said, yeah, it's um, $140 million of Teflon and Concrete.

[00:20:28] Mat Germain: I love it. 

[00:20:29] Mark Corbett: Oh, and. The thing of it was though, after those first few years and they finally got an MLB team, you, it wasn't set up for whatever the parameters were needed for that MLB team. , This $140 million structure, they had to spend another $85 million to get it to be the tr that we know today.

[00:20:52] I'll, I'll talk more about some of the other ones, but the one thing that I did hear. Somebody was over at St. Pete the other day, said [00:21:00] they now have, pardon me? All those panels that were blown off Hurricane Milton. Man, it's almost, it's right at a year. Woo. Um, pardon me. Geez. All of those panels are blown off.

[00:21:15] They've, they've got eight of the 24 back. The people involved with it. So they feel very confident about having this put together for, uh, opening day. And I'm, I'm sure the new owners will make sure that it's facilitated too, as well as the city of, of St. Pete. But it, it is interesting seeing the, this, and I, I will briefly say of the, of the other, uh.

[00:21:36] Of the other ballparks and stadiums. I mean, we had one up, it was gonna be about Al Lang Field and I love this one. It was one where you'd have this Mast that would raise with the, and put a Sail up there, I guess to give you some sun protection as well. Uh, they had the one that was actually, had not been solicited by the ray, but somebody.

[00:21:55] It, peel it up on a landfill up in Yeah, I know. Up in [00:22:00] Clearwater. I, and it was closer, , if you looked at this location, you would be able to have twice as many people who would've access within 30 minute drive. That's what it was. , And then as of course, back and forth at anymore, and the gas, gas plant.

[00:22:14] In with Hines, and then there's another project, GASWORX, WORX, that they're doing it. It is a myriad menagerie, if you will, of different styles, different pieces, but the one thing I've seen over the last few iterations of this plan is community and back community. I'm not just talking about. Who the people are locally.

[00:22:39] I'm talking about a business development. I used to think business development, all that means you're gonna be putting IBM here or something like that? No, there's, there may be some corporate offices, but they're looking more to have, oh, like a good walking space, biking spaces, , outdoor cafes, that sort of thing.

[00:22:56] Retail, , they're building all of that around it. That's. [00:23:00] That seems to be more the strategy, , for ballparks of the future. I'm not saying that's what this is going to be for the Rays, but that is kind of what. Is happening , one last thing I'll say. How many times have I said one last thing?

[00:23:12] One last thing I'll say is that we had the privilege at the museum of seeing some of the designs that these young people, these young architects had put together. So they had already, like I said, been to, uh, Marlins Park. And, uh, I'm sure that's what Lou Schiff would call it. But, um, they've been here and they're gonna go to Truist, I think today and evaluate that.

[00:23:37] So they're putting all, what they're learning at all these locations together. And I can't wait to see what they develop 'cause they're doing it like groups of three to see what their final products look like in from this class. I'll be, maybe it's something they can share with us in the future. 

[00:23:54] Mat Germain: That's all great stuff, Mark.

[00:23:55] , It's all, uh, very positive, you know, [00:24:00] things. I don't have anything to add, basically. I think it's all good. 

[00:24:04] Mark Corbett: Well, there you go folks. I'm glad you all came this week and we'll talk to you. No. Oh gosh. I thought Mark will never stop talking. No. Oh, gosh, no. But I, I tell you what, brother, it's, it is exciting and it's exciting to see young minds working.

[00:24:19] It's exciting for, to see them thinking with the future. And I gotta tell you, Janet Marie is just amazing as a person, period. But to see her with these students, and you could tell that she's. Nurturing them in a sense, but not like she had to hold their hand or anything. But as a good, as a good mentor and also.

[00:24:44] Anyway, being the woman she is, she's a leader. I'll just say that and it's, oh, I wish you had been here with us, Mat the other day because you would've loved it. There is a building, Swope Rodante. These uh attorneys own this Ode, ode Ode, old brick building. It was a brewery in [00:25:00] the midst of a cigar. Factories everywhere and.

[00:25:03] Uh, we were able to go up this place up to the tower on the fourth level and look out and we could see all the development areas where there's been all this talk about the rays in Ybor in Tampa. I just, I wish you were there, Mat. It was, it was a lot of fun. Just take it all in. 

[00:25:17] Mat Germain: No, that sounds really cool.

[00:25:18] That sounds like everybody's learning. Even the people that are not part of the tour, they're just like, oh man, that's a, yeah. Okay. I gotcha. . You gotta wonder how many people are gonna get to be a part of the next stadium builds, right? So, you know, you look across Major League Baseball MLB, how many more stadiums are coming?

[00:25:36] Is there 1, 2, 3? You got the one in Tampa, you got the one in Vegas. You got, you know, and how many of them can you actually access or be a part of, or how have a voice in if you're an architect or a student or this or that. Like, there's a lot of people that probably want to, uh, get involved with those projects, but the opportunities are so few , just getting people near the sites [00:26:00] sometimes is the best opportunity they're going to get.

[00:26:02] And then talking about it and, and reviewing, you know, what's going on and why. 

[00:26:09] Mark Corbett: Well, and it is, it's interesting 'cause I said the proximity, uh, and it is talking about that one location, about how many people you're gonna be able to get there within 30 minute drive, uh, egress, you know, I mean, and everything from, from water, et cetera.

[00:26:22] What are you gonna be able to do as far as drainage? Uh, I like the idea, a lot of 'em were talking about if he were going to have different types of, um. Well, restaurants, et cetera. Nothing would be like a franchise. It would be all very unique and hopefully something that was local. And I like that. I, that idea, to me, that has great appeal of a place to, to go.

[00:26:45] If you came here in Tampa, we would take you down to, um, Karen was a place, arm. Arm What? Armature Works. Armature Works. I love, man. She's, she's my offsite producer here. [00:27:00] But armature Works and it is beautiful. It's, uh, a great walkway, you know, along the, the Phi River and it, you've got all kinds of shops.

[00:27:13] Mm-hmm. What's that? Hillsborough River. Hillsborough River. I knew I got it row along the Hillsborough River. And the thing of it is, I got all kinds of shops. They've got, uh, parks, they've got places you can walk when, uh, they had Easter egg hunts down there last year. What Great big lawn and all the kids are running on, uh, they got the, the Straz center and you could walk a great distance along that, you know that waterline.

[00:27:40] And here's another thing, they have a little water taxi that would go right across. To where there is the women's football, the soccer, whatever you wanna call it. They were, they played there. So there is interesting that Tampa has all these different ways of [00:28:00] taking people to a sporting event and then having some other cultural or, uh, diverse, um, what I wanna say, just park-like business.

[00:28:10] Mm-hmm. You know, right beside it. 

[00:28:11] Mat Germain: Right. That's a, that's a great, uh, ambiance kind of thing. Like if you're, you know, I, I think I've done that before where I've gone to different sporting events and you're, you're literally, well, anybody that goes to Disney, you know, sometimes there's that boat ride that you have to take over, like, depending on where you're getting off on, on.

[00:28:32] Certain transportation and, and so sometimes you're driving up to Disney on a boat. Sometimes you're, you know, there, there's things that are actually appealing about that, and they build the memory. If you're a kid and you're, you're with your family and you go through this process to get to the game.

[00:28:48] That's gonna stick with you. And, and the whole feeling behind it as a group when you're moving to, you know, it is a little bit better than when you're rushing across an intersection in New York. You know, trying not to get hit by some of [00:29:00] the, a cabbie that's trying to get through the intersection before the light turns.

[00:29:04] So to me, that's definitely, uh, a plus in terms of, uh, the ambiance you're probably gonna see in Tampa and, and all those beautiful areas that you guys have down there. 

[00:29:15] Mark Corbett: Well, I had, we're gonna have Jane Leavy on next week on the show, and I'm excited about that because she's written a book called Make Me the Commissioner.

[00:29:26] I love I you'll love her. Ma, Matt, uh, Jane. She's been a sports writer for some time. She's written books on Mickey Mantle. Written them on Babe Ruth. Uh, it's Sandy Koufax. Yep. Uh, so she's really cool. And one of the things I wanna talk to her about is the sense of making sure that the game is still fun.

[00:29:48] 'cause I think you and I have talked about this before and, and, and engaging and I've seen on, um, some of the things Jane has been on before where she was talking about. [00:30:00] You know, the, the engagement. I mean, you and I have talked about BP. Okay. We'll have to ask her about this. 'cause even when I worked at the Trop, you know, I would see the rays come out and do BP, but it'd be a half hour before we opened the freaking gates.

[00:30:13] Yeah. You know, and it's like, come on, it's, it, it would tick me off as, as a fan if I got someplace and I couldn't see the home team had their BP 

[00:30:21] Mat Germain: Oh. Right now I'm blacked out from watching any games in the playoffs. Yeah. I have MLB tv and I can't watch any games in at all because they're all local.

[00:30:33] Whatever. You know, you have to go to this certain provider. I'm not gonna pay 40 bucks just to, to watch other teams play. You know, it's this, it's one of those things. So I watch the after the fact, right? Yeah. I'll watch the game once it's actually done recording and I think you have to wait a few hours or something like that.

[00:30:52] And then, but anyways, the, the one I did watch, an interview she did with, , another network and , they were talking about, and she's [00:31:00] on the same page. I know, Mark, I've told you this, she said that kids under the age of 10 should be free when they go into the stadium, but I take that a step further.

[00:31:11] They should also get to play baseball for free. Both of those things should be true, and that's how you build the love of the game. If, if you're able to not only play the the game for free and you know, kids or parents are gonna sign them up like crazy if they know it's free. You mean I have to pay $450 for 'em to play football, but I can sign 'em up for baseball and it's free.

[00:31:37] Guess which one I'm gonna go with. Yep. And there's no head injuries, there's no this, there's no that. Right. For the most part. So, uh, I, I think we're both on the same page on that front and a lot of other things that I, that she was saying on there as well. I'm curious of her take on the Savannah bananas and, and whether she thinks that, you know, style of, of craziness is going to get [00:32:00] the baseball to do some.

[00:32:02] Things that it otherwise wouldn't have done, and whether or not that's good or bad for the game, uh, because, you know, it can go too, too far. It can go too much, too little. Um, but also in terms of the, you know, who, right now we know that, that the writers are the ones who decide who goes in the Hall of Fame, right?

[00:32:22] Yeah. So. Is that going to change? Is it gonna become podcasters that, that decide, you know, because they're doing, if not, they probably are doing more. Of evaluating, like if you look at, uh, JomBoy for instance, and what they do in terms of examining every single little play con constantly of not only the Yankees but across Major League baseball, they're not just focused on one team.

[00:32:47] You know, you could argue that they have their finger on the pulse more than the average writer, and now that people aren't reading as much, is that going to be something that actually comes into baseball where. [00:33:00] They start saying, okay, well it's gonna be partially writers and partially podcasters now, and what does that do to change the game?

[00:33:07] What kind of things are acceptable to a podcaster as contrasted to a writer? You know, like all those things start to morph the game towards a more fast paced, changing world. And that's a, that's a kind of. A thing that is tedious to manage if you're the commissioner. So if she's willing to be the MLB Commissioner and to put herself out there to manage these kinds of rule changes and, and, you know, voting changes and feelings and everything else that go along with it.

[00:33:40] My gosh, you better pay herself a lot of money, Mark. Oh gosh. 

[00:33:44] Mark Corbett: Well, I'm, I'm looking forward to having her on here. 'cause like I said, she's, she, she's quite, the personality and the histories that she has and the things that she's written, , they're really cool. So I can't wait to ask her about some of the, the sports personalities that she's met with.

[00:33:59] The book [00:34:00] is very entertaining. It's, um. Make me the Commissioner by Jane Leavy, and we'll have her here next week. So being blacked out, have, go ahead. 

[00:34:10] Mat Germain: I was just gonna say it's three, three in the bottom of the eighth. The Yankees are at bat and, uh, Stanton just, uh, grounded out. So they, they now have two outs.

[00:34:21] So they're one out away from being three outs away from being out of the playoffs if the Red Sox can score in the top of the ninth. So this is quite the, uh, you know, if you look at it this way, Mark. We're about an inning away from potentially having all New York teams out of the playoffs. Wow. Isn't that crazy?

[00:34:45] Yeah. How much, how much money did they spend? $680 million between the two of them. 

[00:34:53] Mark Corbett: I, I can't imagine. I mean, I knew when Steve Ca Cohen came in with the Mets, I thought, this is gonna turn things around for 'em. And [00:35:00] it has the degree. But you and I both, we looked at the, the slides from the Tigers and the Mets.

[00:35:05] The Mets is like good gravy. They were doing well and uh, yeah. So how are you? Or you watch the game, man, I blacked out on everything. I better go get a radio. 

[00:35:16] Mat Germain: It's just on game day. Uh, the other thing I wanted to know was how many x-rays are in the playoffs this year? So Andrew Kittridge led off the game for the Cubs.

[00:35:25] There was Jake Cronenworth in there. Zack Littell is pitching for the Reds. Uh, you know, there's a lot of x-rays out there that are, that are a lot of fun to, to kind of keep tabs on to see whether or not they'll, they'll have some playoff success. 'cause that's where. The biggest memories are made right when it comes to the baseball is, you know, you're, you're gonna want to see, um, the glory hit here.

[00:35:50] The glory hit there. The other one is Kyle Manzardo, who is, uh. Hitting behind, uh, Jose Ramirez with, uh, with the Guardians. Um, so I've been keeping more tabs [00:36:00] on the x-rays and trying to see, you know, what they're able to do. I'm glad that the guardians took one from the Tigers to push it to three. Uh, same thing happened with the Padres.

[00:36:11] I like the three game series. I like the fact that, you know, they can have some leeway here and there and not just make it one and out. So, uh. 

[00:36:19] Mark Corbett: We'll see. Did you see game one or did you see the part of Game one with Ramirez? Yes, yes. Oh gosh. You know, I didn't know who I was pulling for, but I was pulling for Ramirez, man and getting stuck in that pickle, uh, at, at the end of the game.

[00:36:30] It's like, oh man, come on. Such geez, it's That's why it's baseball? 

[00:36:35] Mat Germain: Yep. And I, I'm looking forward, I hope Terry, Francona, Fran can steal one away from the Dodgers. Yeah. Uh, they have Yamamoto going up against Littell tonight, so, uh, that's gonna be a tough one. Um. But eh, baseball, crazier things have happened. Mark. 

[00:36:54] Mark Corbett: Oh man.

[00:36:55] Oh man. Oh man. Well, I haven't really got much else to chat about today. How about you, my friend? [00:37:00] 

[00:37:00] Mat Germain: I think we're good. I think I wanted to dive into a little bit more of the, the ownership. I think we've done that. We've talked about your, uh, your expedition across town with, uh, some of the, uh, the Wiley folk and, um, I think we have our finger on the pulse of, of changes that are coming for, for the Rays.

[00:37:18] So, uh, I'm looking forward to meeting, , Jane and seeing what she has to say next week. I think that's gonna be a lot of fun. 

[00:37:24] Mark Corbett: It'll be. It will be indeed, my friend. All right. We wanna thank y'all again for joining. Matt and I here once again on BaseballBiz on Deck, and we look forward to talking with you again real soon.