PMS 2.0 1375 - LIVE From The Home Run Derby, Rob Manfred, CC Sabathia, Jett Passan, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani

This is the Sports Center 50-50 tour.

We will be landing in Atlanta, North King, Mr.

McAfee.

Next stop, the Home Run Derby.

Let's go!

We are live from beautiful Atlanta, Georgia, where all the bats are harder and hotter on Senator Georgia summer.

The Pat McAfee show is here and we're coming out soon.

Hey, what?

Let's go.

This show sticks.

And the fact that you listen, we are very, very thankful for it.

McAfee on the line with a gorgeous assist.

the green bay packers you pick

stop

stop

damn it can your friend tell their friends something nice could change their life

hello beautiful people and welcome to glorious atlanta georgia more specifically the coca-cola roxy theater here in the battery at truest park at the all-star game this program begins now

baseball

It's the Midsummer Classic, and we have somehow been invited to be a part of the entire operation.

We are so incredibly grateful and thankful for the MLB because the MLB had to really move mountains to get us here.

There's some people at ESPN who have hated us since the day we got to ESPN, who are trying to hold us back.

SVP Mike Foss turned over every single stone.

The MLB heard about our problems and they said, How can we help?

We would like you to experience the Midsummer Classic, the thing that captivates the world, and more specifically, the home run derby, where dongs are in abundance.

So shout out to the MLB.

We'll have the commissioner, Rob Manford, joining us in about 15 minutes.

Shout out to Mike Foss doing his thing.

Shout out to the production people that built this in the middle of the Roxy Theater.

Shout out to a man who was 28 years in the Army doing her audio and all the boys here.

It is going to be an absolute blast as we celebrate baseball in a world that we don't know necessarily everything about.

Now, not saying there's any world we know everything about, but this is certainly one that I am a little bit of a fish out of water, But learning about the great tradition and the history and the amount of stats and the amount of things that pop off every single night in the baseball world has been a blast.

We're off for a week.

We hope you all had a great one.

We certainly enjoyed the time, but it is magical to be back chit-chatting about sports, more specifically the sport of baseball.

The talks and tables here at Boston Connor and at Ty Schmidt.

Ty, you have the iBlack on in the entire

American League all-star uniform.

Feels like you really made the team last night whenever they gifted you all this.

Yeah, without a doubt.

I mean, this is, you know, this is a dream come true.

We were on the field last night just having a catch, you know.

I mean, just tossing the ball around.

I never thought, I've never been to an all-star game, never been to a derby, never really thought at this point I'd ever have the opportunity.

But man, that was just incredible.

You know, like, how often do you get to go to an MLB ballpark and have it be completely cleared out and then just be like, hey, you jackasses can kind of go have your pick of the litter, do whatever you want.

Now, I don't think they were too jacked up that we were on the field.

You know, we got the lights turned out on us a couple times.

A couple times, yeah.

But no, so far, I mean, this has been A1.

So, hats off to the MLB.

This has been literally a dream come true for me.

Shout out to the MLB being very kind to us.

And obviously, Ty, you and I might be a part of something a little bit later that's going to be absolutely ridiculous before the home run derby.

Cannot wait for that.

I will also be hosting the press conference that will be happening here at the Coca-Cola Roxy Theater, which is part of the battery here at Truis Park.

Truest Park, this is the third time that the All-Star game has been hosted in Atlanta.

First time at Truis Park.

We got the whole tour last night, clubhouses and everything.

And I'll say the American League Clubhouse.

They had the boom booms on.

The equipment managers and everybody that was in the American League Clubhouse last night, a lot more of a bop sesh last night in there.

National League super professional.

Yeah, very pristine.

Very, very professional, very pristine.

If you want to look into betting and has that changed anything, I don't know.

No players were here, but certainly equipment managers and everybody setting up this glorious event.

We're in there.

Everybody from the MLB has been so cool to us.

It's been nice to meet everybody and walking around their clubhouse with something special.

They got a lot of cleats.

A lot of stuff.

They got a lot of stuff.

A lot of stuff.

And obviously, I believe that is...

Yeah, it's Paul Skeens.

He's the starting pitcher for the National League.

Tonight, can our on Wednesday.

I cannot wait.

Boston Connors here.

You're wearing a hard hat there.

What do you have going on?

Just want to, you know, it's all about the players, and I get it.

It is the Derby.

You know, the coaches can't get out there and and compete in some kind of coach derby, but typically it's a first-base coach, third-base coach type of uniform.

However, this is actually the Future Star game.

I don't know what you guys did this week.

I actually played in the MLB Future Stars team.

Nice.

The Future Stars won because

they got to see.

Exactly.

They won too.

Because they got to see what you got.

I think the winning coach was Chipper Jones, I believe.

Yeah, Chipper was there.

If Chipper's in.

By the way.

He's winning.

Chipper Jones.

Chipper Jones.

Chipper Jones.

Chipper Jones.

We're in an empty theater, except for the people that have set this up.

If they can hear that outside of here, I would assume.

Got a chance to buy Chipper Jones dinner last night in Atlanta.

What an honor of a lifetime.

He looks so cool.

Obviously an absolute beast.

Best switch hitter.

Him or Mickey Manle, best switch hitter ever.

Okay, so since Mickey Mano, the best switch hitter of all time, and I think he would take a lot of respect to that after the story we heard about him hitting from both sides of the plate.

Big story tonight in a home run derby is Cal Rawley, also switch hitter, obviously the catcher for the seattle mariners leads the mlb and dingers friend of the show he has the nickname big dump he is the odds-on favorite and tonight it should be a spectacle uh we got a chance to see a lot of the things they have in store and obviously we've watched the home run derby for home because i'm an add guy so whether you're a baseball fan or not the home run derby is

you watch yes we're talking dongs on it

then somebody gets cold and it's like this guy sucks.

And then the pitcher starts missing the strike zone.

And it's like, this guy sucks.

There's drama.

There's little kids in the outfield trying to catch fly balls.

There's balls getting sent into orbit.

And inevitably, there's a story that we'll talk about forever, which is whoever wins this home run derby.

You look back on the great times.

Harper winning with his dad, how emotional that was.

You go through it, all the stories and the bumps.

But they do talk about a little bit of maybe a slump after the home run derby, which is why maybe some of the guys don't like to do it.

Cal Raleigh, MLB leader in home runs, doing the home run derby is a big deal, I think, for the home run derby, right?

Yeah, without a doubt.

I mean, he's, you know, had arguably the best first half, you know, or one of the best first halves in the history of baseball.

We'll see.

I mean, you hit 38 homers before the break, even if he does have a little slump.

Like, he's got breathing room, and he can still hit 60-plus homers.

So, but yeah, this is why, you know, like a lot of times we'll get some of these younger stars who maybe like the casual fan hasn't really heard of.

And, you know, you get kind of like the buzzwords, like, oh, his exit velocity or, you know, the amount of barrels he hits.

Like, he hits the ball really hard, swings really fast.

Cal Rowley is the current home run king in the MLB, and he's agreeing to do the derby.

It's awesome.

Yeah, it's a huge deal.

But I think there is, just like the dunk contest became and all these other things, I think people are worried about getting hurt or maybe using extra reps or maybe changing their swing for this, so it ruins the game.

And we know how little stitches baseball is.

Yeah, for sure.

So you add something into the middle of the season that's a little bit different than your regular routine.

Do you want to change anything?

We shall see.

Big Dumper ain't worried about nothing.

Can't wait to watch him and the boys tonight, including the cruise missile.

Let's go to one half of the hammer.

Done.

Cowboys, AP Tone.

I hope your break was good.

People said you're really tall on the internet.

With that being said, that was a tough situation.

Didn't have shoes.

You got Siciliano pretty bad.

Yeah.

Yeah, a group of 6'8 guys wanted to come up and take a photo.

Get out of that group.

That's gonna happen.

Get out of that corner.

People are like, why isn't he wearing shoes?

I was at the beach.

Who wears shoes at the beach?

Yeah, I agree.

We're having a real off time.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it.

People were calling you a short king, though.

They were.

From other short kings, I saw.

Yeah, there's Tone right there.

So you're saying that group of friends right there is 6'8 plus.

Yeah.

I mean, you know what I'm saying?

you stole the furthest away from the you siciliano'd yourself.

Yeah.

Birkenstocks ain't 6'8.

Listen, listen, we know that.

I was leaving.

Yeah, but he's closest to the camera.

He gets it.

I was leaving the beach with a three-year-old.

I just carried six chairs up to my truck in 95-degree heat.

I wasn't really thinking about anything except for, hey, let's get this beautiful picture and let's get back to the beach.

Yeah, nice to meet the boys.

I'm happy to see that that happened.

Good interaction.

I'm just saying a lot of people make it funny.

I don't like that.

Thanks for representing the program so well.

Don't embarrass the program, they said.

Some people were saying it was kind of embarrassing with how short you looked.

I don't think that's the case.

But next time, we'll obviously have a better read on it.

You obviously like to gambo on things.

We just saw a big dumper as the odds on favor for the home run derby.

Let's go to the all-star game as a whole.

There was an interesting stat there about the American league just belt to ass in this all-star game.

Yeah, AL has won 10 out of the last 11.

Now, the NL won two years ago, AL won last year.

So, the last two years it's been split, but the AL has been the more dominant of the side.

They are currently plus 115 to win the All-Star game on Tuesday night.

So if you like those odds, it's basically a pick them for which side you want to go with.

And then recently, the total, I believe, is seven and a half.

It has been a lower scoring game in the last four or five seasons just because, I mean, you got pitchers going one inning, giving their best stuff, and pitching normally Trump's hitting.

So in these games, it's normally a lower scoring game.

Nine-year NFL vet, Darius J.

Butler, you look so cool in that shot right there next to Diggs.

Obviously,

everybody's trying to figure out the, you look tall too, yeah.

Everybody is trying to figure out the all-star game, the Pro Bowl, the special.

You know, I think hockey had it good with the Four Nations.

I think they stumbled into something that's very beautiful.

Basketball changing it to World Cup.

Basketball is going to do the World Cup, I think, or whatever the case is.

World versus U.S.

Yeah, so it's like there is a lot of things that are hopefully getting right.

NFL Pro Bowl, I don't know what they, I don't know how you fix it.

I don't think so.

Flag football, I guess it's just a

carnival.

Yeah.

It's like a festival.

Shout out to T-Mobile, by the way.

Shout out to T-Mobile.

T-Mobile came in a big way.

It was like, you guys should do this.

Great service.

Thank you.

Great.

Great service.

And I was so happy about it.

Yeah, D-Bum put together a good graphic of what our actual life was driving down here.

And shout out to T-Mobile.

Shout out to Red Bull 2 for giving us wings.

But T-Mobile really stepped up in a big way.

Their shit's everywhere here.

So, like, there was no reason for them to have to do anything more for us, especially because we were a late addition.

Once again, because we were being held back by people saying we couldn't come here, who actually didn't know that we couldn't come here, who actually have no power.

And they think they do, and then they find out quickly that they don't.

Accurate.

Accurate.

That's kind of the breakdown of the entire situation.

Same story, second verse.

Actually, it's like the fifth verse.

The fifth, yeah, fifth.

At this point, and it's just different departments.

This one just so happened to be Baseball World.

And it's like, I don't know why you would act like that, but just know,

inevitably,

you're a dinosaur.

Okay?

And that's the way things go.

Let's move along.

But T-Mobile calling in and being like, hey, we want to help out however we can.

We can help.

It's like, thank you, T-Mobile.

And your color pink is dope.

Very, very, very dope.

But figuring out the all-star game, it feels like the the Midsummer Classic is just part of tradition now.

It's just part of folklore.

It's just part of past.

It is what baseball's pastime is: celebrating all the greats.

I don't know how the game is.

I guess they have to pitch because the balls have to be strikes, so you have to get out of the game.

But like the home run derby kicking it all off, what a spectacle.

What a beautiful spectacle.

You can't go wrong with home runs.

You mentioned the dunk contest earlier.

That was something we used to look forward to as kids for the all-star weekend.

Deep balls in football.

You always want to see deep balls.

And then, obviously, deep balls and baseball, the bombs.

We kind of grew up in that era where maybe not the balls, only the balls being juiced up.

So we saw a bunch of home runs every night.

So we got to get it.

We got everything being juiced up.

But I'm excited to see Cruz Mission.

Yeah.

Times of balls.

I didn't know what you're talking about.

You know what I'm talking about.

Actually, I think it's Trunkling.

I was going to say.

I mean, I wouldn't mind bringing that era back.

Well, I did pitch immediately upon meeting the three MLB people that I've been in correspondence with via email as soon as I saw them in person last night.

Just straight to the, when are you guys going to give it up?

And just say, let the boys juice.

And they're like, well, come on you know

he's like well we did it once

had a run

out the mlb people are electrifying that is what we have learned and we're very thankful for their hospitality the commissioner rob manford will join us in about four minutes or so let's chit-chat about some summer sports that are taking place around you know the sports globe i don't know if you saw it uh there's an ex hockey guy playing golf oh yeah we saw that was a big time sports moment this weekend now we have since learned that guy's face that got beat up had taken down a lot of booze.

Sure, 36 holes.

But what I'm saying is, if this is happening to you on a golf course, I think it's time to hang up the clubs.

36 holes, boozing all day, feeling good.

Obviously, liquid courage is a real deal.

Got to do some recon on who you're stepping up to here.

Ex-Goon, guy who played in multiple hockey levels, guy who has been no stranger to war, tosses his ass in the pond after telling him he's going to do it.

I'm going to throw you.

I'm going to throw you in this water.

You watch your mouth.

And this is a nice warning, once again, for everybody out there.

COVID got everybody comfortable.

Yeah.

Very.

He's coming back.

You throw me in water.

I'll believe you.

That's good.

Bang!

He says, bang!

Oh, you like that?

I'm doing my own soundtrack.

Then his friend, went down, watch that, get out of

bang,

bang, bang,

bang.

And he goes, I'm not done yet.

I just had my 30th beer.

You think you're tough, don't you?

I'm going to throw you once again in this pond.

You don't.

Sam!

First time, shout out to the Canadians, I guess.

First time that we have seen an internet video where everybody immediately goes, the guy who beat the guy's ass is right.

And then the guy who got his ass beat comes out and gives his speech, and we all go, all right,

we've had friends that are in that situation as well.

I'm happy the boys dropped the gloves.

One of them settled things.

And we've all moved forward thinking the right thing happened here.

Shout out to Cameraman, too.

Usually you're looking, you're like, hey, Cameron, you had one job.

For him to have that tight friend, because I had no clue who he was picking this fight with and then once big fella came into the frame what were you drinking to pick that fight with the biggest dude on the course but uh yeah that turned out exactly how it should have that might have been for loco nick out there you know nick's a little bit taller than that guy I also appreciate the fact that that guy got humble but you know every once in a while you need to get punched right in the mouth

and we COVID people got too comfortable that's where I was headed

Everybody got comfortable talking shit on people, social media.

Bam, bam, bam, we're locked in our houses, literally, nobody can see anybody.

And then everybody just thought that internet life carried into real life.

Like I can go ahead and fire this tweet off at this guy.

You want some?

You want some?

Come meet me.

And the guy's like, well, I'm actually here and this is real life.

And let me tell you what's going to happen in real life.

Bang, bang, bang.

I love everything about it.

Yeah, it's the best.

We had that string of videos from baseball games, actually.

And that was your big takeaway.

It's like, hey, guess what?

We're back out in public now.

You can't be bumping your gums.

And if you are bumping your gums, you have to understand that this guy might not be about it and he he might drop you like a bad habit real quick.

And baseball is no stranger to settling their differences in a fight as well, correct?

Which I actually respect.

They have a lot of hockey tools.

You know, baseball has a lot of the hockey past.

We need to monitor our own game, police, and govern our own sport.

They'll throw a fastball at somebody's jaw.

Yes.

And then everybody will run in and say, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, you won't do that to my teammate.

I respect that.

I appreciate that.

I like that that still exists in 2025.

Now, speaking of existing in 2025, almost maybe even thriving.

Now, granted, we talked about an era there where there's summer dongs.

Sure.

Airbus.

Oh, yeah.

Baseball donks.

And

I mean, every summer is potentially summer of Dongs.

Sure, correct.

But there is one summer of dongs where the dongs were in abundance.

But now it feels like after a lot has happened, a lot of transition, a lot of change, MLB is in a great spot.

Joining us now is a man who's been the commission of MLB for the last 10 years.

I believe he signed on through 2029.

2029, ladies and gentlemen, commissioner of MLB, Rob Manfrey.

Yeah, Commission!

Everybody, Commission!

Appreciate you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let me get this the hell out of your way here.

Okay, I'll put this down.

Put this down here.

Put this mat boy off.

Do it, Commission.

Great, thanks.

Nailed it.

No problem.

I'll put this over your shoulder, too.

Super professional.

Super professional.

There you go.

Commission, hey, thank you for letting us be here.

Thank you for being here.

We're just thrilled to have all of you.

And I hope you have a good time while you're here.

It's actually a great four days and

the best we have to offer in a lot of ways.

Okay, so let's talk about that.

Getting a chance to meet your people, okay?

And

the three guys, Chuck, oh,

I don't want to get to name.

I got last names and first names from the Zoom calls and the emails.

I don't want to mess it up.

There's been three lads from your team that have been here for like 30 years each that have taken care of us and made sure that we have a great time so hospitable which leads to this question feels like your guys' league as internet people was a league that didn't want to see the internet become a big baseball place i only say that because cease and desists were happening there wasn't a lot of videos being distributed there wasn't a lot of interviews with players it almost felt like the mlb did not want the internet to kind of do their thing then over the last few years it feels like and this has had to be a decision that you have made and people that have been around here a long time transitioned to maybe into the most open uh league whenever it comes to the internet and digital.

Obviously signing John Boy, obviously with how welcoming you've been to us, what went into that decision?

And do you believe, like we believe, that that is a great thing for the MLB?

Well, you know, it absolutely is a great thing for Major League Baseball, 100%.

Ironically, in the early years, we were

very forward-thinking on internet delivery.

You know, MLB.tv was the first over-the-top product.

The problem is,

we got into this thing where we thought we could drive everything to our platforms.

Got it.

Okay.

So then when I became commissioner, you know, I came up a different side of the business.

Some of the people you were referring to came to me and said, you know, we got this wrong.

You know, we're just in the wrong place.

We're trying to drive everybody here.

The right strategy is to make sure we are where the people are.

You got to go where people are going.

And that shift has been a really good thing for us.

A really good thing for us.

We've enjoyed the hell out of it.

We've enjoyed covering it.

And obviously, you know this now because you guys have leaned into it and your crew has.

It's like a lot of things are clips.

Like our show is a clip show to some people where they just see clips.

And it doesn't matter if it's just the clips.

At least they're seeing our product.

I like to see that you guys are doing the same thing with the MLB.

Now, another question.

The rules changes that have taken place.

I talked to Bettman a little bit, and whenever they had the lockout, I think the NHL had the lockout, they changed the rules and made a different game coming out of the lockout.

They have obviously prospered since then.

For you guys, it seems like you guys have tinkered with the rules, whether it's the pitch clock or some other things.

No game is too long.

It feels like it's all consumable.

Is that ongoing?

Is that at a point where you figured it out?

Like, and when does the decision go to let's try to make our game more suitable for the modern times?

Well, look, when you get to the point that you think you have it figured out, you better retire because they need a different guy.

Just, I mean, 100%, I'm going to tell you that.

We're always trying trying to fix this.

Yeah, yeah, I got it.

I respect it.

I mean, look, we feel like we made a set of really fundamental changes.

You know, the institution of the clock, the elimination of the shift, the bigger bases,

they were really...

two themes behind it.

Number one, we listened to our fans.

Our fans were saying the game's too long, there's not enough action, and

we worked to address that.

The second thing is all of the changes were directed at athleticism.

You know, when you can take your defenders and move them around wherever you want on the field, that player doesn't need to be as athletic as if he has to stay in position.

And, you know, you saw it last night in a draft.

I had my little seven-year-old grandson was with me.

He's sitting in the front row.

He sits through like 24 picks.

So I saw him this morning.

He says,

why did they only pick shortstops?

I said, well, they picked shortstops because it's the best athlete, right?

And that's important.

And we need to continue to look at the game,

listen to what our fans are saying, and you know, I'm not looking to discard the history and tradition.

I am looking to make adjustments to make sure we stay relevant.

How long have you been with the MLB?

I came inside in 1998 and I was an outside lawyer for 10 years before that.

I'm old.

Okay, so 37 years, roughly with the

league.

With the league.

First of all, thank you for your commitment to sport and commitment to league.

I said that to a lot of people.

I think the equipment manager for the AL is 49 years or something like that.

And then the equipment manager for the NL is the braves guy.

I think it's like 30-some years.

It's like everybody we've met has a lot of like

skin in the game here at the MLB for a long time.

With that being said, I have to bring something up.

Okay.

Because I attacked it pretty good.

When you get caught on a conversation

by somebody recording here, you're over here and you call it a piece of metal or whatever.

Okay, listen, I thought you got screwed there because you're getting recorded whenever you don't know it.

But do you think like that and other things have led to a stain about how people view you?

Just strictly, let me tell you why.

Me working with you and your people these last two weeks,

you might have the greatest group around you out of all the leagues.

Legitimately, you might have all the greatest group around you.

And obviously you were the one in charge of them.

But at that moment, it was hard not to just be like, what is this guy?

Did you learn anything from that moment?

And did that moment deep down piss you off?

Because it's like, how am I getting outed by people that are supposed to be my team there?

Look, I think if you got one chance to turn the clock back and undo something,

that would probably be

the thing that I would undo.

I did learn a couple of things from it.

Number one, you know, I'm a lawyer by training.

You know, you say things to defend a position.

In this case, it was what we had decided to do with respect to the Astros and that whole situation.

You say things to defend your decision, and one of the things I've learned, you know, at some point, you put your decision out there and let people think what they think and you're better off.

You know, you really are better off because the guy who thinks you're wrong, the chances you're turning him around ain't that good.

Especially in the Astros.

Just not that good.

And so, yeah, I really did learn something from it.

I think it made me better

at the job as time has gone on.

But you know, one of the great things about this job is you learn something every day.

and I think one of the reasons that you've had a positive experience with the people that work in baseball is I do think as an organization,

even though we have the reputation of history and tradition, I do think the organization looks at the game every day and says, what should we be doing to make sure we're better?

Well, I believe it.

And just from what I've experienced, and I want to let you know, we were a part of that whole thing coming after you.

I appreciate you addressing it, but I also appreciate you sitting in that batter's box, pun intended, and just continuing to go about it.

Because you're in the fire, brother.

You were in the fire.

Ty Schmidt, lifelong fan, also an AOL star this year.

Yeah, absolutely.

In respect to the salary cap debate, how likely do you think that will be in the next, I mean, I don't know, 10 years?

Because I think as a Yankees fan, and we've talked about this a bunch, like, I know there will be a floor, so teams will have to spend to that, but I've never liked how, you know, like teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Mets will get punished because their owners are willing to go spend money to bring town in.

Where these guys are from Pittsburgh and it's like we're miserable.

Yeah, exactly.

They just they're okay with not spending money and hoping that their farm system and the guys they draft will be good enough to kind of take them to the next level.

So, yeah, just where do you see that going?

Yeah, so here's what I think about that.

You know, we begin on every issue by listening to our fans.

I think it is undeniable.

If you're denying it, you're not being honest, honest, that we have fans in markets who believe they don't have a fair opportunity to win compete.

Yeah, that's one of them right there.

Yeah, and you know,

you can blame the owner, whatever.

It's the system.

It is the system that produces that.

And at the end of the day, what we sell is competition.

And so anything that undermines competition, which I believe the issue you're raising does, sooner or later we're going to have to come to grips with that issue.

100%.

You know what?

I'm looking at his jersey.

You know, I got to tell you, we did a custom one for you, Pet, just to show that we watch.

Yeah.

Okay.

This is hilarious.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

That is awesome.

We thought it would increase the likelihood you would wear it.

Hold on, though.

To follow up on his question, and

it's real.

Like, I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, we had the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They've won multiple multiple back-to-back Stanley Cups.

Pittsburgh Steelers, obviously, you might as well just...

Crab Della, crap.

They've been season tickets for that like 30 years in holding.

You know what I mean?

So, like, the Pirates being a team, how many interviews you've done with a shirtless man?

Not that many.

Yeah, not that many.

Okay, well, maybe this would be the last one.

Maybe it would just be an annual tradition.

But the.

Oh, now that looks good.

Yeah, it did.

I mean, that really looks good.

It looks pretty good, too.

I should have.

I still handle that.

We're breaking chains on the street.

Yeah, I agree, boss.

I appreciate you.

When I grew up in Pittsburgh, though, I wasn't the biggest baseball fan strictly because I wasn't a Pirates fan.

And the reason why I wasn't a Pirates fan is because the Pirates were just a team that you go down to the ballpark and have a good time.

You never expected them to actually win.

And it's like, I think at this stage, especially with the sell-the-team chance and everything, you say it's the system's fault.

It's like it'd be good for the league for every team to be competitive, right?

Is that what you're selling is whenever it's like we're trying to get that?

100%.

For the good of the game, brother.

Because I think I would have been a good baseball fan and probably player.

Would have been a good player.

But just stayed away from it strictly because my dad was like, nope, we're not doing it and we're not getting into it because of the Pirates' experience.

Not saying it's just the Pirates.

There's other teams that feel this way as well.

But it is, it's good for the sport, I think, right?

Oh, you're right on the money, Pat.

I mean, exactly right.

The fact of the matter is, Pittsburgh's a great sports town.

Great.

It is a great sports town.

There are tons and tons of really passionate Pirates fans who

remember when the Pirates were a great, great team year-year in, year out.

And they just want to look at the system and say, we got a fair chance to win when you're sitting around in February looking at spring training and what the year is going to be like.

And we need to deal with that issue.

Okay, well, we appreciate you.

We assume you will for the good of all Jensers.

Now, speaking of the Pirates, we got the guy.

We got the starting pitcher.

Okay, Paul Skeens.

Paul Skeens, we love him.

He played for the Indians in Indianapolis.

Obviously, we watched his run in Omaha with LSU.

He's been very cool to us.

We're very appreciative of him.

I saw him miss a football throw for a million bucks at my big night out.

He told me he slept soundly because, too, sorry, because I didn't have to give away another million bucks.

So I like the cut of his gym.

But it's not just Paul.

I see, obviously, there's an entire slew of international media right now.

I assume that's Japanese media, but I don't want to get too

you get.

I think that's Japanese media

lining up around Shohei.

Aaron Judge is hitting absolute bombs.

You got Big Dumper, Kyle Raleigh playing great.

It feels like your stars are all playing great.

How good is that for the MLB and sports as a whole?

Look, we feel like we have great momentum right now.

The rule changes helped.

We're three years into them.

They appear to be durable.

You know, when you make a change, you want it to last, right?

They appear to be durable, but you throw on top of that the influx of talent that we've had into the game.

You know,

Paul's game is a great example.

I mean, nobody

really knows about him, and then all of a sudden in one year, he's the guy.

Aaron Judge, Shohay.

Screwball too, sorry.

Yeah, I mean, another great example.

And I'll tell you, you think it's crazy here.

Our opener in Japan.

That was fun to watch, dude.

I mean, it was unbelievable.

I mean, unbelievable.

Hey, are you guys selling ads to Japanese companies?

Oh, yeah.

Our Japanese business, we had a reception before game one, and it was our sponsorship group.

So I thought, you know, I'm going to this party.

I want to see the usual suspects, you know, our American sponsors.

25 Japanese companies.

Completely separate slate

of companies.

And, you know, our individual teams have taken advantage of it.

The Dodgers, clearly, and, you know, the Cubs went with the Dodgers in that trip, and it was great for their program.

Friend of the program.

You know, that's that's true you know and it's important to say that it's not just one guy.

Yes, I agree.

Exactly.

It's a group of guys that have come here and made a difference.

We're lucky.

We got great players.

We got some of our very best in big markets and as a result our attendance and our ratings are really good.

Commissioners always hated by their crew.

Bettman even had the best year that they've had.

He got his ass booed at the draft.

Roger Goodell, I think he's having a little bit of a babyface turn.

I think he's having a little bit of a babyface turn.

Still got to to go out there with firefighters and the military.

Still got to do that.

How do you handle that as a human?

Because you know you have to make decisions and you have to be the face of decisions and people are going to hate it.

Everybody will say you get paid well, obviously, but you're still a human in there.

You're a lawyer, but I assume you're a human in there.

I haven't practiced in a really long time.

I'll tell you, anybody who tells you it doesn't bother them is lying to you.

I mean, just 100%.

Nobody likes getting booed.

But, you know, you do learn to manage it.

I mean, even last night during the draft, you come out, you try to smile at the people that are booed.

Yeah, they're going to boo you.

You know, they're going to boo no matter what.

You come out, you smile and you go on.

And, you know, I do think that the biggest thing to think about is to convince the majority of the fans that you care about what you're putting out there in front of them for us, you know, 186 days,

so many hundred and sixty-two game season.

So many.

It's unbelievable.

Deborah has a question.

Yeah, what's the biggest, I guess, common misconception on the commissioner's job, what you guys do?

And then I guess the second part of that question is there, we talk about the new rules and speeding up the game.

Is there any old school MLB rules you'll bring back?

Yeah, maybe like a boxing glove for when they want to fight.

Yeah, more fighting.

You know,

I have to tell you, your second question may be the hardest question anybody's asked me in a really long time.

And I'll tell you why.

We are really forward focused.

And having said that, all of the rule changes that we put in three years ago,

our kind of theme internally is let's put back out there the best form of baseball, right?

Let's bring back the stolen base.

Let's bring back the athletic middle infielders.

Let's bring back the ball and play, not just relying on a home run.

So in a really kind of weird way, we were looking backwards too.

You know, we wanted to get back to our best.

I think the piece of the commissioner's job that people completely ignore is the internal piece.

And it gets back to what Pat was talking about with our organization.

You know, people focus, there's the guy, you know, he's running the sport.

The fact of the matter is our sport

gets run by 1,200 hardworking people that are in that office in New York every single single day, and it's really hard to get it right.

Everybody thinks, you know, oh God, everyone wants to work in a sport, baseball, football, whatever your sport is.

Absolutely.

But it's harder than you think to get your organization right.

Well, your culture is seemingly great from everybody that we have met.

So congratulations on that.

Not easy as a leader.

I know you want to defer to other people, but there's somebody that has to guide the culture.

You're doing a great job, I think.

Tone, Pittsburgh Pirates fan, loves your league.

Has a question for us.

I do.

Yeah, you talked about forward thinking.

The robot umpires, the auto-strike cell, which is going to be used used tomorrow night, I believe, is probably some of the most forward-thinking thing that's come across.

Obviously, umpires in the strike zone, the strike zone changing every game, like it's something that's just been a part of baseball forever.

Where are we at on that?

And do you think that would be the most forward-thinking role that you guys have done?

Yeah, look.

I'm going to object to one piece of your question.

Sure.

I never call the automated strike zone system

robot umpires, because one of the things we really do want to preserve is the role of the umpire in the game.

And you know, the way the system is designed, he gets the call, he makes the call just like he does today.

In order to, that's his role, you know, that's what he's doing out there.

Number one, number two, technology off the charts, good.

I mean, we started 10 years ago, you know, it was two inches, that it was the margin of error.

Now it's like a hundredth of an inch.

I mean, it's unbelievably good.

And so here's the funny thing.

You know, I have a very, we're not not going to get into exactly what it is, but I do have a transparent email, and it's on purpose.

I like to hear from people who figure it out, just regular fans.

And I do, now there's filters for bad language

words.

I want to kill you does not get through.

I wish I had that filter on my mention too.

But here's the thing.

You know, we put it out there in spring training.

You know, obviously a lot of people go to spring training.

It's a really great time of the year for us.

So this year, the emails about bad balls and strike calls have gone like this, up crazy, because they've now seen

you can do it better.

And the sort of theme of the emails is, what the hell are you waiting for?

I got it.

You know, you ought to go.

And then there's this, too, right?

The reviews, challenge.

Challenges, which is not in regular season yet, right?

Right.

We're going to use it tonight.

It's been used in.

in the minor leagues for several years and we tested it with big league guys in spring training last year.

We're in a process directed at bringing it to the big leagues next year.

The great thing about it that we didn't fully understand,

you know, the rendition on the board afterwards is like a fan-friendly.

Yeah, like tennis.

Tennis.

The Hawkeye technology when it's coming in.

Yeah, you know, I mean, it's weird.

I was actually out at the U.S.

Open, and, you know, I played a lot of competitive tennis up through college.

Oh, really?

You checked the watch?

I quit a long time ago, but I did play.

Anyways, I'm out at the open, and all of a sudden I realized there's no linesman.

There's no linesman, but what had misled me is they're still showing the rendition up on the board.

And, you know, it made me realize there is entertainment value in that rendition that we need to take advantage of.

Well, there's also skepticism if you ask the tennis players.

I mean, that was the first thing that we asked, because in our league, the NFL, we've had to go through a lot of technology.

And I think what you're going to experience over the next couple years is the same thing the NFL experienced at the beginning of it all.

The umps are not just going to casually just disappear.

Okay.

The refs for the NFL had a lot of pride in the calls that they were making in the field, so the technology thing was almost a pushback from the refs until it was sold to them, like, hey, they're here to help you.

Because I think I saw a guy

casually go like this, and the ump was like, get your ass

out of here.

And that's because the ump is like, oh, you think you're going to show me?

So we had that with the NFL refs for a bit until they got to the point of like just acknowledging it was going to happen and understanding that it's there to help them as opposed to hurt them.

Good luck to you trying to sell all the umpires on that, especially because you guys got like umps that are like legendary.

Oh, yeah.

So I'll tell you about that.

That's actually kind of interesting.

We had exactly that dynamic when we first went to instant replay.

We don't want it.

You know, we want no problem.

Because they think you're showing them up.

Yeah.

You know what flipped them?

The media.

They got tired of seeing themselves being shown up on ESPN and wherever.

So they flipped on replay.

We actually have the right with our umpires union to deploy the automated strike zone system.

And, you know, they were really forward-thinking about it this time around.

They really were good about it.

It helps them.

You know, that's like the NFL reps, I think, had to get, and I don't think all of them are on board just yet still.

But I think for them, it was just pointing out like, hey, instead of getting your family threatened afterwards, can we not just correct this in like two minutes or two seconds and move forward?

Connor has a question for you, Comish.

Yeah, Commission, something you guys were kind of ahead of, it feels like, was the streaming.

With Apple TV, you guys were one of the first to kind of be

on a streaming service full-time basically throughout an entire season.

I know how important local markets is to baseball when it comes to TV.

How are you navigating that kind of situation, especially now as the NFL gets into it in other places?

And are you guys up right now?

I'm sorry.

Are your rights deals up right now?

No, no, we're not up until after the 29 season.

Got it.

So

Excuse me, I said 29, 28.

29 will be the beginning of our new deals.

It's right around a corner.

So, look, I think the most important thing to say is, you know, the media environment right now is really kind of disrupted,

particularly at the local level.

It's hardest for us because we're the most local dependent

in the RSN model.

I think our goal is twofold.

Number one, we want to sell more games nationally.

We think it's good for our exposure, more broadcast exposure, big game exposure.

We also believe that the buyers that are out there are going to be national buyers, particularly the streaming companies.

They don't want to buy the state of Wisconsin with all due respect.

We love Wisconsin.

Yeah, we do.

And two counties in Michigan, which is what the brewers have to sell.

You've got to sell more nationally.

Secondly, we need to streamline our offering.

We need to get out of the blackout business.

Here's a great one for you.

We took over the Padres local broadcast a couple years ago

because of the bankruptcy that had occurred.

Within two weeks, we lit up MLB.tv, which is an out-of-market product.

We lit it up in-market in San Diego.

We sold 20,000 subscriptions in the middle of the season.

What's that tell you?

There were 20,000 people in San Diego, wanted to watch games, were willing to pay for it, and we were telling them, sorry, you know, I can't help you.

So we need to, we need,

we need, and we are too many places right now.

We've experimented.

Apple's been a great experiment, but we do have a lot of fragmentation.

We need to get into a more streamlined model where a fan knows, Friday, I want to see my game tonight.

Either they go to a digital service, they know the game's there.

If it's not there, it's going to be one of a couple of national games, and it's easy for the fans.

That's what it needs to look like.

By 2029, all the fans are going to to be sophisticated enough with everything.

You know, and are you watching all the other leagues?

Do you guys talk to each other?

Do you have a commissioner's group text?

I was with all, I had dinner with all four of them.

We don't have a group text that we use regularly.

I had dinner with all four of them last week in Sun Valley.

I've known Roger the longest.

You know, we actually belonged to the same golf club years before either of us were commissioners.

Which golf club?

That's a place in New York.

We don't need to do that.

We're just trying to get in there.

You know, Adam, we've had a great relationship.

You know, he's great about, he came to the World Series last year, as did Roger, actually.

And, you know, I went to the Super Bowl.

I went to part of the NBA playoffs.

Really nice back and forth.

And Gary and I actually went to the same undergraduate school.

So I've been doing panels with Commissioner Bettman for a really long time.

And he will occasionally remind me that he's been commissioner longer than I am.

Imagine holding that over your head for a little bit.

That's a great great group of people to be friends with

each other because for us as sports fans, we appreciate the fact for everything you guys do for us year-round.

And we appreciate what baseball has done for us, not only like these last couple weeks, but until we're done, I think.

I think it's going to become a new summer thing for us.

And I'm learning about the game.

So I'm like a child that doesn't really know much about the game.

Can throw it, can catch it a little bit, can make contact if I have to.

Love Paul Skeens.

Love Shohei.

Love Aaron Judge.

Dumper.

Love Big Dumper.

Love the Trumpets guy.

And I love the home run derby.

So, like,

I'm an eager new fan.

And I think the way you guys have handled it has been fantastic.

You should be very proud of yourself.

Well, thank you.

And look,

we're happy, really happy to have you here.

I can't tell you, you know, it's part of where we started your first question.

We want to go where people go, and I know people are listening

to the show.

And people watch our show.

It's so outrageous.

Well, Camish, how do you think tonight goes?

I think it's going to be really exciting.

You know, it's just for our fans, it's a different kind of product, right?

It's It's kind of made for the one-off event.

Let's get some excitement.

You get a view of the players that's different.

You'll see out on the field, very casual, the guys that are not participating.

So it's going to be a really fun evening.

Man, we appreciate the hell out of you.

What's that, Connor?

I mean, yeah, it'll be a really fun evening if we just juice the balls.

Yeah, that is a question.

Why don't we just go ahead?

What's going on with the balls?

Why are the balls always a question?

So just quick follow-up.

Obviously, Big Dumper's not feeling the effects.

Neither is Aaron or Shohei.

There's some guys.

But then there's other guys maybe that don't have as much power that are saying the balls are different.

Is that a constant conversation in baseball?

The balls?

Because I remember a few years back they were juiced.

Yeah, yeah.

Allegedly.

Yeah, we did have

four or five years ago a statistically significant performance of the baseball.

We undertook a whole program directed at one thing, consistency.

At the end of the day, you have to remember our product, like, unlike anything else in professional sports, it's handmade.

You know, the sewing and everything is different.

So like the issue that people were talking about this year, the seams are a statistically insignificant amount higher.

But that's just kind of how the sewing went this year.

You know, you're not going to fix that.

Yeah, well, we're hoping tonight we got a little baby seams.

These balls are flying.

Big bass.

We appreciate you so much.

Hopefully it's the first of many times we get a chance to chat with you.

Congratulations on everything you've been through at the MLB.

Thank you.

Thank you for the hospitality.

Well, thanks for having me.

It's great great to see you.

And great.

Okay, great job.

Strong play.

Ladies and gentlemen, the commissioner of MLB, Rob Manfred.

Yay, Commission.

Thank you.

That was really fun.

Yeah, yeah, hey, we're still live.

Great job.

You know, if you don't want to bury anything, don't say anything to peace about.

I'm joking.

Okay, as Commissioner Manfred continues about his day, we will obviously move to a legend, a first ballot Hall of Famer.

I believe Commish and Cece are about to switch places with each other, and we can't thank him enough.

First Ballot Hall of Famer, ladies and gentlemen, World Series champ, legend, Cece Sabafi.

Yeah, Cece.

Hey, Commish.

Thank you.

You're awesome.

You're awesome.

Go get him.

Thank you for missing that.

Oh, yeah, Commish.

And if you want a little bit of a Red Bull, it does give you wings.

There's a sugar-free one, too, if you need it.

Cece, good to see you.

Hey, good to see you.

We're not all sad.

All right, here we go.

All right.

How tall are you?

6'7.

6'7.

Jeezy.

Congratulations, first bout.

Thank you.

Well earned.

Appreciate it.

Obviously, you've done a lot of great things for the league since retiring, and obviously while you're playing, that's my first time getting a chat with him.

I feel like he's, hey.

I feel like he and the MLB are doing very good.

Do you agree?

Yeah, I feel like we're on the right track.

I feel like we're doing some good things and, you know, getting fans back to the ballpark.

The pitch clock has helped.

You know, that was Rob.

You know, the ABS, I think, is going to help.

So I'm excited about where the game is actually going.

ABS.

Automatic balls.

Automatic balls and strikes.

I'm sorry.

It's not robot.

No, no, no.

Don't call it a robot.

Don't call it a strike.

Don't call it a robot.

We do not like Sam Pets around.

They're taking our dogs.

Obviously, Boone is the man.

manager and a lot of Yankees represented out here at the All-Star Game.

What is it like for the players at the All-Star game?

Is it a lot of chit-chatting with people they've never met before?

Do all these guys know each other?

Like, what's the big benefit of the All-Star Game?

Some of these guys know each other, right?

Because a lot of them play perfect game coming up, and so they know a lot of people.

What's that?

It's like AAU for baseball.

So it's like them coming up together.

But now

you get here and there's some guys that you don't know.

You get to hang out with

some players that you look up to if you're a young guy.

I know Jacob Majorowski is 25 innings into his career and gets to come out here and hang out with Clayton Kershaw and all these different guys.

So it's a lot of fun to be able to mingle here.

It's tiring, though.

I feel like the all-star break, I always tell them that the all-star break is too short.

Like they just ended last night.

They get here, they got the home run derby, all the media stuff.

Then you got the game and then you're right back on.

Yeah, it's ready for you.

We need like

for the players.

We need like Friday to Friday.

We're like,

I was able to watch them load in the bags last night at like midnight.

Yeah, and guys are coming in.

If you have a night game on Sunday and you get in at 1 a.m.

and then you got to be up to do all of this stuff and it gets a little tired.

That is baseball as a whole though.

You guys are on the road for 186 days, I believe, is what Manford just said there, 162 games.

Too many games?

No.

No, I love it.

I love it.

I mean it's every day.

You know, when you get to be a part of it.

Well, I didn't play every day either.

I'm only playing every fifth day.

So we talked about it.

I love that.

Go ahead, son.

Yeah, Ceeze, I have a question about Skeens.

You know, because you started your career with a small market club, but you were never, like, he has a two ERA and he's four and eight right now.

Like, how does he, how do you you deal with that mentally as a pitcher?

Like, how is it in the clubhouse?

Like, do you think he feels jaded at all?

Like, how do you think that's going to affect his career later?

No, I think, I mean, I think it's when you're in that situation, I mean, I was never as good as he was.

You know what I'm saying?

First battle hole failed.

Yeah, but I think, I mean,

it's not weird, but guys are like apologizing to you.

Like, oh, you know, we want to score you runs.

And, you know, they feel just as bad as

the fans do.

But as a pitcher, you know, you go out and do your thing, and it's a team sport.

So,

you know, they don't feel, they don't get on you when you give up homers or give up runs and stuff like that.

So I never, you know, got on my teammates about not scoring runs or making errors or anything like that because nobody's saying anything to me when I'm giving up 900-foot home runs.

They're talking like some historic shit for Paul Skeens right now.

And obviously the Pirates went on a little bit of a run.

I think we have a graphic with all the ERA plus, I believe, is this stat here.

Yeah.

Average ERA plus, can we take off the lower third there?

Is 100.

Okay, this is new stats you guys make up.

Every sport's making up new stats.

Yeah, I don't even, I don't understand that.

You guys can explain that.

ERA plus

2008.

I was told it's ERA plus factoring ballpark dimensions and weather.

A bad ERA is 75.

A good ERA plus is 125.

Paul Skeens, 214.

Oh, wow.

Right now, in 43 career starts, 22% better than any live ball pitcher since 1920 across his first two MLB seasons.

So he's holding up his end of the bargain.

Obviously, he's a starting pitcher for the All-Star game.

It's not just him.

Scoobel, the other guy pitching for the Netro Tigers, he's an absolute monster.

Feels like there's a lot of great pitching going on right now.

It is.

I mean, I feel like the pitching outdoes the hitting right now.

But Scoobel right now, he throws 103 mile-an-hour cutters.

Like he is unbelievable.

He almost took the Detroit to the World Series by himself last year.

He got them to the ALCS.

So that team has a really good chance to win.

Last year, they were doing it with just pitching.

Now they're doing it with pitching and offense.

So it's going to be scary come October when that guy's healthy and he's on the mound.

He's going to be hard to beat.

Yeah, he's got a law of Moxie to him.

I appreciate that.

i love that emotion yeah he's gotta picture that emotion i love it gotta be a human uh who won 26 last night gage wood kid from arkansa correct he was the one that was uh whenever they called time was oh yeah staring at the guy

i love everything about a good debug yeah these guys are trying to get to where you are i think tony just mentioned it first ballot hall of famer uh i know one of the special things for us in nfl was we watched baker get that knock at the door what was that moment like uh when you found out that you were going i know you were probably expecting it but what was that moment like when it was realized you know it was it was a great moment i I didn't expect anything.

You know, I had a bunch of people over at the house and they have this like Hall of Fame tracker.

And, you know, everybody was telling me not to check it.

I was checking that thing every five minutes.

So the last

I kept checking.

I was refreshing, refreshing.

And, you know, I felt pretty good on the morning of.

And even when I got the call, I mean, they tell you, you know, if they don't, if it's between 6 and 6.45, they call it like 6.38.

You know what I mean?

And it's closing and everybody's sitting around.

But it was cool.

I mean, I was kind of in shock.

And then if you watch the video, my daughter kind of grabs me, and then I kind of come out of it and get to celebrate.

But it's just a surreal feeling coming from where I came from in Villel, California, to Cooperstown.

If I can make it there, I feel like any kid can make it there.

Yeah, if you're 6'7 and can throw the ball,

CCL.

I want to go back to the Yankees.

When you first got there, I remember a lot of the rhetoric or the media was saying, like, oh, he might not want to go to New York because he doesn't want to deal with all the bullshit surrounding it.

Hoopla.

Yeah, hoopla, if you will.

How impressed have you been with Max Freed, who you know goes there and initially, like, he's not expected to be the ace.

You know, they have Garrett Cole, and then he kind of has to

step up, and he's been unbelievable so far.

How impressed have you been with him, and how difficult is that when you're kind of thrust into, like, hey, you've got to be the guy for the Yankees now?

Yeah, I mean, it's been incredible to watch what he's done.

You know, coming over from Atlanta,

you know, he's already an established pitcher, a great pitcher, and then coming into New York,

it could be difficult.

And, you know, we've seen so many guys come in there and fail.

But I knew in spring training, I just watched him, watched his demeanor, watched the way he worked in his bullpens.

I'm like, he's going to be fine.

No matter whether he has to be the ace or whatever he has to be, he'll be pretty good.

So

it's kind of hard making that transition to New York.

Myself, I didn't want to come just because I was a West Coast kid.

I grew up on the West Coast.

I thought I'd play for Dodgers, Anaheim, or whatever, but it ended up being the best move I could make.

It was the best decision I ever made coming to New York.

My family's growing there.

We blossom.

But if you can make that place work, it's the greatest place I'll ever play for.

If you can make it in New York, you can make it in anywhere.

That's the true story.

It's a traveling circus.

Everywhere we go, the stadium's filled.

Every time you show up in the proxy, the stadium's.

It's spreading.

I mean, it's all real.

I get chilled.

Look, I got a pinch.

It's real.

So it's a lot of fun building on the pinstripes.

Okay, let's talk about the other side side of the country.

And you talked about a team you'd be playing for, the Dodgers.

I mean, over here, we got Japanese media already setting up for Shohei.

Obviously, they got in here like an hour before we even started.

Nobody else is here except for them.

We've got it all up.

He has been spectacular for baseball as a whole.

Have you got a chance to meet him, Chitchal?

I think we're talking to him at like 2.35-ish

right here.

I'll host the press conference.

Have you heard about this?

Oh, yeah.

I'm hosting the press conference.

I love it.

I love it.

Two o'clock.

I love it.

Are you hitting questions?

Like, we're supposed to be in that jersey.

You guys bet you got to to keep the jersey.

1 million percent part of the jersey.

You got a question making a good one.

All right, and off, let's move along.

Honored to be a part of it.

But then we're talking to Shohei here because the NL

Media Day is right after that press conference.

So everybody's going to be in here.

This place is going to be berserk.

Yeah.

He has been spectacular for baseball.

Have you ever met him?

What are your thoughts?

How do the OGs feel about it?

Yeah, no, I met him a couple times.

And the very first time I seen Otani play, we were at Anaheim, and he hits a ground ball, choppered a short, and he beats it out.

And I looked at Luis Everino right to my right, and I was like, that's the best baseball player I've ever seen in my life.

He's the best baseball player.

You remember that?

You guys played Little League?

We've been saying that since Murray.

You remember that 12-year-old kid that just hit homers?

He throwed the hardest.

He hit the fastest.

He was smart early.

This guy's doing that in the big leagues.

You know what I'm saying?

He throws the hardest.

He hits the ball the furthest.

Like, he's the best player that I've ever seen.

I mean, I'm a huge Barry Bonds fan.

Grew up in the Bay Area, and he's my GOAT.

But I have to put Shohei up there because I don't think Barry can go out and throw seven-inning shout outs.

So me and D-Bucks, not big baseball people, we agree.

This guy's pitching fast, everybody.

He's hitting it.

Isn't that the game?

Isn't that the game?

It's literally our first show.

Yeah, I've created that guy on the show a thousand times.

He's like, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, relax.

Yeah, but think about that.

The guy you created, probably in real life, going to have a little bit of an arrogance problem.

True.

Johe, the complete opposite.

It's like, hello, thank you very much.

It's an honor to be here.

I am better than all of you at everything.

And

Yep, small game.

And the bat flipped that one game where he was getting back to the game.

I was like, yeah,

I like that.

The Americanism.

Oh, Joe.

It is.

Cece, we appreciate you stopping by.

Congratulations on the Hall of Fame mod.

And what are you looking forward to tonight?

We need Big Dumper needs to hit a few, right?

Big Dumper needs to hit a few, but James Wood.

James Wood is my favorite player in the big leagues, man.

And watch this kid's going to put on the show tonight.

Yeah.

James Wood.

James Wood from Rockville, Maryland.

Yes.

known for his unique combo, power, and athleticism.

Yes, sir.

Got some notes on each of the hitters from the American.

Be ready for the press conference.

Bro, hello.

Bro,

ladies and gentlemen.

What's that?

Okay, here's

put that up.

Ben Ward from ESPN, who does our simulcast, said their stats, people ran through all their stats.

They think the cruise missile, O'Neil Cruz, is the odds on favorite to win this, strictly because of VLO and Batspeed is what they're saying.

And I've heard that he puts on a show during BP.

Oh, my God.

They just released a video the other day from the catcher's point of view.

The ball jumps off his bat like no one else.

I feel like we got a good field.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Jazz is going to put on the show, obviously.

You know, he's a showman.

Byron Buxton's from Atlanta.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Big Dumper is leading the league in homers.

So Brent Runker is excited to be in the home run derby.

So it's going to be a lot of fun.

This should be a good one.

Shout out to ESPN stats for all of that.

And shout out to the Pirates, probably winning the home run derby and having the ace.

And off off being able to win a goddamn game.

That was cool.

There you go.

He said you have a first Mountain Hall of Famer.

Cece Sabathia.

We'll be back in the next hour before we lead into the press conference that's happening right here that I will be hosting.

We'll be streaming it live on our YouTube.

It'll also be on MLB Network.

Yes, we think it's ridiculous, but I'm going to go up there and I'm going to try to live.

Because this is the All-Star game.

This is the Midsummer Classic.

This is history.

This is legacy.

This is legendary.

And this is a week we'll talk about forever.

Ties on the fucking All-Star team.

Congratulations.

First All-Star now.

I mean, worse.

we're sitting in the pants.

I love that.

Four units.

I love that.

What are you talking about?

Can you put those things up there real quick?

Just so

get the sauce.

Oh, yeah.

He's part of the team.

We got to get you some J's, though.

Yep.

Hey, Harry Johnson will be joining us in the next hour.

I believe there is a little bit of a J talk potentially happening there.

Also, like to be able to smoke some J's in this place.

Did not do that earlier.

Just want to let everybody know I am proud of me.

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baseball is happening in a massive way in this glorious city it is the third time this city has hosted the midsummer classic first time it'll be in truest park we are currently in the battery i believe is what they describe this area uh the roxy theater here is right across the street from truest park then they have some bars across the street on the other side it is a beautiful setup down here.

This is exactly what everybody in professional sports is looking for.

Let's own the park.

Let's own the restaurants that people are tailgating outside of.

And let's even own the theater across the street for people to do shows at.

This place is beautiful.

Obviously, the MLB has done fantastic work in setting it all up.

And thank you to them for having us.

Now, I reiterated, I will reiterate the fact that I stated in the first hour, there was a lot of people working against us coming here.

A lot of people.

The MLB stepped in

and said, we would love for you guys to come.

Them and Mike Foss came together.

No stone stone unturned.

I was on the emails literally watching it all unfold.

Send in a, well, tell that guy to go fuck himself.

And then watch them kind of do their thing.

I'm pretty good one of those email sender.

Might be the best in the history of business, to be clear.

I think I potentially am.

But the way this has come together, we are very, very thankful and grateful to be here.

I think.

Ty and I will be a part of the home run derby tonight.

What?

I'm hosting the press conference that is happening on this stage.

At 2 p.m.

You guys are getting with that?

We will stream live on our YouTube, on ESPN Plus, Disney Plus, and TikTok Live.

They will run it on the MLB network.

What I'm saying is we're very thankful and grateful to be here.

In the middle of the summer, we're at the home run derby.

We're going to watch this anyways.

The fact that we get a chance to experience it, we're very thankful.

The Toxic Tables here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt.

Ty, really cool to be here.

Yeah, without a doubt.

I mean, you mentioned it.

You know, like, as we've done this for a while now, and I love baseball.

I watch literally every single Yankees game, every night of the week.

And I just kind of figured, like, you know, and you get it because we're a football show.

It's like, hey, we're going to get through the summer best way we can.

And doofuses.

Yeah, for sure.

So I didn't ever think this would be an option, much less like basically having the red carpet rolled out for us.

You know, it's like I.

And there's going to be baseball people that hate to hear that.

Definitely.

We just would like to tell you we're sorry that it's happening and it hasn't happened to you.

Hopefully it does happen for you guys someday.

But after our conversation with Rob, it feels like Rob really wants everybody to become a part of the MLV in baseball.

I don't like the gatekeeping fans that sports.

I don't get that.

So like professional wrestling has it.

And they're the worst people on the internet.

Sure.

Feels like all every sport damn the year.

I don't know if every sport.

Not football.

I feel like I feel like...

Football does, because remember, Taylor Swift is pissed off.

That's nine-year-old NFL bad Darius J.

Barnes.

UFC might have the most.

That's one half of the hammer.

Damn.

Cowboys AP Tones.

I think wrestling community, internet wrestling community, without a doubt.

Very heavy gatekeepers.

Yeah.

And what they like is not what I like at all.

I've been a wrestling fan my entire life.

What do I know?

I guess.

Nothing.

Yeah, that entire thing.

They're very gatekeeper-y.

Feels like UFC has that as well.

Casuals.

Guy will have a couple affliction shirts, obviously, haven't figured out.

And we appreciate those people's passion because they are committed fully to said thing.

They don't want to see it get ruined by others.

But it's like we get a chance to experience these fans in a negative way a lot because we're very lucky to be brought into these worlds.

The baseball gatekeepers are something.

I saw some baseball people pissed off about us getting an opportunity to be here.

And it's like, I understand why you're pissed because you probably think that you should be here.

When you get to the point you should be here, I think Rob will have you here.

Like, we're very thankful and very lucky, and we're gonna try to do it some justice yeah without a doubt and i mean like you said like it's not it's not there's also tv execs that are not happy that we're here well that that is also that's a whole nother animal to talk about but it's also no bullshit mid-level powerless tv execs just so you know and i think you're experiencing that right now he who is watching this yeah we're here none

power negative just so you know go ahead tau well i was just gonna say like it's it's no bullshit the way we've been talking about it like you've you've said multiple times and it like like, it is sincere.

Like, hey, I'm actually, like, enjoying baseball this year.

You know, it doesn't mean that you're going to sit down and watch nine innings every single night, but like, if the Dodgers are playing late and Shohei's going to get it bat, or you know, the Yankees are playing at the bottom.

Everybody's watching.

Exactly, exactly.

And it's been super entertaining.

So, yeah, this is kind of a perfect time for us to, hey, let's dive into this a little bit more.

Yeah, and learn about it.

Debutch, I don't know how big of a baseball fan you are.

You're a fan of

every team in every league.

That's not true.

What's that?

stupid shit, too, like F1?

I mean, that's not stupid.

We're off this weekend, and that's why

Simmons' brother was able to make his Minutem final.

But yeah, I do like sports.

In summer, you know, summertime has been a tough stretch.

You know, I'm a football guy, basketball guy, so it was tough to get started.

Hockey, obviously.

Hockey guy.

That's embarrassing.

That's embarrassing.

You just forgot you're a Panther site.

You're back to back side.

I didn't forget.

It's top two.

I just got into hockey, what, four years ago?

So obviously we are a defending champ.

Back to back.

What's my favorite?

Since inception, you've been a family.

Yeah, you know, he knew it.

I've been actually following, actually watching the game.

Like 10 years ago, I couldn't name five guys on the roster.

Now I can, you know, I can go talk to them.

All right, we'll talk to Jet Passin here in a matter of moments.

He's been our baseball source plug for years.

Can't wait to chitch out.

Anytime we can see him in person, it's good.

Before we get to Jet, there's some summer sports talk that we need to get to.

Hashtag summer sports talk.

Hashtag program summer road trip.

Oh, yeah.

Hashtag things are happening.

The NFL always has its drama.

Always has its drama.

A lot of them.

Guy got arrested over the weekend.

Obviously don't love that.

Don't love that at all.

TJ Watts still not a Pittsburgh Steeler.

What the hell is going on?

Hey, Ton, what the hell is going on in the Pittsburgh Steelers world, brother?

You know, I haven't worried in a long, long time.

I'm starting to hear things that are.

No, because remember, everybody say it's going to get Don.

We all know it's going to get Don.

He's T.J.

Watt, he's a Pittsburgh Steeler.

Why is he skipping mandatory minicamp?

Well, he's willing.

That's just part of the process.

That's what everybody said.

We're talking about Trey Hendrickson over in Cincinnati last year.

And that's because Trey has come out and gone very public about it.

And we're like, they're in trouble.

They're in trouble.

And then all the Cincinnati Bengals fans kept saying was, well, is T.J.

Watt in the building or not?

Because it's kind of similar situation.

And the entire time we're like, no.

Then we asked the people that would know the insiders.

They're like, it'll get done.

We all think it's going to get done.

It's like, are we sure that this is going to get done?

TJ Watt heading to the market would be bananas at this time of year.

I don't even know how possible it would be, but they still do not have a deal done.

And Kaboli, who is the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter for this particular program, has been saying a lot of things, Ton.

Yeah, he has.

He's right there.

He's talking about the length of the deal, guarantees, and total value.

So TJ's 30 years old right now.

So I think the team's kind of having a situation where they want to look at how many years do you want to have guaranteed money with TJ?

Miles Garrett had basically three years of what?

You wonder?

It's TJ Watt.

First battle is cold jacket.

Listen,

he's 30.

Listen, I'm just telling you what I'm hearing, okay?

I'm I'm not saying I'm making these decisions, I'm not saying it's my opinion.

Yeah, but

what side are you on?

Until I haven't decided yet, what

I won't decide until the dust has settled.

No, on TJ's side, tell you what, if the Steelers keep TJ, great, great move.

If they decide to move on, boy, what kind of value did we get?

The best.

Yeah, you think Omar Khan's gonna be able to work a good deal.

The con artists, the general manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they're in the middle of it.

They've done a lot of things.

Obviously, you go all the way back to Darius Slay, then DK Metcalf, Aaron Rodgers, trade for Jalen Ramsey, trade for John Husmin.

You make a lot of moves going all in, seemingly.

You would think that TJ Watt would be on the team, but there's a lot of money going to a lot of places.

And I know you're only paying Aaron 10 million or whatever the case is, but it's like, how do you get to the 40 number that TJ is probably expecting because you guys have kicked this game down the road a little bit and still have everybody?

We shall see.

This would almost be the year where the Steelers would be hoping for a hometown discount as opposed to the last couple years that they've gotten.

It's like, hell no.

Exactly.

They've pushed past the point of hometown discount for TJ Watt in his eyes.

And, you know, if you listen to J.J.

Watt speaking, he didn't speak about TJ's situation.

He was speaking about Trey Hendrickson's situation.

He's like, if you get the deal done earlier, it's obviously a lot cheaper and better for all parties.

When you kick it down the road, hey, we'll take care of you next year.

We'll take care of you next year.

It only gets higher.

And then the feelings, too, little negative feelings kind of can creep in there whenever it's that type of business.

So everybody's assuming it gets done outside the world.

TJ skipped mandatory minicamp.

That's a statement.

But I'm hoping he gets it done because this Steelers team, if TJ was also on the team, you're talking about a real run maybe for.

Oh, mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long,

long, long, long.

Are you worried?

Yeah.

A little bit.

But also, the contract's out there.

Like, it's Miles' contract's already done.

Like, that should be TJ's contract.

Just do that one.

All right, so now you're on.

Now you're on TJ's side.

I'm waffling a bit.

Oh, nice.

Penny pinching pits.

All right, let's talk about what else is happening around the NFL.

The quarterback series is back on Netflix, and thank God.

Thank God for it.

Obviously, baseball carrying us.

Yep.

WNBA doing its thing.

Shout out to W.

Shout out to the W.

Shout out.

I think there's some other sports happening internationally.

I think I saw ping pong was taking place this morning.

Sure.

Super table tennis.

Yeah, they had a big hold.

FIFA Super Duper Cup.

Congrats to Trump and Chelsea for winning that one today.

Both of them.

Yeah, Trump won that one.

He scored two goals.

He's celebrating a lot.

Hey, Gumpy, let's go to the back there.

Gumpy, was Trump, did he, did President Trump play for Chelsea in that final, or how did that all come together, Gumpy?

He was the first one to touch the trophy, so technically he did play.

Well, second.

Well, actually,

I don't want to say too much.

I touched that trophy before anybody else.

Are you leaving?

Oh, no, Baldwin.

Hey!

We did this.

Now, I believe FIFA.

Look at Trump.

Look at how much fun he's having.

This is awesome.

The FIFA president's back in there.

I thought we were leaving.

I thought we were leaving.

So the president, obviously, celebrating with Chelsea.

They won $100 million, Gumpy.

And this tournament is now officially over.

Was it a success or a failure, Gump?

How shall we be viewing the Super Duper FIFA World Cup?

Oh, they have it.

Chelsea won between $130 and $150 million.

The tournament produced $2 billion in revenue.

Cole Palmer scored two goals in the final, one player of the tournament, man of the match.

And Chelsea beat PSG, who won

pretty much everything.

PSG won everything this year.

It was the first time they lost in a final.

So Chelsea had an unbelievable tournament.

They were plus 1,200 at the start of the tournament to win it.

And the Palmberg guy you talked about scoring two goals, I don't know if it was the finals or the semifinals.

They were actually signing guys to their team.

Guys were hopping on planes, flying over to these games and scoring goals.

Yeah, Jao Pedro, they signed him his first game.

He scored two goals in the semifinals.

He wasn't even on Chelsea at the beginning of the tournament.

He's unbelievable.

Scored again yesterday, too.

Can you do it in TST?

Well, so that's the thing.

TST has this registration process where you're going to be registered as coach or player.

If in a super duper FIFA World Cup, we can just call guys, put them on a plane, come win $140 million.

Yeah.

Can Team USA do this during a World Cup?

We should be able to.

Lou Messi, yeah.

Didn't that poopy Premier League team just do that too?

They signed some guy like halfway through the season?

Who?

Burnley?

Yeah, wasn't it Burnley?

Didn't Burnley just sign some guy?

Burnley made a big-time acquisition.

Who was it?

They spent some money on a famous guy, Gumps.

It just happened.

Kyle Walker.

He's one of the best right backs in England history.

He'll be playing for J.J.

Watts Burnley.

So soccer's happening.

I appreciate that.

But the quarterback series on Netflix is back.

Three quarterbacks.

Jared Goff,

Kirk Cousins, and Joey Burr.

Now, all three very interesting.

Kirk Cousins,

I appreciate the way he operates.

I appreciate the way he operates.

It's more of the same from the first season.

And you just think to yourself, this is the most humble guy.

This is the most nerdy quarterback in the history.

He's very lovable.

I will say Kirk Cousins in the entirety.

Joey Burr is a dog.

Joey, Joe Burr drops a lot of fucks.

I like that.

That is something.

Seems like he's not holding anything back.

Also, he's learning how to play the piano just because he walks past the piano in his house and he figures he might as well sit down for 10, 15 minutes and learn how to do this.

And now he's playing the piano.

Haven't seen the entire series.

I've seen a lot of it.

Jared Goff and MCDC have been a huge piece of the story.

And I'll tell you, if I'm a Lions fan, and Foxy, you could probably reiterate this more.

You guys are bopping the quarterback, I assume.

Yeah, I absolutely love quarterback, Pat.

To your point, I didn't know anything about Joe Burrow.

Learned a lot about him.

I like him more.

Kirk Cousins, we knew he was the dog.

How he handled the Pennic situation was flawless.

It was perfect.

I love Kirk Cousins, but...

Watching Detroit Lions, MCDC, Jared Goff in their best season ever, getting the full recap, it was amazing.

It made me love Jared Goff so much more.

It made me love MCDC so much more.

And that's saying a lot.

Like, trust me, I I already love these guys.

Favorite in franchise history.

And I thought that quarterback did an outstanding job.

And some of these clips, some of these behind the scenes are absolutely beautiful.

Foxy forced us to run this, but here's two clips from quarterback on Netflix.

It's a long one.

Yeah, it's like six minutes, but I'll tell you, it is beautiful.

And congrats to Omaha.

Congrats to NFL Films.

Congrats to Patrick Mahomes.

Congrats to Netflix on an incredible new season of quarterback.

Here's some footage of MCDC and Jared Goff being on the same page.

I'm going to to tell you how this is going to go down.

Offense,

we are going to fucking put everything on your fucking ass.

Okay?

I'm just telling you right now, you

got to show up.

You got to show up in a big way.

The way we play ball, we're fucking going.

We're going four downs all the way up and down this field.

As long as it's not fucking 20.

You understand?

We're fucking going.

And we will fucking just march down this building.

It's gonna be so fucking glorious, gentlemen.

This will be one you're never gonna forget.

Let's fucking go.

How low can we get this?

They'll be left probably about

50 seconds.

50.

Okay, got it.

If we do, if we don't get a first.

Oh, I'm saying they'll have, yeah, if we don't get a first, it's gonna have at least 50.

But if we get it, we'll bring it down to zero.

Yeah, I got it.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

Hey, one more first down, and we can grant it all the way down and kick it.

Okay, we need one more first down here, okay?

Let's go, baby.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Blitz comes.

Goff back.

Goff looking.

Goff throwing.

Deep down field.

It is caught inside the 25.

Very close to a first down.

Does he have it?

It's going to be third and one for the Lions.

One third down.

Third down.

They're going to need about a half yard.

180.

What's it?

Come takes the snap, turns, gives the demo right side.

He is hit, and he's going to come up short.

It is going to be fourth down and about a half yard.

Now, this is a fascinating decision.

He's got to go for it, but obviously, he's got to kick this field goal.

What do we do?

Pick it?

I'm not sure what we're going to do.

I'm really, I'm unsure.

I know the prudent decision would be to kick the field goal and go play defense for 30 seconds and finish it off there.

But I know the way that Dan had come into the game mentally was that we were going to be really aggressive.

We're going.

We are under a minute.

They got no timeouts.

We're going.

Kick the field goal.

That's probably the right thing to do.

I was pissed that we were not going to be able to finish the game with no time left and give them a chance to score.

I think we do feed off each other a little bit.

So I thought, man, we were hurting on defense.

And we just brought some guys in off the street that were starting for us.

And to me, that's not fair to ask them with 40-something seconds left to go out there against that offense.

And I think his confidence is always going to help me.

We're going.

They are trying to kill this clock.

They put Jake Bates in a position to go win it.

You need a f ⁇ ing half a yard, okay?

Come on.

Come on.

Let's go, boys.

You got it.

You got it.

On fourth down.

Jared up under center.

Turns, gives it to Montgomery.

Gets the first down.

Yeah!

Oh my god, Jared slipped.

That could have been bad.

My shoe's just a size too big, and I think one of our linemen got a little piece of it.

Jared tripped as he came out from behind center, handed it to Demo, just barely got it to him.

He got the first down.

You let that clock run now.

Down to 30, and the Packers can't stop it.

Good fing job!

Hey!

One fing goal!

That's that shit!

Good fing!

If that hadn't worked, our defense would have had to get a stop and we would have had had to beat him in overtime.

But yeah, big balls by Dan.

Bates is ready.

Lions going for the win.

Box the hole.

Kick away.

It is up and it is good.

You want to talk about grit.

What a night for the Detroit Lions.

Hey.

Hey!

Hey!

Four or five on fourth down.

Amazing.

Hey, great balling, buddy.

Keep going.

See you in the playoffs calling.

12 and 1.

Still on top of the NFC.

I told you you'd never forget this game.

You will never forget this fing game.

We don't have to talk about how tough we are.

We don't have to talk about how resilient we are.

We fing live it, man.

We've been living it.

Hey!

Hey, hey, like he said, this just don't just happen, boys.

We're fing different.

Again, I'll say it again.

This group's different.

Win on 3-1-2-3.

That's awesome, Foxy.

You had to love that, I assume, Foxy.

And shout out to football being as amazing as it is.

Nice to relive that moment.

And thank you to the Lions for allowing Omaha and NFL Films basically in to creep on them all year.

Same with Joe Burrow and Kirk Cousins yet again, especially down here in Atlanta with what he experienced.

Speaking of Atlanta, the third time this city has hosted the All-Star Game, first time in Truist Park.

Joining us now is the insider, the pundit,

the brain of the next generation of baseball.

Ladies and gentlemen, from ESPN, Jet Passage.

You look really good, Jet.

Thank you.

This is a great A suit.

Also, we got a little bit of a...

Tottenhot pocket square.

And we got the three peaks on that.

Did you fold that yourself?

Sure did.

Wow.

It's a pro.

It's the All-Star.

Listen, if you're going to wear a suit in this heat, it better be right.

I'm going to be outside at the Derby tonight.

It's going to be a mess.

Yeah, I like that.

Sweat through it.

It's Midsummer Classic, and it's hot.

We're going to be out there as well.

His iBlack might run a little bit because of how into it he's going to be.

Jen, let's chit-chat about this.

What are the main storylines coming into All-Star weekend?

All the studs playing, all the stars playing.

It should be a great home run derby.

Like, what is the story of baseball coming in here?

Is there free agencies?

Is there trades?

What should we

I think tonight we're going to be talking about Cal Raleigh, you know, the big dumper in his breakout season.

I love the fact that Cal Raleigh is going to be out there leading Major League Baseball on home runs, Pat, at a time when Aaron Judge is around, when Shohei Otani is around, when you have all of these great home run hitters.

Here's a guy, a switch hitter, has never won the Derby before.

Cal Raleigh's a switch hitter.

A catcher has never won the Derby before.

Cal Raleigh's a catcher.

He is a catcher.

His dad, Todd, who was a head coach for a long time in college baseball, is going to be throwing the pitches to him.

His younger brother, 15-year-old, T.

Raleigh, gonna be behind the plate catching.

All catchers, a family full of catchers.

And so the idea that this can be a family affair, but that you're also gonna have just monsters out there.

James Wood, 6'7, could have been a tight end in another life.

O'Neil Cruz, hitting balls 122 miles per hour.

How tall is he?

6'7.

Byron Buxton, big guy, finally healthy from Georgia, coming into his own.

Matt Olson, been a home run hitter for a long time.

This is, you know, it's not the most star-studded field, but I think it's got a chance to be a really entertaining home run derby.

We got dongs on the way.

Ty has a question for you, Jet.

Yeah, Jet, in terms, are you surprised by, I don't want to say like the youth movement, but I like we were kind of talking a little bit, and it does seem that the last couple years, All-Star Weekend has kind of been like

a way for the MLB to show, like, hey, there are so many good young players that casual fans know nothing about.

Like the Derby is a perfect example.

Yeah, and I think that that's why the Derby and the All-Star game are so important to this sport.

Like baseball right now in Shohei Otani and Aaron Judge have, I think, the two biggest stars of the last 25 years.

Like these are real transcendent across all sports names that people know who do things that people can really like look at and say, hey, that's impressive.

Shohei Otani playing both ways, hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases.

These are things that, you know, baseball has a difficult time going across into the football realm, the basketball realm, but I think baseball has a moment right now, and those young stars are a big part of it.

We're going to see one tonight in Junior Caminero.

He's 21 years old.

He's hit 20-plus home runs already in his first full season with the Tampa Bay Rays, has the fastest bat speed along with O'Neal Cruz in baseball and has a chance to really put put on a show tonight.

And that's what the All-Star Game should be, right?

Like, this is a show.

This is why Major League Baseball chose Jacob Mizurowski to come here after five starts in the big league.

That's really good.

He might be a Hall of Famer.

He might be a guy who flames out.

Like, we don't know at this point.

It's too early in his career.

But

what we know he is right now is a guy who's going to go out there in one inning and throw 102 or 103 or who knows how hard and throw 100.

Maybe on five I love that listen he could he could he's got he's got that arm in him and he's got that dog in him too and I'm looking forward to seeing him go out there and pitch Kansas City Missouri represent you talk about shout out to you you talk about the youth movement and everything like that I think it's the seventh consecutive all-star game where there's 30 fresh faces 30 times making or 30 players making their debut at the all-star game I think 13 out of the last 15 all-star games has had that stat.

So it is like a lot of a youth movement coming through the All-Star.

Is it still heralded around the league as a big deal to be an all-star?

I assume yes.

It is.

I mean listen, they've had this year particularly like some bigger names drop out like Zach Wheeler didn't, you know, wanted to go take some time off.

Jose Ramirez wanted to go nurse some injuries.

And there are so many all-stars now, it's almost like, okay, are we getting into the realm of participation trophy at this point?

I don't know.

And I know we have like a top 20 quarterbacks make the Prebble.

It's not.

Yeah, exactly.

It's not quite like at the Drake May level at this point.

But baseball's all-star game has also evolved.

It used to be like back in the 70s, if you were a starter, you would play all nine innings.

Like

it was a full game.

They did not care.

The starting pitcher would go deep into the game.

And, you know, like the old baseball fan in me wants to see it return to that.

So there aren't complaints about Miserowskis or someone coming into here and not being deserving deserving of it, but Major League Baseball has been accused of not being able to create stars.

Well, when you bring a guy who throws 102 or 103 to

an event where eyeballs are going to be on it a whole lot more than they normally are for the Milwaukee Brewers, what are you trying to do?

You're trying to create a star.

It's tough to have both.

And so while I understand the Philadelphia Phillies being mad that Christopher Sanchez isn't here, because he's had a phenomenal first half, I also understand Major League Baseball has got a duty to its fans to put on the best game possible.

And I'm sorry, but for one inning, I would rather see Jacob Miserowski than Christopher Sanchez.

No disrespect, Chris.

Like, crave pitcher.

Oh, I do.

D-Buck's been watching film.

He's with the Phillies.

Sanchester.

Yeah, he's with the Phillies.

He's with the Johns over there thinking that Sanchez should be in this thing.

We want to see fast pitches, big bombs.

That's what we want to see the all-star, especially because there's a lot of casuals watching like myself.

Tonight, we just want to see the uh ball fly far and i want to see somebody throw 104 miles an hour yeah a couple that is simple just i'm a simpleton i apologize for that but i want to see guys who make actual bats look this size yep and i want to see them take balls really far and i want to see pitchers on that mound throwing it really fast pat here's why i i wholeheartedly agree with you on that

because what the all-star game should serve as is the gateway for people to become actual fans.

When you see guys do incredible things, you're like, that's a guy I got to watch.

That's someone I want to see a little bit more of.

And then you watch a game and it's not slogging on for like three hours like it used to be.

Now it's cool.

You got your two and a half hour quick baseball game and it's like, oh, this sport's not boring.

There's actually action going on.

It's interesting.

There are characters.

There are personalities.

Like I think baseball has a good product to sell right now.

I agree.

And what the all-star game should serve as is giving a little bit to the people to like bring them in, give them those dopamine hits with those 104-mile-an-hour pitches and with those 500-foot-home runs.

And after that, say, hey, we also have something that has thought and that has strategy and that has all the things that, you know, those of us who have been baseball fans for a long time fell in love with it because of.

So it's not just the players.

It's not just sport.

Teams have their own runs.

Storybook type stuff happens.

Droughts.

Heaters, you name it, throughout 162 games.

Right now, there's a bunch of mass holes that are feeling themselves.

Go ahead, Con Man.

Pat said it.

The Boston Red Sox are the team of baseball right now.

You know, the story is the stars, but we're talking teams.

The story is the Boston Red Sox, okay?

And

they're on a 10-game win streak.

Everyone, after, you know, Devers gets traded,

the Sox kind of fall off a cliff a little bit.

Now they're on a 10-game win streak.

Some people are saying it's because Alex Core has the boys going.

Some people are saying it's because Roman Anthony and Marcel Maire, they're playing so well on the field.

They're also doing very well off the field per sources and photos.

But a lot of other people are saying that, you know, Donald Trump knows the game like Pete Rose.

Now, I'm not saying that that's.

Was there a film study in the Oval Office?

But yeah, some people are leaning towards the idea that maybe they got in there and J.D.

Vance taught him how to turn two.

I'm not sure, again, whether that's the case or not.

Some people judging his running technique this weekend.

Yeah.

He looks to be in quite a panic.

Tough to read.

It looked like he was running after a child.

Yes.

I agree.

Every dad knows that from that point.

I don't want to go sprinting after my child who's jumping into a tiger cage.

100%.

Agreed.

But to that point, they go visit the Oval Office of 10-0 now.

This is going to be something that is celebrated by a political party.

But for the people of Boston, whenever they trade away

Raphael Devers.

And then they trade away Marshawn from the Bruins, a lot of Boston fans are like,

are sports over in this town?

Or we're waiting on the Patriots.

Now they're the hottest team in baseball.

Can that continue?

And how many different teams go through these types of things?

Every team does.

Remember.

Well, not the Pirates.

They won four straight against the matter.

They won seven straight, and then we went off for a week and they lost every single game.

And then they came back.

But they won last night.

So if we're worried, we're back.

We're good.

We're winning.

The Pirates did well in the draft last night, too, by the way.

Yeah, I don't.

Every draft.

That matters.

Seth Hernandez at six is good.

But back to the

second one.

Seth?

You know, Seth.

Sethy, yes.

Hard-throwing right here out of California.

I like this guy.

I picked the Red Sox to win the American League East before the season.

Boom.

Talent Jet.

And in early June, when they were struggling, I was standing by them.

And here's why.

Because they have been an incredibly talented team the whole time.

Sometimes it takes 100 games to figure out who you are.

And that's an insane thing to think about.

But it's reality.

Like, Sedan Raffaella, who's been brilliant,

one of the best players in baseball, we didn't know what position he was for sure, you know, in May.

Was he going to be an infielder?

Was he going to be a center fielder?

Now he's one of the best center fielders in baseball, and you could make an argument that he belongs here in Atlanta right now.

Amen.

Roman Anthony, you know, it takes a little while to figure out big league pitching.

When I was talking with Cal Rowley's dad,

Cal Rowley's dad was saying, you know, we used to talk about this in our house.

In baseball, you know, you have low A, you have high A, double A, triple A.

Major league league baseball is 8A.

That's how big the leap is from AAA up to the big league level.

So it takes guys some time to figure it out.

And Roman Anthony seems to finally be figuring it out.

And they've gotten healthier at this point.

Alex Bregman coming back is going to make it even better.

And now we're going toward the July 31st trade deadline, and all eyes are going to be on the Red Sox.

Aroldis Chapman's going nowhere.

Alex.

Bregman's going nowhere.

They're going to add.

And if they get another starting pitcher who can be at the top of that rotation with Garrett Crochet, Brian Bayo pitching soldier, Lucas Giolito, the Boston Red Sox are legitimate World Series contenders.

Suck it.

Everybody.

Everybody.

That was not directed at any individual team or person.

Oh, I'm back.

Just the world.

With that being said, Jet, Brian Cashman basically, and he never does this.

He was like, hey, we need a reliever.

We need a third baseman.

And we probably need another bat.

With how well the Red Sox have closed out the all-star break here, and with how shitty the Yankees have been pretty much for the better part of the last month,

how much do you think that kind of lights the fire under their ass?

Like, hey, they need to go get multiple pieces.

And the fact that both of them, by the way, are still behind the Toronto Blue Jays and the American League East, and the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays, I know that the Red Sox

took care of them over the weekend, but the Rays are a dangerous team, too.

It's like the American League right now is the East, those four teams.

The Central Detroit's running away with it, and out West you've got Houston and Seattle.

So there's seven teams competing for six playoff spots at this point.

The urgency for the Yankees should be paramount right now.

Because this is a team that is having a prime year from Aaron Judge.

You cannot waste another Aaron Judge, like, all-time great season.

And the Yankees, if they do not improve their team right now, are at the risk of doing that.

But look, they've gotten a really good year from Cody Bellinger.

Jason Dominguez, I think, is better than certainly I thought that he was going to be.

Like, it's a pretty deep lineup.

In the starting rotation, if you have Freed and Radon at the top in a playoff series, you feel good.

They need to shore up that bullpen, no question about it.

And if they can go out and get a Eugenios Suarez to fill that third base spot and go and get a couple of relief pitchers and maybe a, I don't even think they need a top of the rotation starter.

I think more like a back end starting pitcher just to fill in.

I think the Yankees are going to be just fine.

And then October is such a crapshoot.

Like, I would love to sit here and say, if you go into October with the best roster out of anyone, you're going to win the World Series.

That's not true.

Like, it happens every couple of years.

If not, the Dodgers will win every damn World Series.

And, you know, if the Dodgers lost this year, it wouldn't surprise anyone despite how much talent they have.

I don't think Dodgers will lose anybody.

No.

Maybe Pittsburgh Pirates, if they meet them in October.

Bingo.

They haven't ended the break here very well.

Dodgers.

Plus, because all eyes are on the All-Star awake.

And the Boston Red Sox.

But with the AL East, kind of sticking with them for a second.

What happened to the Baltimore Orioles?

Because they were supposed to be the, like you're talking about how, you know, the Pirates had a great draft.

You build your team in that way.

And then I thought the Orioles did that.

They were the one seed, or they were up there

two years ago.

Two years ago, yeah, and now they fell off a cliff.

Like,

is there a way you can build your team right and then for the whole entire thing to collapse collapse a year later?

Because it feels like that's what happened with Baltimore.

Yeah, and I don't think Baltimore is going to have to go back into like a rebuild mode here, right?

Like, they've still got a lot of talent there.

What they don't have is pitching.

Pitching's been the Achilles heel all year.

And you know, they addressed it last year by going out and getting Corbin Burns.

And Corbin Burns was phenomenal for them, but he left in free agency this offseason.

They signed Tomayuki Sagano.

You know, they signed Andrew Kittridge.

Like, they just did fill-in gap-to-gap moves, and it didn't work.

With the Pirates?

No.

No, they're pitching.

We got Paul Skeens, brother.

Pirates.

And the cruise missile.

Fill it in gap to gap, excuse me.

Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of gaps, but we got a couple gaps that we've certainly covered up here.

You ever seen Titanic?

Yeah.

There's a couple holes.

And then that thing goes up like this.

But Skeens is up or just

playing that thing down.

He's the captain.

Poor guy.

And the missile, cruise missile, is out there just hitting bombs in front of a great fan base that

fears that they'll never see a winner.

Anyway, Tony has a question for me.

I do have a question about Paul.

Do you vote for any MLB awards, player awards?

I don't anymore.

I stopped doing it.

I stopped doing smart.

Do you think the voters will hold it against him that he is the best pitcher?

He has a 2 ERA, but he's 4-8.

Do you think he's, like, because I saw he's no longer the favorite to win the NL, Cy Young, which he definitely should be.

Do you think voters are going to hold it against him that he's not winning games?

Nobody looks at wins anymore.

Okay, good.

Yeah.

And it stopped with Felix Hernandez.

Like when Felix Hernandez.

Turn gone, says the pirates.

It's a loser mentality.

Yeah.

Well, whoa, whoa, exactly.

I think Felix did have a situation like this.

Yeah, and here's the thing: I think we all look at what teams do winning games, but pitcher wins are not in any way a reflection of their performance.

You're going to have a guy probably wins 17, 18, 19 games this year who's half the pitcher that Paul Skeens is.

And so they will look at,

when I was voting for the Cy Young, the first thing that I looked at was innings pitched.

And I know that's kind of old school of me, but I want to see who goes out there and who posts.

Like, who is going to get me deep into games?

Who's going to save my bullpen?

Who's going to go CG if I need it?

Which is why Zach Wheeler is right up there with Paul Skeens.

Like, Zach Wheeler's awesome.

And I think Zach Wheeler in the past, frankly, the year Corbin Burtons won the Cy Young, Zach Wheeler threw something like 35, 40 more innings than him.

And it should have been a lot closer than it was.

But Skins is going to throw a lot of innings this year.

So I don't think there's going to be that much separation from there.

I look at strikeouts, I look at walks, I look at home runs allowed.

And then from there, if those numbers are all tight, it's just looking at little tiny granular things.

It's going to be an interesting and close vote.

I will say there's a chance that some voters, if there is almost a virtual tie

in terms of numbers, do wind up looking at the success of the team, and Wheeler would be the favorite because of that.

Okay, so let's talk about the future of this particular sport and league.

Celebration last night in a pretty big way.

Go ahead, Debuzz.

Yeah, you talked about Seth Hernandez, number six.

Who was the winner?

Yeah, of course.

Who was the winner last night in your eyes of the draft?

I know it's much different than our draft in the NFL.

We're going to see those guys week one, hopefully impacting wins.

But who won in your eyes last night?

I think the Seattle Mariners really won.

You know,

they were a borderline playoff team last year.

And Major League Baseball, in this last collective bargaining agreement, instituted a draft lottery for the first time.

And so the Mariners would have been picking down in like the mid to late teens had they not won the number three overall pick.

Crazy.

And

Eli Willits goes number one overall.

The Nationals are essentially in rebuild right now.

And so they're spreading their money out among a bunch of young, talented high school players.

And Willits is getting a way under slot deal, which means

the slot value for that top pick is around $11 million.

It's not like the NFL where you get paid what your slot is, or the NBA where you get paid like it.

In baseball, you can get creative.

You can shift money around a little bit.

And so Eli Bobby.

Bobby Benilla.

Yeah.

And who's that other guy we talked about last night?

He's getting $9 million for the next 14 years.

Oh, Chris Davis.

Chris Davis.

Max Scherzer is the second highest paid Washington national this year.

Yeah, right.

Behind Steven Strasberg, who's not playing either.

Number two overall pick, the Angels gave Tyler Bremner, who was expected to go like in the early to mid-teens.

He went up to number two because he was willing to take a haircut on the pick.

But Kate Anderson was widely regarded as the top prospect in the draft.

And the Mariners, who already have Logan Gilbert, Brian Wu, who's here as an all-star right now, George Kirby, Luis Castillo, and Bryce Miller in their rotation, get a guy who could be in the big leagues at some point in the next year or two and could be a top end starter, an absolute coup for the Mariners.

All right, well, thank you for the intel.

Thank you for the

vibes around baseball for years and years with us.

You have been our plug for baseball for years.

And I think we've been very transparent on our relationship with baseball.

I don't know much about it, but now that we're here, we have you to thank for a lot of it, Jim.

We appreciate you bringing us into the world, and we appreciate you taking care of us.

You're the man.

Honestly, I'm so glad you guys are here.

Just to get to experience what this is like, this is like, I think this is my 22nd or 23rd all-star game.

Like, I've been doing this a while now.

And being able to reach out to a wider group of fans and show them what this world is like, it means a lot to me.

And you guys are a big part of that.

So thank you guys.

Come on, you're the man, ladies and gentlemen, senior MLB Insider DSPN and pundit Jet Passes.

Jet, we appreciate you, brother.

Thank you.

See you, Jet.

See you, Jet.

Bye, Jet.

Take care.

See you, Jet.

All right, Jet, Jet.

All right, Jet.

Get

All right, take a hike, Jet.

I'm leaving.

That's what they're saying.

Not me.

I won't let you go.

I sue, Jet.

Ooh, athlete.

Good dismount.

Okay.

That was like 45% of his body height.

Wow.

He's got a low center of gravity.

It is about 40%.

Yeah, I know.

I did the quick math.

I just got that re-put together back.

Yeah, exactly.

Hey, also beat that tree.

People forget.

Exactly.

Shows that.

Hey, did you take that tree, turn it into a bat, hit a couple dingers with it?

Did you take?

I should have brought it here.

Yeah, yeah.

Bring the whole tree.

All right, anyways, tree tried to kill Jet Passing.

He survived.

He survived.

Hey.

Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man who's a two-time AL MVP, a seven-time All-Star, a three-time All-MLB first team, four-time Silver Slugger, AL record for the most home runs in a season with 62.

Currently has 35 homers.

He's hitting 355 in 81 RBIs.

At one point, he was above 400 on the season.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ty Ty Schmitz, dream human, Aaron Judge.

Well said.

Well said.

Good.

All right, gentlemen.

I don't know if you're going to be able to fit your

gigantic human being.

Don't worry about it.

All right.

Full unit.

He took that from your locker.

Yeah, he took that from your locker last night.

First all-star nod for the kid.

That's right.

Yeah, this is his first all-star.

So you remember your first time all-star.

This is his first all-star.

First All-Star.

Holy shit.

We got to lower it down a little bit.

Can you put that on?

Is that big enough?

Let's do it.

Jeez.

Oh, let's go.

Oh, yeah.

Here we go.

Hell yeah.

Ty, is there anything you'd like to say to Aaron here before we get started?

Yeah, I have two girls.

If I do have a boy, I will be naming him after you.

No pressure, but that is.

Judge or Aaron?

Aaron.

Maybe Aaron Judge Schmidt, potentially.

On that note, how does it feel to be the guy?

I chit-chatted with him about you, and he talked about how you've really accepted and embraced the role of being the captain of the Yankees, being the face of the pinstripes, which is obviously a big deal to him and to your entire fan base.

How has that been becoming that guy?

Because obviously we've seen you for a while.

gigantic human all rise we're hitting bombs you've gone through your entire life publicly seemingly at this point but how does it feel to be the guy in new york

It's incredible.

I wouldn't say I'm the guy.

I'm just another guy.

Which is what the guy would say.

Exactly.

Exactly.

No, I'm just trying to follow,

just keep this legacy going.

The captains that came before me,

especially the last one, Jeter, the way he went about it, the way he played the game,

the championships,

just staying out of the spotlight, doing everything the right way.

I'm just trying to kind of follow his lead and just kind of keep that legacy going.

So then when I'm done playing, hopefully someone behind me is kind of taking the next torch.

Yeah, it's an old school mindset.

It really is an old school mindset.

It feels like baseball has a lot of that inside of it and we will certainly ask you about that.

You saying like not doing a lot of publicity, he was kind of forced to do this one.

So we appreciate you.

And I let people know, Aaron Judge was not reaching out to get his face on a camera anymore.

Kind of felt obligated to the MLB people because we asked about it for tie and also because we've been following you.

This year, different.

You're over 400 there for a while.

And we're talking about like a varsity player playing against JV.

Does it look like a beach ball whenever you're in one of these zones or what is it about this year or maybe you just as a hitter as a whole?

It's just trying to get better every year.

You know, we had a great season last year.

I'll get all the way to the World Series.

You know, we didn't finish the job, but

that's where I take the offseason, kind of take a couple weeks to reflect and be like, hey, how can I get better?

How can I help the team?

What things can I do personally to just kind of take that next level in my development?

We're just working on it.

Seeing the ball better?

What is it?

Like, how does that work?

How do you get better at seeing the ball?

How old are you?

33.

You're about to beat Jesus.

You make it one more year.

Congratulations and God bless him.

But with that being said, how do you seeing the ball better?

Is that something?

Or like, take me as somebody who never played baseball.

How does a hitter get better?

Well, I think the cool thing about with the major leagues, like when you're working your way up to the minor leagues, you know, you're in high A, you do well there.

They might be up to double A.

And now it's a whole new league, new pitchers, new players, you do well there, triple A.

Well, in the big leagues, you're kind of, you're at the top.

There's nowhere else to go.

So you're seeing the same pitchers over and over and over again.

The new guys kind of come up.

They might stay there for a little bit.

They're gone.

But you see the same pitchers over and over.

So I feel like just getting a chance to see the same guy and get more at bats, get a feel for it.

You know, it's...

Good things are usually going to happen more for the hitter.

How many times behind closed doors have you fist-fought Shohei Otani?

Not once, not once, man.

He's a great guy, you know, great ambassador for this game.

We're going to get him back, though.

We'll see him down the road.

No, No, you too.

I just literally talked to Manford about this, and I assume he's very grateful for you and all the stars in the league.

But you and Shohei and Big Dumper and Scoobel and Skeens, all the stars playing well is great for the league.

Do you guys feel that for the league?

Do you feel the momentum that you guys are kind of a part of right now with the league as a whole?

Yeah, baseball's in a great spot.

I feel like just every stadium we go to, it's packed out.

You know, just the publicity a lot of these guys are getting, you know, worldwide.

You know, we're having fans all around the world watching this game, celebrating this game.

It's something special.

So, like you said, when the stars are out there playing their best, it's

good things for the sport, that's for sure.

And I got to say, also, like,

when I work out at the Yankee complex, your guys, this show is on 24-7.

Just to let you guys know.

So, this wasn't, I wasn't forced to do this.

When we heard about it, I was like, I couldn't wait to get on here.

So, it's special.

It's special.

That's awesome.

Appreciate you.

Go ahead, Ty.

That's awesome.

I just got through this quote.

So you guys have heard, Ty, I assume.

Yeah, good.

That's all.

Obviously, everyone, you know, hitting-wise, like, it's kind of crazy because I expect you to, if not hit a homer every single game, at least go two to four.

So, like, sometimes, like, you know, if you go 0 for 2 with a couple walks, I'm like, Jesus Christ, what's going on with Judgy today?

But I've

just act like that.

Yeah, no, no.

Well, I mean, this guy gets it.

I'll take a bullet for him.

I've long said, though, I don't think you get nearly enough credit for how good you are defensively.

I mean, just, what was it, Saturday against the Cubs, you rob a PCA home run, you have the shoestring catch, catch, and then

you have the sliding grab to end Rodon's in and get out there unscathed.

How much of it, because obviously everyone's always going to talk about your numbers at the plate.

How much do you have to put in defensively though to make sure that you're sharp?

Because you are a weapon in the outfield.

Yeah, I just never wanted to be a liability out there.

I wanted to be a complete player.

I know how hard the pitcher's working on the mound.

I don't want to be that guy that drops a ball, lets a ball fall in, and he's like,

come on, man.

I didn't want that look.

So I just wanted to always be a guy that the ball's hit my direction.

My teammates can depend on me.

And

talking about earlier what you said about going 0 for 2 or 2 for 4.

I love those expectations.

That's one thing that drives me every single day is knowing that fans are coming to the ballpark, they're turning on the TV, expecting me to go out there and do something great for the team.

So that pumps me up here in that.

Yeah, you kind of ruined our show there for a while.

Because remember, we were just doing the 400 watch.

Is your batten over 400?

So if we could fucking

If we could please get back to it over 400 D-bun has a question for you.

Yeah, Aaron, you obviously made the correct choice, but we're in a world now where young kids start to get specialized in sports really early on.

You were a phenomenal athlete, I know, at least the high school level, in all different sports.

When did you know for sure it's going to be baseball, and you're going to go that direction?

I always thought it'd be baseball.

You know, I love playing baseball growing up, just a chess match, back and forth, pitcher, hitter, you know, the pitcher-catcher, just everything involved.

but i love football growing up you know just the mentality you got to have to go out there and just you know i'm going to kill this guy in front of me

which was you know what's your asset tackle though i got tight ends oh yeah 6'7 you're right

but there is like a is baseball 6'7 i mean i think uh oh near

is there like a too tall moment like if you get to 6'8 is that too big for baseball well i think i'm technically 6'8 but i tell people 6'7 oh because of this to stay underneath that yeah exactly because i assume too tall not I mean, how many...

Randy Johnson's the only one I can think of.

Yeah, how many Johnson?

I think you can be as tall as you want.

Yeah, there's not too many.

Your strike zone is gigantic.

Oh, yeah.

He gets screwed with the low strikes all the time.

Yeah, we'll talk about that.

We'll talk about that.

Okay, before we go on any further, we're going to see you in some fresh cleats.

I believe at this all-star game.

Oh, yeah.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think this is the debut.

I think this is the first time anybody's getting eyes on him except for the team at Jordan or Aaron Judge.

Here's the Air Jordan 4 retro baseball cleat that he'll be debuting and will be available on Wednesday on sale, I believe.

So clean.

Size 75.

I don't know if anybody else is going to have this size.

Those things are beautiful.

You're obviously on the Jordan team.

How long has that been?

And how cool is that?

And how much do you have say in what you want to kind of wear next?

Because these are filthy.

Obviously, a classic that everybody loves.

Yeah, this is a classic, especially for the All-Star Game.

It's cool to kind of bring something out like this.

But the Jordan team, they're so great with us every offseason.

And even during the season, next couple weeks, we'll be kind of talking about what we're going to do next year.

You know, I've been on the brand since

2023.

So it's just a special partnership, man.

The love and support they show us every single night is incredible.

I want to also hook all you guys up with some fresh Jordans too before we get out of here.

So we'll try to...

We're going to get that lined up.

We're going to get all your sides.

We're going to get some gloves.

We're getting Jordan gloves.

It's my captain.

If you want some gloves, we'll hook up some gloves.

No, no, is that what you were talking about?

Where you were talking about?

No, some shoes.

We'll get you some shoes.

We'll get you some fresh J's.

So I know you got some fresh shoes on right now, but I'll get it.

This snake died in its sleep, Aaron.

Okay, it lived a nice, great life, but I will certainly put some J's on, especially if they're going to be gifted by you.

The Jordan team in every sport is obviously such a high rank in everything.

All-Star Week, obviously gigantic.

You're very comfortable in this setting.

What is it like for the new all-stars?

Like whenever you come here and you see all you, like what is All-Star Week like as an all-star for you guys?

Is it too much?

Is it tiring?

Is it exhausting?

Do you enjoy it?

Is it a waste of time?

Like what is the mindset of most players whenever they come here for this celebration?

Ty, you want to get this one?

Yeah, I'm a first time.

Yeah, Ty's first time.

He has experience.

I can't wait to chop it up with you in the clubhouse later.

No, honestly, I think, you know, I go back to my first one in 2017 in Miami.

It was just, for me, it was amazing to see a lot of the players that I looked up to.

Buster Posey was one of them.

You know, and I'm stepping in for my first at-bat in my first All-Star game, and I got Buster Posey for the San Francisco Giants calling pitches against me, where I watched as a kid, you know, rooting them on TV.

So I think that's probably the coolest thing, is just getting a chance to interact with some guys you usually don't get to see, pick the rent a little bit, you know, come out here, celebrate the game.

I love what they're doing now, having the draft here, have everything here.

I think it just brings more excitement to this special day.

Yeah, it makes it a big hub.

You know, we get a chance to experience it in football.

The Super Bowl will do their thing.

And then for college football, the playoffs have kind kind of become that.

In the NBA, All-Star Week is when everybody kind of comes.

Feels the same right now.

I don't know if it's always been like this.

You said it's pretty new.

But draft into this press conference into the home run derby and everything.

It's taken over the conversation.

We're lucky to be here.

Boston Red Sox fan, Boston Conner has a question for you.

Yeah, Aaron, thank you for leading with that, Pecks.

That's what I want to ask about.

Something that I love about baseball and just sports in general is just hate.

You know, I love the hate that teams have for each other.

And the best rivalry in sports, it feels like, across the board is, you know,

Yankees, or at least it was.

As of recent, the Sox haven't been good when the Yankees are good, and then the Yankees haven't been good when the Sox are good.

Right now, it's kind of hitting its stride here where the Sox are getting good again.

Do you think it's still possible to have very passionate throwback rivalries like the Red Sox and the Yankees used to have?

Or do you think at this point now, because of all the access, because everyone's friendly with each other, much closer,

that it's almost past the era of Veritech Veritech and A-Rod and those guys.

And now, like, the Red Sox, Yankees, rivalry, and just rivalries in general are kind of going into a different stratosphere when it comes to that stuff.

I think it's still there.

I think there's a level of respect that we have for everybody, especially when we go to Fenway and we step in that historic ballpark and it's playing against those guys.

I got a certain level of respect for them, but I also can't wait to beat them every single game I can.

So, especially you hear from the fans, the fans are yelling at you, they're saying some things you can't say on here, I don't think.

In Boston, of course.

I've never heard it as much, but

I know what you're saying.

Yeah, absolutely.

But it's fun.

I enjoy it.

I think we might get to that point at some,

there might be some times where maybe a couple guys throw inside, maybe we throw inside, we kind of see what happens.

I don't know, it might be good for the game, but we'll see, man.

I got so much respect for those guys.

I think they kind of feel the same.

So we just try to go out there and just put on a good show and kind of leave it all in the field.

On that note of throwing inside, Tone has a question for you.

Yeah, I do.

And throwing inside, and Ty talked about throwing low earlier in the low strike call.

And you talked about getting better each year.

How do you feel, like, how do you deal with now in this point in your career, like, just getting pitched around the time?

Can you tell at the beginning of the bat that you're going to be pitched around?

Or do you like, hey, I'm not going to get a pitch to hit this at-bat?

Or can you tell when you know, like, hey, they're not going to give you anything?

Usually have a feeling, but I try just to block that out because there might be one slip-up or one mistake they make, and that might be the only pitch I see.

Yeah, yeah, I might steal a dong shot.

Exactly.

So you just try to stay locked in.

You kind of have a feeling.

You know, I think I get most upset when they're pitching around me, and the umpire back here is like,

come on, buddy.

We're seeing the same thing.

How do you feel about the not robotic

the ABS?

Manfred told us, please don't say robot.

Yeah, he did.

Okay, I'm gonna, I take exception with you saying robot.

It's a system that we have crafted over the years.

How do you feel about that?

Hitters love it, pitchers hate it.

Is that a good read?

Yeah, a little bit.

I think it's just new.

So it's just new.

Anything that's new, people are going to kind of have their opinions kind of hit on a little bit, but I still love the human element of the game.

You know, that's kind of been my thing growing up.

I don't know if it's old school or not, but I just love having the umpire back there, the human feel.

But I know it's coming.

It's coming in the next couple years, so we just got to get used to it.

So are you allowed to?

I don't know the rules.

Please bear with me.

They're throwing outside on you, okay with getting a walk, maybe steal a couple strikes, though.

Can you step into that thing and hit that?

Like,

you're not allowed to cross-home plate there?

Oh, you can do whatever you want as long as you stay in that little batter's box.

So you can go all the way out to the edge of that.

You cannot leave that going forward.

Because if you were to take somebody who's trying to take you out,

step on the plate.

That would be higher on the century.

I'm not saying you should do that.

Don't change anything, Jesus, especially for me.

But know that if you did do that, big pop out of me at my house.

sure with that being said thank you so much for stopping by congrats on the new shoes congrats on another all-star bid congrats on another phenomenal year and thanks for representing the Yankees so well because this guy's happy as hell every time he sees you without a doubt without a doubt are you excited to watch jazz tonight at Derby I can't wait I can't wait he's gonna put on a show he's an entertainer and he's one of the are you gonna be on the field we miss you jazz I'll be out there I'll be out there yeah hey come on miss you Jazz appreciate you we continue on YouTube ESPN plus Disney plus TikTok live also the press conference I will be hosting we'll be live at two o'clock here and on MLB Network.

We'll see you tomorrow.

Goodbye.

Okay, we're still digital.

Don't say anything that you wouldn't want to say.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

To your grandmas.

You understand what I'm saying?

It's the captain.

People are still listening, Captain.

Okay?

I don't want to say it, but I'm going to say it for Ty.

Every time you guys go into a slump, this guy's getting closer and closer to driving into traffic.

Okay?

So when these slumps happen, long season, what is it that gets you guys out of it?

Like, can you feel it when you're in it?

Is everybody like actually from the baseball movies I watch, are we changing our underwear?

Are we doing, like, is that type of shit happening?

Like, what happens in modern baseball that kind of, to get out of a slump, or do you feel like when you're going into one?

For teams, not players, but teams as a whole.

For teams as a whole.

Because Ty is thinking about jumping off cliffs.

You need to know that.

That is what's happening.

I don't believe that.

He's a true Yankee fan.

He rides and dies with us.

Yes, I do.

That's the second part, bro.

That's what I'm talking about.

Eric, you are repeating what I'm saying.

Yes.

You know,

we play it every single day.

You know, so you kind of are just so focused on today, and all of a sudden you look up and it's like, hey, we lost five in a row.

And, you know, we'll just, hey,

you got to change something up.

I think it's more of a joke.

We'll kind of like, hey, you know, we got to switch things up here, try to do something fun, just kind of get our mind off of the fact we just got our butts kicked for three games against the Red Sox, so we got to switch it up here.

You guys, your mental toughness for dealing with failure is crazy.

It's nothing like any other sport.

So I have so much respect for it.

And obviously, I respect the hell out of you.

Sick.

Yeah, the t-shirt.

Yeah, the extra.

The censure jacket.

The fucking...

Yeah, you should see the ring.

The ring, too.

I mean, the whole thing.

The ring.

Sky healthy.

Baseball, we forget.

That's my wife.

That's my wife.

Great taste.

Yep.

Great taste.

You're the man.

Thank you so much for the hospitality.

We'll see you tonight, I think.

Can't wait.

I think we're doing the intros for everybody.

Oh, boy.

That's going to be good.

No, it's great.

I'm excited.

I'm excited.

Captain, I would respect

a little bit of a better response.

Yeah, we should have a good time.

We appreciate you.

Okay, I'm going to go do that, and we'll continue on the other side.

I believe Shohei is joining us after the press conference at around 2.30.

I will ask him about the other side of the Aaron Judge, punch him in the face behind closed doors.

Well, he said it didn't happen.

We shall see.

Be a friend, tell a friend something nice.

It might change your life.

We're live from the All-Star Game.

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Baseball is happening.

And we are incredibly lucky to be here.

The one half of the toxic table is here at Ty Schmidt in full regard.

One half of the hammer, Don Cowboys AP Tone is here.

Nine-year NFL vet Darius J.

Butler is here.

And ladies and gentlemen, joining us live

is a man who is in goat conversations already.

He can throw it.

He can hit it.

He can captivate an entire globe.

Will are you telling him these things?

Ladies and gentlemen, showhe on Tane.

Shohei.

Sir.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming by.

Congratulations on another All-Star.

What has All-Star Week become for you?

Just as you enjoy the week as a whole?

I'm just grateful to to just be part of this All-Star festivity.

The fans voted me in, so I'm very grateful that I get to participate and play.

So I'm looking forward to it.

And Will, could we have

good energy on the delivery?

To be honest, I grew up watching Ichiro play in the All-Star Games, so that was somebody who I wanted to meet.

Whenever you were growing up, it feels like when you got to the MLB, all the baseball purists were like, Hey, this is a guy who can be a guy.

Has he committed his entire life to baseball?

And at what age did he think, okay, this could become a full-time professional?

And also, also, Don Lo Regato for going on.

Major League Baseball, my dream grew, and I really wanted to play in the big leagues.

Okay, so let's talk about you playing in the big leagues.

Babe Ruth comparisons immediately because you pitch and you hit.

I'm new to baseball, casual baseball, did not play growing up, and all the baseball people are like it's impossible to do because it's either too much wear or tear or not enough focus on something it's very difficult to do.

Why do you think you've been able to have success doing it when so many other people don't?

had here and here and there.

But for me, it's pretty normal.

That's a great answer, Will.

Good delivery.

I think it even matched the tone here from Shohei.

Last question for me before the boys have some, and once again, Bomo Rogato for coming by and everything like that.

Do you have, you think, stronger muscles, stronger bones, better tendons than everybody else because you're able to do both?

And if so, what should I be eating to become Shohei or Tani-like?

I actually grew up pretty thin and it was not the way I look right now.

So I worked out a lot and I ate a lot, and that this is how I became.

What are you eating?

What is meal of choice?

I love meat.

Oh, yeah.

A lot of it.

Have you enjoyed America's customs and cultures since coming over here?

And what is your favorite thing that America does?

That you go like,

this is very American of America, and I like it.

I'm not sure if I can do it.

They really welcomed me with open arms when I first came here to the U.S.

as a foreign player, so I'm just really happy with hanging out with the guys.

Like the lads, love that.

Ty Schmidt has a question for you.

I'm sure you get asked this all the time, but would you rather pitch against yourself when you're on like an absolute heater, or would you rather hit against yourself like when you're just spinning it like you never have on the mound?

Could you strike you out?

I think I can.

Yeah.

Yeah, I feel more confident being able to get the hitter version of meow as a pitcher.

Do you view yourself more as a pitcher or a hitter?

Like, whenever a lot of the baseball purists are like, he's such a good hitter, there's no reason for us to potentially go into pitching.

But on the flip side, you're such a good pitcher, and baseball revolves around having a good pitcher as well.

Do you view yourself as a pitcher?

Is that how we should talk about you?

Just happens to be a great hitter, or are you a great hitter who happens to be a great pitcher?

How would you like us to talk about you as doofuses that have a microphone?

Can you please explain that point?

I grew up, you know, I feel like I was more talented as a hitter growing up, and it was hard for me to pitch actually.

So I feel like I'm more of like a hitter who could who learned how to pitch more than the pitcher learning how to hit.

What was the word doofus that you used in there?

Is that what doofus?

That's what is it again?

Ahorashi.

Ahorashi.

Ahorashi.

Okay, so.

We are horashi.

D-but professional athlete horashi.

Yeah, so obviously I've dealt with injuries.

You dealt with two major elbow injuries.

Was there any difference coming back from this one?

I know you've been taking the mound recently.

Any differences coming back from this one, or is it pretty similar to the one before?

I actually felt pretty comfortable and felt better after the second surgery.

You know, just the way the ball fell in my hands when I first threw, ever since the surgery, the progression throughout felt really comfortable and progressed a lot more quickly than the first surgery.

How close to full go are we?

You don't have to tell us, obviously, please tell him.

He doesn't have to tell us.

I really just have to increase volume,

but aside from that, I feel pretty good with what I have.

Okay, that's awesome.

What are you throwing me?

Jeez, Taran has a question for you.

I

Why do you bat leadoff?

Is it something that you want to do that Coach Roberts wants to have you do?

Why are you in that leadoff spot?

I feel pretty comfortable batting anywhere.

And so, at the end of the day, I want to make sure that I'm honoring what the team wants and what the manager wants and how it just fits well with the lineup.

There's a couple that you like,

you know, and then home run.

There's a couple where you it just looks like you're

how long have you been?

You said you were skinny growing up.

How long have you been a bomb hitter?

You are a bomb hitter.

I mean, you hit the shit out of the bomb.

So far.

So far.

I mean, they travel so far.

And as a pitcher,

that doesn't really correlate, which I think why Aharichis like myself here in America are so dumbfounded by it.

But how long have you been a bomb hitter?

And do you take pride in the fact that it's fireworks whenever you are at bat?

Like, must-watch?

If you look back my first year in the big leagues, I was pretty skinny.

So I would say, like, probably 2021.

What pitch,

do you feel like you're a better hitter because you're the best pitcher

that there is in the league?

Like, do you see the ball better, you think?

Do you have a feel for it whenever you're pitching and hitting?

Do you feel like that is an advantage to do both?

Do you think one helps the other?

So I really take that experience as a hitter on the mound.

You've been an MVP, you're a world champion, you captivated the globe,

captivated the entire globe.

You put the MLB in a spot that it's never been.

We say thank you for that, for the sport.

But you're still so young in this entire game.

Is every day a process of trying to get better still?

Is there new goals, new dreams, new everything?

Like, what does day-to-day look like for you whenever you're forecasting future plans?

Yeah, naturally, I just want to progress and get better.

So I do have like a vision of just getting better in many, many steps.

So that's what I'm trying to do on a daily basis.

You're a dog, dude.

Oh, you know what that means.

That's good.

Welcome to the merch.

We appreciate the hell out of you coming here.

We appreciate you stopping by our show.

Thank you for what you do for sports as a whole.

And I think you helped bring the world together, brother.

And I think that's a beautiful thing.

So thank you so much.

We appreciate you.

And Will, great work.

Will, you had great, you did really good work there.

You brought it one point.

Yeah, hey.

Yo, hey approved.

So

we've never had to deal with this.

I can only speak one language.

Okay?

He's, you and him have to get along very well, right?

I mean, you legit, you guys have to get along very well.

Is that an accurate assessment assessment of the entire thing?

So with Will, whenever it starts, Will, I guess I'll ask you, it's a feeling out process like a relationship, I would assume, right?

And trying to catch his demeanor and his tone and everything like that, because you were a very important piece of Shohei Otani's, Shohei Otani as a whole.

Legit.

Is it like getting a feel for who he is as a person, the tone, or how does that kind of work for you guys when you start?

Oh, well.

He's a great person, so I really don't have to do much.

No, but that's right, because you're trying to be.

Yeah, well, I just want to let you guys know, it's amazing what you've done.

We appreciate the hell out of you.

And

no baseball, dude.

Yeah.

Good luck out there.

Thank you.

Enjoy the week.

Thank you.

Will, great work.

Thanks.

Thank you guys very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, multiple-time MVP, world champion, world icon.

Ladies and gentlemen, Shohei Atori.

Thank you, Shohei.

Thanks, man.

We appreciate it.

Holy hell.

Thank you guys.

Hey, great job.

Thank you.

Good luck.

I got to steal one.

Hey, can I steal a selfie?

Boys, boys.

Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

There goes awesome, man.

Great work, Will.

Really good work, Will.

Hey, couple all-stars right there.

That's right.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no.

He's an athlete.

Thank you, Shohei.

Did you see what he did?

The look back?

Oh, from this angle, he went, ah.

Oh, is that what he did?

Yeah, he was messing with us.

Okay, because I I thought he was looking back mad at me that I thought he would get hurt jumping off of it.

No, he went, ah.

Shohei, they will ban us forever from everything.

Hey, nice old Monday.

What's up, man?

Nice old Monday here.

Hey, not a bad old show.

Oh, a bad old show.

Not at all.

Tonight, going to be a part of the show as well.

Yeah.

So pumped for that.

Host a press conference out there.

Yeah, you did.

You hit it.

Did an excellent job.

Andy, you know, you had to step in in a couple points.

I couldn't hear, I couldn't hear, we couldn't hear.

I couldn't hear it either, so then I listened to it on YouTube.

I couldn't hear the

multitude of questions,

but that one,

the rhythm and tone of it felt like, oh, this one is a little bit more serious.

Could you please say that again?

It was a long one.

Yeah, we are, because I could not hear it.

It was pretty, where we were sitting, I think speakers were shooting out.

Yeah.

So we were kind of...

Loud down.

It was loud in the back.

Yeah, it was an interesting thing.

So nobody on the stage could hear most of that stuff.

So that's probably where my role probably could have been better.

But shit, I couldn't hear him.

I need a mic.

It's good moment.

We're celebrating sports, though.

Lucky to be a part of it.

Thankful to be here.

And thank you to the MLB for the hospitality.

I think that's the big takeaway for this whole thing.

Yep.

I got a sleeveless jersey from the commission.

So sick.

Very cool.

They put us right in the middle of the damn theater.

We got jerseys too?

Yeah, they give us all jerseys.

Yeah.

Hey, also.

Spelled ourselves.

Here we go.

Yeah, even mud.

Wow, wow.

All the vowels.

Yeah, have my real name.

Really?

Yeah.

Wow, no matter what you're deep, but

these people are congratulations.

You get it.

Tonight should be awesome.

I think everybody should watch.

Ty and I, I think, are introducing the batters.

So cool.

What?

Yeah, I think, I don't know if I was supposed to say that.

Break down.

Surprise!

Oops.

No, I don't think anybody would be mad that we said that.

And I think they probably just told us to handle it however we want.

Me and Ty are going to be introducing the batters this evening.

It is a title and an opportunity and an honor to be asked to do as such.

And we will do it justice.

We understand what the situation calls for.

Hell yeah.

And what situation doesn't call for it.

We will be certainly excited to do the job.

And I think we'll be standing on like second base.

Correct.

Okay.

So.

And the middle of Truce Park.

So far.

Wow.

Gloves?

Something to think about.

Certainly, I think we're holding it.

You want.

Hey, ball, security is job security, brother.

I got you.

You want one?

I don't have the glove on.

Hey.

Oh, nice snag with the palm, too.

Yikes.

Yeah, what was it?

Bad hand.

It was a catch, all right?

It was a catch.

Hey, we're a baseball program, aren't we?

Yes, we are.

Nobody talks about it.

Even us.

Sometimes.

We have a catch all the time.

We do have a catch all the time.

This glove is the worst.

Sticks.

A little stiff.

That's a show.

It's cool looking.

Not like Show Hey.

No, like a Show Pony.

Shout out to T-Mobile.

Can't say it enough.

If you're looking for phone coverage, get the best network.

The best mobile network in the United States, as it was voted on by the name right here above my head.

Yeah.

Man, that's fine.

Speed test, I believe it says.

According to

Oklahoma?

Ocla?

OOCLA

Speed Test.

Oh, God.

That's the best of best.

I didn't see that helmet.

Is there something on that helmet?

Ookla's speed test said.

hey, T-Mobile is not the best network.

You can check it out at t-mobile.com forward slash network.

It's better over air.

Yeah.

T-Mobile.

It's like Will being the best translator.

I mean, John.

Johe would legitimately not be able to communicate with anybody.

Don't.

Actually, I don't.

So he understood what we were saying.

I think he would.

So I told Shohei in that conversation, I told Shohei that I only speak one language.

That is true.

I can kind of understand another one, though.

You're right.

So like French, I took, I think, two years in high school and then I took four semesters in college of French.

Okay, so.

So I understand what they're trying to do with the words.

So like I know the ballpark of the words.

How they're supposed to sound.

So like I was in Morocco.

French is the second native language there.

So I heard people speaking in French, could understand kind of what they were saying, but could not, didn't have the word bank to respond.

Italian with Spanish.

Felt like that's what Shohei was kind of doing there.

He understood what we were saying, but it's like, I don't know if I have the entire answer yet.

Especially with English, where it's like there's so many slang terms.

And Japanese is so much different than English language.

I mean, that is a tough jump, I think, both ways.

Like, I think English to Japanese, tough.

Nothing similar.

Like, there's like, you know,

like in the French language, E-E-S-E-E-N-T-O-N-like the ending of words all mean things.

Masculine, feminine words.

So you kind of do that.

In the Japanese language,

it's very different.

I mean, it was, I went over there.

It's tough.

I mean, nowadays with AI that we're learning.

Yeah.

Sunglasses.

My goodness.

Yep.

Shit, sunglasses, I might be able to just talk to everybody, which would be so sweet.

Should have used them for this.

Oh, yeah.

How do I say?

And then sunglasses.

Hey, meta.

Translate this.

But it's like, I think he's going to get to the point where he speaks very good English, but I think at the moment it appears he can understand what we're saying, but I don't know if he has the confidence fully yet to commit to a full answer.

Do you think that's probably a good reason?

Yeah, and I also think part of it is like you see what he already has to deal with with the Japanese media.

Maybe he starts speaking English.

Unbelievable.

It's like he's never going to be able to breathe.

Yeah, you've heard that with like some hockey players.

Right.

Like some of the Russian hockey players are like, nah, I'm not learning.

Yeah.

If I learn, what's it?

I got to talk to him.

No, I got to talk to everybody.

It's amazing.

Shohan was awesome.

Yeah,

I love how they have to walk around in full uni.

I know.

I love him showing up on the full uni.

No, I think that's an MLB mandate.

I think all of the guys who are here have to be in full uniform.

Dude, him.

I was on my phone.

All right, how much time do we have?

And then

hey, hey, hey, so everybody is like, hey, hey, hey.

Look over.

Holy shit, Shohei Otani in his full uniform.

Holy shit.

Good to see you.

All right, we're out of here.

It's great to be back.

Tomorrow we'll be in Indianapolis.

And And then

Wednesday will be in Los Angeles for the Espys.

Espys are Wednesday.

Shane Gillis is hosting.

Let's have a good night at the Espys.

Let's enjoy that.

And then Thursday, who knows where we are.

Legit.

Or what we're doing.

Could be in Utah.

Could be in Vegas.

We'll be doing a whole show.

Who knows?

The summer road trip is kind of destination list.

We're kind of on our way.

But are we ever getting there?

Of course.

Oh, we'll find out.

We got wings.

Of course we got wings.

Shout out Red Bull.

Red Bull was like, yeah, we just, hey, just kind of want to be in your guy's world, whatever you want to do.

It's like, all right, how about

next week?

We got to go to.

We need you.

Sounds good.

Because we drink Red Bull.

Oh, yeah.

So, like, them becoming a partner, good news.

This is just like whenever we actually use all the companies.

Without a doubt.

Yeah.

And they work.

Those ones work.

Yeah.

Shout out Red Bull for all the years of service all the years of service long time

and for getting in the sugar-free game and not the taste changing drastically yeah man and speaking of taste thank you for working on the taste yeah yeah over the years you remember way way way way way back oh yeah gave you wings but also it was tough to get motor oil yeah oh yeah red bull want to work yeah yeah they do say hey we got something here they certainly do they've given us wings for decades Thank you to Red Bull.

All right, let's get the hell out of here.

Ty, you and I got a big night.

Yeah, we do.

Excited for it.

Come on, boys.

Come on, boys.

Palm for you guys.

Congress, kids.

Well, you got winning today.

We got some notes.

We got winned today.

We got winners.

Who you got winning?

I mean, do you want to hear the notes first?

Oh, yeah.

Sure.

And then this might sway who you pick.

Sure.

D.

Buzz, you'll be last.

Okay.

Connor, you'll be first.

Okay.

James Wood.

I don't know if everybody knows who's batting when.

Never mind.

Oh, yeah.

Good point.

Good point.

Oh, yeah.

Good call.

James Wood.

Now they know who's leading it off.

Maybe.

Or last.

But do they?

Yes.

Good point.

Just read them randomly.

I don't think I want to do that either.

Just look at the list and then pick who you think is going to be.

Okay, boom.

Okay.

Perfect.

Boston Connor, who will be winning the home run derby this evening, that Ty and I will be announcing and hopefully kick it off in a proper fashion.

I mean, I've given this a lot of thought,

and I'm really bummed we took that list off already, Foxy.

Yep.

And just taking a a look

at the guys, again, that I have been looking into a lot.

I'm personally, of course, going to pull selfishly for Big Dumper, but I'm going to pick the hometown kid, Matt Olson.

Oh, I like it.

To win the Derby.

I mean, I think that's the best scene.

A bunch of Brace fans here are going to be pulling for him.

Come on, Matt E.O., make something out of your season because everyone says you either strike out or hit a homer.

Okay, that's from Boston Conner, who looked like this at one point on today's show, obviously.

Stare it down

Stare it down so my chance.

Hey good selection.

Okay, we'll go with you Ty Schmidt.

Obviously, you'll be introducing the guys who wins it.

Yeah, I'm gonna go with the long shot.

I'm gonna go with my Yankee brethren my all-star brethren Jazz Chisholm Jr.

I think it's just a great night Jazz is a showman, and I think he's gonna go out there with the intention of putting on a show.

So I'm gonna go with Jazz.

K AP turn, do you agree or disagree with that Ty Schmidt?

I disagree.

I'm gonna go with O'Neil Cruz.

He's got you know the V low.

He's got the bat speed.

But if you're looking for a dark horse, Junior Camanero would be

second.

Hey, remember, ESPN stats says cruise missile, winner, because of bat speed and exit velocity.

So they're saying, hey, who's going to win?

The cruise missile.

D-Buts, do you agree with anybody or do you have your own?

I got my own.

I'm going to go with the guy who's fourth on that list, but first in the big leagues and home runs, and that's the big dumper right there, Cal.

He's the favorite.

I'm going there.

Not going to make it too hard.

Plus 260, I like that bet.

I'm going with a big dumper.

How about Big Dumper?

And obviously, I won't make any selections because I would like to be known by journalism, okay?

With that being said, come on, dump.

Come on.

Please dump.

With that being said, cruise missile would be cool, too.

Yeah.

How about Great Wood?

James Wood,

Olson, Rooker, Buxton, Caminero, Chisholm, Rism.

Let's have a night tonight.

Yeah, here we go.

Let's enjoy it.

Thank you to the MLB.

Great work in the back, boys.

Great work work in the back.

Great work.

Great work, production team that did everything.

Huya.

Huya.

Huya.

Hell yeah.

Hell yeah.

Thank you, Burke, boys.

Audio, microphone, everything that goes into this is absurd, so we appreciate everybody that does it.

It's not easy either, and it's very tedious at times, because you got to plug one thing into another thing.

And then guess what?

You got to do it 100 more times.

And they got little prongers that are tough.

And also,

if one is wrong.

And if you fuck one thing up, whole show's room.

All 100.

Boom.

Just like that.

They just gave us lights.

That's awesome.

Good night.

The show's over.

We're an MLB show.

Yeah, yeah.

That's cool.

All right, be a friend, tell a friend something nice might change their life.

We're going to sing together.

Team on me, team on three.

This one's for baseball.

One, two, three.

Team.

Goodbye.

You've seen the headlines, heard the debates.

The three-point ball has created a monotonous rhythm to the game and others.

Has the three-pointer ruined basketball?

And how did we get here?

The rise of the three-point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric Kansas genius named Martin Manley, whose story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined.

I decided I wanted to have one of the most organized goodbyes in history.

30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven.

Available now, wherever you get your podcasts.

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