RaysUp Evan Longoria Returns to Retire, Pete Rose HOF? Rafael Devers Position

293 RaysUp BaseballBiz - Evan Longoria, Pete Rose & Rafael Devers

[00:00:02] Mark Corbett: Yeah, that's, that's all we can hope for. Oh, oh. Welcome to Baseball Biz on Deck. I'm Mat . I'm No, I'm Mark. You're the other felLowe. Mat . Hey, Mat . How you doing today, buddy? 

[00:00:16] Mat Germain: Swapping the egos today. That's all. That's what's going on. It's all good. Oh. 

[00:00:20] Mark Corbett: Gosh, brother, I, I, this Mat and I have actually, uh, we missed last week together we had a special guest, Tim Neverett and was kinda weird hours when we could all get together.

[00:00:30] But man, I gotta tell you, Mat , the questions you had, they were fantastic. And, and Tim was a great guest. You know, he came back with a lot of good things to say about his trade being an announcer, both in radio and television, and I was just so thankful that we had him on the show. But, you know, we had him and then we had, uh.

[00:00:49] Had Mr. Terrano on here, we're talking about the kids, you know, kids baseball, 

[00:00:54] Mat Germain: and I'm glad that all worked out. It, it sounded to me like, uh, the, the thing that struck me about Tim was [00:01:00] he takes his business seriously. Like he is very, you know, um, businesslike in, in how he operates the whole spiel about, , friends not recognizing all the time,, what your schedule is like when you're a broadcaster and the fact that you can't just, wing it.

[00:01:16] Mark Corbett: Yeah. You know, 

[00:01:17] Mat Germain: there's a lot of 

[00:01:18] Mark Corbett: work 

[00:01:18] Mat Germain: involved. 

[00:01:19] Mark Corbett: Game, game time's. Not till fast at seven o'clock, seven, eight o'clock tonight, dude, come on, you don't just step into the, the. Uh, all the preliminary stuff you have to do to prepare for it. I was glad he shared so much of that and maybe, maybe some of his friends will get a little bit more if they listen to that episode.

[00:01:35] I don't know. Oh my gosh. You know, I, I'm wearing here my Chicago white socks hockey jersey that I got one. Karen and Scott went to, uh, to see the Rays play, the White Sox. Was it last year? . And watch us lose a couple of games to a team that only won 40 games did last 

[00:01:56] Mat Germain: year. Oh gosh.

[00:01:58] That's Murphy's Law [00:02:00] Mark.

[00:02:00] Mark Corbett: It, it's, you know, trying to find balance in the universe is always fun anyway. And in Chicago, I think they've got a sense of what's going on there. Now it's, it's, there's, we're gonna talk about a lot of little things. I wanna set this one piece up. I, I know we wanna talk about Evan.

[00:02:18] No, we, we want to talk about Pete. Mm-hmm. Uh, we want to talk about Mr. Devers. Mr. Manfred. Oh. I mean, and there's so much more. I mean, initially, Mat , when I was looking at this a few days back, I thought, okay, we'll, we'll, we'll talk about Derek Shelton and we'll talk about, uh, uh, geez, who was the other felLowe for the Rockies?

[00:02:40] Bud Black, yeah. And you know, even Dave Roberts was saying, you know. He couldn't have done anything with what they've given. He couldn't have done any better. So I thought those were gonna be our topics, man. But, uh, they kind of got slotted to the side. 

[00:02:56] Mat Germain: Yep. Just very quickly I'll say that I actually feel happy [00:03:00] for Mr.

[00:03:00] Shelton because I figure he's gonna land on his feet and he's gonna get an opportunity to do something bigger with another group. Yeah. 

[00:03:09] Mark Corbett: Yeah, I'm, I'm happy for him on that too, I think. 'cause it wasn't gonna be a good situation for him for the rest of this year anyway. So good things to come. We'll see.

[00:03:20] But then, like I said, this morning, I get the text or the DM from you and say, let me, let me see if I can bring it up here real quickly. What, what are we gonna talk about here? Uh, geez, you said, um.

[00:03:35] Now a few topics we may wanna touch on, Rob on death and Pete Dever's situation, early trade candidates in Evan's Retirement. So there we, there you go. I I I think those all hit pretty much the Mark, but I mean, were, were you surprised? Well, I guess you shouldn't be surprised 'cause I pointed out that you had, you said that you foresaw this whole thing about Evan coming back.[00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] And you wanna start with him? 

[00:04:03] Mat Germain: We, we can definitely start with him. I think, you know, whenever you trade a player, especially the way that it happened, right? Like how a player leaves an organization Mat ers a lot. Like we just talked, talked about the pirates. Barry Bonds has no affinity towards the pirates, right?

[00:04:20] Right. So even though he had a large portion of the beginning of his career and that whole love fest, and I would even say the same thing for Vladimir Guerrero. In Montreal, when he left and he went to the Angels, he felt slighted a little bit because how he was treated and, and, and that they didn't really make an effort to keep him around.

[00:04:41] Right? Yeah. And so a lot of times there's some of that. So when you're sitting there as Evan Longoria and he had bled and sweat and poured his heart into Tampa, the, the entire time he was. There. He signed some deals that players would've said Were team friendly, possibly too. Team [00:05:00] friendly. And, and he had committed to the region.

[00:05:02] He was going to be that staple guy that, that, you know, almost the Cal Ripkin of the Tampa Bay Rays. , He, he had to deal with the fact that the organization is committed to a business first environment and, and had to make the intelligent decision instead of the heartfelt decision. And, and I think that.

[00:05:25] It hit him like a ton of bricks, let's face it. Yeah. When it happened, I don't think he expected it. His 10 and five r uh, rights were just around the corner. Um, he ended up, I mean, we wrote articles about it. I was at SB Nation at the time, and it was a very big ordeal. I. Uh, in terms of how it split fans down the middle, some of them were happy that he was gonna get a chance on a team that was competitive.

[00:05:46] Right. Eventually, uh, in the Giants. Um, and there's others that said, you know, like this is just another one of those hits that Tampa fans have to take, whether it's stadium related, whether [00:06:00] it's all star players related, you know, it's always seems to be coming back to that same rhythm mm-hmm. Of not being able to grab onto anything permanent.

[00:06:09] So, you know, the, the, the outcome now with Evan, you know, thankfully coming back to the Rays, kind of settles a lot of that turmoil if you're a Rays fan. I don't know if he did it for himself. I don't know if he did it for the fans. I don't know what his intentions are, whether or not he will. Pick up a role with the organization going forward.

[00:06:31] I figure as soon as they go this far to honor you on the field, the way they are going to do that pretty much points to the fact that you will have a role with the organization for the foreseeable future. 

[00:06:43] Right? 

[00:06:44] Mat Germain: So to me. I want this to be for the fans and Evan because they are married in this region.

[00:06:53] In Tampa and, and they need to have that to grab onto going forward and to [00:07:00] start building on that. So this is the beginning. This is even before the new stadium is built, wherever it ends up being. You have the beginning now to say, okay, we've got our staple guy, he's back, he retired as a ray.

[00:07:14] He's back into the the fold of things. There's no animosity we can move forward. So I'm very encouraged by this news, Mark. 

[00:07:23] Mark Corbett: Well, I think you've hit on a point about bringing him back for himself and for the fans and this. I think the fans really need a positive vibe right now. I mean, that's not to say the cash and the boys don't bring it.

[00:07:36] They do, but more holistic if you will, something broader than just any member of that team. And I. Evan definitely had that while he was here. We, we talk on the Showtime and again about franchise players, you know that Evan was definitely it, he and, uh, Kiermaier, but, but there's a difference, and I honor Kiermaier for all that he's done, but [00:08:00] Evan was a leader.

[00:08:01] Like, you know, there's no peer like that at, at least amongst the guys right now and. We talked about his depth, whether he could be like a bench coach, he could be the guy sitting next to, to cash. There is a positive energy that he will continue to bring to this team, and I really hope we see him in a row that where he's visible and it it, it will make a, it will endear the Rays organization even more so to the fans than they are right now.

[00:08:32] Mat Germain: When they build that new stadium, his statue should be in front of it or somewhere. Around it, um, with that whole arms up in the air for the one six, you know, the, just that legendary home run, you know, trot to towards first base. I think that's the picture that you want. And, um, like, like you said, he needs to have a role in some way, shape or form with the organization because there is so much good in what he has to say in his leadership, in his lessons to [00:09:00] learn.

[00:09:00] Now, I, I want to spin it here just quickly because. If they had decided to hang on to Evan, let's just go back in time just for fun and say if the Rays had approached Evan about moving to first base like the Red Sox have with Devers, what would his reaction have been? 

[00:09:21] Mark Corbett: He is a team player. I truly believe that.

[00:09:25] I believe he may have not liked it. And he may have had a, a conversation or two, I think with management, but I don't believe he would've brought, it wouldn't have wound up in the media. And did Devers really push us out into the media, or was it Ken Rosenthal hearing something and, and throwing out there.

[00:09:44] But anyway, it goes, I think that you would, wouldn't be a long conversation and it would not be thrown out to the universe. 

[00:09:52] Mat Germain: Right. And I think he would've settled into that role. And if they needed him back at third, he would've been fine going back to third. I just think he was that [00:10:00] type of player that didn't need to be positionally, you know, solidified into that role, to, to have value as one of the teammates on the field.

[00:10:10] Yeah. 

[00:10:10] Mat Germain: Um, so I, I think that, like I say, that there's no proof. We, we don't know. I mean, can you imagine telling Kevin Kiermaier is gonna have to play left field? 

[00:10:21] Mark Corbett: Oh boy. No, no, no. That, that, I cannot see that happening at all. You, you're, I wouldn't wanna be in that conversation any form. 

[00:10:30] Mat Germain: Yeah. So it's a different type of player, right?

[00:10:32] So I think just right there with that difference maker, that's what value Evan would, would bring to the, you know, the role that he takes on with the organization. He's a selfless PA player, A little bit like Denard Span, right? Who's had a really good role with the Rays as well. Um, like we don't see what he does day to day, but I know the kind of person he projects himself to be.

[00:10:54] . And he comes across as somebody that's very grounded and, and so solid in terms of being [00:11:00] approachable. I, I think Evan's approachable as well. This doesn't come across as a grizzly, , uh, player that you would like, not a Mike Schmidt type that you would have a hard time, approaching the talk to and get tips from.

[00:11:13] So it'll be interesting to see how quickly the Rays integrate 'em into some sort of role and how that grows over time. 

[00:11:19] Mark Corbett: I did, I'm gonna go back to what I was saying though. I would like to see it to be a visible role because you mentioned Denard Span and I was thinking of him as we were talking about this and I is denar still with us?

[00:11:30] I, I, I know he's in the front office and we're not gonna see him, but I, and I feel good that I know the type of person that he seems to be that, that he's there. But I, I'd like to see him every now and then too. So maybe I haven't watched enough of, Brian and, , Dewayne to maybe have him in an interview or two, and I haven't seen him there, but, uh, right.

[00:11:51] We'll see. , You mentioned Raphael Devers and Man. Oh man. Oh man. Geez. Like I said, I'm not sure how the story came out, [00:12:00] but he's been, you know, kind of a particular felLowe. I mean, you got a 10 year, $313 million contract. You gotta feel good about yourself. You, you gotta feel good about the position you're playing.

[00:12:13] And, uh, I, I wouldn't say prima donna, but you know your value and you know where you play. Well, I. So, 

[00:12:21] Mat Germain: yeah, I think it's, it's the age Mark. It's the age, it's the pride. And, and you're only 28, like you're not in your thirties yet. Like I think if this would be. 32, 33 years old, Rafael would have a different take on it because you've lost a bit of a step, right?

[00:12:40] Yeah. And your jump screen is good. And most third basemen start sLoweing down, even though Arenado and all the best defenders that we've seen, including Evan Longoria, uh, you know, lost a little bit. Now, it doesn't mean you move them off their base all the time, but if you do have a better option, you sign somebody like Alex Bregman.

[00:12:58] All of a sudden, those [00:13:00] conversations need to be had Now, I, I always see this kind of scenario as a failure on the leadership of the team because this whole conversation and, and everything playing out in the media needs to be sorted out before the signing ever takes place. It needs to be Alex Cora. It needs to be the owner.

[00:13:18] It needs to be Rafael. They, like you said. They dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to this third basement who is very young, who is very capable and has, you know, a long future in Boston. So if you're not respectful enough to have that conversation with them, when you take on a new player who has no affinity to the team whatsoever, you know, that's quite a slight that that's, uh, you know, it would've been like a akin to.

[00:13:49] Let's say in, in 2000, uh, 10, the, the, the Rays bring in the third baseman. Right. And they tell Evan that he is gotta move [00:14:00] to first base. Well, I, I don't know, like, it, it is just, to me it's the timing thing. Like even Mike Trout has moved off of center field. Uh, a lot of other players have had to move positions, and I'm sure Raphael Devers knows this, but I think what he.

[00:14:17] Why he's reacting the way he is is because of the timing and how they're asking him to adapt the first base. You know, if they would've been able to pull off a deal on Tristan Casas, probably they had the conversation earlier and he gets spring training time at first base, and then he feels better, but they didn't pull the trigger.

[00:14:35] So yeah, it ends up the way it is. 

[00:14:39] Mark Corbett: Well, Mat , you know, you look at that and you just say to yourself, one, like, I think the communication wasn't there. I. And when the media gets hold of it before even maybe they've all had the chance to, to hunker down and knock it out. I could see that's a problem. Well, I'll tell you where a bigger problem was, is that my understanding was [00:15:00] that Alex Cora was not the one that had to deliver the news.

[00:15:05] To Raphael Devers. And if yes, and maybe it was outta respect where he is like, Hey, come on guys. This, you want that, you want that, fine. But Cora was not the one who, who actually delivered that message. Or more if he, he may have been in the room, but he was not. They were, he was not gonna be the one to do that.

[00:15:25] And. I kind of respect him for that. If he, if he felt strongly about how things were going with Rafael, they felt like because of the timing, they weren't giving him enough room to do that in. 

[00:15:36] Mat Germain: I will also add that, remember when we had the, the, uh, the person on, sorry, I don't remember his name. I think his nick on for the Red Sox.

[00:15:44] Mark Corbett: Yeah. 

[00:15:45] Mat Germain: When we, uh, were talking about Nat Gordo. That's it. When we were talking about the bringing in of Alex Bregman, he was intended to play second base and, and so there was a lot of unknown in terms of how [00:16:00] quickly the young prospect was gonna take to second base. Yeah. Whether or not they're gonna wanna play 'em every day.

[00:16:06] It doesn't Mat er because Alex Bregman had been a third baseman his entire career. To that point, you don't not have the conversation with Rafael Devers because you have, you know what I mean? Like, it just doesn't make any sense that way. Like the, the Red Sox have gotten of a lot of flack over the years for how they treat players.

[00:16:25] Mookie Betts is one. A lot of other players that wanted to, , put their staple into that team. . So it, it is just a long line of, of lists, a little bit like , with the Rays, with trading star players, right. They get a little bit of flack for that. So the Red Sox just have a way of , not communicating well with some of their better players , and there's a track record for that unless you're David Ortiz.

[00:16:48] Mm-hmm. You know, they, they tend to, to, to treat you in a certain way. So, 

[00:16:54] Mark Corbett: yeah. Yeah. It's. It has been interesting, you know, watching Boston. I mean, I [00:17:00] was watching a game the other night. It was Tanner Hauck was up here pitching, and man, he, he went over 40, 40 pitches in one inning and it was just sad, sad, sad.

[00:17:09] And I thought, Cora, pull him, pull him. Don't put that man through that, you know? And who's it? I think they were playing the tigers and the tigers just beat the hell out of them. And it was like, this should not be happening. 

[00:17:22] Mat Germain: And now he's on, he went on IL today with, uh, a serious injury. You're probably out for the season.

[00:17:29] Mark Corbett: Well, and you know, we may not talk about all of it here, but you, you put up something on, uh, blue Scott today and I. It goes to the health of pitchers. I mean, this is something we talk about in the show quite a bit, and you were talking about the Dodgers and how they just, they don't give a damn. Why should they?

[00:17:45] They're like, I, I'm responding back to saying if they're a commodity, that's how they, they're seeing they're a commodity. Do they care about their health? They're just No, just we're churning. Get the next guy up, you know, with Snell, have we done too much with Snell? We've done too much with glass now and whoever else [00:18:00] is on that.

[00:18:00] That list. It's just ugly. And I think that's the case too, when you're lo looking at the Red Sox. Another thing about the Red Sox is they are very, very particular about this whole thing with Devers, and I don't think they would've ever done a 10 year, $313 million contract with him. If they weren't feeling the pain from the fans because of letting Mookie go, you know, you 

[00:18:26] Mat Germain: know what?

[00:18:27] The oddity is in that though, Mark, like that? That Devers deal is actually a bargain when you compare it to what the latest deals have been for some of those sluggers. So if you look at him and Guerrero Jr. Like, would you rather pay 700 million to Guerrero or would you rather, or sorry, 500 million to Guerrero, or 314 million to Devers.

[00:18:48] You know, like, you know, what is the actual difference? I'd much rather have Devers, to be honest. Who's more athletic overall, I think long term. So I, I don't know, it, it's one of [00:19:00] those deals that I think that if the Red Sox ever do have to deal Devers because things never get patched up, they'll have plenty of of teams that are willing to take on that contract, I think without, you know, having to give them away.

[00:19:12] They'll get something back. 

[00:19:14] Mark Corbett: We'll see. It all plays out my friend, Then there was a rob, 

[00:19:23] Mat Germain: um, he threw a wrench in. Everybody's weak, I feel. I feel like everybody went woo. And everybody had an opinion, right? It was nuts. 

[00:19:33] Mark Corbett: Um, all right. Yesterday, I. My wife and I visit with my brother. They were down in Long Boat Key.

[00:19:38] You know, we're heading down toward like Sarasota Bradenton area down around there. So really nice. Enjoying a nice meal and I should just put the damn phone away. Okay. And I said. Oh, no, I looked down and it said, no, no, no, no, no, no. That, that's, that's not happening. Oh my gosh. Oh yeah. 'cause I heard that other guy [00:20:00] pardoning from the Oval Office and now the, and now Rob's gonna do it.

[00:20:04] Oh, Rob just visited with a guy in the Oval Office. Well, there, there you have it. So baseball's being run for the Oval Office. But, uh, the, the whole thing with Pete, and I've had mixed feelings about this myself, one, as you well know. I respect all the people who are entered into the Hall of Fame. Two, I don't respect the Hall of Fame itself because the, I've always felt like it's, the whole process is goofy and writers doing more than players and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:20:34] Uh, the people that are in there, I think majority of 'em definitely should be and are deserving of it, but. Okay. You, you wanna spill it? What? What Actually, the dear Mr. Rob Manford said the other day. 

[00:20:48] Mat Germain: So essentially the thought process of Major League Baseball's rules, the way that he interpreted them out of the blue was that once a player dies, [00:21:00] he is no longer, uh, you know, blocked.

[00:21:03] A threat. 

[00:21:04] Mark Corbett: A threat. They're no longer a threat. Right. What? 

[00:21:08] Mat Germain: And, and they, they no longer need to be held, like to account essentially like the, the fee has been paid. Uh, and so with pennies on their eyes, they're able to, uh, hope and dream from the other side that, uh, that the, you know, the process will go forward.

[00:21:25] And I'm guessing he's going to be on the Veterans Committee ballot now. Um, a few times at least. And uh, and he will get a chance to po potentially go into the Hall of Fame. Now I wanna start with this. Okay? I've heard stories and I've read stories about Hall of Fame players who are no golden child. I.

[00:21:46] You know, personalities, they are rough, they are rugged, they are racist, they are this, they are that. Like there's a lot of different shades of colors and stripes of all kinds that are in the Hall of Fame. Nobody is, HU is perfect. [00:22:00] They're all human. To me, like you just said, the fallacy of the entire thing is the system that is put in place to put people in the Hall of Fame, which I think is quite honestly.

[00:22:12] Like it's a joke and it, and it slaps players in the face. Great players like, oh, you're a 10th ballot hall of famer. Yeah, you weren't all, and then there's like a degree of entering the hall of fame. Right. There's a, oh, you're a first ball. Oh, wow. Well, that must means you must have been special. Oh, you must have.

[00:22:30] Like, and then there's some that are knocked off the ballot after great careers and then all of a sudden the veterans have to look. It's like, it's almost like you're begging. To get into the hall fame. I mean, you feel that from some of the players when they get interviewed, they're so like. Like emotional about it because it's almost like they've been put through the tour key just to get in there.

[00:22:51] So is it a reward or is it like excruciating pain for 10 years that you're going through this process? Like, come [00:23:00] on. Like it doesn't need to be like this. Hockey doesn't do it like that. Football doesn't do it. Like the NBA doesn't do like, so why does it have to be a whole thing? Theater production to get into the freaking hall of fame, like it doesn't make any sense to me.

[00:23:12] I hope the next commissioner. Has a sit down with the Hall of Fame and says, listen guys, you are a museum. You're telling the story of baseball. There should be an entire portion of a wing that talks about all of the cheaters and the gamblers and the the story. 'cause they're great stories. Like the, the Eight Men Out is a freaking awesome baseball story.

[00:23:38] It needs to be in there and to be taught as a lesson. 

[00:23:41] Yep. 

[00:23:41] Mat Germain: And to, to tell the history of baseball, like, um, shoeless Joe Jackson. I mean, the way he played showed that he was not really tanking. 

[00:23:51] Yeah. Even 

[00:23:52] Mat Germain: though he knew he had taken the money and he wasn't gonna, he was gonna pay a price for it, but he also wasn't going to.

[00:23:59] Uh, [00:24:00] be the ostracized guy on the team when the entire rest of the team was doing what they were doing. So, you know, what kind of human being was he? Well, he stood up, he played the way he knew how to play. He stuck by his friends, you know? So where is the actual quote unquote harm? It's the taking the money, obviously, but let's say he had given it back the, you know, after the World Series was done, then what, you know.

[00:24:25] Where would people have stood at that point? Like it, it just, it's ridiculous. But going back to Pete, to me, when you look at his baseball career all the way through, he is without a doubt, one of the top 20 baseball players to ever play the game. 

[00:24:41] Mark Corbett: Yep. 

[00:24:42] Mat Germain: How do you keep that out of the Hall of Fame? I don't understand it.

[00:24:46] I don't care if he cheated. I don't care if he took steroids. I don't care if he just put them in, put Barry bonds in there, put everybody in there and tell the story. [00:25:00] That is what the Hall of Fame is. 

[00:25:03] Mark Corbett: Thank you. I mean, and you said it right there, tell the story because all of us have flaws and it just happens to be, if you're a figure in the media or in sports, it gets spread everywhere.

[00:25:15] And certainly that was the case with Pete. Uh, so. MLP, we don't forgive you until you die. And when you die then we'll consider, maybe consider bringing you back into the fold. Now, that's really, that's the way I think about it. It's like. What's the use? What's the freaking, why couldn't you do this for this man while he was alive?

[00:25:40] You know? Yes. Okay. Maybe you're scared the hell of what he would say when he'd walk up to the podium and you'd, you know, you had to get the old hook and yank him off. Stick. Just set the 

[00:25:51] Mat Germain: mic with a, with a, A switch. A tamper switch that you could turn off and on. Like, oh, 

[00:25:56] Mark Corbett: there you go. God knows. We need those.[00:26:00] 

[00:26:01] But no, no, he, there's, there's a lot of things personally that, uh, be above and beyond just the cheating that, that are questionable. And I'm not here to sit and judge that man's life sometimes I think the Hall of Fame should just be all about the numbers. I. What did they achieve just with the, the game?

[00:26:18] What did they do there? You know, were I, I, do I care if, well, I care about the person, but should the measure of the Hall of Fame include, oh, was this person an alcoholic? Did they have drug problems? Were they, were their spouse issues? Were they cheating? Were their, you know, steroids? All these different things.

[00:26:36] And if you're going to. You do is like what you were saying, you tell the full story. Here is the great achievements of this person. Oh, and by the way, there was other parts along their journey that weren't so great. And 

[00:26:52] Mat Germain: so think about it this way, Mark. Like how many college players, like athletes or high school athletes have, they, they [00:27:00] have a journey, right?

[00:27:01] We talked, uh, recently to an agent, right? Who's going through the process of getting a lot of those players through their, through their process. When they're going through those, they look, they seek out information and all of them have a different experience that they're going through. Sometimes they could have an alcoholic father, they could have a, you know, an abusive parent, an abusive coach, a whole bunch of different things that happen to them if they don't have those kinds of stories to lean on from the very top, all the way down through the bottom so that they can be found when they need them.

[00:27:36] Yeah, then we're doing them in disservice. So the, the way that I always see it is that if, if you can help somebody out along the way by showing them, look, this person was going through a lot of the similar things as what you're going to, and they made out, okay, yeah, and this is how they dealt with it, or they didn't make out okay and this is why they didn't make out.

[00:27:59] Okay. [00:28:00] So you might want to do something different. Either way, it's a learning lesson that they get to assess and decide how they want to filter it. Um, so, you know, I don't know. To me, and, and the thing that makes me laugh the most about this is we have Barry Bonds, right? I just mentioned them and yeah, he, he went through the whole 10 years, he has almost zero shot of getting into the Hall of Fame unless the Veterans Committee surprises and puts them through, which I, I can't see 

[00:28:30] no.

[00:28:31] Mat Germain: Pete Rose has a better chance of getting into the Hall of Fame than Barry Bonds like, and, and saying it just, it, it feels weird. It feels very odd. 10 years ago, nobody would've predicted that. Uh, just in no world. Uh, so like I said, I think both should be in there with the stories told. Why the rules that were in place at the time, the whole gamut.

[00:28:57] The fact that MLB sat on [00:29:00] information for years and did nothing about it, that should be in there. It's a museum. It's not major League baseball, it is a museum, right? So, you know, if you don't tell the stories, they're, they're just gonna die and your sport is worse off for it. 

[00:29:19] Mark Corbett: You know, that's, uh, it's one of the best things I enjoy when I do work at the Tampa Baseball Museum.

[00:29:23] Obviously, it's a completely different thing, but the people come in and they share the stories. Some of them knew certain players, and you hear something and you just think, oh my gosh. I never, I never would've thought they were like that, or, or they did what? Oh my gosh. You know, there's, there's all those little things.

[00:29:39] Oh, they had that difficult in school. But the thing of it is there are so, so many stories and I think when you're showing, especially I think you and I having had kids, you still have young ones.

[00:29:50] You know, you're always looking at story to share stories and to tell and give them a big picture and saying. Yes, there is value here. [00:30:00] Yes, there are things that have changed, but there's a path that sometimes you've gotta watch yourself on as well. And I, I think that you've done that but telling the whole story, , you hit it on the money.

[00:30:13] Mat Germain: Yep, exactly. Simple as that. Really. And it is simple when you sell it that way, it's, it's almost an easy sell. It's like, why wouldn't we be keeping these people in? So in terms of the how you vote people into the Hall of Fame, I, I think it needs to be revamped completely and it needs to have five aspects in my opinion.

[00:30:37] And the one that needs to be added is the fans. One person, one vote, you know on if you want to pick a day. I don't care. People go and vote and that percentage, you know, gets somehow rigged up to represent one vote or not, you know, yada, yada, yada. And, and [00:31:00] so there has to be a fan input, there has to be a managerial input, there has to be a front office input, and then there has to be the writer's input.

[00:31:11] To me, it has to be better balanced to represent. The people that will go and enjoy the Hall of Fame. 

[00:31:18] Mark Corbett: Well put.

[00:31:22] So one of the good things that came of, uh, making Pete eligible, they more made more than just Pete eligible. I mean, shoeless, Joe Jackson is now eligible, you know, he's, he's no longer, uh, blocked out completely from, uh, Cooperstown. So, and, and the thing to remember too about Cooperstown. It wasn't as if when you went there you wouldn't find out anything about Pete Rose.

[00:31:47] There's displays there and such. We're talking about the inevitability of him probably getting a plaque, but I still like the idea of, I, I, I should find the phrase Mat , [00:32:00] something about he's no longer, no longer a threat to the game, but the kind of activity that's a threat. I thought, good Lord, I don't think anybody's a threat https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-ineligibility-status-after-death-decision.

[00:32:09] But anyway, what do I know? Oh brother. So glad to see, uh, shoeless Joes there. However you may feel about the Hall of Fame like me, uh, I am glad those people who are in there won there. I don't like the idea of the stress. Some of the things you're talking about. Which ballot, ballot did you come in on this time, et cetera.

[00:32:27] It's like, you know, the whole thing with, with Jeter and, and one guy wasn't gonna vote for Jeter.

[00:32:32] Mat Germain: It's, I just, I have no time for it. You know what, one thing that I think might help on that front and that a lot of, uh, voting things do, and especially like my, my girls do dance, so when they do judging, they take off the top score and they take off the bottom score.

[00:32:50] And then they look at the average of the rest. Hmm. So if you took off, let's say 10% of the top, 10% of the bottom, you just look at the middle, [00:33:00] you probably would get a more sensible outcome. More. 

[00:33:04] Mark Corbett: That's, that makes, that makes plenty of sense. I love that, man. I mean, you, you get rid of all the crazy variables, whether somebody's so beyond talent or somebody's like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.

[00:33:17] I love it, 

[00:33:18] Mat Germain: my friend. This whole thing about limiting how many guys they can have on a ballot. If you think there's 15 Hall of Famers, put 15 names. Yeah. You don't need to limit it. So, 

[00:33:27] Mark Corbett: no, and I, I, and I never was too upset if they didn't have somebody that year, but it seems like there's so many, why, why couldn't you find somebody?

[00:33:35] But, so, uh, we're talking about the Rays, man, get getting back without it. Geez, I've watched the game last night. Well, I told Justin Longboat key, so I was actually watching on my phone, uh, play by play, what? You know, I remember watching the little balls going across the screen saying, okay, okay, and now it's getting to, what was it, maybe the eighth [00:34:00] inning.

[00:34:00] And, and things really started to, well, I'll let you set it up. Because I know, I, I could tell you what I saw fall apart. 

[00:34:10] Mat Germain: Well, you set up, I mean, there's, there's, I think they were talking on the broadcast about scouting reports, right? Mm-hmm. And it was sort of blaming those, but really when I saw the setup, you were supposed to go Lowe and outside.

[00:34:25] It ended up Lowe and inside, and you just don't do that against the left hander. Especially in, in, you know, in that stadium where the ball just flies over that fence. So. The mistake was made, the Rays gave up what they had in terms of a lead and, and then it ended up being where they had runners on the corners.

[00:34:44] The Rays did trying, you know, they were down by one and they had, this is what I took out of it. They had the chance to pinch hit for. , Chandler Simpson. 

[00:34:56] Kevin Cash did not, he trusted Chandler [00:35:00] Simpson with one out runners on the corners and said, go get 'em. And, and it's the second time, I think in the last week that Chandler's come up big in late innings and started something, or continued something.

[00:35:13] And I think there's growth in there that is, and he's pumped, he's energized. He's getting the guys riled up on the bench. That energy I haven't seen since Randy a Rosana and Brett Phillips were perusing, you know, the, the benches. So the, it's nice to see that kind of energy. And when Jade Mangum was there, he was also igniting to Rays a lot like that.

[00:35:36] With that, you know, with that passion in that everybody was in there and. And giving it. So, uh, to me, that moment for Chandler Simpson, even though it was a simple single up the middle, it was huge because it galvanized the Rays. And then you had another young ray player come up behind him and eventually, and, and junior ca arrow and hit a grand slam.

[00:35:57] And, and I mean, there's just, there are moments [00:36:00] in the season that you find, like we, we have a sports station in Canada called TSN and they always say the turning point, right? The TSN turning point. And to me this. Series of games where the Rays have been able to hang around by winning some tight games when they can, by fighting through series, even though they've been swept of series before.

[00:36:21] All this hanging around is making them a very dangerous team because they have help coming. They have Josh Lowe and aaa, now he's on the verge of coming back. They have shame at Chan working through some tricep soreness, but the doctors say he's fine. So eventually he will come out. Uh, Boyle was, was pitching again in Triple A and he again had a shutout.

[00:36:44] I let it go in the fourth, I think, and, and he had another shutout going. There's a lot of ammunition the Ray are going to have coming through, and they're young guys like Carson Williams and Trey Morgan. I. Are getting more experience in aa. So all of a sudden when they're gonna have be forced to make [00:37:00] decisions and Jake Mangum and Josh Lowe come back, they're gonna have assets to trade.

[00:37:04] Yeah. And if we know anything about the Rays, as generally speaking, they're able to add value where they need it, I think they're gonna need some help in the pen. There's some pen guys that are looking a little bit, uh, weary. And, and Hunter Biggie ended up on the, on the il there's a couple of other guys.

[00:37:22] So you know when you're able to beat a team like the Jays with by scoring 11 runs and I think they're up again tonight. One, nothing. The last time I checked, you know that those are huge series 'cause you're not seeing those teams as often as you used to and, and so you're forced to kind of capitalize while you.

[00:37:42] Face them, whether it's early in the season or late in the season. So all this, you know, joy that the young players are bringing in, um, I think it's nice to see, and the Ray fans, I know they're, they're still waiting for the Yandy Diaz and Brendan Lowe trades, [00:38:00] but, um, I, I think there's a lot to cheer about when it comes to the Rays.

[00:38:05] And if ever they can sort out a few of the. Kinks, like Christopher Morel was an example. Mark and I, if I can talk about him for a minute. 

[00:38:14] Mark Corbett: Yes. 

[00:38:15] Mat Germain: I kind of, uh, I'm trying to make sense of what he's doing and I, and why the Rays haven't been able to draw the best parts of him out so well, when I did some research on him.

[00:38:27] Um, the way that it breaks down, and you always wanna look at the wide array of, of tools, right? But he ranks eighth in terms of barrel percentage and major league baseball. So when you look at the list of players on there, um, you know, in front of him there's Aaron, judge Shhe, O'Neal, Cruz, Kyle Rally, uh, Luis to Kyle, uh, Stowers, and uh, Ben Rice.

[00:38:51] So he's right behind all of them. That's a pretty good company to be a part of, right? 

[00:38:55] Yeah. 

[00:38:56] Mat Germain: Then you're looking at that and you're like, there's a high hit percentage, [00:39:00] um, he's supposed to be hitting for a high average. Um, you look at some other, the peripherals and he has a 0.364 batting average on balls in play.

[00:39:09] When he is hitting it in play, it's going places and it's able to, be productive. Uh, and then he's also in the top 25 in terms of bad speed. So he's got the bad speed. He's making, uh, a lot of barrels when he hits the ball. The problem is that he's not doing that consistently enough, so he's got a 16% swing percentage.

[00:39:29] So first of all, he's not swinging enough. He's watching a lot of strikes and being, you know, called out on strikes. So he is gotta be a little bit more aggressive in terms of. You know, swinging more often. Right? The other one is that he's, he's just striking out too often. So one of the biggest drops in his, um, year to year when you're looking at the comparison of what's dropped and what's gone up.

[00:39:53] So his, his inside the zone percentage of swings has gone up [00:40:00] and he's making contact more often on those. That's great. That's what you want, right? That's that. That's a good sign. That means he's seeing the ball well, and he's walking 10% of the time. So between those two things, you're like, okay, well that's productive.

[00:40:12] So what's the problem? Yeah. Well, it's, it's. It's, uh, pitches outside the zone. So he's only making contact when he is swinging on pitches outside the zone. He's only making contact on them 28% of the time, whereas in the past he's been up to 47, 41 40 6%. So that's a 72% swinging and miss rate on pitches that he's swinging at outside the zone.

[00:40:37] Mm-hmm. 

[00:40:38] Mat Germain: That is not. Productive. That is why Christopher Morel is having a hard time. I don't know if it's a Mat er of not swinging at those outside pitches, or do you remember like some, some guys will shift their position in the box. They'll go forward, they'll go back, they'll go, you know, in one of the four directions to either give [00:41:00] themselves more time to see the ball or less time so that they're swinging at a different.

[00:41:03] Spot of where the ball is. Mm-hmm. I'm wondering if Christopher Morel might benefit from being closer to the pitcher so that the ball has less of a chance to break before he actually, , something like that. Yeah. They need to tweak something, to try to, 'cause he, he's got all the tools, he's got the patience, he's got the swing, he's got the power.

[00:41:25] So it just seems to be missing that one ingredient that just lights it up. So I, I'm, I'm gonna keep monitoring it. I'll, I'll see if it, uh, if it changes in the right direction between now and the All-Star break. 'cause he's fighting for that spot. And the other thing I'll add with Christopher Morrell, he's got one of the top 20 arm strengths of all outfielders, major League baseball.

[00:41:46] So, you know, it's nice to have in, in outfield to have that guy that can gun people out and keep them honest on the basis. So if that bat gets going to be as productive as it should be, he should be a 200 ISO and above [00:42:00] easy. He's sitting at 1 41 right now. 

[00:42:01] Mark Corbett: Mm-hmm. 

[00:42:02] Mat Germain: Like, there's no need for that. 

[00:42:05] Mark Corbett: Yeah. I, I really hope that he's able to pull that together. I, it's make, making me think of a couple things. One, to talk about a couple of guests coming back, like Josh. And pardon me, who's, who's still gonna be here? Who's not? And with Morrell talking about where he is willing to go as far as hitting outside of the zone, and I don't wanna necessarily cover this tonight, but we know that the peripheral area outside of the zone, it's kind of been subtracted.

[00:42:33] It's tighter, so it's a little, a little closer to that rectangle than before. So something that could have been iffy is not so iffy anymore. It's gotta be as close to that. It zone is possible. And I wonder how players are reacting to that with their own swings. I don't know. That's a good may. Maybe I'll do some homework and I get a little bit more, uh, on it, but it's, I I know it's gotta be impacted how some of these guys think suddenly they're [00:43:00] saying, well, what that was, that was a ball last time.

[00:43:02] What, why did it evolve this time? But strike Really, okay. Well, well it was last week. Yeah, that's changed and. And we'll see. You know how, oh, you were talking about another couple of the other players and you brought up, uh, Mangum. 

[00:43:18] Mm-hmm. 

[00:43:19] Mark Corbett: Now I was looking at speeds, and you look across the league speed from fir no from home plate to first.

[00:43:28] And you, you know this, I know you know this. I was saying anyway. My gosh. Now that's Chandler Simpson. Yeah. And he is the fastest, but. The third fastest is Jake Mangum, and I'm thinking, my gosh, that is such a cool thing to have on your team. So base stealing. Also, you will come in with a lot of that as well.

[00:43:53] And I love a team that does a lot of good base stealing. 

[00:43:57] Mat Germain: So you're bringing up a good point where you have [00:44:00] right now, like in the outfield when you're looking at, you know who's gonna be out there? You have Chandler Simpson, you have Kameron Misner, you have Jake Mangum, you have, uh, Josh Lowe, you have Christopher Morel, you have Johnny DeLuca, you have, uh, Richie Palacios coming.

[00:44:14] Like you're, you're up to seven guys before you even consider, you know, who may move on or off. And then you're like, uh. There's going to have to be like Christopher Morel can cover second, I'm pretty sure. So in that case, you can send down Curtis Mead, who still has an option and create some room with those way, uh, that way.

[00:44:32] Richie Palacios also plays second on occasion if he needs to. So that's where the pressures begins on. Josh Lowe Diaz, who's tradable for who isn't the draft is coming up as well. So what are you able to do and package together for teams that are needy? You know, there's. There's gonna to be some moves coming up, I think in the end of May, uh, for de Rays because of who's coming back.

[00:44:56] Mark Corbett: I'm curious to Walsey, I mean, I'm looking [00:45:00] there. Taylor Walls, I think it's about a week ago or so, and I saw that he had four hits at five at bats, and I thought, who is this man? Come and stay buddy. Come and stay. 

[00:45:13] Mat Germain: And, and I'll, I'll tip my hat to him that he's playing hard. You can tell like he's, he's playing with passion.

[00:45:18] He, he's taking every at bat seriously. He's intense in every at bat. Like, that's what you want to see, and that's how he has to play. I think for, uh, too long he was trying to be calm and, and kind of zen. And, and it wasn't pro producing what he wanted to produce. 

[00:45:34] Yeah. So 

[00:45:35] Mat Germain: I like the electrified version of, of Taylor Walls and to be more amped and more intense.

[00:45:41] Um, so I don't know if he's taking testosterone. Something is, is changed in May. And, and you know what, I'll tip my cap to him. I think he's earning it and hopefully it's, it keeps up. 

[00:45:52] Mark Corbett: I'm glad to see that too. 'cause it's, you see somebody come in and you're hopeful, you see some great things and, and then suddenly you [00:46:00] see it's not there, it's falling away.

[00:46:02] I say, oh my gosh, they're going to, we're either gonna send you down to aa, we're gonna trade you. We'll find something else for you, but it ain't gonna be here. And because of all the talent that the Rays have right now. You gotta fight for it every day. 

[00:46:17] Mat Germain: Yeah. The Rays have a lot more potential than people are giving them credit for.

[00:46:21] That's all. I'll say. All of their a affiliates, like are, they're, they're improving. I think the, the bowls are 11 games above 500. The majority of them are three or four games above 500. The SCLs only lost one game out of seven. Like they're, they're. There's a lot of talent and, and a lot of them that were started sLowe because of injuries.

[00:46:44] I think the Charleston River Dogs right now are, are only two games under 500. They had started the year zero and six. Like they were really, really sLowe starting because of who they, they had like three stars that were, uh, starting on il, so. [00:47:00] It'll be interesting to see how they handle the trade deadline because the Rays have a lot of ammunition that they could use and spin around.

[00:47:09] At will. Uh, I don't know how aggressive they'll want to get, but if they're hanging around, they feel like other teams are lagging because, you know, the suspect pitching depth, uh, the suspect line up with the blue jays, the, this, the, that, the other thing, like they could decide this is the year where we want to try to capitalize.

[00:47:28] If they hang around long enough, it'd be interesting. 

[00:47:32] Mark Corbett: I know, I'm keep hoping that the pen is going to be strong and stronger. Uh, like just looking at my phone, seeing you said it, and then seeing Fairbanks the other night and I said, oh my gosh, Pete, come on, my friend. Come on. And you know, I'm just looking at it on the phone and I'm like, what the heck is going on?

[00:47:51] And I thought, we're going to give this damn game back to the Jays and. They didn't, we, the boys stayed and worked hard [00:48:00] and 

[00:48:01] Mat Germain: Wow. So what do you think about Shane McClanahan's return? Like the whole tricep soreness thing? 

[00:48:07] Yeah. 

[00:48:07] Mat Germain: And, and, and the two Tommy Johns like. Is there, is there a, a thought process where maybe you bring, bring him in, in a, to an stint just for this year and, and you, you kind of have him take on Mason Montgomery's role and then put Mason Montgomery as a closer because like you, Pete Fairbanks is, is not giving me the warm and fuzzies when pitching and I don't know, like it's not cool.

[00:48:35] Right. It's warm, it's hot. Like that was the whole premise last year and the year before where he had a nerve issue and it was cold and there's no excuses. Now it's not an air conditioning dome. So, uh, yeah, there's work to be done in the pen, but they have really interesting arms in aaa, including Cole Wilcox, who they, they shifted over to the pen and he is been doing really good as a, as a [00:49:00] reliever as well.

[00:49:00] Uh, but the big one is, um. Oh God, what's his name? Evan. Oh my god, I forgot his last name. I can't believe that's happened. Uh, anyways, he, he's just, he's a, he is a swing and Ms. Guy. Yeah. And he's very, very, very, very strong. Um, and they got him back from the rule five 'cause somebody had plucked him and, and handed them back.

[00:49:24] He's somebody that, you know, if they ever add him on, I would be really curious to see, do you know how he handles Major League baseball? Uh, 'cause there's some. Fans that I talk to, uh, online on Blue Sky, that are just, they're huge fans of his and they've been screaming that the Rays have been mistreating them for two or three years 'cause they haven't been promoting 'em fast enough and they want to see 'em in the show.

[00:49:47] So, you know, it's fun to see that kind of passion and, and sometimes, you know, opportunities come up and you never know. 

[00:49:55] Mark Corbett: Well make sure you post it on Blue Sky as you see that evolve. I, I'd like to see how that fellas [00:50:00] coming along. That'd be great. Yep. 

[00:50:02] Mat Germain: Will do. 

[00:50:05] Mark Corbett: You know, I, I, there's two things, like I said, normally I don't talk about Hall of Fame.

[00:50:09] If we didn't have all this going on with Pete. I wouldn't talk about it now 'cause of the way I feel about the whole process. But the other thing that for, you know, last couple years and certainly the last few months was talking about the trop and where we're gonna be and all of that. And I'm still the mind, personally, I just really don't.

[00:50:27] Wanna talk much about it because it's just been up in the air so much. Mat , I still want a local team, and now I see this injury lawyer Morgan and Morgan and Morgan and Morgan, you know, saying yes. And hey, let's bring 'em to Orlando with Orlando Dreamers. They, I love the guy up front. They asked him, he said, well, why, why?

[00:50:46] Why are you wanting to do this Orlando? He says, are you like a big fan of baseball? Nope. Nope. Sell that money. Money make, make money. I said, well. Well, he's, he's honest. Scrooge, thank you for telling us up front. Uh, I, I don't really care so [00:51:00] much about baseball, but, oh gosh, man, this saga continues and I think I just wanna look in on it.

[00:51:07] I. I don't know about once every other month and find out what's going on with it because I, there's nothing I can do to control it. I mean, as fans, we can speak out, we can, we can say what we'd like to see. The whole ibor thing is gone, you know, that that development has changed. And, uh, I, I still like the idea you had of taking over George Stein Brenner field and fixing it up and making it.

[00:51:33] A great place for the Rays and, and a a have sitting that matches what attendance would make sense for, for this area. And to me, that's the best solution there is, but I don't know Brother, thoughts when they, 

[00:51:49] Mat Germain: when they retire, Evan Longoria right there. There'll be a banner. There'll be a something of sorts, right?

[00:51:56] Yeah. 

[00:51:56] Mat Germain: Uh, so where's that gonna go? [00:52:00] It's not gonna go back to the trop, right? They're gonna hang it in the outfield somewhere. As soon as you do that, you lay claim to that place forever. That's the way it works, Mark. There's no takebacks. There's no gimmies, it's it, it belongs to the Rays From that point onwards, the number three in the outfield of spine burn field will not be for Babe Ruth.

[00:52:24] It will be for Evan Longoria. That that's the way it's going to happen. I, I firmly believe that it, you know. You know, the art of the deal has to take place between Stu Sternberg and, uh, major League Baseball and the Yankees. It has to be done. Uh, I think it just makes too much sense. There's no way you can lose an affiliate.

[00:52:49] Um, you know, you, you can lose a major league baseball. As productive as Tampa could be, just because you're a [00:53:00] hell bent on having a Yankees affiliate on a field in that city. It just, it's ludicrous. If you put that in a book in the story, people would say, that's outlandish. They would never do this.

[00:53:10] They're smart business people. Well, it's being done like it's. So to me, hopefully everybody sees the light with everything going on this year and the fact that they're, you know, so far there's not been any hangups. You don't see players passing out, you don't see major rain outs that they're not able to make up.

[00:53:29] Um, so, you know, it's, it's going well. Now, do they wanna have this kind of schedule every year where they force the Rays into being home so much in the beginning and then so little in the middle and a lot at the end? I don't know. I don't know how flexible major league baseball is on that front and whether or not some owners will cry foul saying that it helps them because of X, Y, Z.

[00:53:52] Who knows? What they'll come up with, but there'll be some sort of, you know, crying about it somewhere. But I think [00:54:00] the Yankees have to have some sort of inkling as well that if they make their home in St. Petersburg, you know, the, the beach is there. Extremely nice. So you think that the major league players are gonna care about being at St.

[00:54:13] Pete? No, they're gonna love it. They're gonna say the peach is right there. I'm rehabbing. I get to what this is awesome. I don't understand now, they don't have to fight the two hour traffic to get to the beach. They're right there. Like there, there's a lot of pluses to it on both sides. Um, so I, I don't know, I, I don't listen to the news about the stadium because I just think like you, it, it's being, uh, tortured in back rooms that we do not want to sit in on 

[00:54:41] either 

[00:54:42] Mat Germain: because we'll be driven nuts if we were sitting there having to listen to the amount of nonsense going on.

[00:54:50] Um. But I do hope that it happens soon. I've said this for a lot, a lot of this year and last year and the year before. The fans deserve better. 

[00:54:58] Mark Corbett: Yeah. [00:55:00] Yeah, they do. My friend. Well, let's see here we are Wednesday, May 14th, and before we leave, I, I definitely wanna mention about Pete again because it is Pete Rose Day in Cincinnati.

[00:55:14] That's right. And did, did I mention this earlier? No, no, I didn't think so. And the funny thing about it being May the 14th is Pete's number, number 14, and they're giving away a jersey. But here's the favorite part. You see this jersey I'm wearing here? You do, but nobody else does. Chicago White socks dub Hope, but shoeless, Joe Jackson.

[00:55:41] Well, who are the Cincinnati Reds playing tonight in Cincinnati? Shoeless Joe's team, the White Sox. So here we are on May 14th, Pete Rose Day. The Cincinnati Reds play the White Sox 

[00:55:59] Mat Germain: and [00:56:00] baseball. God set that one up perfectly. That's amazing. 

[00:56:05] Mark Corbett: It, it's insane. Oh, and I got a nugget from Buddy man Josh today.

[00:56:09] Um, you know, because of being in Cincinnati, much like in Louisville, the whole thing with the, um. The Steamboats, you know, they go up and down the Ohio River and you've got these big smoke stacks on them. Well, in the Great American Park, they have the, the smoke stacks there as well. On the outside of it, he pointed out to me on top of them, as far as like where you usually have flute out the, uh, flute out the, uh, top of the stack.

[00:56:35] There are, uh, seven bets on each one of these stacks being part of that flute. Seven plus seven. So you've got the number 14. So they found a way to continue to honor Pete Rose, even though he wasn't supposed to be there. He was there. 

[00:56:55] Mat Germain: That takes a lot to read into. Wow. That's awesome. I love it. [00:57:00] God. 

[00:57:02] Mark Corbett: Oh, brother, I'm, I'm having more fun than I deserve.

[00:57:06] I don't know what the score is right now. Have you seen it lately? Three one Jays. Oh my gosh. Geez. Come on, guess 

[00:57:13] Mat Germain: Alejandro Kirk. Homer. I will say Josh Lowe hit a home run today for Durham, so that was nice to see. Um, so yeah, the razor are down by two, but they still have three innings left to go, so they've got a chance.

[00:57:25] Mark Corbett: That's right, that's right. Well, well I'll get it in and watch that. Mat , thanks again as always, brother. It's always a lot of fun chatting about the Rays and the rest of the game. 

[00:57:34] Mat Germain: Absolutely. 

[00:57:35] Mark Corbett: Anytime. All right. Well thank you all again for joining us here today and we look forward to talking with you again real soon.