Opening Day Night, WPBL Spring Training & the MLB, Polymarket

346 BaseballBiz Opening Day Night WPBL & Polymarket

Mark Corbett: [00:00:00] Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Corbett. And with me of course, is Mr. Mat Germain. How you doing today, Matt? 

Mat Germain: I'm doing great. Got my popcorn going and, uh, the game is about to start, so we're set. 

Mark Corbett: I can't believe it. Opening day night is here. Uh, every day. I can't wait till opening day night comes and it's here now.

So opening day, night this year has one game, 

One game. 

Mat Germain: And I what came to rule them all? 

Mark Corbett: That's it. And I can't even watch it on my MLB TV subscription, man. I'm blacked out, dude. Oh, luckily I have a Netflix addiction and you know, that sort of thing. So it is on. It's on. What do you think? Have you seen any of this thus far?

Mat Germain: I honestly, I, I looked through Netflix. I couldn't find it on Canadian Netflix. That is, 

Mark Corbett: ah, 

Mat Germain: I don't know what the word is in [00:01:00] Canada. Maybe Rogers has it, but I don't have Rogers. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: I don't get to watch it on there. I'm watching it in a, uh, susceptibly, you know, potentially not up, up to par network.

Mm. Anyway, the, uh, the funny part that I find is that I, you're talking about being blacked out. And I thought it only happened in baseball, but I happened to watch Wrexham, right? So I bought one time a month package, which you're supposed to get access to all of the games, for that month.

And I figured, oh, okay. They had four or five matches that month, I think it might've been five. I was like, well, that'll be good value. Like you're paying less than whatever. And I was like, you know what, I'll, I am going to be able to watch these games, so why not? And then two of them ended up being only shown on Paramount Plus regardless of whether or not you had bought the package.

And I was like, well, what kind Sham is this? Yeah. Yeah. So [00:02:00] whatever network you end up going through, I just, yeah. I stopped playing the game. I really have. I, I have what I have. If it's there, great, I'll watch it. If not, they obviously don't want me to watch it, so I'm just not gonna watch it. 

Mark Corbett: That's insane.

That's insane. And I mean, one, and even if in this case where you're talking about you have Netflix, but in Canada for one reason or another, doesn't seem to be appearing there. It is so screwed up, brother. I, I mean, I, I try to plan this. The games are gonna be able to watch and it's gonna be difficult.

Lemme pull up this. I put a few pieces up here earlier and I'll tell you before I get to all those, let's see. Where are we going to find it? Okay. Yankees versus Giants game on Wednesday, now March 25th. Then there are 11 games of catch on Thursday, March 26th and eight on Friday. Plus we'll see the handful of three game series kicked off during opening week and they'll conclude on Sunday.

Now, [00:03:00] specific opening week ML games will air across NBC. Apple TV and Netflix and the rest of the games will air on MLB tv. So thank you very much, Mr. Manfred. I don't know, I, I can't, I can't afford all those subscriptions. I got more of 'em than I should, but you know, it's insane. 

Mat Germain: Oh, I mean, like I can remember the days when you got ev all the channels for free.

Yeah. You had, every game was on CB, C in Canada for hockey, for example. And every game was on TV or RDS or whatever for French and for the expos. And you never had to pay you, you were given commercials. That's how they got their money. Like where was the problem with that system. Now we're paying through the nose and we still don't get access to anything and, and it's just getting worse and worse and worse.

And I don't know if I'm just at that age where I just, I can't be bothered. Like I know there's some young guns that might want to chase the games wherever they [00:04:00] are, but from what I'm seeing online, most people are just frustrated with it all. And they're starting to get fed up. And , I know we'd like to blame the commissioner a lot.

This is on the 30 owners. Yeah. This is not just on, on the commissioner. There are a lot. Players at, , that have stakes in this game. , And I feel like there's so much competition right now in terms of MLS, they're gonna be giving their games for free. If you have an Apple package now, you don't have to chase it around.

Yeah. Do you know, you get an Apple package, you get all the ML games. Not only are they gathering more stars from Europe, I just heard of a couple of big stars coming over, like, and, and Messi is there and they're building new stadiums all over the place. And so if I was major league baseball, I would want to get as many eyeballs on my game as possible.

Yeah. I would be my aim. Right. But they seem to be doing the complete opposite. I don't understand why 

Mark Corbett: I cannot even begin to fathom Matt. This is just, seems [00:05:00] total insOhtanity. I'm looking over here a little bit at the game or that's how it's evolving. I watched, uh, you know, for the first hour and it was interesting, you know.

Okay. I, since you're not able to see it. Who are, oh gosh, you'll have to watch this later. 'cause the entrance onto the field is really, really weird. Filled with commercial type stuff, which not surprising, they've been pointing out pre-game all the people in the stands who are going to be appearing on future Netflix series and Oh, and, and some of 'em, they got what?

They have 73 kayaks, all that's red and have Netflix on them out there to catch the home run balls and go outta the park. Oh gosh. I love good gimmickry, but this is just, it's just nuts. But going back to man, it's gonna, oh, okay. Since you're not watching, do you know who the people are? They have pre-game chatting at the table?

Mat Germain: No, 

Mark Corbett: I don't. Okay. I don't, you know, I thought, well, maybe CC [00:06:00] Sabathia there will beat it. Maybe he will, but he wasn't thus far. You've got Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, and Mr. Anthony Rizzo. It's, uh, the good as start of people that's, I don't know that they would've been, you know, the one I was really glad to see there was Albert Pujols.

I think the width depth of breadth and respect that comes with him is good. So I was glad to see him there. And that's not to take anything away from the other two gentlemen, but he's the quality type of , person I would hope to see who could talk to the game and be respect about what he has to say.

Barry Bonds was doing nice, but he asked, he, he was talking about what's the most important thing about, being supportive and it's about being with the team. And he, I heard team being used about 30 times in half a minute and it was like, good lord. But I know I would do much worse.

And

oh, it's, [00:07:00] so we got Max Fried on the mound and we'll see how this game goes. Earlier this week, NCAA. I was driving the car and I was listening to WDAE, uh, F-A-F-C-C. Close your ears right now. And what they were doing is it was, I think it was from Florida game or whatever, and they were basically calling play by play, whatever they were seeing on tv.

And I was like, oh, geez. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. So I quickly found on a Paramount Plus and, uh, put it on my phone and watched it. But it was just, you know, they're, they're gonna make sure they get that information out and I thought Easy programming just rip off what's going on on tv. But, uh, I was gonna get my dad to watch this tonight, and then lo and behold, I found out he's a big St.

John's fan with the ncaa, so they're playing up tonight. Have you made any, uh, interest in the ncaa, any of the brackets or anything of that nature? 

Mat Germain: No, I, I kind of monitor it just to see what the upsets [00:08:00] are and it, like, I honestly don't follow basketball very much at all. I do follow the Raptors once they make it into the playoffs, but with all the sports that I follow, I, I kind of have to give way to some of them, and, and that happens to be one that I don't really dig in too much.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Well, I can appreciate that. It's, I mean, I grew up in Louisville and you kind of had to, I'm looking at Willie coming out here, slapping hands with the Giants, man. They're bringing the team out onto the field. A trolley, a San Francisco trolley. Okay, well actually not onto the field on the warning track, but, and, and the Yankees came out between two Newark, New York City cabs.

They came out onto the field. So it's definitely got a little show as here going on at the park. But, uh, I'm, uh, I'm real excited to see who else on the Giants team. Obviously Willie is Devers with them too. 

Mat Germain: Chapman. 

, I know [00:09:00] they, they just brought in, uh, Luis Arraez as well, who he's gonna set the table pretty well for their lineup, I feel like.

So they've made some good additions and they have a decent outfield, so they're, they're not, they're gonna be tougher to navigate than people give them credit for. They've got strong top three, uh, starters. They did have, uh, Birdsong go down to injury. I think he had Tommy John, but, um, other than that, they have some other young pitchers that are coming through that should be able to help 'em.

I like their, their leadership overall, like they have one of the strongest catchers in all of MLB and. They have enough to surprise people. So it'll be interesting to see how they deal, tonight with the Yankees. And I feel like the Yankees are the kind of team that have to get off to a hot start.

Mark Corbett: Oh yeah. 

Mat Germain: If they get off to a cold start where they, you know, they're under 500 after April, the pressure mounts very quickly and Aaron tends to get very agitated and snippy with reporters and [00:10:00] things tend to go wrong. Right. So they're gonna be, we're gonna be looking at them right now going, okay.

We know Judge is gonna show up. Mm-hmm. But how is the rest of the team gonna look tonight? So Max free kicks it off. He's, you know, it's lefty versus lefty, so Logan Webb and, and, uh, and Max free. So we'll see which one of them can, uh, can deal the best stuff. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, both those, I mean, it's always great to see either one of those lefties take them, man. But thus far, like I said, , there's been a lot of promotion for Netflix and upcoming shows and actors out there in the, in the stands and such, and we'll see how that plays out. But I am, I'm excited about this year. I really am, as far as looking to the future, I, I don't want talk too much about the Rays, just simply to say that, yeah, that's been a focus and Oh, that's going on tonight, by the way, isn't it?

There is right now. It's probably wrapping up six 30 tonight at uh, place. Ken Babby was gonna meet with folks [00:11:00] and have discussion a q and a on the stadium. And as you well know, I could care less, uh, about what's happening with that. And anyway, but it is interesting. It's constantly evolving.

There's so many things going on around here. Last week I had the good fortune to go down to see the Women's Pro Baseball League. Went down there Wednesday and Thursday and that was exciting. Very good stuff to see. Seeing pitchers like, uh, was it, uh, Ayami Sato and Kelsie Whitmore and some amazing, uh, catchers there as well.

The, all of them is great hitters. Meggie Meidlinger, who'd been with the USA Women's National Team for years and years, and two players who started out probably in 2019 with the USA Women's National Team. And that was, uh, Denae Benites Benitez and, uh. Geez, Ashton Lansdale. So seeing these women come together was really cool.

Matt, what was interesting too, if you looked at, I think they had like about 40 women maybe not that many, [00:12:00] who came to this spring training event in Fort Myers for the Women's Pro Baseball League. Maybe it was across all the teams. They have 14 women who've been in the USA Women's National team.

On top of that, at least four of them are with bananas. 

Mat Germain: Interesting. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Now, now figure out your schedule. Dude you're doing, uh, you're doing banana work. You're doing WPBL work and you're doing, maybe you're doing U-S-A-W-N-T work too. And that has gotta be a busy schedule. 'cause I, I talked to a couple of 'em and it's like, yeah, it's gonna be difficult getting them on this time around, but we'll see.

But man, oh man, the talent to be able to see that execution and they announced it. That Justine Siegal is now the new commissioner of WPBL, which is not surprising the woman has done so much bringing up baseball for all and making that a thing and making that happen, and bringing in young ladies and from [00:13:00] teams all across the US it's and beyond.

And she has been doing everything she could to make sure that young girls have had a, a way to play the game. So to see her and others build this WPBL, it only seemed right to see her become commissioner. And that was announced while we were there as well. So it was fun times, it's exciting times, it's a time of growth, and we're gonna see what happens next.

Mat Germain: Yeah. And if, if I were them, I'd be looking at the agreement that the WNBA just signed, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Like that. That's where your sites go because then , you can. Direct your goals towards achieving that same kind of momentous agreement. Like they just signed an agreement that really solidifies them as truly professional athletes that are getting paid enough to not have to worry about other employment.

And, and that's what was lacking before is that they were always on the margins where they're not really professional [00:14:00] athletes because they still have to carry on regular life and they never really achieve that security that says, you know, with a short career, I can still make my family good for the rest of the time and get recognition for being one of the best players in the world in my sport.

So. The, um, the agreement. I don't know if who knows what in terms of that, but the WNBA is gonna, the girls are gonna get, uh, over a billion dollars in salaries over the lifetime of the agreement. They're also expanding, right? So the WNBA is, is adding two more cities, uh, which are Toronto and Portland. Their agreement is going to help those teams solidify a strong roster and build, uh, you're talking about, a really huge city in Toronto and one in Portland on the west coast. So you're, you're getting a diverse breadth of fans that you can grow across the, the continent, uh, which is also important.

And the minimum salaries, right? So the [00:15:00] average salary is gonna be over $580,000 for people in that league. So when you're looking at the minimum salary of let's say major league baseball, you're at 770. You're getting into that range of, of, okay, now when I show up and I make the team, I'm good.

I'm making a, a decent wage. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So all those girls that are showing up for the, , or I should say women that are showing up for the Women's Baseball League should have that in the back of their mind. Like, this is the standard that we can achieve if we put our minds to it and we put the product that we can put on the field.

Mark Corbett: The WPBL while we were there, I was there for a couple nights with them and they, they had a group chat, which was. Three of their players and one of 'em was a moderator, fourth person was a moderator and they were going through their experiences as players. What was important to them, you know, where they saw the future of baseball and what was encouraged them to, to this day, pardon me, take on [00:16:00] one of the ladies, Kelsie Whitmore, who is just phenomenal pitcher and she's a person I think of faith as well.

So she looks beyond herself, , when she's looking for strength and one of the places that she finds them in. The young girls that she meets who just are excited about the game and who wanna be involved with it. And I was, I was moved almost more to hear that than anything else while I was there to hear that these young fans, reinvigorate her to be as good as she can be in the game.

And I thought that is so good to hear. But a lot of good things happened there. Got to meet a lot of good people. There's, uh, one woman who I, I won't mention right now, but who is, uh, an agent for some of those young ladies. I'm gonna see if I can reach out and get her on. Plus while I was there watching some of the women play and these little metal bleachers enough where you could probably sit 30 people and there's only probably 12 there.

And two of the women behind me were talking and I introduced myself. They were both [00:17:00] investors in the league and that was exciting to hear. Always good to hear other people putting something into the league. Dick's Sporting Goods. They are sponsoring the league. And so it's going to take a lot of little baby steps for these things to, to make it strong and solvent.

It's gonna be a tough first year. There's only four teams and they're all gonna be playing at one place for, you know, a few weeks. But it is the start, man. This is it, Matt. It's gotta Happen and Justine Siegal leading it off there and all the young women that are with it, I think they're gonna make this happen this, this time around.

Really excited about it. 

Mat Germain: That's awesome. Yeah. It's, you know, the, the momentum you want to just keep building onto it and keep investors coming in and keep, keep putting a product on that, that people are attracted to. So, yeah. I I have no doubt that they can pull it off. Yeah. Uh, it's just, uh, you do have to be like, how long did it take?

The WNBA? I don't remember what year they, they first started, but I would [00:18:00] guess it would be somewhere around a decade that it took them to get off the ground and get solidified and, and finally be getting the, I don't wanna say the respect, but the, the leverage to make demands as a union and get, their salaries up to par 

Mark Corbett: so well, to recognize 'em as a professional, sporting orgOhtanization.

, I dunno about you, but I used to years and years ago. Many years ago let's see, would it be about 50 years ago? Maybe? Almost. Not quite. But anyway, at the University of Louisville, I worked at the campus radio station. Surprise. And lo and behold, one of the things we did at Buddy, my Gary Elder, he wanted to get, be able to cover the game.

Obviously there was agreements, so we couldn't cover the men's basketball game, but prior to them being on the floor in the, the center where the, where the normally the men played, the women would play a game before the men. So we would go and, you know, he would call the game in there and [00:19:00] we'd, we'd send it out to our radio station to probably had all 10 listeners out there, , so it was, but it was, it was amazing.

And I thought the tenacity and the purpose that I saw with those players. That was, that may have been what actually attracted me as much when I discovered more about women's ba uh, baseball because what I saw there was a, a fierce nature of more so than what I would see in the men's game. We stayed down there at the table and during the men's game as well, we would stick, stick around.

But, uh, it, it was amazing to see that talent. It was amazing to see that commitment. And I know that we're gonna see that with the WPBL. 

Mat Germain: That's right. So, , I, I am. Looking forward to hearing news come through, through the year and actually, , have some highlights to feed on as well.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: And see what the game actually looks like. Because to me, when you, when you look at the success that WNBA has, it's the fact that those [00:20:00] highlights were always being sent out. And people started saying, man, that's a fun game to watch. Like look at them do whatever it is that they're doing.

That gets your attention and then people tune in. I still say that if you market that, just that alone, the highlights, people will go to your games. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, yeah. Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So hopefully they can do something like, let's say they leveraged the drone game. Best, right? Yeah. They get the best camera angles, which is not super expensive to do, but if they and they don't have all the red tape to cut through, major league baseball and other ones would, so they can be a little freer, right?

And, and how they use these things so you can buzz the drone a little closer than other people might be comfortable with and get angles that others can't. And then all of a sudden it puts pressure on other leagues to want to do it because you did it but then you get the notoriety of it. That's just an example, right.

Of things that I would look for from them. 

Mark Corbett: I like that. The whole idea of being [00:21:00] something new that the other ones haven't done yet. And that could certainly generate a bit more, pardon me. Looks like they're still trying to figure out a few things here with the game getting started, and photos ups with the umpires.

Yay. 

Mat Germain: Uh, maybe, maybe they're going through the rule book mark, like, uh, what, what rules are we using now? Like, did, hang on, I thought we were supposed to inflate the bases before the game starts. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, I mean, come on man. We, we had our good buddy, , Mr. Rothschild here a couple of weeks ago, and alls I can think of is if this was at the new Trop, what would the, what would that be like?

'cause, you know. Larry, Larry talked about how insane that was. So 

Mat Germain: I think eventually you're gonna have a conveyor belt that helps you steal the base by propelling you forward, sort of like at an airport. You know how they have those sections where all of a sudden you're walking on a moving, floor.

Uh, it'll be something like that. Like, we're gonna help you out, buddy. We know you [00:22:00] can't make it there in time. You know, just, just get, you, give you that nudge. But yeah the pre, so let me ask you, this is like an opening day, so let's talk opening day. Okay. What was your favorite opening day tradition as a kid?

Mark Corbett: Oh, I would say. Squirreling a around squirreling away a little transistor radio in my pocket with a little wire coming out of it to the earpiece in my ear at school if it was being put out there on an afternoon during a school day. And to me there was something that was kind of forbidden about that, which made it, you know, really interesting to do.

And I think that was probably my best as far as opening day. 'cause I didn't really have a major league team where I grew up. And, uh, but would be to listen to the Cincinnati Reds 'cause they were down the road a bit. What about you? 

Mat Germain: Uh, mine was definitely like the, I don't know how it happened. I think, you know how Easter moves around and, and [00:23:00] sometimes like, it happens to be, during the time that opening day would be.

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: Well, it, it happened to be that, I think I might've been nine and my dad happened to get tickets and we went to see the. Expos at the Olympic stadium for opening day. I didn't know the difference. Like I had been to the Olympic stadium before, but just the regular games. You've got, you know, 15, 16, 18,000 fans in the, in the stands.

And the Olympic Stadium is massive, so it looks somewhat barren when you're just 18,000 in the 55,000 seat stadium. Yeah. But then we'd show up and I remember walking in and it was as if you were, you're bouncing because the cement was just vibrating up and down, up and down, and you're just 55,000 fans, going into the stands. So I was excited. I was like, like this is vibrating. Like the energy was unreal. So the game started and, and it was just, you know, a great game. It didn't matter where you were sitting, it ended up being outstanding. [00:24:00] So it hooked me right then. I was like, oh my goodness, I've gotta get this feeling again of, of having, you know, that many fans at the Olympic stadium.

So we, at that time, we lived off the island like about 45 minutes away. And I, obviously, I didn't have a car, I didn't have a way to get into downtown, so I, I left it at that until we moved onto the island in a town called Point Claire. And then we were actually able to make it into the games as a high school student.

So we'd skip school and we would go every time it was the, , during the weekday, , to the opening day game. And it was the same kind of feeling. It was amazing. We did it three year. I think, and I think, , those memories will always stick with me, , in terms , of what it, like you talk about opening day, it's just an infectious kind of vibrating feeling that all of fandom is zero and zero.

All of fandom has this ridiculous belief that their team has a shot. 

Mark Corbett: Yep. [00:25:00] 

Mat Germain: And you get to kick off, you know, what is really the most grinding season in all of professional sports when it comes to the number of games. And it is sort of like you, you know, I kind of picture it as a, if you're, if you've ever been to an ultra marathon, mark, I don't know if you have 

Mark Corbett: No.

Mat Germain: But like, there's this feeling like, yeah. You know, everybody's kind of really amped up and at the start line and, and it, it feels like it's, it should be really exciting. And it is. But then they cut the ribbon and then. You don't see anybody again for a long time. 

Mark Corbett: Well, what is an ultra marathon? I mean, I know a marathon is what's an ultra marathon?

Mat Germain: Ultra marathon is anything over 50 miles, I 

Mark Corbett: believe. Sweet jeebies, dude. 

Mat Germain: So, so I've done, you know, I've done a lot of long distance running, but more, more than anything, I'm a fan of it. Yeah. Uh, and the, uh, ultra marathon Mount Blanc is one that I always watch. I think there's the one out, um, uh, in the, in the Rockies, [00:26:00] uh, that's the, I think it's at 10,000 feet.

That's the hard rock. And, uh, and that one is a really popular one. Usually people do that one right before they go and do the, um, the ultra marathon, Mont Blanc. So those would be the two biggest races I would say. But people a lot of people think that they wouldn't be able to do it, but really you end up walking most of it to be quiet.

It's it's more of a walk. Can you walk 50 miles? Well, a lot of people probably could. Right. 

Mark Corbett: That just insane. I mean, to even think about that, to me that's just, , such a grind. Where I grew up, they had a mini marathon each year and I respected the people that did that. Those who actually go through a, a regular marathon.

That just completely blows my mind. I am looking here and I've got, uh, the game day up and I don't know how many pitches it took for, uh, Mr. Judge at bat, but he struck out [00:27:00] and now they've got, uh, who is a Bellinger bollinger's up. So Logan Webb's doing pretty good there, but I think they probably put a lot of wear and tear on his arm.

It's probably about eight pitches that it took for him to get, uh, Judge out. And 

Mat Germain: that I can tell you, yeah, it was seven pitches and none of them were over 94. So he got the job done with low speeds and, , Logan Webb is so crafty, like he's throwing cutters, sinkers, changeups , nothing , is the same whenever he's throwing.

I, I, I like watching guys like that. Like to me that's a little bit more old school style pitcher and , it should be a good game. Yeah. I think, you know, the Yankees should just get rid of Judge, obviously, if he's struck out the first at bad, I mean, that's, that's a bad omen. Mark. Let's get rid of this guy.

Let's 

Mark Corbett: geez, 

Mat Germain: send him to the Women's League. That's all I can say. 

Mark Corbett: Well, I like, you know, your whole thing with you talking about, uh. Knocking leagues down if they aren't doing so well. What was that called again? [00:28:00] We, oh, 

Mat Germain: allegation. 

Mark Corbett: Relegation. 

Mat Germain: Yeah, 

Mark Corbett: relegation. So let's see who's coming up. You got Arraez?

I believe he's gonna be one of the ones coming up. Chapman and I forget who the other is, but leading off here for the, the Giants, I said I'm excited. 'cause you know, I'm always excited wherever Willie's at, you see, you know, our former rays or x-rays out there, 

Mat Germain: there, there's two, uh, x-rays shortstops in tonight's game.

Caballero versus Adames. 

Mark Corbett: That's right. So I forgot that. Jose's with them, you know, Mr. 54 stolen bases last year, man led to group. 

Mat Germain: It's funny because Caballero iss a sandpaper guy. People don't seem to like him much around the league for whatever reason. He rubs people the wrong way. Adames is the complete opposite.

He's everybody's best friend. He goes around the bases, he just, you know, smiles, beaming and hugging everybody. And it's, it seems to be like the total polar opposites between the two. So the game tonight, I know, like if it were up to me as, as a [00:29:00] commissioner, I would want like a, a big blast in terms of the first game of the year.

Now, I don't know, the NFL has taken a, a different stance now where they have a lot of games on different days of the week, whereas they used to own Sunday. Right. That used to be the concentrated day. Now you've got games on Thursday, you've got some games here, some games there. They've kind of spread things out.

So I don't remember this year when they kicked it off if it was all on one day, like on a Sunday or if they had one game before. But I also know they have some that start overseas sometimes. Hmm. So those are also another avenue. But if you had your pick, I think every fan would say we should start with every team playing.

Absolute. That should be the number one thing that you have. And then hype builds and everybody gets on board, and I don't understand the need to have one team, do it in each league. It doesn't make any, 

Mark Corbett: [00:30:00] it, it doesn't make any sense, Matt. I mean, to me that's completely insane To me. There's an excitement of having all 30 teams play in that single day.

You know, from sunup to sundown. You've got all these teams playing from, the east coast to the west. There's action, action. And for those of us who, who are willing to spend five or six different ways of streaming big games, uh, you know, it will, you can watch it, you can watch it all. And to me, that is just so exciting.

Or even if I'm tracking one on my phone, another one on the tv, and listening to the radio on another, you know, there's, there's an excitement to that, that fresh opening day, just truly that is one day everything is happening. So I, I, uh, I, I missed that, that this year and it's kind of sad. Was it last year that we did it?

We did actually do opening day, was it last year? And I, I was, I was very enthusiastic and I was excited about that. I was a little disappointed to, uh, to find out that there's not, the opening day I saw [00:31:00] Sarah Sanchez said, all you guys are gonna celebrate opening day tomorrow. Ha it starts today. You know, just, she's kind of making light of the whole thing.

And I get that. It's like she's a, we have to get her back on here sometime, but 

Mat Germain: do you think that they didn't go with New York versus Dodgers because they didn't want it to seem elitist. You know, they picked one or the other and they said, we can't do Dodgers versus Yankees. Everybody's gonna cry foul.

Right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So they went with the alternative, which is, it's kind of interest trusting when you think about it that way. You're just like, oh, ultimately, I know if you ask them point blank and you put give them truth serum, they probably say, yeah, we'd want Dodgers and Yankees for that first night if we're doing just two teams.

But yeah, I don't know. To, to me, I think it'll be interesting to see this year because I, I feel the momentum with the MLS, I feel like Major League Baseball [00:32:00] still has half decent momentum. 

But there's a, there's a, a little aversion to elitist is what I would say right now, politically, socially and there's a lot of people who are frustrated with certain things.

Like, I will give you an example, right, as a Rays fan. So we're looking at them trying to vie for a new stadium, right? Mm-hmm. How much does the Democrats winning certain number of seats in Florida change the conversation with the stadium as things get voted through and supported or not supported, et cetera?

Like there's a whole angle with it. When, wherever you go in the states, and I know it exists, like even in Canada, like there's always that angle of pol politics, how much they'll support, , in terms of funding. So if the Rays are looking for 1.5, one $5 billion, it takes a lot of political will and pull.

To pull that off. So when you're looking at the Polymarket issue with major league baseball and gambling in general, [00:33:00] how much potential does that have to sour the fandom? Not just the baseball, but a lot of baseball? 'cause I feel like they've gone all in more so than some of the other leagues. When it comes to Polymarket in particular, and gambling in general.

Mark Corbett: Wow, you're bringing up Polymarket and alls I can do is I get dizzy thinking about this. You know, you, you kind of brought it more to my attention earlier this week or last week, and I was like, geez, crackers didn't DraftKings enough, you know? And then I explain to people what Polymarket's doing as far as how, you know, it is not typically you just making a bet.

I mean, there's, there's odds. When I think of normally making a bet, I think there's odds makers who set odds and that they're set and that's how it's done. 

Mat Germain: Right. 

Mark Corbett: But, and, but with Polymarket's a little different than that. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. It's more set like the stock market where [00:34:00] you're buying a share of a probability.

So if they think that something like, , a win is going to happen, for example. Then they would actually give it that probability and the probability changes based on various factors and you get to jump in or out based on whatever that probability's doing. So you don't even have to wait for something to fully happen before you cash out.

If you want, you could just say, you know what the it, the probability's gone up so much since the time that I bought, so let's say you bought at 40% and then all of a sudden it's at 70%, you can cash out that 30% gain and they'll actually pay you a certain percentage of that. So there's a whole aspect to it that's different.

Now, before we, I even explain exactly how it works, just let me say this clearly so that people understand 92.7% of people who are in the Polymarket game lose [00:35:00] 92.7%. So, of course Major League Baseball wants to make it a central part of their gambling efforts, right? Yeah. 92.7%. So that means 7.3% of people actually gain money.

And here's the key, the, there's a point in time when everybody was under suspicion and the CEO of this company actually was taken to the cleaners and everything else, and they looked at it inside out and everything got relaxed and put aside, and Department of Justice walked away from this as soon as Trump was reelected.

Okay? And this is why the game doesn't work, is because the risks that you deal with when you're. You're talking about the Polymarket game is that there's a ton of ambiguity. Sometimes the question or the statement made in what you're bidding on isn't exactly precise or clear. So think [00:36:00] of it from like an insurance company point of view.

You can use the, uh, English jargon in how you word whatever statement you make so that people think they're betting on something and actually the outcome doesn't match what they thought they had bet on. And they're like, wait a minute. I thought I want, no, it was actually this, this. So there's a lot of that involved.

There's also insider trading and, and I think that's big news in the states right now where some people in, in the family the royal family, uh, are using what they already know is going to be said or going to happen to their benefit to cash out billions. Of dollars. So insider trading. So this is particularly important when you're talking about things that have very few players or very few people involved because then they're able to mOhtanipulate when and how things are said or done 

Mark Corbett: right?

Mat Germain: And you're not as a person going to be able to react to [00:37:00] that. A lot of things that you, deal with are, . Investing in general now is being done by bots. 

Mark Corbett: Yep. 

Mat Germain: AI systems that do things automatically, right? So if you are in the Polymarket game and you are a human being, you are guaranteed to lose if you're doing clicks and entries yourself because by the time that you have made the decision to bot and then you log in, and then you go and you do the transaction, but the AI bots have already bought everything out, basically at the rate that you would be able to get.

So you're always playing the back game. So please, if you do take part in the Polymarket game, get yourself set up with a bot. If you absolutely must be part of this, 

Mark Corbett: oh lord, 

Mat Germain: do not attempt to do it. As a human being on your own, clicking around you are going to lose your shirt, your house, your family's, everything.

So it's an extremely bad thing. And so the Polymarket thing is. I'm seeing this [00:38:00] more and more and it's, you know, the Bitcoins and the 

Mark Corbett: mm-hmm. 

Mat Germain: The, 

Mark Corbett: uh, 

Mat Germain: I don't wanna get too deep into this, but I, I just hear me out for a second and, and all the betting and everything else it's like people are needing lifelines, right?

And the governments and, and all these people know this, and so they're using the vulnerability of people who really desperately need money and need an out of whatever financial situation they're in. And they, they're throwing them these invisible lifelines. Oh yeah. And expecting them to grab them.

So I think of it as your military. Okay. And my, my best friend in high school is a master chief now, and I've seen this before and I've traveled around to your bases outside of every single military based or pawn shops like. And the reason is because when they go in, they sign a big bonus. You know, they get the big vehicle, the nice rims, they spend it all they're like throwing money up in, up in the air.

They're dancing around doing whatever, and then they get paid squat for [00:39:00] the rest of their contract. So it could be three years, four years, five years, depending on whatever it is that they signed, 

Mark Corbett: right? 

Mat Germain: And so through that process or those years, they end up getting worse and worse and worse financial situation.

And they end up having to sell all the things that they bought at the beginning of the contract. So that's what the system feeds on for them. And then for the military, it's great because then they're desperate to sign again to get another big bonus, and they stick around and they do it over and over and over again.

I see this Polymarket. And betting in general in baseball, the same way it's feeding on people who put themselves in situations that they're, they end up being desperate. They wanna hide it. They want to make up whatever losses they had, yada, yada, yada. And it's only gonna give them more options.

And, and let's say they say, oh, I don't wanna do DraftKings. I, I can't control that. I don't understand it. It doesn't gimme the right probabilities. I'll go to Polymarket. It's a fancy new toy. Uh, now I can do this, I can control it. I can get AI bots on my slide. 

Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. It 

Mat Germain: still doesn't guarantee you anything.

[00:40:00] And it's going to get mOhtanipulated. We know that it's happening right now. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So the best advice I can do is first of all, do the research on Polymarkets, what they truly are, how they truly work, you know, if you're absolutely going to get involved in this stuff, which I would not advise to anyone 

Mark Corbett: at all.

At all. I don't see any reason to do it. No, I mean, it's, it's absolutely insane, Matt. Yeah. And I tell you what I do find interesting is DraftKings has kind of developed their own thing. They've got a new thing they've just put out, uh, I think like this past week, I can't think of the name of it, it's like, uh, DK something or other.

But it was like DK predictions. So there's, there's another prediction tool which is gonna be interesting, Matt, from a perspective of DraftKings has a good, strong connection and contract with MLB, and I have to wonder. How that's going to conflict with Polymarket because they may think they're two different, they say they may be to a degree, but there's enough similarities that as far as [00:41:00] the impact it's gonna make on somebody putting money down, it's gonna be the same.

You're gonna lose, uh, you're gonna lose more than win. And even more so, like you said with the bots, you know, do you think you're going to compete with a bot that stays on top? If it's a prediction based program and it changes every minute, of course, you know, I guess I would have to do, I wonder if I can create my own question, like, will there be a , 2027 season?

But I, I, it is gonna be interesting 'cause you've got DraftKings, you've got, uh, what fans, graphs you've got, geez. There's gonna be so many of these. I mean, you and I were talking a long time ago about just seeing some of the DraftKings, putting businesses right outside of the arena. And then, then now you can do everything on your phone wherever you're at.

And this is not a good part of the game. There's never people, you know, you've, you've listened to me before about seeing how ugly gambling can really, uh, hurt some people's lives and families. [00:42:00] So I don't see a profit in it all, as I see is a way of cheapening the game and potential for even more. Um.

Oh, do I wanna say cheating or crime? Crime across the plate? You know, somebody who's going to say, okay, I am betting that that next one's gonna be a hit by pitch. Oh, it was. No, he leaned into that one, didn't he? But, uh, and how many hit by pitches will there be tonight? Or, oh, he's gonna be, that his first pitch tonight is going to be a ball.

You don't tell me that that doesn't influence anything, was it? Right now there's a couple of gentlemen who are under investigation, I think maybe have been suspended, a couple of guardians, if I remember correctly. Clase, and I can't remember who the other one was. this is just the beginning.

So those are just little minor instances that you've seen where the sense of corruption is just unbelievable. And yes, MLB, you can tell me, you've got this whole other agency that the government has. It's gonna observe and watch [00:43:00] over and keep things clean. We all know better. We all know better,

Mat Germain: I know like I'm old school, like I'm not young guy, like 22 years old coming out of university, you know, you're young enough. Yeah. So I, if I have a dividend fund as an example where I make 15% interest, like I know that for a fact. I, it's guaranteed, you know, if, if you do that, and let's say you're 18 years old and you put a thousand dollars in.

Well, you're, you're gonna get a guaranteed 150 bucks, you know, within that year, and if it's every quarter. So it's actually more than that because you have, you know, you make interest on the interest and you keep rebuying with the money that they give you in, in, in dividends, and you keep building that and it snowballs and you keep, you know, doing more compound interest, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

And, and it builds over time. And, and really the way people should understand investing is that if you're [00:44:00] able to build an income fund, which is how I view dividend funds. If you're able to build that to the point where it supplements your income enough when you retire, that you're good to go, you don't have to work anymore, and you're, you, you know, you're set and, and you're making, I don't know, let's say $20,000 off the interest and your dividend fund.

Then you've made it like you've done your thing. Like you don't need to worry and stress and lose your family and do whatever that is guaranteed. I don't need to gamble on it. There's no probability, there's no, the market can go up and down. I don't care. I'm getting my dividends. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: I honestly like the stock that I do with that, with, or the stocks that I do that with go up and down like a roller coaster and most of them are growing at a decent rate as well.

So the value will go up over time. 

But I don't care 'cause I'm just using it for the dividends. Like, I really don't care. And, and that to me is a much better strategy than just throwing your caution to the [00:45:00] wind when you know, 92.3% of people are losing. That's just, it doesn't make any sense that as human beings, we put ourselves at risk to that degree.

Now, there are people who do it for fun that are very responsible, that do it in minor amounts. They have, I don't know, let's say a hundred bucks. Uh, a month that they decide to throw out. 'cause to, to them it's fun and they, they're very consistent and they're studying, they're able to do that. Hats off to them.

That's, that's really what they enjoy. My, my dad has a, a best friend whose, whose father went to the casino because that's what he really enjoyed. But he had a set budget. He went to the casino with that amount. If he made more great and he paid himself, you know, dinners, shows, whatever it was with the money that he made, when he did make it, if he lost it all, then he didn't add more to it.

There are people that are able to do that, but they're just far and few between. And the majority of the time that human trait of wanting to make up losses [00:46:00] is gonna kick in at some point. And, and it can be dangerous. So I would advise people to really, you know, check themselves when they talk about it.

But from a baseball point of view, like you were saying. The question marks that it brings to the validity of the games and, and it can relate it back to the Astros banging, you know, on, on garbage cans. Like people are seeing what's happening with Clase and the guardians great. Yeah, but they're not bright.

They're, they're gonna do it again and it's happened, and, and they're gonna find better ways of doing it with more layers in that cake and they're gonna do it, you know, I'm almost positive Ohtani got caught on his, with his pants down and he just didn't know how serious it was. And that was another angle.

You don't wanna have to sit there and guess, okay, are they really throwing it away on purpose? Are they really, there to win? Like, that should never be a question mark. That's why I [00:47:00] prefer Mark, that whole incentivizing performances. 

Mark Corbett: Oh, I, I love that idea. I mean, that's, that's just fantastic to think it, you know, you get the x number of stolen basis, you get this much more, I, there's nothing better than being paid for performance, right?

I mean, I, I was in sales and while I was paid a certain amount, there were also objectives that pieces I need to hit. And once I hit those keys, then bam, there was an incentive to meet that and I did it, and if I didn't, shame on me and I knew I better work harder the next time around to do it.

But I don't see any problem at all by having incentives for players to hit certain marks, whether it be hits, runs, uh, you know, putouts, whatever. 

Mat Germain: How much money do you think the Angels would've saved with Anthony Rendon if they had used that system in his contract instead of paying him for past performances?

Mark Corbett: Oh, Lord. What a waste. What 

Mat Germain: a freaking waste. You know, that's a good example. Like how much, you know, I get the frustration from a no owner's point of view. A lot of times when they don't want to shell out the money [00:48:00] because they get bitten so often with some of these deals, and I don't wanna say the players get lazy, but your, your human instinct says, oh, I've made it like you've crossed a sort of finish line where all of a sudden you behave differently in your mental, train of thought changes.

And that's just a human nature thing. So, and there's pressure that goes along with it. I remember Vernon Wells in, Toronto, he spoke a lot about, once he signed his big deal, which he underperformed with all the time in Toronto until, funny enough, they shipped him off to the Angels, took him on happily.

But he talked about that pressure that he put on himself because he had signed such a big deal, he felt he needed to perform to an obscene level to earn it. 

Mark Corbett: Right. 

Mat Germain: And that is another kind of thing, like it's one thing to earn it because you are performing that way. It's another one to already be making it and trying to earn it, you know what I mean?

Like there's a whole [00:49:00] shift in psychology in your head. And so I think it would help the players out too, because there's, they've. Lived with this drive, right? They, when they, you're growing up and you're trying to make these teams level after level, after level and outperforming everybody else, that drive that they use to get there would be the same one that they're using to get that money if they're using, , performance based salaries in a lot of cases.

So that is like a natural transition for them. Whereas when you pay them an obscene amount of money all at once, and you say, you know what? You're set for 10 years. Y you know, Wander Franco signed, what, 13 years? Oh. Like at that point in his head, he must have been thinking like juice. Like poof the button switch goes off.

And now I, I don't have to do anything. I've got a 13 year contract, like I'm, I'm 

Mark Corbett: sure say a 13-year-old. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. Oh man. We went there. Oh, you think, or a Tampa of Bay Rays player takes number five? 

Mark Corbett: Oh gosh, I think so. [00:50:00] Yeah. I definitely believe so. 

Mat Germain: I 

Mark Corbett: just, uh, I think it's gonna take 20 years. 

Mat Germain: I don't know.

I hope that story goes away, but I, I would also not be surprised if Donald Trump pardons him once he gets, uh, God done and, and invites him to the White House and then he's, he's forced to go back to the Rays. 

Mark Corbett: Okay, here, here's a question for you. Long, long as you've brought up the, orange haired one.

Let's see. You know, when Venezuela won the World Cup, my question in my head was, will we see them at the White House? 'cause you know, they're part of the us. 

Mat Germain: Trump could bring the president out of the jail cell that he has him in. 

Mark Corbett: There you go. There you go. And if, if, uh, if we annex Cuba, then you know who with the World Cup coming up, uh, fifa, who knows?

We, we could wind up doing something with that. Hegemony is a wonderful thing. You know, that's, uh, if you're dictator, but, 

Mat Germain: oh here's an odd, odd question. So China is helping Cuba right now by helping them set up solar [00:51:00] panels. So wherever the United States, , puts pressure, China seems to befriend that country afterwards and uses that as leverage, right?

Yeah. Yep. They did it with Canada in the trade war, right? They all of a sudden, Canada and China are talking again and they're chewing trade again like they hadn't done before. So with Cuba, like let's say. They do end up being closer friends and there is an establishment. I still don't understand why China doesn't have the best baseball team in the world.

They've got 1.2 billion people, mark, and they have a very strict, uh, you know, training regimen when they put their marks to it in any sport. So they should be like, if I'm Major League baseball, I'm throwing money at China to get the programs going in China so that they become a behemoth in in, in Asia.

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: Can you imagine those games between China and Japan, if ever China got those, you know, and, and [00:52:00] South Korea, et cetera. There would be some, some big Ohtanimosity going on there and that would grow the game to be a lot more global than it already is and Amp up the World Baseball Classic. So, I don't know.

It, it's one of those things where I think, uh, real world issues. And, and I think back to the Negro Leagues, right? Mm-hmm. They're the ones who introduced baseball to Japan way back in the day. That's what actually got the ball rolling, 

Mark Corbett: right? 

Mat Germain: In Japan. It wasn't Major League baseball going over, it was literally the Negro Leagues going over for exhibition games and actually getting the things going to the point where Japanese grabbed onto that game and ended up taking off with it and making it a staple, over there.

How's the game doing? Tell me. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, giants, you know, kind of pulling for the Giants 'cause you know who, who, whoever wants to pull for the Yankees. Last time I looked up the Yankees had five runs and the Giants had nothing. Not seeing the scoreboard here for [00:53:00] c just a second.

But, uh, jazz chisholm's up and he seems, no, he's out in the field rather, and he seems to be enjoying himself. Must be talking to the people in the booth. Yeah, bottom a second, five to zip. Max Fried cooking. Let's see. I don't know, brother. I'm, uh, I'm gonna pull for the, the Giants, but dude 

When the, the Yankees already got five up on you.

And, uh, it's, it's gonna be tough, I believe. I'm sure it's, it could take, they could take a hard run back at it, but we'll see. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. The, the lineup in the, for the Yankees is, is a lot better to start this year than it was last year. Uh, but again, for them it's gonna lead back to, uh, to health and, and the age of some of these players, like Giancarlo Stanton now is 37, I think.

, Aaron Judge is now 33. He's gonna be 34 in season. Like they're starting to get into that age where the grind of it all starts to wear you down in season at some point 

Mark Corbett: is LaMehieu. Who still with him? 

Mat Germain: [00:54:00] No, he's he should be. Does he 

Mark Corbett: retire 

Mat Germain: right next to Rizzo? I think 

Mark Corbett: Yeah.

That's what I was thinking too. 

Mat Germain: Nobody signed him, but like Rizzo. I don't know if Rizzo ever had announced his retirement. I think he might have. 

Mark Corbett: I think he 

Mat Germain: did, but it took a long time. 

Mark Corbett: He did it for the parking lot. There was this, there's a thing where he was, he's like on TikTok or something. He's holding up the phone.

This is me officially retiring. Oh. And yeah. Oh, you gotta love, I I mean that's, I like color in the game. You know, when the Yankees, one of the most colorful ones, and least in the last decade I've been watching it. For the Yankees. I always like to watch Brett Gardner. Mm-hmm. Watch him just get ticked off it.

Took that bat, beat the hell out of the dugout roof. Oh gosh. Yeah. But are you, are you surprised to see Aaron Boone still? Managing the Yankees or do you think that fans would raise a hu Not that he, not that he's done anything terrible, but I always think of Yankees having not being necessarily the most patient fans.[00:55:00] 

Are you surprised he's still there? 

Mat Germain: I think if they found a better alternative, they would consider moving on. Yeah. But I think he's so, like you said, he's so not bad enough to fire then, and he doesn't rub people the wrong way. Like one of Joe Girardi bad things was that he really stuck to his guns in some things.

Aaron Boone tends to bend with the front office a lot more than Joe Girardi would. 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

Mat Germain: So I think they appreciate that and that he doesn't throw them under the bus and that he just, there's a stubbornness that you need to have as a Yankees manager that is unlike any other position in baseball because, you know, the media and the fans are gonna wear you down.

Like they are going to grind you. I don't care who you are. Like, and you need, like, you would need, I could see, you know what, you're gonna talk to this guy. I don't know if they would go that far, but somebody like Joe Madden Yep. Would fit in very [00:56:00] well in that because again, he can be his own person without having to worry about what the front office, et cetera, is saying and doing.

But he's also not gonna throw them under the bus as far as I know. So, 

Mark Corbett: no, I don't think he'd throw him under the bus. I mean, just a matter of how much he has to listen to analytics guys to try to tell him his job. And I think that would be the, the challenge. Yeah. I, I hope we get him on here. So I'd love nothing else.

I'd love for him to share the Rays way with us, you know, is in how he does. Do you have a specific question you'd like me to ask him? If, uh, 'cause there's gonna be a open panel tomorrow night? 

Mat Germain: Oh my goodness. There's so many. 

Mark Corbett: Give it, give it some thought. We'll give it some thought. It's gonna be tomorrow night.

Yeah. So, wow. 

Mat Germain: I'll send it to you. Uh, on, on blue sky there. When I find the one, 

Mark Corbett: That. It should be a lot of fun. Always loved seeing, you know, the other players, the other managers and uh, like I said, I'm thankful we had Larry Rothschild on here. It was, that was such a [00:57:00] great show. I mean, he, he shared so much with us and folks, even after we turned the recording off, we had another half hour with Larry and that was and was probably a good thing.

We'd heard the recording off at that point too. 

Mat Germain: Yeah. 

Mark Corbett: But it was a 

Mat Germain: great, yeah, he, he got a little bit more colorful once that Yeah, that, that definitely changed. I, I feel like, you know, like let's say we did have Joe Madden on, I feel like we should be drinking wine or, or if we have another manager on, we should be drinking beers because it seems to be, , that sort of environment where if you're talking to somebody that has that many baseball stories, you're going to get quenched for thirst.

And you probably get more colorful things out of 'em with a little bit of alcohol going and kinda, get a little bit better stories and, and a little bit looser lips. So, uh, 

Mark Corbett: he's got a restaurant here, you know, maybe I'll get him to let us come down, sit down there at the table and, and tell us his stories there.

But, uh, no, I'll be happy if we get him on it off. So we'll see what comes. But, uh, man, it [00:58:00] has been an exciting week and yes, let's see, where are we? It still looks, looks at the 5 

Mat Germain: 0 1 thing mark. Yeah. Do like, do you know like the, they have a new manager for the Giants, right? 

Mark Corbett: Yeah. Very new. Like that's, 

Mat Germain: what's that?

Mark Corbett: Yeah, very new. I don't think he's been managing anywhere else before this. Maybe in college. 

Mat Germain: Right? And then he is very young, . Who's another young manager? Uh, Tony Vitello is his, is his name? Yeah. Except for those that don't know but it's the. The experience that they've surrounded him with is ridiculous.

So they've got Bruce Bochy and they've got Dusty Baker as advisors to this guy. Like really, if you're talking about the dream job to go into where you can like literally go over, knock on the door and say, Hey Dusty, what do you think of this? 

Mark Corbett: I was looking at that and I thought, oh my gosh, this is manager fantasy camp.

This is Baseball Manager fantasy camp. To have that kind of talent surrounding you. And it's like, would [00:59:00] you almost be intimidated by guys that, that you're in a manager position and there's basically coaches for you. But my gosh, they have that many strong mentors right there to, to help you know, you as you put your feet in the ground for the first time in the Major League baseball as a manager.

I'm just, I'm excited about it too. It's, it's one of the most entertaining parts of this, uh, this team. 

Mat Germain: I would say watch the Giants this year and see how they progress through the season and how his, his decision making improves through the season, just based on that knowledge. Like I, I, I'm not saying he's gonna do whatever they tell him to do, I'm just saying that his confidence of being well equipped.

With the knowledge he needs to make those calls through the season Yeah. Are going to improve and get better and better. And he will get that assistance for, you know, I handled this way, what do you think of the decision I made? Or whatever, those kinds of things. Not saying he second guesses what he's gonna be doing, but you know, as a young manager you are gonna [01:00:00] do some things that are gonna be eating your at, at your conscience over the year.

So, so it's good to get 'em off your chest and kind of say, you know what, like, okay, yeah, I should have done that. Maybe I did this next time I'll do better or whatever. Geez. So, uh, if you're that kind of manager and you're, you're still taking in information and learning and I think that's the feeling we got from Larry Rothschild is that you never actually know everything.

Baseball. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, it, it'll be great to see. And, and so we'll see if Aaron Boone lasts the season and we'll see how Tony looks at the end. 

Mark Corbett: Well, Matt, we've had, uh, plenty of fun here on our opening day night, and, uh, like I said, I think you, both of us would probably like to enjoy one opening day, day, day, day, day day, day day, you know, with, with all the teams playing.

But this, you get what you get and you don't have a fit. And, uh, try to get everything figured out if, you know, if I can't stream everything, I can watch game day on my [01:01:00] phone and watch the strikes and outs and everything else. But we wanna thank you all again for joining. Matt and I here today on BaseballBiz On Deck.

And Matt, any other final words you'd like to share with our boys and girls? 

Mat Germain: No, I don't, I don't really have much else to add other than, you know, uh, if you are within reach of an opening day and you do get a chance to get out there and get some tickets, by all means go and take part. It's a, it's a special day and, uh, if not, you know, watch it with friends and family and, and enjoy it.

It's an awesome time of the year. 

Mark Corbett: Yes, indeed. Well, thank you again, Matt, and wanna thank you all again for joining us here today, and we look forward to talking to you again real soon. 

Mat Germain: See here.